Hit men hired by rape suspect killed wrong women, Louisiana sheriff says

Author: CBS News & The Associated Press
Published: Updated:
Hope Nettleton, left, and Brittany Cormier, right, were killed in a botched murder-for-hire plot. Neither was the intended victim, according to the Terrabonne Parish Sheriff. (Credit: Terrebonne Parish Sheriff’s Office)

A Louisiana man facing rape charges tried to have his accuser killed, but two hit men instead ended up killing his sister and her neighbor, authorities said Monday.

Neither Hope Nettleton, 37, nor Brittany Cormier, 34, was the person that the hit men had been hired to kill on Jan. 13, the Terrebonne Parish Sheriff’s Office said.

L to R: Beaux Cormier, Dalvin Wilson, and Andrew Erskin were each charged with two counts of first-degree murder. (Credit: Terrebonne Parish Sheriff’s Office)

On Friday, authorities arrested Andrew Eskine, 25, of Carencro; Dalvin Wilson, 22, of Rayne; and Beaux Cormier, 35, of Kaplan on charges of first-degree murder.

Cormier was previously arrested in Vermillion Parish for third-degree rape and, according to Sheriff Timothy Soginet, hired Eskine and Wilson to kill his accuser so she could not testify against him.

When Eskine and Wilson went to a Montegut home and asked for her, investigators said that Cormier’s sister claimed to be the woman they requested and was shot and killed. Nettleton, a neighbor, tried to fight off the men but was also shot to death, according to authorities.

The woman who had accused Cormier of rape was not at the home, investigators said. Authorities say the accuser is a family member of Cormier.

District Attorney Joe Waitz Jr. said that $2 million bond had been set for the suspects, and it wasn’t immediately clear if they had attorneys.

“The death penalty is definitely on the table,” Waitz said.

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