Suspect in Mother's Day double murder arrested in Bogalusa

BOSSIER CITY, LA (KSLA) - A suspect has been arrested and charged in connection with the murders of two women in Bossier City last weekend.

26-year-old Brandan Santrell Butler of Bossier City was taken into custody shortly after 2 a.m. Saturday by authorities in Bogalusa, Louisiana and arrested on a warrant from Bossier City Police charging him with two counts of first degree murder in the deaths of 24-year-old Jacqueline Darlene Beadle and 26-year old Karyl Ann Cox.

Bossier City spokesman Mark Natale says detectives with the Bossier City Police Department's Violent Crimes Unit secured the warrant overnight for Butler's arrest after evidence they obtained in the course of their investigation linked Butler to the murders.

Residents in the area say they are glad someone is locked up. "Its difficult," says one neighbor. "It's been extremely difficult, knowing that not only did we lose two beautiful young women, everyone in the area lost their sense of security. We're scared every night." That fear lead this woman to ask us to not reveal her identity.

She told KSLA News 12 that Butler attended the victims' memorial on Thursday. "The audacity to come to it knowing that… after you had done something like that, I wouldn't be able to face myself after doing something like that much less the family and friends of the people I did it to. It's horrible."

According to Bogalusa Police Chief Joe Culpepper, a vehicle matching a description provided by Bossier City police was spotted outside a local eatery, where Butler was taken into custody without incident by his officers and Washington Parish deputies.

Culpepper says a weapon was also recovered, but it is not known if it is related to this case.

Police were called to the house shared by Beadle and Cox in the 3000 block of Bragg Street at around 8:15 a.m. on Sunday, May 11, after Jacqueline Beadle's mother went to the home and found the two victims inside. Jacqueline's mother had gone to there to check on her after not hearing from her since the Friday before when Jacqueline took her child to her mother's home for babysitting.

Police believe Butler, who was friends with the women, shot them both inside the house and then drove away from the scene in Karyl Ann Cox's car which police later found parked in the 4800 block of Sheryl Street.

Police say Butler was arrested Monday, just a day after the murders, when he was brought in for questioning in connection to this case. Police found a small amount of marijuana on Butler. Butler later posted a $500 and was released.

Butler remains jailed in Bogalusa. Efforts will be made in the coming days to return him to Bossier City. Butler's total bond is set at $2 million ($1 million for each count).

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