ERIK SANZENBACH / L’Observateur / April 26, 2000

LAPLACE – A 61-year-old LaPlace cab driver became the third murder victim this month in LaPlace. St. John the Baptist Parish sheriff’s deputiesdiscovered the body of Janice Fugate in her home at 2308 Cambridge Drive early Easter Sunday morning.

Deputies received a call about 7 a.m. about an abandoned car out by thepumping station at the end of Woodland Road. When they arrived they foundan empty taxi cab belonging to Ellis Transportation, a Jefferson Parish cab company.

By running the license number the deputies determined the car was owned by Janice Fugate on Cambridge Drive. When they arrived at her house theyfound the back door open then searched the house and found Fugate’s body.

She had wounds to the neck and head.

Capt. Mike Tregre of the St. John Sheriff’s Office said, “There was a forcedentry, and she lived alone.”Police were not able to determine if robbery was the motive for the break-in and murder.

“She was doing a lot of renovation to the house,” said Tregre, “and it is very hard to say if anything was taken.”Deputies say they are working on some leads, but there have been no arrests.

“We really want to catch this guy,” said Tregre.

Three murders in one month have affected the mood of neighborhoods in LaPlace.

“This is highly unusual,” said Tregre. “We only had three homicides last year. There are wives who don’t want their husbands to go to work they are so scared.”Fugate was divorced and is survived by a son and a daughter in their mid- 30’s.

Anyone with information on this crime should call the St. John ParishSheriff’s Office at 652-2773.

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