Brandi Hawkins Laurent

[Pauli]

Candle-light vigil scheduled for missing mother
By Dwayne Bremer
Sep 12, 2007, 09:13


http://208.62.60.4/40/news/uploads/brandi-laurent_001.gifBrandi Laurent
Friends and family members of missing Kiln woman Brandi Hawkins Laurent will be keeping the home fires burning this Sunday as they plan to host a sunset candlelight vigil to raise awareness and offer prayers for their missing friend and loved one.

Laurent, 29, was last seen on Aug. 3. She has been missing for nearly six weeks. As more and more time goes by, her friends and family the disappearance has been hard on them and they have become increasingly concerned about her safety.

"The first three weeks were nearly impossible," Brandi's husband Leo said Tuesday.

Leo said he is hopeful the vigil will open more people's eyes and bring more attention to the situation.

Brandi's friends agreed.

"We want to all pray together for Brandi," Andrea Dominach said Tuesday.

"This vigil is to raise awareness about Brandi, and we hope something positive can come out of it."

The ceremony will be held at the front parking lot of Hancock High School at 7 p.m. Sunday. The prayer and candlelight service will begin a short time later to coincide with the sunset.

"We are asking for continued prayers and efforts so we can come together as a community, and give us a better chance to find Brandi," Leo said.

Brandi Laurent was a student at Hancock High School from 1992 to 1995.
Her and Leo have been married for nearly 10 years, and she has two children, ages two and 12.

Leo said the hardest part of the past five weeks has been getting the children through the ordeal.

Dominach described Brandi as funny, smart, caring, nurturing, and a "devoted mother."

"Brandi was someone that I admired as a mother," Dominach said. "She had children at a young age. Every choice and decision she made, she made in the best interest of her children.

Brandi was last seen wearing a tank-top, tan pants or shorts, and a pair of flip-flops, police said.

Investigators said there have been alleged sightings of Brandi in several parts of the county; however, as of Tuesday there had been no concrete evidence as to her whereabouts.

Dominach, a life-long friend, has set up a web-site on myspace.com dedicated to Brandi. The site currently has more than 300 members.

Dominach said her group will provide candles, but people who plan to attend may bring their own.

Leo praised all of the work and efforts people have put into finding Brandi.
"A lot of friends and family have stepped up and helped me," he said.
http://208.62.60.4/40/article_1510.shtml

[Pauli]

Search ongoing for missing Hancock County woman


An investigation into the disappearance of a
missing Hancock County woman has turned up few solid leads,
authorities say.

Brandi Hawkins Laurent, a 29-year-old mother of two, vanished in
the middle of the night from her home on Aug. 3.

Hancock County Sheriff's Department investigators Kenny Hurt and
Rita Blaize-Watson said as many as 100 leads have poured in from
people calling, sending e-mail or stopping by the Sheriff's
Department.

"We've had lots of people swear they've seen her," said Hurt,
the chief investigator.

So far, however, those sightings apparently have been cases of
mistaken identity.

Laurent reportedly left on foot, without her car,
identification, keys, cell phone or cash. Her husband, Leo Laurent,
reported his wife missing at 11 a.m. Aug. 4, saying he had been
unsuccessfully searching for her.

Family and friends describe Laurent as a devoted mother to her
daughters, ages 2 and 12. They maintain she would never leave
without at least calling home later to check on them.

Andrea Dominach, who has known Laurent since grammar school,
doesn't believe her longtime friend would leave her children
willingly.

"I don't think she's anywhere by choice," Dominach said.
As the Sheriff's Department investigates, friends and family
have conducted their own campaign to find Laurent, knocking on
doors, keeping up a flurry of Internet postings and handing out
fliers.

Last week investigators received a tip Laurent was alive and
planning to attend services at a church in Harrison County. That
fell through.

In another lead, a jail inmate claimed to have seen Laurent in
Beaumont, Texas. His information was rejected as unreliable.
Hancock County Sheriff Steve Garber said such dead ends are
typical in cases like this.

"It's hard to decide, what do you put in the left stack and
what do you put in the right stack?" he said.
http://www.wdam.com/Global/story.asp?S=7082395&nav=1Pw1ed4q

[Pauli]

Posted on Sat, Oct. 20, 2007

Group joins search for mom

Many leads turn up nothing

By J.R. WELSH


"The bad thing is, it's real life, and sometimes missing people are never found," Rita Blaize-Watson, lead sheriff's investigator on the case, said Friday. However, she and many others are clinging to the rapidly diminishing chance that Laurent could still be alive.


"Until we know otherwise, we hold out that hope," Watson said.

Laurent is the mother of two girls, ages 12 and 2. She reportedly left their home on foot with no car, identification, keys, cell phone or cash, according to sheriff's reports. She is 5 feet, 4 inches tall, white, of medium build, with reddish blonde hair and green eyes. She has tattoos on both legs and on the top and bottom areas of her back.

In a bizarre turn this week, a posting appeared on an Internet site where viewers could click their keyboard mouses and light candles for Laurent.

One candle bore the numbers 3:14 and carried a message that was signed, "a messenger of God from MS, United States." Once unscrambled from its form of transposed letters, it appeared to say, "She is located in the woods of Lakeshore," with the word "located" misspelled.

Situated in South Hancock County, Lakeshore is a marshy, heavily wooded area. The Internet candle automatically extinguished 48 hours after being lit. While they have not disregarded it, investigators remain somewhat skeptical.

"If they were nice enough to put a candle on there, maybe they'll be good enough to give us an anonymous phone call," Watson said.

Also recently, tips have come in that Laurent was seen at truck stops in Alabama and Texas, riding with a man in an 18-wheeler. Those reports were investigated and dismissed, Watson said. "There were different things that made me rule that out."

Meanwhile, close friends who attended Hancock High School with Laurent in the 1990s continue to interrupt their own lives each weekend, doing their own searching, and distributing fliers bearing her picture. Since August, some have driven many times to Hancock County from out of town.

Among them is Rachael Schustz-Steere, a New Orleans businesswoman. "It's really an emotional roller coaster," she said. "But I'm definitely committed to continue with it. We won't stop until we find her."

When Texas EquuSearch comes to town, volunteer searchers will be recruited to work under as many as 15 experts. Volunteers must be at least 18 years old and present a picture ID. No children are allowed.

"The more boots on the ground, the more ground you cover," Wisdom said.
http://www.sunherald.com/278/story/168532-p2.html

[Pauli]

Posted on Tue, Oct. 23, 2007
Horseback searchers coming
By J.R. WELSH


HANCOCK COUNTY -- A Texas group will arrive in Hancock County on Nov. 9 to organize a search for Brandi Hawkins Laurent, who has been missing from her north county home since early August.
A spokeswoman for the Texas EquuSearch Mounted Search and Recovery Team said Monday the group is seeking volunteers to help in a two-day search to take place Nov. 10 and 11.

Case Manager Cindy Wisdom said the group will be coming unless a new case arises elsewhere involving a missing child or elderly person.

"That's the only thing that could keep us away," she said.

Texas EquuSearch is seeking volunteers with the capability to help search on foot, horseback and with all-terrain vehicles. Volunteers must be at least 18 and present a picture identification. No children are allowed. Searchers are asked to wear long pants and closed-toe shoes.

Volunteers may express interest by contacting the group through e-mail from its Web page, texasequusearch.org.

Wisdom said searches will be conducted in at least two areas of the county. "We will start at ground zero, which is the area near her home," she said. "Areas of Lakeshore will be looked at as well."

The heavily wooded, marshy Lakeshore area, in south Hancock County, surfaced as a possibility last week. Public attention was galvanized when a bizarre Internet posting appeared, signed, "A Messenger of God, MS, United States." The message bore the numbers 3:14, and said Laurent is located "in the woods of Lakeshore."

Since then followers of the case have speculated that 3:14 is possibly a Biblical reference. Many have been combing the Bible for a 3:14 verse that might in some way parallel Laurent's disappearance.

Laurent, 29, is the mother of two girls. Police have been investigating her disappearance since she was reported missing by her husband, Leo Laurent. He told sheriff's deputies his wife left their home at midnight Aug. 3 wearing only shorts, a top and flip-flops. She carried no identification, cell phone or cash and left on foot, according to reports.

The Laurent lived in the Fenton-Dedeaux community in the north county. Although her disappearance is still officially a missing-person case, suspicions of foul play have intensified.

Texas EquuSearch has a long track record of locating missing persons, both dead and alive. It usually will not launch a search without the permission of local law enforcement authorities, and Wisdom said the group has established "a good relationship" with the Hancock County Sheriff's Department.

Rita Blaize-Watson, the lead sheriff's investigator in the case, said recently her department welcomes the search experts. "We're grateful for them," she said.

http://www.sunherald.com/201/story/170384.html

[Pauli]

November 10th and 11th, 2007 - A search will begin for Brandi on these dates. A command center will be determined at a later date. If you are in the area or can assist, please contact cindy.wisdom@texasequusearch.org (cindy.wisdom@texasequusearch.org) for more information. Keep Brandi and her family in your prayers during this time. Please pray for our searchers as well.

http://www.texasequusearch.org/ (http://www.texasequusearch.org/)

[Pauli]

Texas group to join search for missing woman
By Dwayne Bremer
Oct 24, 2007, 09:18


World renowned search group Texas Equusearch is coming to Hancock County in three weeks to assist in the search for missing mother Brandi Hawkins Laurent.

It has been nearly three months now since Laurent--a 29-year-old mother of two-- went missing from her Kiln home.

Since then a massive effort by friends and family to find her has captured the hearts of many, but unfortunately Brandi has not been found and not one solid lead has materialized.

Texas Equusearch, a non-profit organization based in Dickinson Tx., has now been called in to help.

Over the past eight years Texas Equusearch has conducted hundreds of searches both in the United States and internationally.

The group was also a major contributer in the infamous case of Natalee Holloway, an Alabama teen, who went missing during a vacation trip to Aruba in May 2005.

Equusearch began in 2000, with the purpose of providing search and recovery teams for finding missing persons.

The group was dedicated to the memory of Laura MIller, a young woman who was abducted and murdered in 1984. She was the daughter of director Tim Miller.

Teams are comprised of volunteers of various experience, but the groups specialty is searches in wooded or hard to reach areas by means of horse back or walking.

Cindy Wisdom, a case manager said the group will be conducting two searches on November 10 and 11. A command center will be set up, but Wisdom said that location is still undetermined.

"We will be starting in the area where she went missing and then follow on a few leads," Wisdom said Monday.

Sheriff's investigator Rita Blaize Watson--who is the lead investigator in Laurent's disappearance--said Tuesday, the sheriff's department welcomes the help from Equusearch.

"This group has a good reputation and they rely on a lot of volunteers," she said.

Watson said the case has been tedious so far, and the sheriff's department is still getting a lot of leads.

Two chilling leads discovered last week have garnered a lot attention by investigators and Brandi's loved ones alike.

The first is a message left on an internet website where friends were symbolically lighting candles for Brandi. The message was posted by someone calling them-self "A messenger of God from Mississippi."

The message quotes a passage from the bible and a text written in a foreign language which translated may say "Brandi is located in the woods of Lakeshore."

Some have dismissed the message as a cruel hoax, but Watson said nothing can be ruled out at this time.

"We don't know if it is real or not," she said. "A lot of the leads we are getting now have to do with where we may find Brandi's body."

Watson said despite some morbid leads, the case is still being treated as a missing persons case.

Another clue can be found on www.zerogossip.com (http://www.zerogossip.com).

In a blog, Brandi's husband Leo is quoted as saying Brandi's friend Pomeca Vaughn may know where Brandi is.

"If I knew any way to get in touch with Pomeca at this point, I would go get her myself as I believe she has the answers that everyone is looking for," Leo said. "I wish I could give more , but like I said I can not paint a pretty picture out of the truth."

Vaughn gave a statement to police the day after Brandi went missing. In her statement, Vaughn claims to have seen Brandi "sick in bed" the evening before she went missing.

The next day, Leo first reported her missing.

Watson said Leo Laurent told officers he and Brandi had had a disagreement about midnight the previous evening, and a short time later, Brandi left the couple's home at the Pecan Park trailer park.

Leo told officers he drove around the trailer park and surrounding area, but Brandi was not to be found, Watson said.

Brandi was last seen wearing a tank-top, tan pants or shorts, and a pair of flip-flops, Watson said.

The Equusearch team was alerted to the case by Brandi's mother Anita Moody and Brandi's friend Andrea Dominach.

Wisdom said Equusearch will be bringing about 10 team leaders and they will rely on volunteer help to conduct the search.

"It comes down to getting boots on the ground," she said. "We have been successful because we don't close our door to the public."

She said having support from the local law enforcement agencies is a huge plus.

"You guys have a great sheriff's department," she said. "I know because I've worked with a lot of them."

Equusearch has produced tremendous results in their eight years of service.

Wisdom said the group has been involved in about 800 cases. Of the 800 cases, 300 people have been returned safely, including three Amber Alerts.

The group has also found about 75 bodies of missing people, most recently the group found the remains of a missing woman in Illinois last month.

Wisdom said anyone wishing to volunteer for the search can call 1-281-309-9500 or visit www.tesasequusearch.com (http://www.tesasequusearch.com).

Volunteers must be 18-years of age and capable of walking for extended periods, she said.

http://208.62.60.4/40/article_1622.shtml

[Pauli]

TIMELINE

Friday, August 3, 2007
3:07 am - Brandi posts an empowering and positive blog titled "Epiphany" thats says she will never doubt herself anymore, and, if people want to question her, then to "..step up to the plate..."
Morning - School starts for Brandi’s oldest daughter. Brandi goes to work at the Dollar General store in Kiln.
Brandi leaves work early and goes home, because she is not feeling well.
Afternoon – Brandi’s oldest daughter sees her mom before leaving to visit her father for the weekend.
Early Evening - Still not feeling well and in bed, Brandi talks to her friend, Pomeca Vaughn, on the phone. They discuss going “out”, but Brandi declines.
Late Evening - (per Leo) Brandi and Leo have an argument.
Midnight - (per Leo) Brandi leaves on foot, wearing a green tank top, khaki shorts, and black flip flops. Takes no belongings.

Saturday, August 4, 2007
Early Morning - Leo calls people that he suspects she might be with. Does not call Pomeca.
Morning - Pomeca calls Brandi’s cell phone (that is still in the trailer) numerous times. Leo doesn’t answer it. Pomeca comes over to Laurent’s trailer and Leo tells her that Brandi is missing.
7:55 or 9 am ?- Brandi's personal MySpace is somehow updated with a change to her profile.
11 am - Leo reports Brandi missing to the police. Leo is told he had to wait 24 hours.
? - Leo, Pomeca, go to Walmart to shop for school supplies. At this time, according to Leo, Brandi comes back to the trailer, writes a blog on MySpace and leaves with some clothes (2 shirts).
? - Leo does laundry.

Sunday, August 5, 2007
Brandi's brother calls her cellphone, Leo answers and informs him, that Brandi is missing. Brother informs the family.
Leo and Pomeca give written statements to police.
Brandi's personal MySpace is logged onto.

Saturday, August 18, 2007
A MySpace page is created for Brandi to spread the word about her disappearance.

August 25, 2007 (approximately 3 weeks after Brandi goes missing)
LE serves a search warrant on the Laurent mobile home.

Tuesday, August 28, 2007
Texas Equusearch is contacted.

Sunday, September 16, 2007
Sunset vigil at the Hancock high school. Leo attends with Brandi’s two daughters.

Tuesday, September 18, 2007
Evening – possible sighting of Brandi at a truckstop in Steele, Alabama.

Thursday, September 20, 2007
Possible sighting of Brandi at a truckstop in Sweetwater, Texas.

Thursday, October 11, 2007
Ten digital billboards are lit up with Brandi's missing information. They are located along the Mississippi coast on major highways and the interstate, donated by Lamar Outdoor Advertising.

Monday, October 15, 2007
Someone called 6:14 lights a candle on the Light a Candle website. The message reads “hes si alocla, ni eht dowso fo kealroesh.” and signed “a messenger of God from MS – United States”

Monday, October 15, 2007
Texas EquuSearch schedules a search for November 9-12.

Thursday, October 25, 2007
Leo Laurent gives an interview to Zerogossip.com

[Pauli]

HANCOCK COUNTY
Search for missing woman needs volunteers

The search for missing person Brandi Laurent will begin Saturday at the Kiln Fairgrounds.

Volunteers are asked to be at the command center at 8:30 a.m. and wear long pants, closed-toe shoes and brightly colored shirts or jackets.

All volunteers must be 18 or older and have a valid picture ID.

The need of volunteers is for foot searchers, those on ATVs and horses.
Details: Cindy Wisdom, (281) 830-0381.

[Pauli]

Search calls in pros, friends

Mother left home Aug. 3

By J.R. WELSH
j (jrwelsh@sunherald.com)


HANCOCK COUNTY --

As many as 200 volunteers are expected to turn out today in the search for 29-year-old Brandi Hawkins Laurent, who disappeared from her home near Fenton-Dedeaux Road on Aug. 3.

From a command post at the Hancock County Fairgrounds on Kiln-DeLisle Road, volunteers will fan out under the direction of Texas Equusearch, a nationally acclaimed group that locates missing persons. Searchers are expected to comb spots including the north county around the trailer park where Laurent lived, as well as sections of the Lakeshore area.


Laurent, a mother of two, was reported missing by her husband, Leo Laurent, after he said she left their home off Road 528 in a rural, wooded area. Laurent told deputies he had first conducted an independent search for his wife.


According to sheriff's reports, Laurent told deputies he and his wife had argued and she left their home at midnight on Aug. 3 wearing only shorts, a top, and flip-flops. She reportedly left on foot and did not carry her wallet, cash, car keys or cell phone.


In recent weeks, fears have grown that Laurent was a victim of foul play and her body may be buried somewhere in the county's thousands of acres of densely wooded, marshy territory.


Investigator Rita Blaize-Watson, who is heading up the case for the Hancock County Sheriff's Department, said the search will be coordinated by Cindy Wisdom, a case manager for Texas Equusearch. It will involve volunteers searching on foot and with motorized all-terrain vehicles, along with at least 30 other local volunteers searching on horseback.


"There's a mix of police officers involved, but it's really a civilian search," Watson said. Searchers also will include members of the Gulf Coast Search and Rescue organization from South Mississippi.


Volunteers also include many friends who grew up with Laurent and attended Hancock High School with her. "A lot of us are here to help," Louisiana resident Andrea Dominach said Friday. "One even came from Florida. That's how awesome Brandi's friends are."


The Laurent case has received widespread publicity and has been highly followed on the Internet. Web sites have received hundreds of postings on the case from readers around the nation.


Sheriff's investigators have devoted hundreds of hours to the case and tracked down numerous leads, but all have fallen through.
Searchers will begin gathering at the covered area of the fairgrounds at 7:30 a.m.
http://www.sunherald.com/278/story/184746.html

[Pauli]

from zero gossip

UPDATE #4
November 10 12:15 P.M.
The body of Brandi Laurent has been found less than a mile from her home. According to Cindy Wisdom, the TES coordinator, she was found in 6-8 foot tall grass about 100 yards from the road and not buried.

She was found by a horse mounted search team. The police have secured the area. DNA testing and dental checks will be done but police are 90% sure this is Brandi. She was found 45 minutes into the search. A very sad ending and my thoughts and prayers are with Brandi's family. Her husband Leo was notified by TES. He was at a soccer tournament.

http://zerogossip.com/2007/11/09/br...ember-1011.aspx (http://zerogossip.com/2007/11/09/brandi-laurent-search-november-1011.aspx)

[Pauli]

Brandi Laurent Has Been Found

http://a108.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images01/52/m_d47899ba1ab3f8645633e81a2d2cb67b.jpghttp://a160.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images01/8/m_b57303a292fa3b10b04d2a4641960dd7.jpg (http://viewmorepics.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=viewImage&friendID=129018412&albumID=1064000&imageID=1748933)http://a878.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images01/54/m_e3363c85781640134e47994104dd92b5.jpg (http://viewmorepics.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=viewImage&friendID=129018412&albumID=1064000&imageID=6653032)

UPDATE #6
November 10 3:15 P.M.
This will be the last update for a few hours as I actually do have a real job. Leo Laurent is currently with the police...not in custody but in for a talk.

UPDATE #5
November 10 2:45 P.M.
For those of you wondering, Brandi was not found in the area that the mysterious candle message (http://zerogossip.com/2007/10/16/a-clue-or-a-prank-in-the-brandi-laurent-case.aspx) indicated. That can now be ruled as either a cruel hoax or an attempt to mislead searchers.


UPDATE #4
November 10 12:15 P.M.
The body of Brandi Laurent has been found less than a mile from her home. According to Cindy Wisdom, the TES coordinator, she was found in 6-8 foot tall grass about 100 yards from the road and not buried. She was found by a horse mounted search team. The police have secured the area. DNA testing and dental checks will be done but police are 90% sure this is Brandi. She was found 45 minutes into the search. A very sad ending and my thoughts and prayers are with Brandi's family. Her husband Leo was at a soccer tournament at the time.
http://zerogossip.com/2007/11/09/brandi-laurent-search-november-1011.aspx

[Pauli]

Searchers find body that may be woman missing since August
By Jeremy Pittari
Item Staff Writer
PICAYUNE — Search and rescue workers believe they have found the body of a woman who has been missing since Aug. 3.

The body found Saturday morning is believed to be that of 29 year-old Brandi Hawkins Laurent who disappeared after a marital spat with her husband.

According information provided by law enforcement officers in the days following her disappearance, Laurent left her home on the night of Aug. 3, with no keys, cell phone or wallet after she and her husband had engaged in an argument.

Another search for Laurent took place Saturday morning, and a short time after it began a body was found close to Laurent’s home, friends said. The search was conducted by Texas Equusearch, an organization under the direction of a man whose daughter was abducted and murdered, according to http://www.texasequusearch.org/about_us.html. The search included Laurent’s friends, family, law enforcement officers and Texas Equusearch members.

About 20 minutes into their search, friends of Laurent got word that a body believed to be that of Laurent was discovered near a pipeline about a mile or two from Laurent’s home.

“It wasn’t too far from her home,” Madelyn Spiers said.

An investigator indirectly involved in the case said the body has not been properly identified yet. Hancock Sheriff Steve Garber was unavailable for comment Saturday afternoon.

Friends said that Laurent’s disappearance was uncharacteristic since she would be leaving her children unattended. Spiers said she grew up with Laurent, but lost touch with her as an adult. However, she remembers Laurent to be a smart and responsible person.

“That’s why we know that she did not leave her kids,” Spiers said.

The day she disappeared Spiers said she had contacted Laurent through the popular web site MySpace.

Friends said that Laurent and her husband could have been having marital troubles. Rachael Schustz-Steeve said the last time she talked to Laurent, about a year ago, Laurent talked about some issues she was having with her husband.

“She was in a bad place,” Schustz-Steeve said. “She was very upset.”

Jennifer Warton said she last saw Laurent where she worked. While Warton was going through the checkout line at the local Dollar Store, Laurent told her about some marital issues she was having.

“You could tell she wasn’t happy that day,” Warton said.

Described as a bright, loving and an intelligent person, Laurent is the mother of two children.

“She really loved her kids cause that’s all she talked about was them girls,” Warton said.
http://www.picayuneitem.com/local/local_story_314192623.html

[Pauli]

Hancock County 11/10/07
Found Body May Be That of Missing Woman

New volunteers may have helped authorities find a missing Hancock County woman. They say they found a body and have tentatively made an identification, but aren't completely positive it's Brandi Hawkins Laurent.


Laurent went missing August third. Her husband, Leo, reported her missing after the two had an argument. Texas Equusearch joined the search today. They found the body about a mile from the home.


Autopsy and lab results are still out, but authorities say the missing person case may now be a murder case.
http://www.wlbt.com/Global/story.asp?S=7342175&nav=menu119_3

[Pauli]

Missing Person Case Now Active Murder Investigation

Posted: Nov 12, 2007 03:22 PM CST


The case of a Hancock County mother, missing for more than three months, is now a murder investigation.

Brandi Laurent's body was found just over a mile from her home. Forty yards off a dirt road that cuts through a power company easement, fresh flowers decorate a shallow grave where the victim was discovered.

Sheriff's investigator Kenny Hurd told WLOX News he and others had searched the same easement area earlier, with no success.

The person who organized the search for Texas Equu Search says it was by "the grace of God" that Brandi Laurent's body was discovered so quickly Saturday morning, shortly after the search began.

Cindy Wisdom also told WLOX News it's not that unusual for victims to go missing for months at a time, until an organized search effort takes place, like the one that happened over the weekend.

The 29-year-old mother of two disappeared from her trailer park home the late night hours of August third.

Her husband apparently no longer lives there. During an August 31st interview inside their mobile home, Leo Laurent told WLOX News he blamed drugs for his wife's disappearance.

"She was determined to go out that night. And she had already been up for four days straight. She had gotten mixed up with some meth," he said at that time.

That description is one her close friends strongly dispute. For three months, they kept her missing person case "high profile" on the Internet. The Brandi they knew would never abandon her children.

Andrea Dominach remained hopeful last Friday, the day before the search for her missing friend began.

"She's beautiful. She's wonderful. She's caring and nurturing and funny. And a great mother, oh my goodness, a great mother. And the best friend a girl could have," she said Friday.

The discovery of the body brings painful closure to the question of her missing. Her friends won't rest until the person responsible for her death is brought to justice.

Sheriff's investigators are tight lipped about any possible leads or suspects in the case. They are awaiting lab and autopsy results.

Tattoos helped with a positive identification of the victim's body.
Anyone with any information about Brandi's murder should contact the Hancock County Sheriff's Department at (228) 466-6900.

http://www.wlox.com/Global/story.asp?S=7348733&nav=menu40_3

[Pauli]

HUSBAND DECLARES HE IS INNOCENT

Sheriff sources, off the record, say he failed lie dectector

By J.R. WELSH


http://media.sunherald.com/smedia/2007/11/13/06/468-1113bodyp3.embedded.prod_affiliate.77.jpg (http://media.sunherald.com/smedia/2007/11/13/06/585-1113bodyp3.standalone.prod_affiliate.77.jpg)
JAMES EDWARD BATES/SUN HERALD
Flowers have been left as a memorial where volunteers found a body believed to be the remains of Brandi Hawkins Laurent in a shallow grave off County Road 528 in rural Hancock County on Saturday. Laurent has been missing since Aug. 3.



The husband of a Kiln woman found Saturday during a volunteer search in Hancock County told the Sun Herald he is innocent of wrongdoing in the death of his wife, Brandi Hawkins Laurent.

Laurent, a mother of two, was reported missing Aug. 3 from their home off Road 528 near Kiln by her husband, Leo Laurent. He told deputies she had been using drugs for several days and left their FEMA trailer on foot at midnight after the couple had argued.


Authorities have considered Leo Laurent a person of interest in the case for weeks. He has been questioned on a number of occasions by Sheriff's Investigator Rita Blaize-Watson and others, and has taken at least two polygraph exams.


Leo Laurent has posted on Internet sites that he passed both tests, which normally are not admissible as court evidence, "100 percent."


Off the record, Sheriff's Department sources have said he failed both tests.
Leo Laurent acknowledged to the Sun Herald on Monday that he has been closely questioned by authorities. But he maintained his innocence.


"I had nothing to do with this," he said. "I don't want to be in the public's eye as being hated. This has been the hardest experience I've ever had to deal with."


He also said he has received death threats since the case began, adding, "I'm in a protective housing type of situation now." He declined to say who is protecting him from whom, or where.


Officials maintained Monday that autopsy results were still out on the case, and said crime scene examination results and dental record comparisons are not yet complete. However, sources close to the case said an initial examination showed Laurent may have been strangled.


Hancock County Coroner Norma Stiglet would neither confirm nor deny that strangulation may have caused Laurent's death. "I don't even have a death certificate yet," she said.


The death is now being considered a homicide.
Hancock County Sheriff Steve Garber declined to release further information and refused to say whether he has a suspect. Garber also said he had no knowledge of any autopsy results, and that his department has been instructed by District Attorney Cono Caranna's office to maintain silence on the case.


"The district attorney is telling us not to say anything," he said.
Caranna could not be reached by the Sun Herald on Monday and his office was closed for the Veterans Day holiday.


On Saturday, Laurent's body was found off a power company line clearing about a mile from the trailer. Local horseback riders participating in a search led by Texas Equusearch made the discovery. The body apparently had been originally buried in a shallow grave, then was possibly unearthed by animals before being found.
http://www.sunherald.com/278/index.html

[Pauli]

Laurent sits down with the Sun Herald

By RYAN LaFONTAINE


HANCOCK COUNTY --

Leo Laurent, whose wife, Brandi, was found dead last week, sat down for a face-to-face interview with the Sun Herald on Thursday. Here is a transcript:

Do you think you have become Public Enemy No. 1?
Yeah, you could really say that. It's gone as far as to where soccer parents - I've coached their kids for years - have asked me to hold off coaching and wait until everything surfaces and this is resolved. (He's been coaching soccer for 13 years.)


Because the answers are being surfaced so slowly, it forces people to form their own opinions.


I have been working with these investigators near full time. I really don't have a steady job right now, because I've been working with them, trying to speed this up, trying to get information out. That's what my daily routine is right now. Because the quicker this is resolved, the quicker we can bring this to justice and the quicker everybody can move on with their lives with some kind of fulfillment that everything is over.


After three months, it took volunteers and a Harrison County deputy just 10 minutes to find your wife. Does that make you angry?
Yeah, there's a lot of questions there. I saw some pictures of the site, because I didn't want to go to the site. And one of the pictures they showed me, it looked like fresh dirt (around the grave.) I'm asking that they investigate the dirt, investigate the scene.


Hancock County admitted to being out there, two search teams admitted to being out there, so why wasn't this body found? You can't drive by a decaying body and not smell it.


It infuriates me that nothing was done sooner. It took them almost a month to take the case seriously. For the first month, it seemed like they didn't want to do anything. They were just under the impression that she was a grown woman, she left on her own and she'll come back on her own.


After a month went by and we started getting media involved, they started stepping it up a notch. All the friends starting calling the FBI, the (state) Bureau of Investigations. Then they wanted to start searching, so we initially lost a month right off the bat.


Hancock County first told us that they were not missing-person finders. That's when we had to get Texas EquuSearch involved and other outside help.


Basically, to us, it meant that if she's not laying in a ditch, waving her hand in the air, (the Hancock County Sheriff's Department) can't do anything.
I wasn't impressed with the initial efforts at all. It took more of the public's work and work from other areas to kick something off.

Now that there's a body in front of them and answers are being demanded, they're all over the case. They have to answer to the public now about what took so long and why. Because every day that goes by, it's another day that we're losing. If we would've found her on Aug. 10, we may have lost a few days, but people (would) still remember Aug. 3. Now you can't go back and say, 'Hey, do you remember on Aug. 3 hearing a car out here or seeing somebody attacked?' We have lost all of these little facts because of the span of time and that's what we've lost in this case.

Isn't Hancock County still the lead on this case, or has the FBI or the state taken over?

I really wish Hancock County would just go ahead and turn it over (to another agency). I really think the lack of equipment and technology in this county may prove to be detrimental to the case.
It's like when I had to take the lie detector tests, I was having to go to Mandeville.


You really have to question where your tax dollars are going, because the equipment that our sheriff's department has compared to departments on either side of us - Slidell, Gulfport or wherever - it's ridiculous.


When you first reported her missing, did they come out and question people then?

No. Here's what happened with that and this is when I lost faith in the initial investigation: She left Friday night about midnight.


After you had an argument with her, right?

It was not really an argument. It was a minor argument; I didn't agree with her going out, being out on the drugs and things she was on. She didn't need to be driving. I had the keys and wouldn't give them to her and she said she would call someone to come pick her up.


She left. When she slammed the door the baby woke up screaming. I went... I comforted the baby, and when I went out the door to try to find her, so, uh, she was nowhere to be found.


I tossed the baby in the front seat with me and I drove up and down our street, but we have woods on both sides of our street. She had a friend that lived (nearby). I checked everywhere. I couldn't find her. She, uh...


Did you check the friend's house?

Yes. No car or anything in the driveway...
I brought the baby back home, laid her back in bed, because she was doing nothing but crying the whole time. I put the baby back to sleep.
And usually when she would go out on nights like this, she would come home about six in the morning from the bars.


I mean, it's not the first time that she had done it, so I assumed that she was just going out to party and come back home.

She didn't show back up at six, so around 10 or 11-ish, I started getting a little worried and I called the police.

They told me she hadn't been missing for 24 hours and I had to wait 24 hours to report her missing. I said that this was not like her.

So I waited until that evening and I called them again. They sent me out an officer. The officer comes and looks around the house, but doesn't make a (missing persons) report. I don't know how much of this they would really like me to put in the paper, but the officer came out there and found her drugs and made me flush them down the toilet. I showed him where it was all at, because I wanted him to know what she was on, which was why I was worried. She was up for three days prior.


What kind of drugs?

Coke and meth, mixed.


So he says he wouldn't file a report because she left on her own free will and he told me to wait 48 hours.


The next morning I woke up and I called them again. This time they sent me out two officers and they did file a report and everything started rolling then.


I called three times before I got an officer out there to write a report.


After that, what happened over the next three months?

We called, we had to call them two or three times a day.


Rita Watson was on the case and she has done wonderful. For whatever reason, they're changing the investigator in the middle of the case. I don't see why they're doing that.


I think they're going to be wasting more of our time doing that, trying to catch a new investigator up on the case. Because Rita has been there since Day 1, she knows everything that's going on with the case and now they're changing midstream, which makes absolutely no sense in an investigation this important. She has been there through thick and thin with us.


Had Rita Blaize-Watson been the lead investigator the whole time?

Yes. Initially, she hated me and I hated her - we had a hate-hate relationship, because, of course, I'm the husband. I'm the first one looked at; I understood that. I understood that she had a job to do. I didn't like where she stepped on her boundaries a lot of times, but I understood it and I accepted it.


Now they're going to yank her off and put somebody on there that knows nothing about the case? So, now we're going to spend the next month getting somebody new up to speed on something that's already three months down the road already. You're talking four to six months before you even start looking for a criminal?


Is she who first listed you as a "person of interest" and do you think she would still label you as that?


The public doesn't understand what that means; a person of interest is anybody who knew Brandi or anybody who knows anything about the case.


See, because they keep putting "person of interest" by my name, people are taking that as I'm a suspect. I'm not a suspect. But that's what people are seeing me as. But I'm not a suspect; I had nothing to do (with it)."


Have you gotten an attorney?

I don't have an attorney. I haven't gotten an attorney, because I don't need one. I've worked with law enforcement all this time, with no attorney, because I had nothing to do with it. I believe that if I had nothing to do with it - nothing to hide - then what do I need an attorney for? I'm trying to get to the bottom of this as quickly as they are.


So you don't think the Hancock County investigators currently consider you a suspect?

No. The Mississippi Bureau of Investigations guy doesn't even consider me a suspect. I'm as clear as clear can be.


They can't release everything just yet, but I wouldn't be sitting here talking with you about something so big without an attorney if I didn't have faith in the system.


You said they can't release everything, but it seems to me that they have hardly released anything. Is there anything they can release? What about the autopsy and a cause of death, have you heard anything?

It's taken the doctor five days with the freaking body? So where are the results?


You still don't know how your wife died?

No.


What about the reports that she was strangled?

Like I said about the fresh dirt and things like that. They're saying, you know, like the strangulation thing that they said initially, a bone was broken right here (pointing to his throat). That's why they were trying to blame it on strangulation. Well, if they are looking at the (burial site) and they're saying that's not the crime scene, then how do they know that bone wasn't broken, maybe that was broken from the body being moved.


Why do you think they haven't at least told you, her husband, what the cause of death was?

I don't know. I mean, five days later, we don't even have a death certificate. We can't even plan a funeral. This is where I think Hancock County can step up.


How do you think she died and who do you think would have wanted her dead?

She was running with a very bad group of drug dealers. I only knew of a couple of them, but more surfaced as time went on while she was missing.
I don't have a definite story yet, until I can either see the body myself or they can give me some kind of facts about the body.


Don't you think it was more likely somebody who knew her? Or do you think this was just a random act of violence, just out of nowhere?

She wouldn't get in the car with somebody she didn't know. Or she wouldn't go with somebody she didn't know.


The place where they found her, I know that's a place where they do a lot of big drug deals, because it's off the road, you can drive a car back there and she's been back there doing drugs with people - I know that.


Where was she getting the money for the drugs?

She worked at the Dollar Store (on Mississippi 603) and her checks weren't but $120 or $150 a week. I was giving her my money to pay the bills and come to find out right there at the end, the bills weren't getting paid. After she was gone, I found out that we were about three months behind. You know, I was making $1,200 a week and instead of taking the money and paying the bills, she was taking the money and going out playing, basically.


You have said several times that Brandi had all these drugs and she was doing all this partying... So all that time, you never got mixed up in that scene? Did you ever do drugs with her?

I... I tried it one time and I almost died.


Recently?

It was a while ago.


More than a year?

Yes.


Only once?

Yes... I made it through and never touched it again. And I constantly stayed on her about the drugs, because she was to a point where she had to have it.


I've seen all the reports about the rocky marriage, but through all the turmoil and arguments, certainly you must have loved your wife?

We went through a 10-year marriage and you don't make it through a 10-year marriage with her mom living with us, her sister and brother living with us, five kids, without us loving each other... yeah.


We went through everything together. I supported her whole family at some point in time and we made it through everything together. Yeah, we had problems, but we made it through the hardest bouts together.


I would have gladly taken a domestic violence charge that night and grabbed her before she walked out that door. Because I feel like I would have rather stopped whatever happened or what was happening and taken a chance on her wanting to leave me for that, than letting this...


I live every day hour by hour. I live, you know, it takes your light at the end of the tunnel away. You kind of lose hope in everything. You lose faith in people because of the idiocrasy (sic) you see daily with people judging you without knowing anything.


It's changed our whole life. I'm trying to raise a 2-year-old in a town that's guided by media and what they read.


It's nowhere near possible. It's gone as far as I've been shot at, I've been threatened. This is nothing you ever imagine as a kid growing up.


Now, you've got people who hate you for nothing. They weren't there to see a 10-year marriage. They weren't there to see the drug people in and out of the house. They didn't have anything to do with this and they're making judgments and opinions.


Your 2-year-old, Peyton, how will you explain this to her when she grows up? How are you going to tell her what happened to her mom?

She doesn't understand what's going on. I'm glad for that now, so that it gives me time to prepare for the questions that I'm going to have to answer. I want some closure, you know, to be able to manifest the answers to these questions that I have to answer to a kid. They get 4 or 5, 6 years old and they really want to know what's going on... and that's my goal right now, is to find her some answers. It's a whole lot easier to say, 'Hey, we got a divorce.' You don't want to have to say, you know, 'Mom was found in a field.' You've got to have something better than that.


What do you hope happens? What do you want to happen with the case?

I'm hoping these forensics and things come back and not too much time has passed and they can bring out some evidence to start getting some leads and maybe get on a case they should have been on months ago.


This is pushing my limits. I mean, I lost my wife, in turn I lost my oldest daughter. She was only my stepdaughter and that allowed the biological father to come in and take her. I raised her for 10 years and he won't even let me see her.


It took my wife, my oldest daughter; so what I'm clinging to is my 2-year-old and my other two daughters.


Where are you living now?

I do still maintain the house there. I didn't move away from that house until a few days ago.


So, you've lived there this whole time?

It's been printed in the paper that I moved away from there right after Brandi went missing, and that's not true; I've lived there the whole time.
You sure?

Yeah, I've lived there, slept there. I haven't slept anywhere else until the beginning of this week.


I thought it was reported that you had moved into some sort of safe house or something?

I moved to a safer place, yes I did, but only because of the threats and psychoticism (sic) that came out of this.


Do the police know where you moved to?

They know where I'm at, they know where I stay. I brought them to the house. I showed them the house and everything else. They know where I'm at 24/7. I'm not going anywhere. In fact, they encouraged (the move).


If you could say just a few things to everyone in South Mississippi, what would you say?

That I hope everybody would let the facts speak for themselves and trust in the police to do their job, rather than form an opinion. I think that in the long run everything will surface and justice will be served.



http://www.sunherald.com/278/story/190337-p2.html

[Pauli]

Laurent speaks out on wife’s murder
By Dwayne Bremer
Nov 16, 2007, 17:59


http://208.62.60.4/40/news/uploads/leo-laurent_001.gif Leo Laurent Leo Laurent continued to maintain his innocence Thursday in the murder case of his wife Brandi, and said mounting public opinion that he had a role in her death is the result of "rumors" and "untruths."

"I had nothing to do with this," Leo said. "The people who know me know I would never hurt anybody."

Leo, 30, was allegedly the last person to see Brandi alive. Police reports show Leo admitting to having an argument with Brandi just before he said she left the couple's trailer on foot the night of Aug. 3.

She was not seen again until this past Saturday, when her decomposed body was found in a shallow grave along a utility pipeline cut-through, less than a mile from the couples home on Rd. 528, in Fenton.

Sheriff's department officials have been very tight-lipped this week regarding details of the case.

Chief Investigator Kenny Hurt said investigators have questioned several "persons of interest," in the case and more interviews will be forthcoming.
"We are working non-stop on this case," Hurt said.

One of those "persons of interest" is Leo Laurent, Sheriff Steve Garber said Thursday. However, Garber said being a "person of interest" does not necessarily mean Leo is a suspect.

"Anyone who has any information about the case is a person of interest," Garber said. "The husband was the last person to see her alive."

Leo has admitted to taking two polygraph tests and he claims to have passed both tests. Reports that he failed the test, he said, are false.
Sheriff's investigators have refused to comment on the tests and the results.

Leo and Brandi were married for about 10 years. During that time, the two had their share of ups and down, including cases of domestic violence, Leo said.

Leo admitted to one case which took place in Pearl River County in 2001.
Family members have said Brandi was treated for bites on her face and breast after the incident.

Leo said it was an argument started by Brandi, Leo said. He said despite being arrested, he was never convicted of the crime.

Court abstracts from Pearl River County show a not guilty disposition.
"It was an isolated incident," he said. "We had our ups and downs, but overall it was a normal relationship."

Leo said in the months leading up to Brandi's disappearance, the two had agreed to get a divorce, but never made it official because things were getting better.

"We were actually on an upswing," he said. "We were doing well, and trying to make it work."

Leo claims that on the night Brandi went missing, she was on a drug binge and she had been hanging around a group of what he called "bad" people in the weeks leading up to her disappearance.

"She needed help," Leo said. "I had scheduled appointments with Gulf Coast Mental Health, but she would not go. I did not approve of the drugs and the group of people she was associating with."

Family members have disagreed with the allegation of Brandi being on drugs.
"If she had a drug problem, it must have been a new thing," Brandi's mother Anita Moody said in September. "I know she had some problems, but nothing serious."

Leo said he has an idea of what happened to his wife, but he did not want to make it public at this time. He maintained that he is fully complying with investigators.

"Despite any fear I may have, I have given any names and numbers of the people I know were around Brandi," he said. "I don't care, anything to do with Brandi, they need to talk. Someone knows something."

Although the official cause of death has not been released, it has been reported that Brandi was strangled to death.

Hurt said he expects the pathology report any day, but the cause of death may not be released right away because of the ongoing investigation.

Leo said despite rumors to the contrary, he loved Brandi very much and the whole sequence of events has taken a tremendous toll on him.

"It has been impossible," he said. "Sometimes I want to give up, but I have a two-year-old that counts on me. I never stopped loving Brandi. Through the whole thing, I may have grown angry because I thought she walked out on us. I regret those feelings."

As of Friday, Brandi's body has not been released to the family. Hurt said there is still not a 100 percent identification on the body, although tattoos strongly indicate it is her.

Hurt said dental records will be used to positively confirm the identify.
Family members this week have announced a memorial fund for Brandi which is set up through Hancock Bank.

Moody said any donations can be given at the bank, but the must specify they are for Brandi Renee Hawkins Laurent. She said the donations will go towards funeral expenses and Brandi's children.

http://208.62.60.4/40/article_1687.shtml

[Pauli]

HUSBAND: DEPUTIES DRAGGING THEIR FEET

By RYAN LaFONTAINE



HANCOCK COUNTY --

Leo Laurent said the Hancock County Sheriff's Department's lackluster investigation could let his wife's killer off the hook.

The body of his 29-year-old wife, Brandi, was found buried last week in a shallow grave about a mile from their home.


"I'm hoping these forensics and things come back and not too much time has passed and they can bring out some evidence to start getting some leads and maybe get on a case they should have been on months ago," Laurent said.


Investigators have listed Laurent as a "person of interest" in the case, but he insists he's not a suspect.


"See, because they keep putting 'person of interest' by my name, people are taking that as I'm a suspect. I'm not a suspect," he said.


In aninterview with the Sun Herald on Thursday, Laurent, 30, talked for nearly two hours about the investigation into his wife's murder, who may have wanted her dead and what happened the night she disappeared from their mobile home off Road 528 near Kiln.


The Sun Herald learned this week the lead investigator on the case, longtime Detective Rita Blaize-Watson, has been replaced by Andre Fizer.
"For whatever reason, they're changing the investigator in the middle of the case," Laurent said. "I don't see why they're doing that. I think they're going to be wasting more of our time doing that, trying to catch a new investigator up on the case.


"Rita has been there since Day 1, she knows everything that's going on with the case and now they're changing midstream, which makes absolutely no sense in an investigation this important."


Chief Investigator Kenny Hurt had little to say about the change.
"That's nobody's business but mine, but she is still going to be working with him if he needs her help," Hurt said.


The Hancock Sheriff's Department had little news to report on the case Thursday and Friday, and Laurent said the department is dragging its feet.
The Sheriff's Department says it searched for Brandi several times in the three months she was missing, even combing the area near the power line cut-through where her body was eventually found. It took Texas-based Equusearch volunteers and a Harrison County deputy just 10 minutes to do what Hancock authoritiescould not - find Brandi.


Laurent said vital evidence may have been lost during that time and his wife's killer may never see the inside of a prison cell because of it.


"It infuriates me that nothing was done sooner. It took them almost a month to take the case seriously," Laurent said. "Hancock County admitted to being out there, two search teams admitted to being out there, so why wasn't this body found? You can't drive by a decaying body and not smell it."

Weeks ago investigators tagged Laurent as a "person of interest" in his wife's slaying. But Laurent said being a person of interest and the primary suspect are two totally different things.


"The public doesn't understand what that means; a person of interest is anybody who knew Brandi or anybody who knows anything about the case," he said. "I'm not a suspect. But that's what people are seeing me as. But I'm not a suspect; I had nothing to do (with it)."


Laurent said a tight-lipped Sheriff's Department and a lack of hard facts in the case have prompted an entire community to draw its own conclusions about what happened to his wife, who was reported missing Aug. 3.


"Because the answers are being surfaced so slowly it forces people to form their own opinions," he said between sips of a 20-ounce Sunkist soda.


He said he has not hired an attorney, because innocent people don't need lawyers.


"I haven't gotten an attorney, because I don't need one," he said. "I've worked with law enforcement all this time, with no attorney, because I had nothing to do with it. I believe that if I had nothing to do with it - nothing to hide - then what do I need an attorney for?"


During the interview Laurent said he wishes he would have stopped his wife from walking out the door on the night she disappeared. He also talked about the ups and downs of their marriage, his wife's battle with drugs, his own experiment with cocaine, and Brandi's family.


To read a transcript of Leo Laurent's interview with the Sun Herald, please see A-3.



http://www.sunherald.com/278/story/190317.html

[Pauli]

Photo gallery

http://www.sunherald.com/414/gallery/190533-a190490-t3.html

[Pauli]

No arrests for Laurent case

By MICHAEL NEWSOM
SUN HERALD


A week after a volunteer search group found the body of Brandi Laurent, investigators from the Hancock County Sheriff's Department said Saturday they have made no arrests. Laurent's husband, Leo Laurent, proclaimed his innocence in media interviews last week.


In other South Mississippi crime news for the week:


• Two large drug sweeps made headlines. Gulfport Police announced Wednesday they had arrested 38 people, mostly drug dealers, in operations early this week. The next day Biloxi Police arrested 17 on drug charges in a sweep that targeted crack dealers.


• Jason Foxworth, 27, of Gulfport was found guilty of capital murder and sentenced Friday to life without parole in the slaying of 42-year-old Larry Darnell Turner during a robbery attempt in July 2005.


• A Gulfport man was charged with aggravated assault after a shooting Thursday that left one man with minor injuries. Kevin Holliday, 30, was arrested after a shooting in the 3600 block of D Avenue. The victim's wounds did not require hospitalization.


• Gulfport police arrested Courtney Deon Sparkman after Allen Toyota reported a 2006 Chevrolet TrailBlazer had been stolen off the lot following a break-in. The alleged thief had entered and stolen the keys. Sparkman had been arrested on an unrelated charge the same day the vehicle was reported stolen.





http://www.sunherald.com/201/story/191073.html

[Pauli]

Authorities identify body as Brandi Hawkins Laurent

By J.R. WELSH


HANCOCK COUNTY --

Authorities have positively identified a body found in a country field more than a week ago as Brandi Hawkins Laurent, who had been missing from her home near Kiln since August.

Kenny Hurt, chief investigator for the Hancock County Sheriff's Department, said this afternoon that Laurent's body was identified through dental records. She had been reported missing by her husband, Leo Laurent, who said she disappeared from their home at midnight Aug. 3.


Brandi Laurent, 29, was the mother of two girls. Her body was found by searchers on horseback in a power line cut-through field on Aug. 10, about a mile from her home. The body had initially been in a shallow grave, but reportedly was unearthed by animals.


Earlier, Hurt had confirmed that the body bore tattoos similar to those Laurent had. However, that identification had been unofficial without medical evidence.


"The dental records did positively identify her," Hurt said.
An autopsy was performed on Laurent's body Nov. 11, but no results have been made public. Sources close to the case said earlier that according to initial indications, Laurent had been strangled.


No arrests have been made, and the sheriff's department is releasing little information. The investigation continues.



http://www.sunherald.com/news/breaking_news/story/192173.html

[Pauli]

Remains positively identified
By Jeremy Pittari
Item Staff Writer
PICAYUNE — Dental records have positively identified the body found during a search for a missing woman earlier this month as that of Brandi Hawkins Laurent.

Hancock County Sheriff’s Department Investigator Kenny Hurt said dental records have positively identified Laurent’s body, which was found by Equusearch on Nov. 10, in a shallow grave on a power line right-of-way off Fenton Dedeaux Road.

Laurent was reported missing by her husband, Leo Laurent, on Aug. 3, when he told deputies that she walked off without her purse, cell phone or keys after an argument the couple had. Friends involved in the search for Laurent’s body on Nov. 10, mentioned the couple may have been having marital difficulties, however an e-mail by Leo Laurent to the Picayune Item stated there were no marital difficulties outside of normal ones.

The 29 year-old mother of two’s apparent disappearance was very uncharacteristic, friends said.

Laurent’s body was found less than a mile from the home the couple was staying in when she disappeared.

Initially her body was unofficially identified by tattoos, but Monday dental records confirmed the body is Brandi Laurent’s.

An autopsy has been conducted on the body but the Hancock County Sheriff’s Department is not releasing the results to the media since the case is being handled as a murder investigation, Hurt said.

“As of right now we have no intention of releasing a cause of death,” Hurt said.

Family members will have access to the report, however.

No charges have been filed so far on a suspect, but investigators are working on leads and collecting evidence, Hurt said.

With the conclusion of the autopsy Laurent’s body has been released to her family so family members can begin to make funeral arrangements.

http://www.picayuneitem.com/local/local_story_324123319.html

[Pauli]

Laurent's body released

Family plans service, benefit

By J.R. WELSH

HANCOCK COUNTY --Family members and friends intend to hold a memorial service and benefit for Brandi Hawkins Laurent, the murder victim whose body has now been released to her husband.

Hancock County Coroner Norma Stiglet said Laurent's remains have been released to Leo Laurent, Brandi Laurent's husband of 10 years. The body of the 29-year-old mother of two was found Nov. 10 in a rural field in the Fenton community, near Kiln.


Also Tuesday, Stiglet said no autopsy results have yet been returned in the case.


She said Laurent's remains are at Edmond Fahey Funeral Home in Bay St. Louis, and Leo Laurent is expected to make funeral arrangements.


Brandi Laurent had been listed as a missing person since her husband told authorities she disappeared from their home, leaving on foot with no wallet, keys or cell phone at midnight Aug. 3. The case was reclassified a murder after horseback searchers found her body at a shallow grave site about a mile from a trailer park where the couple lived at the time of Laurent's disappearance.


Anita Moody, Brandi Laurent's mother, traveled to Hancock County this week from her home in Alabama to await the release of the body. She said family members were meeting Monday to discuss plans.


Although arrangements are still tentative, Moody said a benefit will be held to help pay for funeral expenses and services. Cash raised also will be donated for Laurent's daughters, ages 2 and 12. In addition, donations can be made to the Brandi Renee Laurent Fund at any Hancock Bank.


"We will be having a memorial service," Moody said. "If they'll let us, it will probably be held at the place where they found her."


Laurent's body was discovered in a remote powerline cut-through field near the end of Road 528, off Fenton-Dedeaux Road. An investigation by the Hancock County Sheriff's Department is continuing.



http://www.sunherald.com/278/story/194030.html

[texasgal]

Thrilled they finally charged Leo.

http://www.sunherald.com/278/story/290848.html

http://www.sunherald.com/185/story/289726.html

He looks good in yellow .....

[Audie]

Whatever happened to Brandi? Her body was released to Leo. Was there a funeral service? Did he have her creamated?

[Grande]

Whatever happened to Brandi? Her body was released to Leo. Was there a funeral service? Did he have her creamated?

I don't recall at this point, I believe she had a formal burial.

[Faith]

I don't recall at this point, I believe she had a formal burial.

Brandi's body was turned over to her family. She was cremated. Leo didn't show up for the service. I am very thankful they charged him with her murder as quickly as they did.

[Breezy]

Here are links to a few older updates that aren't posted here:

Laurent Pleads Guilty to Filing False Police Report About Attempt On His Life
http://pd.sunherald.com/sp?eId=17&ecId=4756313&rNum=3&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.sunherald.com%2F431%2Fstory%2 F355993.html

Laurent Pleads Guilty In Hoax case:
http://pd.sunherald.com/sp?eId=17&ecId=4756313&rNum=2&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.sunherald.com%2F431%2Fstory%2 F356544.html

[Breezy]

Investigator: Laurent Loaded Wife In Garbage Can, Buried Her
http://pd.sunherald.com/sp?eId=17&ecId=4756313&rNum=1&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.sunherald.com%2F431%2Fstory%2 F358253.html

By J.R. WELSH
jrwelsh@sunherald.com


KILN --A sheriff's investigator testified Friday that Leo Laurent admitted to loading his deceased wife into a garbage can, driving into the woods and burying her body last August, while the couple's 2-year-old daughter was in the car.

During a Justice Court preliminary hearing, the graphic testimony by Hancock County Sheriff's Investigator Andre Fizer stunned a courtroom audience that included family and friends of Brandi Hawkins Laurent. The body of the 29-year-old mother of two was found in the countryside in November after she had been missing more than three months.

Fizer said Leo Laurent, 30, gave an oral statement to authorities in early January when he was in the Pearl River County Jail in an unrelated case. In that interview, he reportedly said his wife had died at their home after they argued and she had been using drugs. Laurent told officials he saw Brandi Laurent bleeding from the nose and mouth, and then, "she passed out in the utility room" of their trailer, Fizer said.

He said Laurent then admitted to loading his wife's body into a large garbage can with wheels and putting the can in his Ford Explorer. He then placed their daughter Peyton in the car, drove through the darkness to a clearing in a field about a mile away, and buried Brandi Laurent in a hole, Fizer said.

However, Fizer added that during another interview, Laurent told officials his wife had pulled a pistol and the weapon discharged when they tussled over it, sending a bullet under her breast and through her back. An autopsy did show signs of damage to the woman's ribs, but Brandi Laurent actually died after being strangled, Fizer said.

Other grisly details emerged during the hearing in a case that has riveted Hancock County since Laurent first reported that his wife disappeared into the night on Aug. 3 from their trailer home in the Fenton community.

The hearing concluded when Justice Court Judge Ricky Adam bound the case over to a grand jury. If indicted, Laurent will stand trial for murder. His attorney, Brian Alexander, said he intends to maintain his client's innocence. Adam also refused to lower a $1 million bond he had previously set for Laurent.

Read more details on Friday's testimony and background on this case in Saturday's Sun Herald.

[spunkylubbock]

Has a date been set for the trial to start?

[Faith]

This link is to many articles in Brandi's case.

http://www.sunherald.com/431/index.html

[Faith]

Brandi Hawkins-Laurent (29) was strangled to death by her husband and buried in a shallow grave
Filed Under: Asphyxiation
Published: Jun 01, 2008 @ 12:00 AM

Months of uncertainty in a high-profile murder case ended Wednesday when Leo Laurent was booked for the murder of his wife, with authorities saying they had evidence strong enough to put him away for good.

"I feel I can take 11 morons who can''t even read and write, and I can convince them" of Laurent''s guilt, said Kenny Hurt, chief investigator for the Hancock County Sheriff''s Department.

Laurent, 30, is charged with killing 29-year-old Brandi Hawkins Laurent. She had been officially listed as a missing person since August until her body was discovered Nov. 10 at a crude, remote gravesite in the Fenton community.

If Laurent is convicted, the murder charge could bring life in prison. He was also charged with three misdemeanor counts for what Waveland police said was a bogus assassination attempt he reported on his own life last month.

Laurent had told deputies his wife left their rural home at midnight Aug. 3 after they''d argued. In a written statement, he said she had been using drugs and left home with no money, phone or transportation, wearing a shirt, flip-flops and shorts.

Throughout the case, Laurent has insisted his wife was a drug user who was killed by drug dealers she could not pay. He recently told the Sun Herald he was conducting an independent hunt for the killers.

"Everything he said was lies," Hurt said Wednesday.

The Laurents had two daughters, ages 12 and 2. According to statements Laurent made to reporters, the 2-year-old was at home the night Brandi Laurent was last known to have been alive at the couple''s FEMA trailer off Fenton-Dedeaux Road. That would place the child at the murder scene.

"The murder happened in Fenton at the residence," Hancock County Sheriff Steve Garber said after Laurent was booked.

Laurent has two daughters by a previous marriage who live with grandparents. Garber said the 2-year-old also is in safe custody. The 12-year-old lives with her natural father.

Before he was booked with murder, Laurent had already been jailed in Pearl River County on a warrant issued in connection with an unrelated embezzlement case. He is scheduled to appear Friday in Justice Court in Kiln on the murder charge. The case then goes to a grand jury, Garber said.

The murder case heated up this week when investigators took Laurent from the jail to the couple''s home in Fenton on Monday. Hurt said that trip had been "very helpful" in developing charges.

Although they said Laurent had been cooperating with their investigation, authorities declined to say whether he has given a confession. Many other facts of the case also remain unknown to the public.

Andre Fizer, the case''s lead investigator, would only say Wednesday, "The investigation came to a point where an arrest could be made."

Also Wednesday, Waveland Police Chief James Varnell charged Laurent with illegally possessing a firearm, discharging a weapon in the city limits, and filing a false police report. On Dec. 7, Laurent had told police two black men tried to shoot him as he walked on the beach.

Varnell said tests concluded Laurent had fired the shot himself. At the time, Laurent also told officers if they could catch his attempted killers, they could also solve his wife''s murder.

That now appears to be accurate, the police chief said: "We did find out who fired the shot at Mr. Laurent, and we did solve two cases at once."
Related Article(s): ''Everything he said was lies'', Leo Laurent Murder Case Grand Jury Bound
http://www.mydeathspace.com/article/2008/06/01/Brandi_Hawkins_Laurent_(29)_was_strangled_to_death _by_her_husband_and_buried_in_a_shallow_grave

[Breezy]

Here is a link to another (February) report hat isn't listed here...

http://www.wlox.com/Global/story.asp?S=7845670&nav=6DJI

Leo Laurent Murder Case Grand Jury Bound
Posted: Feb 8, 2008 05:09 PM CST
Updated: Feb 8, 2008 05:52 PM CST

The former youth soccer coach accused of killing his wife was back in court in Hancock County on Friday for a preliminary hearing on a murder charge.

Leo Laurent was brought through the back door of justice court wearing chains and cuffs, jail clothes and a bullet proof vest.

He's accused of killing his wife, 29-year-old Brandy Hawkins Laurent, whose body was found in a shallow grave last November, not far from the couple's home in the Fenton community.

Investigator Andre Fizer testified that Laurent told some seven different versions of what happened the night his wife died. Fizer says the autopsy found Brandi Laurent was strangled and the case will show her husband was the killer.

But one version of Laurent's alibi raises questions about a gunshot. He claims the two argued in their trailer home, they tussled over a handgun and she was accidentally shot. He admits to panicking, then burying her body in a nearby woods.

Investigators say there were traces of blood found at the trailer, along with a bullet hole through an inside wall.

That gunshot could well be the basis for Leo Laurent's defense.

"I think it's interesting that they don't believe his statement that she somehow died by gunshot, but they still used it to implicate him and sign an affidavit for her strangulation. So, there's a bunch of inconsistencies they have," said Laurent's court appointed attorney, Brian Alexander.

The sheriff says the case for the prosecution is solid.

"I'm just glad he did feel some remorse to come and start talking about the case. You know I'm glad the case is where it's at today. It's going to the grand jury. We feel very confident from there. We're going to put him in jail for a long, long time for murder," said Sheriff Steve Garber.

"It was an up and down case. And a lot of it was in the media and a lot of other stuff on the Internet and all. Really, it hurt the case somewhat because we had to go through all this evidence. Everything that come in, we had to weed through it," said Garber.

Brandi Laurent's mother was among the victim's friends and family in court Friday. An emotional Anita Moody had no comment about the testimony.

Leo Laurent is being held in the Pearl River County jail. His attorney asked that the defendant's one million dollar bond be lowered to a more reasonable $100,000. Judge Ricky Adam denied that request.

"Look, a death is a death. And that's an important thing. But a million dollars? This is not O.J. Simpson," said defense attorney Alexander.

He says his client "absolutely" maintains his innocence to the murder charge.

In making the motion for the lower bond, Alexander said Laurent was not a flight risk. He also told the court the defendant is being "picked on" in the Pearl River County jail.

[Breezy]

Sorry, I just realized the one above is listed in the Links Only section.

[Audie]

Any updates on sleezo's trial date?

[Breezy]

No, we still haven't heard anything new.

I haven't talked to Brandi's mom in a long time either. The last that I heard, which was several weeks ago, Leo's parents still have Peyton and Brandi's family still has not been able to see her.

They went to court just after Leo was charged with Brandi's murder and gained permanent custody of her. This was done very quickly and without the knowledge of Brandi's family.

We have been told by several people that Peyton is doing great and is very healthy and happy, tho.

For those who never read Brandi's blog, this one was written just two days before Brandi was murdered.
http://blog.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendID=129018412&blogID=295307668

[Breezy]

SEA COAST ECHO NEWS
by Dwayne Bremer
Sat. June 7, 2008

Laurent has December court date in Pearl River

Accused murderer Leo Lucas Laurent is scheduled to appear in Pearl River County Circuit Court on Dec 2 to answer to an embezzlement charge and Hancock County Investigators said Thursday they are in the process of completing the case file on Laurent's murder charge.

Laurent, who is currently housed in Pearl County Jail, appeared in the Pearl River Circuit Court on May 20. Court officials said his case was preset for trial on Dec 2.

The embezzlement charge stems from Laurents employment at the CVS Pharmacy in Picayune in 2006. He was originally arrested on that charge on Dec. 6, 2006.

Cheif Investigator Kenny Hurt said Thursday, investigators are putting the final touches on the case file and he expects it to be turned over to the district attys office soon. Once the case file is turned over, the district attys office will present the case to the Grand Jury.
The Grand Jury meets in private several times a year. If the Grand Jury returns a "true bill," also called an indictment, then Laurent will be given an arraignment date.
The arraignment consists of a guilty or not guilty plea: setting a trial date and appointing an attorney.

Local attorney Brian Alexander represented Laurent in the preliminary hearing in Justice Court and it is expected he will continue to represent him.

[Faith]

Why bother with a trial? :madranting94dp:

I do not think it's right Brandi's family cannot see Peyton. They haven't done anything wrong. What a shame to have to take them to court for visitation rights.

[Breezy]

Today made one year ago that Brandi's life was taken.

A group of Brandi friends and co -workers gathered together today at the location where her body was found. This is the only place that family and friends have to gather in honor of Brandi. We planted beautiful trees and made a small garden. Andrea made a plaque and placed here in memory of Brandi.

A once horrible place to visit has now become a beautiful place for us all to gather.

[Faith]

:1222423::1222423::1222423:

[Breezy]

http://208.62.60.4/40/article_2689.shtml

Laurent gets day in court
By DWAYNE BREMER
Nov 15, 2008, 06:20

Leo Lucas Laurent will appear in circuit court in Pearl River County Tuesday to answer to accusations of embezzlement.
The charge which is not related pending murder charges in which Laurent is accused of killing his wife Brandi Hawkins Laurent, at their Fenton home last August.
Pearl River County Circuit Clerk Vicki Hariel said Thursday, Laurent will appear for "docket call" on Nov. 18 and his trial is set for Dec. 3.
In Pearl River County, "docket call" is a hearing in front of a circuit court judge where the defendant announces his intentions about the case, Hariel said.
Laurent will have the option of pleading guilty or having a trial. He will be represented by Hattiesburg attorney Casey Hightower.
The embezzlement case stems from Laurent's arrest in Picayune on Dec. 6, 2006. He is accused of stealing money from the CVS Pharmacy. Laurent's arrest for the charge in January precipitated a chain of events which eventually led him to be charged with the murder of his wife on Aug. 3, 2007. On Dec. 20, Laurent missed a mandatory court hearing in Pearl River County for the embezzlement charge. Warrants were issued and Laurent was on the lam for 13 days before he turned himself in on Jan. 2.
While in jail, Laurent asked to personally speak with Hancock County Sheriff Steve Garber.
Garber and investigators traveled to the Pearl River County Jail, where Laurent gave several statements about his involvement in Brandi's death.
Laurent and investigators then went to the couple's trailer at the Pecan Park trailer park in Fenton, where investigators said Laurent mapped out the scene. He also gave varying explanations of what happened on the night of Aug. 3, 2007, investigators said at a preliminary hearing in February.
In the first story, Laurent told officers he and Brandi had gotten into an argument and as he was returning from the kitchen, Brandi appeared from the bedroom with blood around her nose and mouth. Leo said she then fell down and passed away in the hallway, investigator Andre' Fizer said.
The second story Leo described an accidental shooting in which the couple was "tussling" over a gun and Brandi was shot underneath her breast, Fizer said. Although the two stories differed, both stories of what happened after that were very similar, Fizer said.
"At that time, he decided he wanted to move the body," Fizer said. "He said that she was a little heavy to carry, so he got a trash can from outside the residence that has wheels on it. He loaded her body in the trash can, brought it down the back steps of the residence and loaded it in his vehicle."
Fizer said Leo then loaded his two-year-old daughter Peyton into the car seat and drove off with his wife's body in the back. After driving a short distance down the road, he found a hole and buried her in it, Fizer said.
Brandi's body was not found until 100 days later when friends and volunteers from a Texas search group located her remains about a half-mile from the couple's home. Leo was officially charged with murder on Jan. 9, 2008.
He has been jailed ever since, under a $1 million bond. Hariel said she is hopeful the Pearl River case will be resolved, but she did not know if the state will ask to have the case set aside until after the murder trial.

[Breezy]

http://www.sunherald.com/pageone/story/972255.html

One year later, no closure in killing
By J.R. WELSH - jrwelsh@sunherald.com

HANCOCK COUNTY -- The wait for justice, and answers, has been long and arduous for friends and family of murder victim Brandi Hawkins Laurent, the young mother of two whose body was found in a remote, shallow grave a year ago.

More than 10 months after her husband, Leo Laurent, was charged with strangling and then burying her as their 2-year-old daughter rode along in the car, there has been no formal grand jury indictment. Leo Laurent, 31, remains in the Pearl River County Jail on a murder charge under $1 million bond.

However, there will be no trial until a grand jury issues an indictment. The 29-year-old victim's family and a circle of close friends - some of whom had mounted their own exhaustive search for Brandi Laurent in the months before her body was found - are growing weary.

"Nov. 10 was a really hard day - a long day," said Anita Moody, Brandi Laurent's mother.

That was the one-year anniversary of the day her daughter's decomposed body was found by searchers on horseback in a field in the Fenton community, outside Kiln. Animals had partially unearthed the young woman's remains scarcely a mile from the FEMA trailer where she had lived with Leo Laurent.

He had reported his wife of 10 years missing the preceding August, telling deputies she walked out of their home after being on a drug binge, with no car keys or cell phone, no money, and wearing only shorts, a top and flip-flops. Laurent was charged with her murder in January.

Moody said she received a call from the District Attorney's Office in late September or November. "But since then, I haven't heard a thing," she said.

"There's no information out there. We're waiting to hear something," said Andrea Dominach, a childhood friend who attended Hancock County public schools with Brandi Laurent and had helped conduct a relentless search for her. "There's no news."

Chris Fisher, the prosecuting assistant district attorney in Hancock County, said Friday the wheels of justice are still rolling. While declining to discuss specifics, he indicated the case is headed toward a grand jury, if not already there.

"In a case like this, there's a back and forth with the Sheriff's Department," Fisher said. "We recently retrieved the case from the Sheriff's Department. We've gotten the case file turned in. If there's more investigation needed, we will request that."

What Fisher did not mention is that as the sole full-time prosecutor in Hancock County, he carries a heavy work load that currently includes at least four murder cases. One of those cases alone involves five defendants.

http://www.sunherald.com/pageone/story/972255-p2.html
Leo Laurent, before his arrest, had widely proclaimed his innocence and accused investigators of dragging their feet in a search for his wife's killer. At one point he told the Sun Herald his wife had been abducted by drug dealers she owed money, and said he was conducting his own search for the killers.

The case has been widely followed on the Internet. Hundreds of Web postings were made by readers across the country, some of whom called themselves "Brandi's Army." Many had never actually known the victim.

But a small, loyal group of Brandi Laurent's friends who knew her well have maintained a core of pressure in the case. They mounted their own searches long before her body was found, and participated in the Texas EquuSearch effort that finally located her body three months after she disappeared.

There has been some movement in Pearl River County, where Leo Laurent was charged with embezzlement before being arrested for murder. A judge there ordered him jailed in January after Laurent missed a court date in his embezzlement case. After being in jail, Laurent gave statements to Hancock County Sheriff's deputies and went with them to the trailer where his wife died.

Testimony in his Justice Court appearance revealed Laurent also admitted to loading his wife's body in a trash can with wheels, driving her in his SUV into the countryside and burying her. He told deputies the couple's 2-year-old daughter, Peyton, had ridden in the car with him. He maintained his wife had collapsed and died after bleeding from the mouth and nose.

A December trial date has been set in the Pearl River County embezzlement case. "As far as we're concerned, he's still scheduled for trial on Dec. 3," Pearl River County District Attorney Hal Kittrell said.

So far, Brandi Laurent's friends and family have attended every court hearing in the murder case, wearing green lapel pins. Dominach said that will likely continue.

"We still talk," she said. "But for a while, there have been no updates or anything. You just have to hear things through the grapevine."

"It's frustrating," Brandi Laurent's mother said, "but I just deal with it on a daily basis."

[grammybears]

I have been wondering what was going on with this case. Lets hope that things are still on tract and there won't be a lot of delays.
My prayers go out to the family and friends of Brandi

[Faith]

Justice For Brandi :1222423:

[Breezy]

http://208.62.60.4/40/article_2725.shtml

Laurent pleads guilty in P.R. case

On Monday, murder suspect Leo Lucas Laurent pled guilty to unrelated embezzlement charges in Pearl River County Circuit Court.
The case was scheduled for trial on Dec. 3.
It stems from Laurent's arrest in Picayune on Dec. 6, 2006. He is accused of stealing money from the CVS Pharmacy.
Laurent's arrest for the charge in January precipitated a chain of events which eventually led him to be charged with the murder of his wife Brandi on Aug. 3, 2007.
Laurent was originally considered a "person of interest" in Brandi's murder, but he was not arrested until months later.
Brandi was reported missing by Leo on Aug. 4, 2007, but her body was not discovered for another 100 days.
During that time, Leo spoke freely with the media about the case and even taunted the sheriff's department saying investigators were "dragging their feet."
On Dec. 20, Laurent missed a mandatory court hearing in Pearl River County for the embezzlement charge. Warrants were issued and Laurent was on the lam for 13 days before he turned himself in on Jan. 2.
While on the run, Leo emailed a friend and chronicled his feelings.
"I must live the most unbelievable life anyone will have the pleasure of re-telling one day," Laurent said in the email.
He claimed he had solved Brandi's murder and that he was going to make one last "planned attempt."
"I have turned up names connected to the Brandi case," he said. "I believe I almost have figured out the whole story from when she walked out the door. Three people involved. I am going to try to negotiate. If they don't, I guess the story dies with me. I can't bargain inside of jail."
Once in jail, Laurent asked to personally speak with Hancock County Sheriff Steve Garber.
Garber and investigators traveled to the Pearl River County Jail, where Laurent gave several statements about his involvement in Brandi's death.
Laurent and investigators then revisited the couple's trailer at the Pecan Park trailer park in Fenton.
He was officially charged with murder on Jan. 9.
Pearl River County Circuit Clerk Vicki Hariel said Tuesday sentencing for the embezzlement charge will be next Monday in front of Circuit Court Judge Michael Eubanks.
Hariel said there are no plea bargains in Pearl River County. Instead, the judge will review a "pre-sentencing" report to determine what sentence to impose.
The maximum penalty for embezzlement is 10 years in prison and a $25,000 fine.
The murder case is still awaiting presentation to the Hancock County Grand Jury. Laurent was bound to the grand jury in February at a hearing in front of Justice Court Judge Ricky Adam. He has remained in custody under a $1 million bond at the Pearl River County Jail.
Bay St. Louis Attorney Brian Alexander represents Laurent in the murder charge.
Alexander said Tuesday he keeps in contact with Laurent on a weekly basis and he is waiting to see if there will be an indictment.
"We really can't take a look at any of the discovery unless there is an indictment," Alexander said. "We believe there will be some evidence come out which will exonerate him."
Assistant District Attorney Chris Fisher said last week he recently received the case file from the sheriff's department and he expects to present the case to the grand jury soon.
Alexander said he is not surprised by the delay.
"It usually takes a while for the crime lab to return the evidence," Alexander said.
Earlier this year, Leo pled guilty in Waveland municipal court to filing a false police report in which he staged a shooting event, claiming "Brandi's killers" were trying to kill him.
He was ordered to pay $5,600 in fines for those charges.
He also has pending charges of embezzlement and tampering with evidence in connection with his employment at a Diamondhead restaurant.

[Faith]

Tuesday, Jan. 20, 2009
Comments (0) |
Laurent indicted in murder of wife’s 2007 death

http://media.sunherald.com/smedia/2008/01/09/13/690-0110_laurent_arrest_p1.embedded.prod_affiliate.77. jpg
Leo Laurent in escorted into the Hancock County booking facility. Laurent was indicted Tuesday in the death of his wife, Brandi Hawkins Laurent.


BAY ST. LOUIS — A long-running murder case inched closer to trial this morning when an indictment was issued against Leo Laurent, charged with killing his wife in 2007.

Laurent, 31, has been in jail for more than a year in the death of Brandi Hawkins Laurent. The 29-year-old mother of two died in August 2007.

Laurent had told Hancock County deputies his wife disappeared without a trace from their home in the rural Fenton community after the two argued. On Nov. 10, 2007, her body was found by horseback searchers at a crude grave site in the countryside about a mile from their home.


Laurent was arrested in the case last January, but had not yet been indicted for murder. Tuesday’s indictment was served on his attorney, Bran Alexander, said Hancock County Circuit Court Clerk Karen Ladner Ruhr.

The indictment will lead to a murder trial, but no date has yet been set. Laurent already has pleaded guilty in an unrelated embezzlement case in Pearl River County and remains in custody. Bond in the murder case previously was set at $1 million.

Read more about this story in Wednesday’s Sun Herald.

http://www.sunherald.com/291/story/1080877.html

[Pauli]

Finally, it's about time...

[Breezy]

http://zerogossip.com/2009/01/21/leo-laurent-one-step-closer-to-trial.aspx

Leo Laurent One Step Closer To Trial
The very first missing person story I followed was the tragic case of Brandi Laurent in Kiln, Mississippi. What originally appeared as a woman who fled a bad marriage twisted and turned to a horrible case of murder, betrayal and a husband who seemed to thrive on the media coverage. Sea Coast Echo reporter Dwayne Bremer reported today a grand jury has indicted Leo Laurent in Brandi's murder. For whatever reason, Leo spoke with me several times prior to his arrest telling stories of being followed by the Secret Service, being shot at, and about his outstanding community service. It turns out, very little of what he said was true but it did provide an inside look into the mind of an alleged killer. A year ago I wrote about my experiences with Leo and the heartwrenching story of Brandi, her children, family and friends. With an arraignment date of February 19, this sad story's end is about to hopefully begin.

Brandi Laurent Archive
Where is Brandi Laurent?
Brandi Laurent: Through A Blogger's Eye Part 1
Brandi Laurent: Through A Blogger's Eye Part 2
Brandi Laurent: Through A Blogger's Eye Part 3
Brandi Laurent: Through A Blogger's Eye Part 4

[Breezy]

http://208.62.60.4/40/article_2884.shtml

Laurent indicted in wife’s murder
By Dwayne Bremer
Jan 21, 2009, 08:48

Leo Lucas Laurent has been indicted by a Hancock County Grand Jury for allegedly murdering his wife Brandi on Aug. 3, 2007.
The indictment was made public Tuesday, 373 days after Laurent was officially charged with murder on Jan. 12, 2008.
Leo Laurent, 31, is a former youth soccer coach and Hancock County native.
He is currently in the custody of the Mississippi Department of Corrections attending the Regimented Inmate Discipline (RID) Program for an unrelated embezzlement conviction in Pearl River County.
Leo reported his wife Brandi Hawkins Laurent missing on the morning of Aug. 4, 2007.
About three months later, her body was discovered in a shallow grave a half-mile from the couple's home at the Pecan Park trailer park in Fenton.
After months of investigation and speculation, Laurent was officially charged with murder on Jan. 12, 2008.
During a preliminary hearing last February, police said Laurent gave differing statements indicating he was involved in Brandi's death.
Investigator André Fizer testified that Laurent described an argument the couple had at their home on the evening of Aug. 3, 2007, which ended in Brandi being shot. Fizer testified that Laurent said he then put Brandi's body in a garbage can and drove her down the road where he dug the hole and buried her.
The case was bound over to the grand jury by Justice Court Judge Ricky Adam and Laurent's bond was set at $1 million. He has remained in jail ever since.
Fizer also testified in front of the grand jury, the indictment said.
Last December, Laurent pled guilty to the embezzlement charge in Pearl River County--which stemmed from an unrelated event in 2006.
He was sentenced to the RID program for that charge.The indictment for murder is the first step in the circuit court process. When a case is sent to the grand jury, the grand jury meets in private to discuss the merits of the case. If the grand jury decides there is enough evidence for a trial, an indictment or "true bill" is returned.
Once the circuit clerk's office receives the indictment, an arraignment date is set and the discovery phase of the case begins.
Laurent's arraignment is tentatively set for Feb. 19, according to Laurent''s attorney Brian Alexander.
Alexander said Tuesday that he is basically in a "wait and see" mode right now.
"It's all part of the process," Alexander said of the indictment. "We're not sure right now which direction the prosecution is taking."
At the arraignment hearing, Laurent will have the option of pleading guilty or not guilty. If he pleads not guilty, then a trial date will be set.
Assistant District Attorney Chris Fisher declined to comment about the case Tuesday.

[Breezy]

http://www.sunherald.com/local/story/1081786.html

Laurent indicted
Brandi Laurent’s body found in field in 2007
By J.R. WELSH - jrwelsh@sunherald.com

BAY ST. LOUIS — The long-standing murder case of Brandi Hawkins Laurent moved closer to the trial stage Tuesday when the victim’s husband was indicted by a grand jury.

Grand jurors handed down a murder indictment against Leo Laurent, 31, charging that he killed his wife on or about Aug. 3, 2007. The death of Brandi Laurent, the 29-year-old mother of two young children, led to a controversial case that sparked national interest, a long investigation, hundreds of Internet postings and dozens of news accounts.

Leo Laurent originally reported his wife missing, telling deputies she had left their rural home at midnight with no car, cell phone or identification, after the couple argued. Her body was found partially buried in November 2007.


Laurent held to his story throughout an instigation, giving multiple interviews to newspaper and television reporters. He maintained that his wife was killed by drug dealers to whom she owed money.

The indictment was returned more than a year after Laurent was arrested in the murder. In early 2008, he told investigators he did not kill his wife, but admitted to placing her body in a wheeled garbage can, driving to a remote Hancock County field, and burying the young woman. He also said the couple’s 2-year-old daughter was in the car at the time.

Laurent, who was a longtime youth soccer coach, is a native of Bay St. Louis and graduate of St. Stanislaus College. After his wife remained missing for about four months, her body was found by a horseback search party in a partial grave located east of Kiln in a field about a mile from the couple’s FEMA trailer.

Assistant District Attorney Chris Fisher said that the next step in the case would be an arraignment for Laurent. No date has yet been set, Fisher said.

Brandi Laurent’s disappearance began a strange sequence of events that continued until her husband’s arrest. A mysterious Internet posting appeared on the woman’s My-Space page, allegedly written by the victim and claiming she had left the state with another man. Leo Laurent then made Internet postings of his own, proclaiming his innocence.

Other Internet sites took up the case, attracting hundreds of postings from people around the country. At one point, Leo Laurent went on an interview spree with local media, criticizing sheriff’s investigators and their handling of the case.

Later, Laurent staged an attack on his own life, claiming he had been fired upon by two men on the beach in Waveland. He later pleaded guilty to filing a false police report in that case.

During an initial court appearance in the murder case, one investigator testified that Laurent had given at least seven different versions of circumstances surrounding his wife’s disappearance and death. But it was not until after he was jailed for missing court in an unrelated Pearl River County embezzlement case that he was arrested for murder in Hancock County.

[Faith]

Laurent will ask for venue change
By J.R. WELSH - jrwelsh@sunherald.com

Thursday, Feb. 19, 2009


HANCOCK COUNTY — The lawyer for murder defendant Leo Laurent said he intends to seek a change of venue for his client, who is charged with killing his wife in 2007 before burying her body in a country field.

Defense attorney Brian Alexander said Thursday that he “absolutely” will ask the circuit court to move Laurent’s trial outside Hancock County, in steps to seek an unbiased jury. Widespread media coverage of the case, including interviews granted to reporters by Laurent himself, make such a step necessary, he said.

“This is precisely the type of case that calls for a venue change,” Alexander said. “The Coast has been inundated with stories about this.”




This week, Circuit Court Judge Jerry Terry set a tentative June 8 trial date for Laurent. Terry also set an Aug. 3 trial date for Daniel George Corring, charged with robbing a federal credit union in Waveland and kidnapping two employees.

Laurent, 31, told Hancock County deputies his wife, Brandi Hawkins Laurent, had disappeared without a trace from their rural home outside Kiln in August 2007. In the months before he was arrested, Laurent gave interviews to local print and broadcast media outlets, saying his wife was a drug user who had been abducted by drug dealers to whom she owned money.

Laurent also made Internet postings on the case. In one posting, the former youth soccer coach called himself “a model citizen” of Hancock County. His case attracted widespread national attention on Internet sites.

In November 2007, horseback searchers discovered Brandi Laurent’s body partially buried in a field, about a mile from the couple’s mobile home. An autopsy revealed the 29-year-old mother of two young daughters had died of asphyxiation.

In a later interview, Laurent told investigators he and his wife had fought the night of her disappearance, but said he did not kill her. However, he admitted to burying her body after she died of unknown causes.

Laurent was arrested for murder in February 2008 after a string of bizarre incidents that included what police said was a staged attempt on his own life. At the time the murder charge was filed, he was already in jail on embezzlement charges in Pearl River County.

The case of Corring, 20, also made headlines in April 2008. He is charged with walking from a Waveland apartment complex with an assault rifle and robbing the Keesler Federal Credit Union of more than $68,000, then kidnapping two credit union employees and forcing them to flee in an employee’s car.

As he was arrested following a high-speed chase, Corring was shouting, “Praise be to God!” He later told police he believed he was invisible as he carried a high-powered rifle to the credit union. No one was injured in the robbery. Corring is being represented by attorney Fred Lusk.


http://www.sunherald.com/local/story/1152273.html

[Faith]

Friday, Jun. 12, 2009

Developments loom in Laurent case


HANCOCK COUNTY — Circuit Court developments are anticipated next week in the case of Leo Laurent, the former Bay St. Louis youth soccer coach charged with killing his wife and burying her body in a crude countryside grave in 2007.

Laurent, 31, was arrested and charged with murder by Hancock County deputies in January 2008. Investigators allege that he killed his wife, Brandi Laurent, who disappeared in August 2007, then transported her body to a remote field and buried her in a shallow grave. She was a 29-year-old mother of two young daughters.

Leo Laurent’s defense attorney, Brian Alexander, said this week that he still plans to file a motion to have Laurent’s murder trial moved out of Hancock County. He has said extensive pre-trial publicity surrounding the Laurent case — much of it brought on by Laurent himself, who solicited press interviews before his murder arrest — has made a fair trial unlikely in Hancock County.

Alexander said he may seek a hearing on a change of venue next week.

Assistant District Attorney Chris Fisher, who is prosecuting Laurent, said Friday he has asked the court to schedule times to handle pre-trial matters in the case before the current Circuit Court term ends in Hancock County. Sitting Circuit Judge Roger Clark is scheduled to conclude the current term at the end of next week.


The Laurent case sparked widespread public attention when Leo Laurent reported his wife missing in August 2007. He said she had left their rural home at midnight after she used drugs and the two argued.

Until his arrest, Laurent publicly insisted Brandi Laurent was abducted by drug dealers to whom she owed money, and he maintained that he had also received death threats from unidentified people.

During a Justice Court hearing early in the case, a sheriff’s investigator testified that Laurent had given numerous accounts of circumstances surrounding the case.

Brandi Laurent’s body was found by horseback searchers in November 2007, about a mile from a FEMA trailer where the couple had lived. An autopsy showed she died of strangulation, an investigator later testified.

Before being arrested in the murder case, Laurent was arrested in Pearl River County on an unrelated charge that he embezzled money from an employer there in 2006. He later was sentenced to a prison boot-camp program in that case.

A Web site maintained by the Mississippi Department of Corrections showed Friday that Laurent is still incarcerated.

Once released from that program, Fisher said, he will be returned to Pearl River County Jail, where Hancock County lodges its prisoners.

In the murder case, Laurent’s bond was set at $1 million.

After being returned from state custody to Pearl River County, he will continue to be held for Hancock County. “Once he finishes that program, he will still be in the same jail, but will come back under Hancock County’s custody,” Fisher said.

http://www.sunherald.com/local/story/1410075.html

[Faith]

Judge sets trial date in Laurent case

Associated Press - June 17, 2009 8:44 AM ET

BAY ST. LOUIS, Miss. (AP) - Leo Laurent will stand trial on Jan. 25, 2010, in Hancock County Circuit Court for the death of his wife.

Circuit Judge Roger Clark set the date for the murder trial in an order filed this week.

Laurent is charged in the death of Brandi Hawkins Laurent, in August 2007. He had reported her missing. The body of the mother of 2 was found partially unearthed from a grave site in rural Hancock County the following November.

On Oct. 20, Clark will hear a motion from Laurent's attorney to move the trial out of Hancock County because of news coverage of the case.

At the time Brandi Laurent disappeared, she and her husband were living in a FEMA trailer outside Kiln.

Information from: The Sun Herald, http://www.sunherald.com

http://www.wxvt.com/Global/story.asp?S=10547259&nav=menu1344_2

[Audie]

Happy belated birthday Brandi!

[Nut44x4]

http://www.sunherald.com/local/story/1504375.html

Laurent attorney asks for change of venue

BAY ST. LOUIS -- The attorney for Leo Laurent has filed a court motion asking that Laurent’s trial for the 2007 murder of his wife be moved outside Hancock County, because extensive news coverage of the case makes it impossible to find an impartial jury.

The motion for change of venue was filed by defense attorney Brian Alexander. While the motion itself is three pages long, it is attached to more than 30 pages of supporting documentation.

Laurent, 31, is charged with killing his wife, 29-year-old Brandi Hawkins Laurent, in August 2007. Her body was found three months later by horseback searchers in a remote field outside Kiln.

The Laurent case received widespread news coverage and has been highly publicized on Internet Web sites. Alexander’s motion claims the Sun Herald and other local media “have assumed facts as true which are in dispute and which cast the defendant in a negative light.”

Coverage of the case has made it “impossible” to find unbiased jurors for trial, the court filing said. Motions in the case are scheduled to be heard before a trial scheduled for early next year.

Wednesday, Jul. 29, 2009

[Faith]

http://media.sunherald.com/smedia/2007/11/17/05/313-1116leolaurentp17.embedded.prod_affiliate.77.jpg
Leo Laurent

[Faith]

Laurent says he can’t get a fair trial
By Dwayne Bremer
Jul 29, 2009, 09:11


A motion for a change of venue in the upcoming murder trial of Leo Lucas Laurent was filed in Hancock County Circuit Court Monday by defense attorney Brian Alexander.

It was the first criminal case motion filed at the new Hancock County Courthouse on Main St.

Alexander said the media coverage of the case by the Sea Coast Echo, Sun Herald, WLOX, and other regional media outlets has "assumed facts as true which are in dispute and which cast the defendant (Laurent) in a negative light."

Leo Laurent reported his wife Brandi Hawkins Laurent missing on the morning of Aug. 4, 2007.

About three months later, her body was discovered in a shallow grave a half-mile from the couple's home at the Pecan Park trailer park in Fenton.

After months of investigation and speculation, Laurent was officially charged with murder on Jan. 12, 2008. During that time, Alexander said, the Echo "ran repeated headlines and story lines regarding the disappearance of Brandi Laurent and the ultimate charging of the defendant with murder."

After Brandi Laurent's disappearance, Leo Laurent communicated with the Echo frequently for nearly two months and offered input on several stories.

Alexander said another reason why he feels his client deserves a change of venue is because Brandi Laurent had an "strong ties to the Hancock County community."

"This was evident by the outpouring of concern and desire to assist her when she was first determined to be missing," Alexander said. "Further, much of the said outpouring from the public was word of mouth and via flyers posted around the community."

Alexander said a simple Google search of Brandi Laurent's name garners a tremendous amount of results.

The motion says that since there is a relatively low population in Hancock County since Hurricane Katrina, the Laurent case is a "commonly known and discussed topic."

Alexander said a change of venue is necessary to ensure a fair trial and he requested it be moved to a county "distant from Hancock County and local media coverage."

Assistant District Attorney Chris Fisher said Tuesday that the DA's office would like to see the case tried in Hancock County.

"The alleged crime happened here, so naturally it's more practical to have the trial here,' Fisher said.

The change of venue motion will be heard in Circuit Court on Oct. 20, records show.

The trial is tentatively set for Jan. 25, 2010.

http://208.62.60.4/40/article_3451.shtml

[Faith]

Laurent murder trial moved

Proceedings will be held in Forrest County



BAY ST. LOUIS — A Circuit judge has decided Leo Laurent Jr. can’t receive a fair and impartial trial in Hancock County in his wife’s murder.

Judge Roger Clark has ordered the trial moved to Forrest County.

The trial is set to begin Jan. 25.

Laurent, 32, is accused in the slaying of 29-year-old Brandi Hawkins Laurent, who went missing Aug. 3, 2007.

Her remains were found three months later about a mile from the couple’s FEMA trailer near the Kiln community.

Her death was ruled homicide by suffocation.

Defense attorney Brian Alexander asked for the trial to be moved. He cited extensive pretrial publicity, much of it brought on by Laurent.

Laurent solicited media interviews after his wife’s disappearance, claiming she had been abducted by drug dealers to whom she owed money.

The judge heard arguments in a change-of-venue hearing Oct. 20. He also heard testimony from a randomly selected jury and examined the evidence. His order, filed Nov. 5, states the court found “good cause” and a “satisfactory showing” that Laurent can’t get a fair trial in his home county.

Laurent is a former youth soccer coach in Bay St. Louis and the former manager of a CVS Pharmacy in Pearl River County.

While awaiting trial, he’s serving time for conviction of embezzling about $2,000 from CVS. State prison records show he’s due for release Dec. 31, 2012.

Brandi Laurent’s remains were found by a search party organized by Texas Equusearch.


http://www.sunherald.com/local/story/1737777.html

[Faith]

Leo Laurent to face charges in Hattiesburg court
By Jeremy Pittari
Item Staff Writer

11/17/09

The key suspect in the murder of Brandi Hawkins Laurent will be tried in a Hattiesburg court now that a change of venue has been granted.

Hancock County Circuit Court documents state that on Nov. 3, change of venue was granted by Hancock County Circuit Court Judge Roger T. Clark. The ruling states that the decision was based on the fact that “Leo Laurent Jr. cannot receive a fair and impartial trail in Hancock County where this offense is charged.”

The trial will take place on Jan. 25, 2010 in Hattiesburg.

Leo Laurent is charged with the murder of Brandi Laurent in 2007. Laurent initially called Hancock County Sheriff’s Department officials in August of 2007 to report that his wife was missing after the couple engaged in an argument.

In November of 2007, her body was found in a shallow grave about a mile from the Laurents’ home by a Equine Search Team. Her cause of death was ruled to be asphyxiation or strangulation. A gun is also believed to be involved in her death. Due to the extent of decay of Brandi Laurent’s remains, tattoos and dental records were used to identify her. She was 29 years-old. Leo Laurent was later charged with her death.

In January of 2007 Leo Laurent was arrested on a separate embezzlement charge while he was employed at the Picayune CVS pharmacy. He pleaded guilty and was sentenced to five years probation for that charge.

In December of 2007 Leo Laurent also is reported to have falsely claimed he was shot at by two black men in a vehicle. He later pleaded guilty to lying about the incident. He was ordered to pay about $5,605 in fines and reimbursement.

http://www.picayuneitem.com/local/local_story_321113701.html

[Faith]

The trial is set to begin Jan. 25.

[Faith]

Hancock County Murder Trial Delayed


Published: Wed, January 13, 2010 - 9:03 am CST

Bay St Louis, Mississippi - Circuit Judge Roger Clark has delayed the murder trial of Leo Laurent Jr. after learning Laurent's attorney can't be ready for the start of trial on Jan. 25.


Clark granted a continuance for the case, which was to be tried in Forrest County.
The case is set for the April 19 calendar of Circuit Judge Larry Bourgeois.
Assistant District Attorney Chris Fisher on Tuesday said the location of the trial depends on where Bourgeois can schedule it.
Clark moved the trial outside Hancock County on Laurent's claim he couldn't get a fair and impartial trial in Hancock County.
The Laurent is accused in the slaying of his wife, 29-year-old Brandi Hawkins Laurent.
She disappeared Aug. 3, 2007.
Her remains were found three months later near the couple's FEMA trailer near Kiln.
___


http://www.wkrg.com/raw_news/article/hancock_county_murder_trial_delayed/643090/Jan-13-2010_6-13-am/

[Faith]

Laurent trial set April 19 in Forrest Co.
By Dwayne Bremer
Mar 12, 2010, 17:10


[/URL]
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.

[url]http://12.68.233.230/40/article_4019.shtml (http://12.68.233.230/40/printer_4019.shtml)