Mansura man convicted in triple-slaying, girlfriend also charged

A 43-year-old Mansura man has been convicted of killing his girlfriend’s mother, sister and brother-in-law at Larto last year. The girlfriend remains charged, but not indicted.
A Catahoula Parish jury convicted Lee John Ponthieux, Jr. ion three counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of Edris A. Ellard, 51, of Jonesville; her ex-husband John Ellard, Jr., 45, of Monterey; and her mother, Annie Bell Adams, 73, of Jonesville. The murders happened at Adams’ lake home at Larto on August 20, 2012.
Sentencing is scheduled January 7. Catahoula Parish District Attorney Brad Burget says the sentence will be the mandatory life in prison.
Ponthieux, 41 at the time of his arrest, of Old River Road, Mansura, was charged with three counts of first-degree murder after he led local, state and federal agencies on a 24-hour manhunt after the killings.
Investigators originally believed Ponthieux shot and killed three friends with a shotgun when a fight turned deadly at a house in Larto. Catahoula Parish Sheriff James Kelly said Ponthieux was cooperative and confessed to killing all three people, but not the way he originally told deputies.
Debbie Adams, Edris Ellard’s sister, called police shortly before 3 a.m. on August 20, 2012 after leaving the scene during the fight and hearing gunshots.
Sheriff Kelly, after the arrest of Ponthieux in 2012, said, “Based on what we’re hearing from interviews, Debbie (Adams) was telling Ponthieux, ‘I wouldn’t shed a tear if someone were to kill my momma.’ “(Ponthieux) said he wouldn’t have killed (Annie Bell Adams) if Debbie (Adams) hadn’t wanted him to.”
Allegedly, Ponthieux and Debbie Adams were inside the house when Ponthieux went into the bedroom of Annie Bell Adams and stabbed her to death, Sheriff Kelly said.
Debbie Adams claimed that she thought Ponthieux was going to stab her and that’s why she ran. She told investigators that she heard two gunshots as she was running down the road.
According to Sheriff Kelly, Ponthieux then left and walked to a nearby shack, where John Ellard and Edris Ellard were staying, Kelly said. After a brief scuffle between Ponthieux and John Ellard, Sheriff Kelly said Ponthieux shot John Ellard point blank with a shotgun. Edris Ellard managed to dodge a second shot from the shotgun as she grabbed the barrel of the gun, according to Sheriff Kelly. After he fired the shot, (Ponthieux) took out his hunting knife and stabbed Edris Ellard.
Ponthieux left the scene of the crime on his black Honda motorcycle, which was later found wrecked on La. Hwy. 124. Ponthieux evaded authorities all day on August 20, prompting state and local SWAT teams to enter an abandoned house, a residence and sheds in Larto. The sheriff’s office received a call at midnight on August 20, from a Larto resident saying he had spotted Ponthieux near the scene of the crime.
Deputies stationed around the scene of the crime entered into a wooded area and found (Ponthieux) there less than a mile from the house. Ponthieux was armed with the shotgun but he didn’t resist arrest.
The grand jury that indicted Ponthieux could not agree about his girlfriend, Debbie Adams. Adams was originally booked on an obstruction of justice charge, but those charges were upgraded to first-degree murder, after Ponthieux’s interview, according to authorities. Burget says he plans to bring her before another grand jury in January.