VICTIM DIED OF GUNSHOT WOUND TO HEAD; COUPLE HELD WITH NO BOND



A little more than 24 hours after the burned body of a man was found on a rural road, the body has been identified and arrests have been made.

According to Sheriff Doug Anderson, C.I.U. investigators identified the remains of the individual found on Beaubouef Rd. on Monday afternoon as that of 27 year old Derek J. Desselle of Vick, La. Autopsy results revealed that Desselle died of a gunshot wound to the head. When the body was found, it had been partially burned.

Sheriff Anderson would not comment on motive at this time as the investigation is continuing. The Sheriff said that his investigators remained persistent and followed leads which ultimately led to {No Bond} Warrants of Arrest being obtained for the charge of 1st Degree Murder for Matthew T. Conway, age 22 of 222 Lee St., Marksville, La. and his wife, Ashley Lemoine Conway, age 21, of the same address.

Sheriff’s deputies located the Conway’s in Denham Springs, La. Tuesday night and contacted the Livingston Parish Sheriff’s Office for assistance. Livingston Parish deputies arrested the Conway’s without incident at 34671 Denham Dr., Denham Springs, La. Avoyelles Parish Deputies are in Livingston Parish at this time according to Sheriff Anderson conducting interviews and processing evidence related to this murder.

Matthew and Ashley Conway were booked into the Livingston Parish Jail on the Avoyelles Parish 1st Degree Murder charge. Sheriff Anderson said that the Conway’s will be returned to Avoyelles Parish in the next few days to face charges of 1st Degree Murder.

Read more: AvoyellesToday.com - Burned body identified as Vick man Marksville couple arrested on first degree murder

People just have no regard for life today. Every year the murder rates keep rising. Is there something in the water?

30 years ago there were murders but not as many and not so blatant.

Three additional arrests have been made by the Avoyelles Parish Sheriff's office in connection with the death of Derek J. Desselle, age 27, of Vick. According to Sheriff Doug Anderson, the victim and all the suspects in this case knew each other for some time prior to the murder and the apparent motive was robbery.

Arrested in connection with the crime were three other people:

Thad M. Moses, age 20, of 208 River Road in Marksville has been charged with principal to first degree murder.

Brandon M. Lovas, age 21 of 5442 Highway 107 in Marksville and Michelle V. Dauzat, age 17, of 5442 Highway 107 in Marksville were each charged with accessories after the fact of first degree murder.

Moses is being held in the Avoyelles Detention Center #1 under a $500,000 bond while Lovas and Dauzat are being held in the Avoyelles Detention Center #1 under $250,000 bonds each.

APSO said they would not release any details of the three arrests because the investigation is continuing. They do feel all the people involved in the killing have been arrested.

Desselle died of a gunshot wound to the head, then his body was discarded and set on fire in a rural stretch of Beaubouef Road between the Moncla highay and Johnson Road extension north of Marksville.

The additional arrests came after the couple who were originally charged in the case, Matthew and Ashley Lemoine Conway, where returned for questioning to the Avoyelles Parish jail from Livingston Parish where they were arrested.

Read more: AvoyellesToday.com - Three more arrests made in burned body murder case