Officials unable to ID safe as that of victims
GONZALES — Investigators have not positively identified a safe found in Livingston Parish as the one stolen from an Ascension Parish couple during a Saturday attack in which a woman’s husband and son were killed and she was wounded, authorities said Tuesday.
Shirley Marchand is “still fighting for her life” at a hospital under police protection, Chief Deputy Tony Bacala said.
Marchand, 72, was the sole survivor of a violent attack that left her husband, Robert Irwin Marchand, 74, and son, Douglas Dooley, 50, dead inside their home at 39122 Babin Road.
The victims’ throats were cut — Shirley Marchand had emergency surgery Sunday — and deputies have said they believe the attacker knew about and wanted rare gold coins from the missing safe.
Family, friends and neighbors in the quiet, close-knit community between La. 621 and La. 74 are shocked and saddened by the news as are friends of the Marchands across the state.
“I was just in shock. I had to read the article two or three times before it sank in that they were the same people I know,” said Shanda Florane of Coushatta.
“It was just so violent. I’ve been trying to call and find out how she’s doing,” said Florane, who, with her husband, Ernie, have known the Marchands for more than 30 years.
The Marchands were instrumental in establishing the Louisiana Home Movers Association in 1980, Florane said.
“It’s all but disbanded now. So many people have gotten out of the house moving business, but it is a small community, and we all became really close,” she said.
“I haven’t seen them in probably 10 years, but they are wonderful, sweet people,” Florane said, adding that she remembers Shirley as a feisty, fun-loving and kind person, who was always well-dressed and “elegant, in the way she dealt with other people.”
“If anybody could survive something like this, I think she could. My thoughts and prayers are with her and her family,” Florane said.
Florane recalled that Irwin Marchand was “very, very smart. You have to be to be in this business. You have to know a lot about everything — electricity, plumbing, foundations.”
Marchand also fought to protect home movers in her area of north Louisiana from regulations meant for hurricane-prone zones in south Louisiana, Florane said.
“He helped look out for all of us, not just those in his area,” Florane said.
The Sheriff’s Office has added extra patrols near the Marchands’ neighborhood, Sheriff Jeff Wiley said.
The missing safe, which contained a gold coin collection worth an estimated $500,000, was the apparent motive for the crime, Wiley said.
The safe found in Livingston matches the basic size and description of the missing safe, Wiley said.
Detectives have had to rely on the memories of family members who have seen the safe, but are continuing to pursue leads, Bacala said, adding that he could not comment further.
According to initial reports, the attack likely occurred between midnight and 10 a.m. Saturday. Wiley said Dooley’s wife, who lives in Tennessee and spoke daily with Dooley, called authorities when she had not heard from him for 12 hours.
Deputies drove to the house at 10 p.m. Saturday. When they got no response at the door, they checked around the house, finding no signs of a break-in. Deputies saw the crime scene through the office window, and forced open a door.
Wiley said his detectives believe there was more than one attacker because Dooley was a large man and would not have been easily subdued. Wiley also noted that only the safe was missing from the home. All other valuables were left untouched, he said.
This is the first murder case of the year in Ascension Parish, which logged seven murders in 2011 and one murder in 2010.
Deputies do not have photos of the coins but Wiley’s office released several photos of coins that look like some from the stolen collection, which included $5, $10 and $20 liberty-head coins minted between the late 1800s and the early 1900s.
Wiley said that any pawn shops, gold-buyers or jewelers in the area should call Crime Stoppers to report anyone trying to sell rare gold coins.
Anyone with information about the attack should call the Sheriff’s Office at (225) 621-4636 or Crime Stoppers at (225) 344-7867.