I will be at Cavalier House Books in Denham Springs a week from today (on July 17), at 3 p.m., to sign copies of my latest book, Murder on the Teche: A True Story of Money and a Flawed Investigation (Dville Press).
It’s the story of the 2010 murder of New Iberia orthodontist Robert Chastant and how the Iberia Parish Sheriff’s Office botched the investigation from beginning to end, how the wife, identified by the murderer as having paid him to kill her husband was never investigated as a suspect and in the end, walked away with more than $2 million in insurance and retirement benefits.
It’s the story of how critical evidence was overlooked or ignored in the sheriff office’s “investigation.”
It’s also a story that places the sheriff’s office under a microscope with the murder investigation serving as a prelude to a more intensified federal investigation of abuses of prisoners by sheriff’s deputies. The office of Sheriff Louis Ackal would eventually pay judgments or settlements averaging $10,000 per month for the entirety of his 12-year reign of terror. That comes to about $1.5 million and includes the death of one prisoner who, while in custody in the back seat of a sheriff’s department patrol car, got hold of a gun and shot himself in the chest – while his hands were cuffed behind his back.
Several deputies ended up with lengthy prison sentences as a result of their abuses, including some who participated in the investigation of Dr. Chastant’s murder.
I hope to see as many of you as possible but if you can’t make it, you can still get a signed copy of the book by clicking on either the image of the book cover or Cavalier’s link, both in the column to the right of this post.
I’m gratified to report that sales of the book have been (and continue to be) brisk, so get your order in early.
Additionally, I am also scheduled to appear at the Louisiana State Book Festival in downtown Baton Rouge on Oct. 30 and will be talking about the book.
I hope to see you at one of the events!
Louisiana Voice 
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