Jury To Be Chosen In Opelousas For Sabine Parish Murder Trial Monday

MANY, La. (AP) — A lawyer for a former Natchitoches police officer accused of killing a fellow member of the Louisiana National Guard says post-traumatic stress disorder justifies his insanity defense.

KSLA-TV reports (http://bit.ly/1LFsNTv ) jury selection is scheduled Monday in Opelousas in the capital murder trial of Robert Barthelemy. The jury is being chosen in St. Landry Parish because of pre-trial publicity in Sabine Parish, but will hear the case in Many.

Barthelemy is accused of kidnapping Tony Procell in 2013, killing him and burying him in the Kisatchie National Forest. Barthelemy pleaded not guilty, but later changed his plea to not guilty by reason of insanity.

Attorney Richard Goorley describes Barthelemy as a soldier broken by war and tormented by combat memories.

The lawyer says Barthelemy believed Procell had impregnated Barthelemy's estranged wife.