By LEONARD GRAY / L’Observateur / January 25, 1999

NORCO – A Metairie couple was found dead Tuesday afternoon in the Bonnet Carre Spillway, apparent victims in a double-suicide. The investigation iscontinuing.

Lt. Dwayne LaGrange of the St. Charles Sheriff’s Office reported thatRichard Paquette, 44, and Denise Paquette, 42, were found by a man searching for firewood for his campsite.

The Paquettes, formerly of St. Rose, were camping in the spillway duringthe weekend.

The man who found the bodies was camping not far away from the scene and found a silver Nissan Sentry parked off the East Guide Levee, 300 yards from the Airline Highway boat launch. He found the bodies andphoned police at 5 p.m.LaGrange said that judging from the condition of the bodies, the Paquettes had been dead at least a day or two when they were discovered. Each wereseated in the front seats of the car, the seats inclined all the way back. A20-gauge crack-barrel shotgun was found in his hands and evidence strongly indicated the head wounds were self-inflicted.

“It was pretty bad,” LaGrange noted.

LaGrange added a deputy had talked to him at their campsite on Jan. 14 anda witness was found who had spoken to the couple on Jan. 16.Paquette was once prominent in the area barge industry and was a former president of the Greater New Orleans Barge Fleeting Association. Anotherfellow past president and former St. Charles Parish Councilman StevenTalbot recalled Paquette as “a super-nice guy, hard-working and energetic.”LaGrange said the investigation so far indicates the couple were distressed by financial problems, especially his delinquent child support payments.

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