Tangipahoa sheriff: Landrieu cousin kills wife, himself
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INDEPENDENCE — Stephen J. Landrieu, a first cousin of U.S. Sen. Mary Landrieu and of Lt. Gov. Mitch Landrieu, shot and killed his wife, then himself inside their Independence apartment Wednesday night, the Tangipahoa Parish Sheriff’s Office and the Landrieu family reported Thursday.
Independence police officers responded around 9:45 p.m. Wednesday to the historic red brick office and apartment suite on East Railroad Avenue and Genovese Plaza where Landrieu, 52, and his wife, Brenda Burke, 50, lived, said Sheriff’s Office spokeswoman Blair Foster.
“Our hearts break for Uncle Joe, Aunt Phyllis and the Burke family,” Mitch Landrieu said in an e-mail sent by his office Thursday night.
“We ask that everyone keep them in their prayers during this difficult time.”
Stephanie Allen, press secretary to Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-La., issued a statement Thursday night about the family’s losses.
“It is a terrible tragedy, and the senator is grieving for her cousin and his wife,” Allen said.
Allen added the couple apparently had been struggling because they had been displaced from New Orleans by Hurricane Katrina.
Landrieu allegedly called his mother after shooting and killing his wife with a semi-automatic pistol, sheriff’s spokeswoman Foster said.
His mother called the police for help, she said.
After he saw the officers arrive, Landrieu reportedly ran inside the building and locked the door, Foster said.
At that point, the officers called for assistance from the Sheriff’s Special Response Team.
The deputies and officers attempted to communicate with Landrieu for 30 to 45 minutes while removing the two other tenants living in a second-floor apartment through a window with a Fire Department ladder, Foster and Dr. Charles Genovese said.
Genovese was Landrieu’s landlord, and the physician’s family practice office is across the street from the Landrieu apartment.
Deputies broke through two glass windows and the door to find Landrieu, who Foster said had shot and killed himself with a rifle on the second floor.
Foster said investigators have no motive for the killings at this time.
Landrieu ran a medical supply business from the office he had rented from Genovese for the past year, Genovese said. He also said Landrieu rented the space for an office and he did not know how long the couple had lived there.
A Web site Landrieu operated listed him Thursday as president of Alpha Med Products Co.
“Since 1989,” the Web site says, “our one goal has been to help our patients obtain the pain and stress relief everyone deserves. I am referring to permanent pain relief within a short period of time. Based in Louisiana, we can distribute worldwide through our Internet Web site PainClinicOnLine.com.”
The couple previously lived in Tickfaw, but Genovese said he thinks they moved to Tangipahoa Parish from the New Orleans area after Hurricane Katrina.
The couple have no children, Foster said.
“They were nice people from New Orleans,” Genovese said. “I liked him a lot and saw him frequently.”
Independence police officers responded around 9:45 p.m. Wednesday to the historic red brick office and apartment suite on East Railroad Avenue and Genovese Plaza where Landrieu, 52, and his wife, Brenda Burke, 50, lived, said Sheriff’s Office spokeswoman Blair Foster.
“Our hearts break for Uncle Joe, Aunt Phyllis and the Burke family,” Mitch Landrieu said in an e-mail sent by his office Thursday night.
“We ask that everyone keep them in their prayers during this difficult time.”
Stephanie Allen, press secretary to Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-La., issued a statement Thursday night about the family’s losses.
“It is a terrible tragedy, and the senator is grieving for her cousin and his wife,” Allen said.
Allen added the couple apparently had been struggling because they had been displaced from New Orleans by Hurricane Katrina.
Landrieu allegedly called his mother after shooting and killing his wife with a semi-automatic pistol, sheriff’s spokeswoman Foster said.
His mother called the police for help, she said.
After he saw the officers arrive, Landrieu reportedly ran inside the building and locked the door, Foster said.
At that point, the officers called for assistance from the Sheriff’s Special Response Team.
The deputies and officers attempted to communicate with Landrieu for 30 to 45 minutes while removing the two other tenants living in a second-floor apartment through a window with a Fire Department ladder, Foster and Dr. Charles Genovese said.
Genovese was Landrieu’s landlord, and the physician’s family practice office is across the street from the Landrieu apartment.
Deputies broke through two glass windows and the door to find Landrieu, who Foster said had shot and killed himself with a rifle on the second floor.
Foster said investigators have no motive for the killings at this time.
Landrieu ran a medical supply business from the office he had rented from Genovese for the past year, Genovese said. He also said Landrieu rented the space for an office and he did not know how long the couple had lived there.
A Web site Landrieu operated listed him Thursday as president of Alpha Med Products Co.
“Since 1989,” the Web site says, “our one goal has been to help our patients obtain the pain and stress relief everyone deserves. I am referring to permanent pain relief within a short period of time. Based in Louisiana, we can distribute worldwide through our Internet Web site PainClinicOnLine.com.”
The couple previously lived in Tickfaw, but Genovese said he thinks they moved to Tangipahoa Parish from the New Orleans area after Hurricane Katrina.
The couple have no children, Foster said.
“They were nice people from New Orleans,” Genovese said. “I liked him a lot and saw him frequently.”
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