GUILTY LA - Lakeitha, 29, & Kenneth Joseph, 34, St John Parish, 18 Feb 2014

[ktgirl]

How awful. I hope what happened to them can be determined and the person(s) responsible brought to justice.

 

[Nolita]

http://www.nola.com/crime/index.ssf/2014/04/reserve_couple_were_tied_up_to.html


They were tied up at the feet with blue rope & 30 lbs kettle bells -seems like they have a good idea of who did it - hopefully.

 

[sloane7777]

They need to look at common connections of friends who have people in College Park, This should be solved quickly.

 

[Snoods]

How horrifying...they must have been thrown into the water tied to a kettleball while still alive.

What a strange case.

 

[bessie]

My heart aches for Lakeitha and Kenneth, and for their families more than before. :cry: I don't recall hearing of another case like this one around here ever. What kind of sick, twisted creature does that to another human being? They were even brazen enough to charge the equipment on an AMX at Wal-Mart, no less. I pray WM's cameras caught them, and LE just isn't releasing that information yet.

During the investigation, police checked a Kenner Wal-Mart store where surveillance recordings show a couple buying two kettlebells. A search of store records turned up a receipt totalling $177.20 for purchases on Feb. 19 about 1 a.m.: Two 30-pound kettlebells, two hooded, fleece sweatshirts, three pairs of '"gripping gloves," fishing line, blue utility rope, two pairs of shoes and a bottle of degreaser.

The items were charged to American Express. The card holder's transactions are the object of the search warrant.

The article also says blood evidence was found in the van.

BTW, NOPD is lead in the investigation, and IMO St. John Parish is thrilled to let New Orleans claim this homicide. We know the apartment was ransacked. So are we to assume the perp(s) returned to the apartment after the murder? Hmm... I'd love to get a look at those phone records.

Tregre has said previously that his investigators were studying the couple's cell phone records, but would not elaborate on what those records may have revealed. Presumably, those records include the time and date calls were made which have led St. John investigators to think the homicides happened elsewhere.

"There is nothing in our investigation, at this time, to suggest that foul play took place in St. John Parish," Tregre said. Wednesday "New Orleans is the lead agency and we're here to assist them in anyway we can."

http://www.nola.com/crime/index.ssf/2014/04/bodies_of_missing_reserve_coup.html#incart_river

 

[bessie]

Rest in Peace, Lakeitha and Kenneth Joseph


http://www.wwltv.com/news/local/Res...en-bound-weighed-down-in-water-253642261.html

 

[mikkismom]

Orleans coroner rules Reserve couple’s drowning deaths homicide

http://www.theneworleansadvocate.com/news/8818264-171/orleans-coroner-rules-reserve-couples

 

[Wolf Dreamer]

that's just so horrible I hope they can nail these two quickly.

 

[AzPistonsGirl]

this is indeed horrible - what can we do or say? Wow, so terribly sad and scary... Thanks for the updates everyone.

 

[Breazy]

So awful! I just can't even imagine the terror they went through. May they rest in peace together!!

:rose: :rose:

 

[Island_Chica]

Holy cow this is a nasty piece of work. Thank goodness the perps appear to be idiots who purchased all the goods needed to commit the crime in one fell swoop, at a national chain store with sophisticated surveillance on an AMEX, no less. I guess getting cash from an ATM was an extra step they were too lazy to contemplate?

When we finally get word of an arrest, something tells me our perps won't have their PhDs. Not exactly brilliant criminal minds. Or even people with common sense.

 

[mayqueen]

What an astoundingly cruel way to murder someone. Poor Lakeitha and Kenneth. They must've been so frightened, for themselves, and for each other. :cry:

I hope these *censored* are brought to justice soon.

 

[poppygirl]

Will never understand what drives some alleged human beings to do this to other human beings. They were a cute couple. May they rest in peace and may their loved ones find the strength to get thru this.

 

[madamehdivision]

Is there any update on this? Arrests etc? Hideous, absolutely hideous.

 

[CluelessWonder]

So they know who bought the stuff but have no evidence to link them to the actual killing? It seems that naming them might help. Maybe someone knows them and what might have triggered the whole thing. They badly need a motive right now.

 

[CajunGirl]

I've tried to stay away from this thread due to this being my hometown & knowing Lakeitha from school

...just my opinion.

*snipped and added some things to think about*
Feb 18 - borrowed sister's car
Feb 19 - reported missing when car not returned to sister & family finding house unlocked & ransacked
*Feb 26 - shooting at local feed store involving two males from Homewood (same street that the Joseph's lived on)
*Feb 27 - early morning, suspect 1 turned himself in
*Feb 27 - afternoon, van found abandoned in GA
*Feb 27 - evening, suspect 2 turned himself in
*Mar 7 - based on a tip to search the swampy area on I-55, they search for Lakeitha & Ken
Mar 10 - Lakethia Joseph found; in water 2 weeks
Mar 22 - Kenneth found

Maybe this is also farfetched but knowing the area & crime that takes place down Homewood, I feel that maybe suspect 1 (turned himself in after seeing himself caught on video)could have maybe pointed them in the direction of Georgia OR gave up some clues to maybe "help" himself out in his own case. The van was found hours after his arrest & then suspect 2 (the shooter) turns himself in.

Just a thought...
http://www.wwltv.com/news/crime/Sherifff-One-arrested-one-sought-in-LaPLace--247477321.html

 

[CajunGirl]

Arrest made in connection with the murdered Reserve couple.

http://www.nola.com/crime/index.ssf/2014/04/first_arrest_made_in_connectio.html#incart_m-rpt-1

 

[ktgirl]

Arrest made in connection with the murdered Reserve couple.

http://www.nola.com/crime/index.ssf/2014/04/first_arrest_made_in_connectio.html#incart_m-rpt-1

So glad to see an arrest! Looks like more to come, too! From the article:

"There are some individuals who have been considering providing information, and we encourage them to come forward," Vaught said. "Those who continue to avoid us -- and we know who they are -- we'd advise that the penalties for obstruction of justice are severe."

The article also states that the Josephs' feet were bound with blue nylon rope and they were weighted down with 30-lb kettlebells. Video from a Wal-Mart shows a couple buying kettlebells, blue utility rope, degreaser & other stuff on the morning the Josephs were reported missing (3/19); the article doesn't say who this couple was . It also says Frank Mike Jr (the man who was arrested) kept at least one of the bodies in a boarded-up house in eastern New Orleans for a period of time (ugh...).

Glad this guy has been arrested. Also doesn't sound like his will be the last arrest in this case. Justice for the Josephs!

 

[Marg from Oz]

This doesn't make sense. If they both drowned then how was one of the "bodies" kept in the house? Where did he drown it before keeping it in the house? JMOO

 

[bessie]

This jumped out at me, too. Not sure to what to make of it. Where did the blood come from?

April 23, 2014, The Times Picayune
Investigators said in a search warrant application that they had developed information indicating that Mike drove the dead couple's borrowed van to a Georgia motel, and that he had at least one of the Josephs' bodies inside a boarded-up eastern New Orleans house he frequented.
http://www.nola.com/crime/index.ssf/2014/04/first_arrest_made_in_connectio.html#incart_m-rpt-1

April 08, 2014, The New Orleans Advocate
That information, determined through autopsies, led the office to classify the drowning deaths as homicides, said John Gagliano, the coroner’s chief investigator...
Preliminary autopsies had revealed earlier that the couple died weeks before they were discovered but that neither was shot, stabbed, strangled or beaten...
http://www.theneworleansadvocate.com/news/8818264-171/orleans-coroner-rules-reserve-couples

April 25, 2014, The New Orleans Advocate
Police recovered the abandoned Caravan — borrowed by the Josephs from Kenneth Joseph’s sister shortly before their disappearance — after an automatic license plate reader flagged it at a motel in College Park, an Atlanta suburb. The inside of the van “contained biological/blood evidence which was collected and submitted for analysis,” according to an application for a search warrant filed in Orleans Parish Criminal District Court.
http://www.theneworleansadvocate.com/news/8986577-171/man-under-investigation-in-reserve

As many as 8 suspects may be involved in murder of St. John couple

wwltv.com Thanh Truong / Eyewitness News
Posted on April 24, 2014 at 6:18 PM
NEW ORLEANS -- The New Orleans Police Department is looking into as many as eight suspects in the murder of a couple from Reserve. Detective Ryan Vaught emphasized that investigators have information on most of the suspects and urged them to come forward.

It sounds like so far, they believe Mike's story.

Federal authorities arrested Frank Mike on Monday for a charge of transporting a stolen vehicle.

In a criminal complaint filed in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana, Mike contacted Louisiana State Police to discuss his involvement in the missing van.