Brandi Hawkins Laurent, 29, Kiln MS, Aug 3, 2007(BODY FOUND)

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NEWS FROM MARCH:

Laurent trial set April 19 in Forrest Co.

Mar 12, 2010, 17:10

The murder trial of Leo Lucas Laurent will be held on April 19 in the circuit court of Forrest County in Hattiesburg, court officials said this week.

The case was originally set for trial in January, but Laurent's attorney Brian Alexander filed a continuance motion two weeks before the trial was set to begin.

The motion was granted by Judge Roger Clark and the case was reset for April 19, which fell under the court term of Judge Larry Bourgeois.

The case has been reassigned to Clark and the venue will remain in Hattiesburg.

It was moved to Hattiesburg last October after Alexander succesfully argued that the case had received heavy media attention in South Mississippi.

Alexander said he believed his client could not get a fair trial locally because of the media coverage.

Laurent, 32, is accused of killing his wife Brandi Hawkins Laurent, in August 2007 at the couple's Fenton home.

Her body was found 100 days later when a Texas-based search group discovered her remains in a shallow grave about a mile from the Laurents' home.

After the disappearance and subsequent discovery of Brandi's body, Laurent made numerous claims and gave several statements to the press indicating that he was not responsible for his wife's death, but he knew who was.

In December 2007 he claimed that two people who were responsible for his wife's death shot at him while he was walking on the beach in Waveland.

Police charged him with faking the incident and he later pled guilty to the hoax.

He was charged with murder in January 2008 by the Hancock County Sheriff's Department and he has remained in custody ever since.

Investigators said Laurent told them that he killed Brandi during a domestic dispute, loaded her body in a trash can, loaded her in the back of a vehicle, and then buried her in a shallow grave, all in view of the couple's toddler.

Since his incarceration, Laurent has attended the state's Regimented Discipline Program for an unrelated embezzlement conviction in Pearl River County.

If convicted of murder, Laurent faces life in prison without the possibility of parole.

http://12.68.233.230/40/article_4019.shtml

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Today's news..........

Accused murderer Leo Laurent seeks to delay Monday's trial
Posted: Apr 16, 2010 12:42 PM EDT

HANCOCK COUNTY, MS (WLOX) - Accused murderer Leo Laurent was in court Friday morning, asking to have his trial delayed.

Laurent is accused of killing his wife, Brandi, in August 2007 and burying her body not far from their Hancock County home. His trial is scheduled to begin Monday.

Laurent's attorney, Brian Alexander, asked Judge Roger Clark to delay the trial, reduce Laurent's bond and to suppress his statements to investigators.

Though Laurent has maintained his innocence, an investigator testified in the preliminary hearing in February that Laurent told several stories about what happened the night his wife died, including admitting to an argument, tussling over a gun that went off and then panicking and burying his wife's body in the nearby woods.

Brandi Laurent disappeared in August 2007. Her body was found in a shallow grave not far from her home in November. Friends and family spent weeks combing the area for clues and casting suspicion on her husband.

Last month, Laurent's attorney petitioned the court to be removed from the case, saying Laurent was undermining his own defense. Brian Alexander also argued that Laurent was not fit to stand trial for murder.

Al Showers will have more on Friday's events in court later today on WLOX News and WLOX.com.

http://www.wlox.com/Global/story.asp?S=12324437

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Tuesday, Jun. 29, 2010

Laurent’s girlfriend: ‘I was terrified’

HATTIESBURG — The woman who dated Leo Lucas Laurent after his wife Brandi went missing on Aug. 3, 2007 was “terrified” when Brandi’s body was found on Nov. 10, 2007, and that their relationship was “all a lie.”

Kim Cooley testified that she met Leo Laurent shortly before his wife went missing.

A few days after the disappearance, Cooley said Laurent called her wanting to begin a romantic relationship.

“I felt sorry for him and his kids,” Cooley said. “He told me his wife had left him and he was all alone.”

Cooley said she and Laurent were planning to go on a cruise before Brandi Laurent’s body was discovered in a shallow grave.

Cooley also testified that she witnessed Laurent — in a fit of rage on Halloween night 2007 — throw away all of Brandi’s belongings, rip up photos, and destroy items from their marriage.

“He (Laurent) was very aggravated by her (Brandi),” Cooley said. “He said he was mad at her for going away.”

Earlier in the morning, Brandi Laurent’s mother, Anita Stroud, gave emotional testimony regarding the disappearance of her daughter and the eventual discovery of her body.

Stroud said she went looking for Brandi on several occasions and she carried a gun for safety.

Stroud testified that Leo Laurent showed her how to use the gun and took her for target practice in a field adjacent to where Brandi’s body was buried.

Read more about the trial in Wednesday’s Sun Herald.

http://www.sunherald.com/2010/06/28/2297183/laurents-girlfriend-i-was-terrified.html

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Laurent found guilty of murder
 
6.30.10
HATTIESBURG, MS (WLOX) - A jury has found Leo Laurent guilty of murder in the death of his wife Brandi.

Laurent's attorney offered only a brief defense for his client Wednesday morning, resting less than 30 minutes after the prosecution.

Laurent is accused of killing his wife, Brandi, in August of 2007 at their home near the Kiln. Laurent originally said his wife had left, but when her body was found in a shallow grave 100 days later, Leo Laurent changed his story.

Tuesday, prosecutors showed jurors a videotape of Laurent describing to investigators what happened the night his wife died. He said she pulled out a gun and as they struggled over it, it accidentally went off, hitting and killing her.   

In the tape, Laurent said he panicked, and was worried the police would think he was on drugs, because his wife was on drugs. He put her body into a garbage can on wheels, rolled her out to the van, and took her to the area where her body was later found.

But on Wednesday, forensic pathologist Dr. Paul McGarry testified that Brandi died from strangulation. And that he found no evidence of a gun shot wound.

The trial is being held in Hattiesburg due to pretrial publicity on the coast.

http://www.wlox.com/Global/story.asp?S=12733856