Lavergne request is denied
The St. Landry Parish man who pleaded guilty to killing two women has been denied a third request for rehearing.
In a ruling handed down Wednesday, the Third Circuit Court of Appeal denied a request from Brandon Scott Lavergne for a rehearing on an Evangeline Parish aspect of his case.
Lavergne pleaded guilty on Aug. 17, 2012, to killing two Louisiana women in separate murders about 13 years apart.
He was sentenced to spend the rest of his life in prison for the May 2012 slaying of University of Louisiana student Mickey Shunick and the 1999 choking death of Lisa Ann Pate.
Lavergne has since claimed that he was pressured into making the deal.
Prosecutors had announced they would seek the death penalty against Lavergne, but softened the punishment after he agreed to help authorities locate Shunickâs remains.
Her badly decomposed body was found near a cemetery on Aug. 7 of that year.
About a year ago, the Third Circuit ruled that another appeal had been improperly filed.
A month prior, the same court shot down an appeal claiming the court was in error by denying a motion for discovery.