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Written by DeadGirl
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Sunday, 03 October 2004 |
Man was seeking drugs, cash, cops say
October 02, 2004
By Steve Cannizaro
A St. Bernard Parish man was arrested Thursday night and charged with opening the tomb of a young relative killed a year ago in hopes of finding money and marijuana he believed was placed inside the crypt as a tribute by friends of the deceased, authorities said Friday.
Kenneth Rabalais, 19, 6301 Delacroix Highway, St. Bernard community, was booked with desecrating the grave of his cousin, Merlin S. Campo III, 20, of Braithwaite. Campo was killed in December in a Chalmette auto crash in which his stepfather, Douglas Leslie, 38, also died.
"He believed there was money and possibly marijuana behind the face of the tomb," Col. Richard Baumy of the St. Bernard Parish Sheriff's Office said of Rabalais. "He did get the face of the tomb off, but apparently there was nothing there.
"The front of the crypt was removed. You could see the casket but it was undisturbed," Baumy said.
In his 20 years with the Sheriff's Office, Baumy said, "we've had grave desecrations in St. Bernard, but nothing where (the offenders) were trying to retrieve something."
Rabalais is being held in jail and no bond had been set on Friday.
Campo's tomb is in St. Bernard Catholic Cemetery, 2805 Bayou Road, in the Kenilworth community.
Neither Campo's mother nor the priest at St. Bernard Catholic Church could be reached for comment.
Sheriff's officials said they received a tip that Rabalais planned to use a screwdriver to open the front of the tomb to see if there was money and marijuana there, Baumy said.
Rabalais was arrested Thursday about 7 p.m. while walking in the 2900 block of Bayou Road. He was carrying a screwdriver in a bag, and had a screw in his pocket matching ones at the tomb, Baumy said. The front portion of the crypt was open when deputies went to the cemetery after stopping Rabalais, Baumy said.
"He didn't have any money or marijuana on him," he said of Rabalais, who made no statement to authorities after his arrest.
Grave desecration is a misdemeanor punishable by a sentence of up to six months in jail and a $500 fine, Baumy said. Rabalais also was booked with disturbing the peace, Baumy said.
Campo and Leslie died Dec. 11 on East Judge Perez Drive in Chalmette when their Jeep Cherokee left the roadway and hit a tree in the median, authorities said.
Campo, who was driving, and Leslie were on their way to work, St. Bernard Parish sheriff's officials said. The men died at the scene.
http://www.nola.com/news/t-p/frontpage/index.ssf?/base/news-2/1096698599295700.xml |
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