Tickfaw man, 32, booked in 1998 slaying case
HAMMOND — Deputies booked a Tickfaw man with second-degree murder in a 14-year-old case, according to the Tangipahoa Parish Sheriff’s Office.
Investigators said they arrested Ronnie Saulsberry, 32, of Sims Lane, Tickfaw, in the 1998 death of Wayne Trimane Thompson.
Thompson was 19 when he was killed.
Dawn Panepinto, a spokeswoman for the Sheriff’s Office, said Tuesday it’s not yet clear whether there will be other arrests in the case.
Panepinto said she doesn’t know how many people were involved in the killing.
Thompson was reported missing in June 1998 amid rumors that he had been shot and his body was hidden somewhere in the Tickfaw area, authorities said
In December 2004, a hunter found a skull off Chemekette Road in Robert.
“Somebody came upon it in a field,” Panepinto said.
Further investigation of the area led to finding a shallow grave containing a body that forensic analysis determined to be Thompson’s, authorities said.
Thompson’s father had reported him missing in June 1998, but investigators said the 19-year-old was last seen in April when he participated in a dice game and then is alleged to have robbed several people.
His victims located him the next night and threatened to kill him, according to authorities, who said there are now several witnesses in the case.
After getting another break in the case in 2011, authorities continued the investigation and booked Saulsberry last week, according to the Sheriff’s Office.
Saulsberry was already in the Tangipahoa Parish Jail serving a five-year sentence on a drug conviction, according to Panepinto, who said Saulsberry had an extensive record.
She said she doesn’t know the exact charges on which he was convicted.