Judge denies Gautreaux new trial, sets March sentencing

27th Judicial Dist. Judge Donald Hebert Wednesday denied convicted murderer Warren Gautreaux’s motion for a new trial and set sentencing for March 26.
Gautreaux was convicted in May 2013 of the January 2006 first-degree murders of Youric and Mary Courville of Eunice.
The family asked the district attorney not to seek the death penalty in the case.
He faces mandatory life in prison.
Gautreaux’s attorney, Jarvis Claiborne, argued that police centered on Gautreaux early in their investigation, at the expense of overlooking other, more logical, suspects.
Gautreaux killed his wife in 1981 in Evangeline Parish and got a 21-year manslaughter sentence.
Claiborne argued police were pre-disposed to believing he was the elderly couples’ killer because of the earlier conviction.
The defense attorney also said one person interviewed during the original investigation indicated Gautreaux regularly purchased legend (prescription)drugs from the Courvilles, creating a reasonable ground of belief for why his client might have been at the murder scene the night in question.