UPDATE: Lafayette Coroner's officials have confirmed that they did not recover a body from what police describe as a homicide scene on Leonie Street last week.
Yesterday, we reported that a Mississippi man has been arrested in connection with the slaying of a Lafayette man. Justin Weber, 40, was booked into the Harrison County jail last week on a charge of First-Degree Murder, records there show. He has waived extradition and will be booked in Lafayette after he is transported here.
Lafayette Police have confirmed that charge is related to the slaying of Randall Duplechin, 65, a resident of Lafayette. Last week, Mississippi authorities called Lafayette Police and told them to check on a house on Leonie Street, a spokesman said Monday. They already had Weber in custody.
When officers arrived, they found evidence that a homicide had happened there. But Lafayette Police have refused to say if Duplechin's body was found at the house.
Today, officials with the Lafayette Coroner's Office confirmed that they did not pick up a body on Leonie Street last week, and that, as of today, they do not have Duplechin's body. If Duplechin was slain here in Lafayette, but his body was found elsewhere, it would still be returned to the Lafayette Coroner's Office, officials say.
The case is still under investigation. If you have any information about what happened, you are asked to call Lafayette Crime Stoppers at 337-232-TIPS.
