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The Investigative Unit
Yesterday
Lawyer representing property owner wants family who built home on wrong plot evicted
Posted 8:11 PM 4/18/2025 by Bess Casserleigh
ZACHARY — Thomas Robertson says a house was built without his permission on property he bought in 2011.
What essentially boils down to human error led to the Mulder (More)
4/16/2025
INVESTIGATIVE UNIT: Family claims strangers built house on their land
Posted 4:18 PM 4/17/2025 by Bess Casserleigh
ZACHARY - A family in Zachary says someone else built a home on their land.
Watch the WBRZ broadcast live on WBRZ+.
The home owned by Steve and Alicia Mulder was built in 2012 on Heck Young Road on a tract of (More)
4/15/2025
'Simply not true:' Parish Pres. Kenny Havard addresses allegations stemming from controversial land deal
Posted 5:39 PM 4/15/2025 by Bess Casserleigh & Logan Cullop
ST. FRANCISVILLE - Parish President Kenny Havard used his time during the West Feliciana Parish Council meeting to address allegations surrounding a land deal at the center of a (More)
4/14/2025
West Feliciana Parish Council supports bill to dissolve parish port commission
Posted 9:45 PM 4/14/2025 by Logan Cullop & Bess Casserleigh
ST. FRANCISVILLE - The West Feliciana Parish Council threw its support behind a bill to abolish the West Feliciana Parish Port Commission after a handful of commissioners hurled allegations of wrongdoing at Parish President Kenny Havard.
A resolution in support of State Rep. Jeremy (More)
4/11/2025
Impact students to finish year at different location; former leaders say move orchestrated in backroom deal
Posted 7:42 PM 4/11/2025 by Bess Casserleigh
BAKER - Impact Charter School students will report to a new location to finish out their school year starting next week after the charter faced an eviction.
In a statement sent to parents Friday morning, school officials said that due to the eviction notice, "remaining in the current (More)
4/10/2025
Impact Charter's former leader says she won't evict students from premises
Posted 7:29 PM 4/10/2025 by WBRZ Staff
BAKER — The former head of the Impact Charter School, who is also the registered agent for the group that serves as the landlord for the school's (More)
4/8/2025
Judge orders third sanity hearing ahead of trial for convicted killer Ryan Sharpe
Posted 11:33 AM 4/9/2025 by Bess Casserleigh
BATON ROUGE - Despite already being sentenced to life in prison in an East Feliciana courtroom last year, Ryan Sharpe still has to face a jury for the murder he's accused of in East Baton Rouge.
Sharpe was convicted of the murder of Brad Defranchesi and is also accused of killing Tommy (More)
4/7/2025
Attorney explains why BRPD officer who blew over the limit after wreck likely won't get charged
Posted 6:09 PM 4/7/2025 by Bess Casserleigh
BATON ROUGE - A Baton Rouge Police officer and another driver may not face charges after a fiery crash in Zachary, despite both drivers being suspected of (More)
4/2/2025
INVESTIGATIVE UNIT: BRPD officer above legal limit when fiery crash happened, leaked document says
Posted 5:38 PM 4/2/2025 by Bess Casserleigh & Logan Cullop
ZACHARY - A document leaked to the WBRZ Investigative Unit shows what several sources had been telling us all along: Baton Rouge Police Officer Loren Gaskin was under the influence when he totaled an unmarked police unit in Zachary on March 16.
On Wednesday, we received the document and (More)
4/1/2025
Man who killed pregnant girlfriend and threw toddler off bridge avoids trial, pleads guilty to manslaughter and feticide
Posted 12:24 PM 4/1/2025 by The Investigative Unit
BATON ROUGE - A man accused of killing his girlfriend, who was pregnant with his child at the time, and the woman's 2-year-old son pleaded guilty (More)
3/31/2025
Trial of man accused of sexually abusing foster kids to begin Tuesday
Posted 10:20 PM 3/31/2025 by Bess Casserleigh
BATON ROUGE - The trial of a man accused of sexually abusing three of his foster children will begin Tuesday. Michael Hadden, now 54, has been sitting in jail for (More)
3/27/2025
INVESTIGATIVE UNIT: West Feliciana Port Commission members allege wrongdoing in data center land deal
Posted 6:50 PM 3/31/2025 by Logan Cullop & Bess Casserleigh
Update: The day after WBRZ Investigative Unit's report aired, we learned a complaint will be filed with the State Ethics Board concerning whether parish officials profited from the land deal.
Read the original story below:
(More)...3/25/2025
Appeals judge decides that Madison Brooks' sexual history is not applicable in rape case
Posted 9:16 AM 3/26/2025 by Logan Cullop & Bess Casserleigh
BATON ROUGE - An appeals court has ruled that defense lawyers cannot use Madison Brooks' sexual history in their attempt to combat rape charges.
Arrest documents (More)
3/21/2025
A deep dive into the City-Parish's red light ticket program and why it could be illegal
Posted 9:16 AM 3/22/2025 by Bess Casserleigh
BATON ROUGE — A program that generates millions of dollars every year for the City-Parish may be illegal, according to a civil suit currently pending in the First Circuit.
"When this program was started, the ordinance that established put the program under the control of DPW. Well (More)
3/20/2025
INVESTIGATIVE UNIT: Without victim testimony, domestic violence cases often get dismissed - but not in the 19th JDC
Posted 7:38 PM 3/20/2025 by Bess Casserleigh
BATON ROUGE - In April 2024, East Baton Rouge District Attorney Hillar Moore was candid with WBRZ about one of the worst allegations of domestic violence he had ever seen.
"I've been around 50 years and when I read this one, I was extremely shaken on this one. It was completely different (More)
