Brandon Scott Lavergne Wants His Guilty Pleas Voided

The man who is currently serving life in prison for the murders of Lisa Pate in 1999 and Mickey Shunick last year is now asking a judge to void his guilty pleas because he says he felt pressured to plead guilty.

Brandon Scott Lavergne pleaded guilty to two counts of first-degree murder in the death of the women.

Mickey Shunick was first reported missing in May of last year after she did not make it to her home.  The search for Shunick lasted for weeks with the local community coming together to do extensive searching and volunteering in the search for the University of Louisiana at Lafayette student.  Details revealed at the time of Lavergne's plea deal showed that Lavergne hit Shunick while she was on her bike, then later shot her dead.

Shunick's case lead to authorities reviewing evidence in the 1999 death of Lisa Pate.  Lavergne ended up pleading guilty in her death too.  Her body was found at an abandoned home in Acadia Parish months after she had not been seen.

Lavergne wrote his own court motions asking a judge to throw out both of his guilty pleas and to void his life sentence.  Lavergne alleges that he was pressured into the plea deals because of the fact that he was facing the death penalty.