GUILTY LA - Bridgette Harveston, 31, beaten & strangled, St Tammany Parish, 8 May 2012

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St. Tammany Parish deputies investigating "suspicious'' death of woman Monday morning

Published: Monday, May 07, 2012, 5:02 PM Updated: Tuesday, May 08, 2012, 9:53 AM

St. Tammany Parish authorities are investigating the death of a woman north of Covington Monday morning that they said is "suspicious.'' The St. Tammany Parish Sheriff's Office said late Monday that deputies responded to a medical call at 79113 Pat O'Brien Road around 11:15 a.m. and found a woman inside "the home with signs of an apparent struggle,'' the news release said. The woman was transported to an area hospital where she was pronounced dead.

http://www.nola.com/crime/index.ssf/2012/05/st_tammany_parish_deputies_inv_1.html
Death of St. Tammany Parish woman found in home north of Covington ruled homicide

Published: Tuesday, May 08, 2012, 4:32 PM Updated: Tuesday, May 08, 2012, 4:44 PM

The St. Tammany Parish Coroner's office on Tuesday ruled Bridgette Harveston's death a homicide and said she was strangled. Coroner Dr. Peter Galvan said in a news release Tuesday that Harveston died of asphyxia due to strangulation with a fractured larynx. The coroner said she also suffered blunt force trauma to her face and head.
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Bridgette Harveston

The cause of Harveston's death, revealed after an autopsy, came as her family awaits the details of her death. Harveston's father, Blake Harveston, a Mandeville real estate attorney, said Tuesday the family has been in contact with investigators but knows few details of her death.

http://www.nola.com/crime/index.ssf/2012/05/death_of_st_tammany_parish_fou.html
Boyfriend is 'person of interest' in woman's strangulation death near Covington

Published: Wednesday, May 09, 2012, 9:43 PM Updated: Wednesday, May 09, 2012, 9:43 PM

The boyfriend of a woman who died of strangulation on Monday has been jailed on outstanding theft warrants, records show, and he is "a person of interest" in his girlfriend's killing, according to his lawyer. Benson Harrison O'Brien III, whose grandfather started the renowned Pat O'Brien's Bar in the French Quarter, surrendered to the St. Tammany Parish Sheriff's Office at the Covington law office of his attorney, Buddy Spell, about 1 p.m. Monday, Spell said Wednesday.

Deputies subsequently booked O'Brien, 35, with five counts of theft of goods, and Spell was advised that O'Brien was of interest to the investigation into the death of 31-year-old Bridgette Harveston, the Mother of his infant son.

http://www.nola.com/crime/index.ssf/2012/05/boyfriend_is_person_of_interes.html
Person of interest in woman's strangulation won't talk to investigators without attorneys

Published: Thursday, May 10, 2012, 12:07 PM Updated: Thursday, May 10, 2012, 2:13 PM

After their client was named a person of interest in the strangulation death of a St. Tammany woman, lawyers for Benson Harrison O'Brien III told a judge that O'Brien has invoked his right to refuse speaking to law enforcement.

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View full sizeSTPSOBenson Harrison O'Brien III, 35

O'Brien, 35, is also refusing to interact with authorities without his counsel present, his attorneys told Judge Peter Garcia during a hearing at the Covington courthouse Thursday morning.

Defense lawyers Cameron Mary and Buddy Spell requested that Garcia sign an order prohibiting the St. Tammany Parish Sheriff's Office from questioning O'Brien in the strangulation death Monday of Bridgette Harveston, 31, the mother of O'Brien's infant son.

However, Garcia deferred ruling on that motion, explaining that it was premature because O'Brien has not been arrested in Harveston's death. A criminal case neither exists yet nor has been allotted to Garcia, who nonetheless remarked that the defense had done an effective job of asserting O'Brien's rights on the record.

Mary and Spell said that they acted Thursday because O'Brien is being held on various theft warrants unrelated to the homicide.

http://www.nola.com/crime/index.ssf/2012/05/person_of_interest_in_womans_s.html#incart_river


Benson's Facebook Page-
https://www.facebook.com/redbean.obrien
 
O'Brien still a POI, no charges filed.

O’Brien has not been charged in the slaying of his girlfriend, Bridgette Harveston, but his attorneys don't want investigators questioning him about the crime unless they are present.“The purpose of the hearing today was to put everyone on notice that we want to be present, and he doesn't want to give a statement,” Mary said.

http://www.wdsu.com/news/31045461/detail.html

Bridgette's funeral will be held tomorrow in Covington, La.

http://obits.nola.com/obituaries/nola/obituary.aspx?n=bridgette-marlene-harveston&pid=157540354
 
O'Brien charged with second degree murder.

Benson Harrison O'Brien III has been booked with second-degree murder in the strangulation death of 31-year-old Bridgette Harveston, the mother of his infant son, according to O'Brien's lawyer, Buddy Spell. O'Brien was already in the Sheriff's Office custody on unrelated theft warrants, and Spell said deputies added the murder count late Saturday.

http://www.nola.com/crime/index.ssf/2012/05/benson_obrien_35_booked_with_t.html
 
Bridgette Harveston was killed as result of 'volatile relationship,' sheriff says

Published: Monday, May 14, 2012, 6:57 PM Updated: Monday, May 14, 2012, 7:33 PM
Ramon Antonio Vargas, The Times-Picayune

Benson O'Brien Jr. drove up to his property north of Covington the morning of May 7 as his son, Benson O'Brien III, was leaving, according to the St. Tammany Parish Sheriff's Office. O'Brien III's girlfriend -- Bridgette Harveston, 31, the mother of his infant son -- had just been strangled on the grounds.

Before Harveston was found in a barn and declared dead by doctors later that day, O'Brien III drove to his lawyer's office. O'Brien Jr. allegedly took a length of rope, blanket and weed-eater twine from the scene to a nearby burn pile.

Detectives ultimately booked O'Brien III with second-degree murder, and Sheriff Jack Strain on Monday announced that his agency jailed O'Brien Jr. with obstructing the investigation into Harveston's homicide.

Strain also said Harveston's death was the result of a tumultuous, violent relationship with O'Brien III that she was trying to end.

"We know their relationship was volatile," Strain explained. "There's no doubt she was leaving."

Prior to the slaying, police in Madisonville, where O'Brien III and Harveston once lived together, investigated at least three domestic violence incidents involving the couple, deputies discovered.

Harveston had given birth to O'Brien's son, Liam Patrick O'Brien, approximately two months ago, but she had resolved to separate from him, Strain remarked. It was under these circumstances she drove with her boy on May 7 to O'Brien Jr.'s property on Pat O'Brien Road, where O'Brien III had gone following a disagreement with Harveston, Strain added.

Investigators say this is what subsequently happened:
Harveston suffered a fractured larynx as well as blunt force trauma to her face and head. O'Brien Jr. then arrived; realized Harveston had been badly hurt; and, because his cell phone ran out of battery, asked a neighbor to call 911.

O'Brien III headed for the law office of Spell & Spell in Covington with his infant son in tow. Meanwhile, O'Brien Jr. was urged over the phone to perform CPR on Harveston, and he complied.

Responding deputies located Harveston in a barn on O'Brien Jr.'s land. She was taken to a local hospital and was pronounced dead. An autopsy revealed she died from asphyxia due to strangulation.

Sheriff's personnel processing the scene then noted O'Brien Jr. had apparently taken the rope, blanket and string-trimmer twine to a burn pile. Deputies retrieved the items "before they disappeared," Strain said.

http://www.nola.com/crime/index.ssf/2012/05/bridgette_harveston_was_killed.html
 
Glad they got to the bottom of it quickly. Prayers for her family and friends...and that poor infant; only 2 months old and he will never know his mother.
 
Glad they got to the bottom of it quickly. Prayers for her family and friends...and that poor infant; only 2 months old and he will never know his mother.

She also had two other young sons HB. <label for="rb_iconid_9">
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Thank goodness. I remember this case so well. It was terribly sad.
 

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