Friday, July 22
July 22, 2011L.A. Himel Jr.
July 26, 2011
The four men accused of the rape and murder of a Cut Off woman last year will each face second-degree murder and obstruction of justice charges instead of first-degree murder, which potentially carries the penalty of death.
Gonzalo Portillio Cortes, 21, Esdras Sanchez Garcia, 22, Jose Castillo Moreno, 24, and Luis Nava, 29, are charged in the death of Angela Laudun, who was 33 when her body was found in a wooded area north of Golden Meadow.
A grand jury indicted the accused earlier this month after prosecutors turned up evidence that may not have held up a first-degree murder charge. Second-degree murder carries a maximum penalty of life in prison, and obstruction of justice could mean up to 40 years in prison.
“Based upon some new information that we’ve gotten over the past several months, I do not feel that the factual evidence rises to the level of a first-degree murder and death penalty case,” Lafourche Parish District Attorney Cam Morvant said.
Morvant said he has met with Laudun’s family “at least a half a dozen times” and they accepted the change in levied charges. The district attorney had previously said the state would pursue the death penalty.
“They understand,” Morvant said. “I met with them before the case was re-presented to the grand jury and explained everything to them.”
The defendants will next appear in court on Aug. 26 at 9 a.m. for a pre-trial conference, when prosecutors will ask for a scheduled court date, Morvant said.
Witnesses say Laudun left a Galliano bar with four men at 2:00 a.m. on May 8, according to police. Her partially clothed body was found off of La. Highway 3235 around 11:30 a.m. on the same day.
