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Testimony today draws tears from confessed vigilante murder suspect

6 years 11 months 1 week ago Wednesday, December 13 2017 Dec 13, 2017 December 13, 2017 11:57 AM December 13, 2017 in News
Source: WBRZ

BATON ROUGE – Jace Crehan, the confessed murderer on trial for killing a sex offender two years ago, wiped tears from his eyes in court Wednesday morning as prosecutors played a video of his confession.

Crehan is accused in the death of Robert Noce. Noce was killed in 2015 after pleading no contest to sex-related charges involving Crehan's fiancee, Brittany Monk. Noce was found dead – stabbed and stuffed into a 55-gallon drum used to store wine in the kitchen of his Zachary trailer.

Monk has testified on behalf of the prosecution and took the stand Tuesday. Wednesday morning, a homicide detective assigned to the case testified.

In the video, Crehan and the detective discussed the crime scene. The recording showed Crehan telling the detective he'd blacked out, did not remember much but had stabbed Noce five to six times. After first claiming Monk was not around, Crehan later admitted in the video that she watched but did not take part in the stabbing of Noce because she was too afraid.

During testimony Tuesday, Monk recalled hearing the slashing sounds of a large kitchen knife going into Noce's body.

In opening statements Monday, Crehan's attorneys likened the couple to Romeo and Juliet – at odds with the world after Noce was allowed to plead no contest and avoid prison time for the sex acts on Monk when she was underage. Throughout the investigation, WBRZ has reported how Crehan seems to be trying to shield Monk from any wrongdoing or trouble. The detective discussed Wednesday how Crehan was very concerned about Monk's well-being during interrogations. The detective said Crehan said he wanted to see his fiancee to make sure she's okay. Crehan told the detective Monk is suicidal.

Crehan and Monk previously discussed the high-profile case against Gary Plauche of Baton Rouge who avoided prison time in the 1980s after killing the man suspected of kidnapping and molesting his son. Plauche shot and killed Jeffrey Doucet amid a police escort at the airport after Doucet was arrested out of town. Plauche died in October 2014.

WBRZ reporter Danielle Jackson, who has been in court this week, said during testimony Wednesday morning, jurors saw the first emotion from Crehan.

“Jace... wiped tears from his eyes in court. He's normally emotionless.”

Crehan's grandmother was also seen crying during the testimony.  

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