PM Newscall, January 6th, 2016

Governor-elect John Bel Edwards has reappointed Jimmy LeBlanc as secretary of the Department of Public Safety and Corrections. Eric Gill reports…

CUT 1 (28)  “I’m Eric Gill”

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State Fire Marshal investigators and the Acadia Parish Sheriff’s Office have arrested a man for allegedly killing his girlfriend and trying to burn her body. Emelie Gunn has more…

CUT 2 (31)  “I’m Emelie Gunn”

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Trial dates have been set for the two deputy Marksville city marshals charged with the shooting death of a 6-year-old boy in November. 32-year-old Derrick Stafford and 24-year-old Norris Greenhouse entered pleas of not guilty and will be tried separately in the death of Jeremy Mardis. Legal analyst Tim Meche says it’s not a surprise that the two men will be tried separately…

CUT 3 (10)  “as well”

Stafford’s trial is set to begin September 26th, while Greenhouse’s trial will start November 28th. Meche says trials of this nature rarely start on there original start date. But since Stafford remains jailed on a $1 million bond, Meche says he would be eager to get his trial underway…

CUT 4 (09)  “goes to trial”

Greenhouse was released from jail after his family posted a $1 million bail in November. This case has garnered a lot of media attention and Meche says that attention can cut both ways. He says it will be up to the defendants as to whether or not they’ll try to move their trials elsewhere…

CUT 5 (10)  “Avoyelles Parish”

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Governor-elect John Bel Edwards has reappointed Jimmy LeBlanc as secretary of the Department of Public Safety and Corrections. LeBlanc says he and Edwards are on the same page when it comes to reducing Louisiana’s prison population. He says progress has been made in reducing the state’s incarceration rate…

CUT 6 (08) “big prisons”

Louisiana currently has the highest incarceration rate in the world. Moving forward, LeBlanc says solving the state’s prison problem is not something that can happen overnight…

CUT 7 (09) “to the plate” 

LeBlanc is the lone cabinet level holdover from the Jindal Administration. LeBlanc is also a friend and business associate of former Angola warden Burl Cain, who is being investigated for questionable business dealings. Edwards is assured that LeBlanc took no part in any of those activities…

CUT 8 (09) “on the team”

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The Acadia Parish Sheriff’s Office along with State Fire Marshal investigators have arrested a Crowley man for allegedly  killing his girlfriend and burning her body and home. 33-year-old Nicholas Dupuis has been taken into custody on a warrant for first degree murder and arson. Deputy Chief Fire Marshal Brant Thompson says Dupuis is a violent offender with a past and posted on social media about the murder before he was arrested.

CUT 9 (11)  “officers”

Thompson says police first arrested 22-year-old Kantarise Lazaro of Church Point as an accomplice after finding his vehicle at the scene of the house fire. He says Lazaro told authorities he followed Dupuis to a remote location where Dupuis tried to burn his girlfriend’s, 31-year-old Shontel Joseph, body, then helped Dupuis move her body to her house.

cut 10 (08)  “this case”

Thompson says there are three different crime scenes, where Joseph was shot and killed, where she was originally burned, and where her body was moved and home set on fire. He expects additional arrests will be made throughout the course of the investigation.

Cut 11 (09) “as well”

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Tonight’s PowerBall jackpot has jumped to $500 million. The lottery prize is the 6th largest jackpot in history offered in North America. The thought of winning half a billion dollars has many people dreaming of what they would do with the money. Some people say they would definitely take care of family…

cut 12 (11) “she wants”

Tonight’s jackpot has a cash value of $306 million. The deadline to purchase tickets for tonight’s drawing is 9PM. For some, the thought of winning $500 million is just too much to comprehend. Others say they would want to help those less fortunate…

cut 13 (04)  “of myself”

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Sean Payton will remain head coach of the New Orleans Saints. Payton said today, going forward, even though it was a disappointing season in many ways, there were a lot of good things that happened. He says he’s up to the challenge and isn’t going anywhere…:

cut 14 (10)  “any other clubs” 

Payton still has two years left on his current deal and said any talk of a contract extension will take care of itself. When asked about rumors that he’s leaving New Orleans, Payton said there was no backstory or hidden conversations. He says there were some who may have speculated that he should leave the Saints while he was ahead…:

cut 15 (11)  “wagon out of town”