Trucko Stampley

Trucko Stampley has been found guilty on 4 counts of 1st degree murder in Baton Rouge as of tonight. 

Stampley was accused of  murdering Denise Pedescleaux, Marie Pedescleaux, Charles Colvin and Anne Colvin in April of 2007. The Pedescleauxs were mother and daughter while the Colvins were a married couple.

The Pedescleauxs were both murdered in their Crown Ave home. Denise Pedescleaux was a fifth-grade school teacher at Greenbriar Elementary School.  A Toyota Avalon belonging to Denise Pedescleaux was located in Houma a few days after her and her daughter were murdered. A vehicle was reportedly stolen from the same residence there. Inside of the Avalon, Stampley’s fingerprints

Denise and Marie Pedescleaux

were found on a Walmart receipt from the Cortana location and video surveillance from the same Walmart shows him and another man in the parking lot in a Buick Lesabre.  A Buick Lesabre was stolen from the Colvin residence after their murders. It was later found in New Orleans. A gun taken off of Stampley at the time of his arrest was linked to the Pedescleaux murders by the Louisiana State Police Crime Lab.

Stampley will face life in prison when his sentencing date arrives. The death penalty was taken off of the table earlier in the trial. Stampley’s original plea was not guilty by reason of insanity. Two

Charles and Ann Colvin

psychiatrists said Trucko Stampley is suffering from a severe mental, emotional illness. He did not take the stand in his defense. 

No sentencing date has been announced. 

While the wheels of justice obviously turn slowly, its nice to see some justice being done for the Colvin and Pedescleaux families. This is just one murderer off the street for good, but there is much more work to be done in Baton Rouge. We are off to a violent 2012 already with 9 murders resulting from 15 shooting incidents.