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Investigations
PLAQUEMINE- A grand jury in Iberville Parish has indicted the St. Gabriel police chief on a slew of charges including money laundering and malfeasance.
The indictment Friday also includes counts of conspiracy to commit money laundering, theft of $25,000 or more, conspiracy to commit theft, and filing false public records.
On Saturday, Kevin Ambeau and his wife Kalayn Brown turned themselves in at the Iberville Parish jail. The pair were booked and posted bond.
Last summer, deputies raided the St. Gabriel Police Department and Chief Kevin Ambeau's home. They seized computers, laptops and phones.
At the time, investigators said the raid was connected to missing money from a double murder case. Turns out, the money was found after searching an area of the St. Gabriel Police Department's evidence room that was not combed over.
More recently, new allegations surfaced alleging a kickback scheme with a local business owner and Chief Ambeau.
Months after the raid took place, Ambeau maintained he did nothing wrong.
"I look at it as if they say $3,500 is missing, they have to get to the bottom of it," Ambeau said. "I'll cooperate with them, and I want the public to know I didn't put my hands on anything."
At the time, Ambeau said he welcomed any investigation.
"I wouldn't jeopardize my retirement and entire career for $3,500," Ambeau said. "I give that away here just helping people."
Attempts to reach Ambeau, the Mayor of St. Gabriel and the business owner implicated in the case were not successful Thursday evening.
BATON ROUGE - Disgraced East Baton Rouge school employee Justin Broussard was taken into custody by East Baton Rouge Parish sheriff's deputies after turning himself in Tuesday following accusations that he was involved in inappropriate conduct with a student.
The WBRZ Investigative Unit was first to break the news of Broussard's arrest warrant over the weekend. Broussard was arrested on counts of indecent behavior with a juvenile, computer-aided solicitation and obstruction of justice.
Two months ago, WBRZ was first to interview two different mothers who both alleged that Broussard groomed their sons. One pulled her child out of the school where he worked. The second wound up talking to Broussard himself and telling him to stay away from her son.
"I talked to Justin Broussard himself in 2022," one mom said. "I let him know I don't like what's going on between you and my son. He said he would leave my son alone, and he didn't."
Warrants show Broussard took the juvenile to get a tattoo without his mother's permission. He also demanded sexually explicit photos and videos from the teen, who complied according to detectives.
When the heat was turned up on Broussard, he wound up telling the juvenile to provide a false statement so he could stay out of trouble.
"Nobody believed my son," another mom said. "To be honest, they protected the adult more than they protected the child."
NEW ORLEANS- The United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit ordered a convicted murderer to be released after saying his parole was improperly rescinded in 2017.
Samuel Galbraith is a convicted rapist and murderer who detectives and a district attorney believe is the prime suspect in other murders.
In November 2016, the Parole Board approved his release, but after the WBRZ Investigative Unit exposed what was about to happen, Governor Edwards blocked the decision amid public outcry. The parole was rescinded because notification to the victim's family was not made properly.
Galbraith, a soldier at Fort Polk, killed Karen Hill in 1988. He was on the run for almost 10 years after her murder, until he was caught. The brutal nature of the crime brings seasoned detectives to tears.
Jesse McWilliams had no justice for almost a decade as her daughter's killer roamed free. Until Samuel Galbraith bragged to the wrong person who went to authorities. At the time Hill was murdered, retired District Attorney Asa Skinner was a young prosecutor.
"He told his friend that he had dreamed and had visions of going to a convenience store, getting a woman, kidnapping them, raping them and killing them to see what it felt like," Skinner said.
Before a trial was held, Galbraith pleaded guilty to raping Hill after DNA evidence linked him to the crime. He also pleaded guilty to her murder. Galbraith was sentenced to 71 years and told he needed to serve 85 percent of it.
With less than 1/3 of that sentence served, he could be a free man again.
The Director of Probation and Parole said they are exploring all legal options right now. In 2017, Galbraith was scheduled to be released to Texas. Any housing plan now would need approval from their department of corrections.