By LEONARD GRAY / L’Observateur / March 31, 1999

A jury in Assumption Parish has recommended James Michael Dunn of Garyville be sentenced to death after finding him guilty of two counts of first-degree murder.

Back home, relatives have little to say.

Dunn, 32, was convicted March 18 of shooting Jackie Blanchard, 31, of Plattenville, and Lisa Dupuis, 22, of Pierre Part, during the June 4, 1998 armed robbery of the Napoleonville branch of Iberville Savings & Trust Bank.

Also charged in the crime are Anthony Scott and Kendall Breaux, both 19.

They, like Dunn, are from Little Hope Street in Garyville.

Trial for Dunn began March 15. By March 19, the jury had returned adecision that Dunn should die by lethal injection. Judge Alvin Turner Jr.has ordered a presentencing investigation prior to formally pronouncing sentence.

Twenty-third Judicial District Attorney Anthony Falterman, who assisted Robin O’Bannon in prosecuting Dunn, said he was quite pleased with the progress of the case.

“Absolutely,” he said. “The facts justified the verdict.”This was the first death-penalty case in Assumption Parish since 1948, Falterman said, adding he now has 21 capital cases pending in the 23rd Judicial District.

Falterman said the Dunn jury itself was empaneled in Calcasieu Parish, known for having “a church on every corner.” He added it’s “very difficultto get a death penalty” in that parish.

The panel, consisting of seven men and five women, also included a foreman who was a deacon in a Baptist church.

“They came out and sat down and they all held hands and I knew,” Falterman said. He said the jury had been out “maybe an hour” to decide onDunn’s guilt.

Dunn was reportedly a loving and compassionate person, according to his mother, Joann Dunn, 61, of Garyville, who testified during the sentencing phase of his trial.

His mother had nothing to say Monday, as she did laundry and attended to a toddler granddaughter, too young to speak.

“She’s my salvation,” she said of the child.

Her other son, Cpl. Lester Dunn Jr., said the family had no comment on thematter.

The other defendants in the case have not yet been tried. Scott awaitstrial April 19 before Judge Turner, with a jury to be empaneled in Caddo Parish. Breaux awaits a competency hearing before trial can be scheduled,Falterman said.

The bank robbery and murder case began when, at 11:45 a.m. on June 4,three men entered the bank on Louisiana Highway 1. When it was all over,two tellers were mortally wounded. According to prosecutors, Scott firstshot Blanchard in the head with a .41-caliber Magnum, firing .38-caliberslugs.

Then, prosecution added, Dunn shot Dupuis three times and delivered a killing shot to Blanchard.

Dunn’s attorney, Robert Pastor, argued Dunn did not do the shooting.

An Assumption Parish deputy responding to a silent alarm from the bank arrived in time to spot the fleeing vehicle. He gave chase whilebroadcasting a description of the rented, forest-green 1988 Pontiac Sunbird.

Roadblocks were set up in their path at Louisiana highways 3127 and 20, near Donaldsonville, as it appeared the trio were headed for the Sunshine Bridge. They stopped at the roadblock but, when asked for identification,sped away.

One mile down the road, at 1 p.m., the car was struck by a Union Pacifictrain. Breaux was pinned in the vehicle and quickly apprehended. The othertwo, Dunn and Scott, were trying to run into a nearby sugarcane field near C.F. Industries but were quickly caught.Inside the vehicle, the robbery loot and the bank’s security camera containing the robbery caught on videotape were recovered.

Falterman explained that the camera was not what people expect of a running videotape. It was actually still shots, taken every 15 seconds,which recorded the crime.

The district attorney added, though, that it showed Dunn gunning down the two tellers. Afterward, the trio splashed gasoline around inside the bank,in an attempt to burn it down and further conceal evidence. However, thegasoline failed to ignite.

This wasn’t the first time Dunn was in trouble with the law. He was one ofthree people convicted in the ambush of St. John Parish Sheriff’s Office Lt.Sherman Ray Walker outside his home on Nov. 6, 1984. Dunn pled guilty tomanslaughter in that case and received a 22-year sentence. He wasreleased on good behavior in 1995.

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