By ROBERT B. ROAN

LAPLACE – Ashen-faced and visibly shaken, St. John the Baptist Parish Sheriff Wayne L. Jones stepped up to an array of microphones Thursday and announced the arrest of 35-year-old Garyville resident David Logan Roy in the slayings of his wife, Melissa, and the couple’s three children – ages 9 years, 2 years and 10 months.

Under the glare of numerous television news stations’ klieg lights, Jones was surrounded on one side by a half dozen journalists and on the other by veteran detectives shocked at the crime itself and the fact its alleged perpetrator indicated no remorse after turning himself in.

“I normally begin these things with ‘good morning,’ but it is not a good morning when you lose four residents of St. John Parish,” Jones said, as the law enforcement officers behind him stared at the floor and frowned at the inherent sadness of the situation.

Described by neighbors as quiet man who kept to himself, David Roy recounted to police interviewers how he had slashed the throats of his wife and his children sometime between 5-5:15 a.m. Wednesday and then remained inside the Buster Drive residence some 17 hours until he drove to the sheriff’s office to confess the grisly crime.

Jones said the suspect had lived in the parish for almost a decade – specifically six years at the Garyville address – and had no criminal history, “to speak of.” He said David Roy waived his rights and calmly discussed how he lacerated the throats of his family members, one by one while each slept, with what was described as a 14-inch butcher-type knife.

There was no sign of a physical struggle inside the beige brick home; however, the alleged killer told authorities he had been unhappy at home and the family had experienced financial difficulties within the recent past. The longtime sheriff said the suspect had called in sick to work at Wink Inc. and told a neighbor his oldest daughter, 9-year-old Asher, would not be attending school at Riverside Academy due to an undetermined illness.

When deputies arrived at the scene, they quickly gained entrance into the one-story residence and discovered Melissa Roy dead in the couple’s bed. Infant Alyssa Roy, 10 months, was found lying in her crib adjacent to her parents’ bed, while Asher was found in her bed inside her bedroom. A supplemental check of the three-bedroom home led the deputies to the den where they discovered 2-year-old Christopher Roy lying prone on the floor in front of the television set.

The bodies were covered with blankets, Jones said.

When asked why he killed his young children, David Roy, an industrial mechanic, told detectives he did not want anyone else to take care of them after he was gone and that he and his wife of nine years had recently experienced marital troubles.

A notice for a soon-to-be-held family reunion was found in the house by the crime scene investigators and the officers began the duty of policing up the corpses, gathering the evidence and notifying the next of kin. David Roy’s father, a resident of Harahan, was told of the deaths of his grandchildren and his daughter-in-law by the lead detective, while an aunt, who lives in the Tangipahoa Parish town of Independence, was notified about the death of Melissa Roy and the kids. The aunt, Fannie Givens, raised Melissa after the stay-at-home mom’s parents died in 1977 (father) and 1985 (mother), respectively.

After an initial court appearance Friday in the courtroom of Judge Sterling Snowdy, David Roy was arraigned on four counts of first-degree murder. He was remanded into custody at the Sherman Walker Correctional Facility in LaPlace without bond.

Roy’s defense attorney, Joseph Raspanti, made a motion for the state to appoint a sanity commission, as well as a motion to appoint a private psychiatrist, to evaluate his client. Snowdy granted the motions and set a May 8 date for a Grand Jury to convene.

Autopsies were performed Thursday on the victims and Jones said preliminary results were expected soon.