LAFAYETTE, La. (KLFY) – In this week’s episode of Acadiana Crimestoppers, St. Martin Parish Sheriff Becket Breaux sits down to talk about cases that have gone cold.

Breaux says his office has been working on these cases for years and the public’s help is crucial.

“Family goes to bed at night, wondering what happened to their child, or loved one,” said Breaux. “Our ultimate goal is to put the individual that committed the crime in jail and give the family peace.”

Breaux says when cases go cold, missing pieces of the puzzle are often found with the public’s help.

“Working together we can make a difference,” said Breaux.

He says the partnership and bond between law enforcement and community is vital to investigators.

“It’s a big burden for law enforcement to figure out the cases without the public’s help, it can’t be done, it has to be done with the public’s help especially cases of this magnitude,” said Breaux.

In this extended conversation, we cover three cold cases his team of investigators is trying to get new leads on. The first is Lionel Potier, who was found dead in December of 2016. He was bound and beaten with the official cause of death being blunt force trauma. One of the suspects was caught on surveillance footage.

“We ask the public to come up and give us any information you can because that little bit of information might lead to an arrest or give us the edge, we need to put someone in jail,” said Breaux.

The second case is the homicide of Lathresa Joubert, whose body was found dumped near Lake Martin back in December of 2019. Her cause of death was a combination of blunt force trauma and drowning.

“That case is a recent case, it’s 2023, and we’re really close on that case, you know, just information from the public would help us tremendously on that,” said Breaux.

The third case is the homicide of Devonte Colar, who was found deceased and partially burned back in March 2023.

“If your information leads to an arrest with a homicide, it’s up to $5,000 in cash and just that little information that we’re missing and telling that to the investigators might help us solve the case,” he said.

Breaux says homicide cases are especially tragic and heinous, and he won’t rest until justice is served.

“I think the ultimate crimes we have in Louisiana, is someone killing someone else, with the intention of killing someone else, one of these cases you’re talking about someone being bonded, and blunt force trauma to the head, that’s brutal,” said Breaux.

You can watch the full conversation on Acadiana Crimestoppers, airing exclusively on KLFY+ Thursday at 9:30 p.m. and available on demand.

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