State denies parole for man who killed Beverly Chauffe in Parks 38 years ago

The Louisiana Parole Board on July 9 denied parole for Jerry Paul Francis, reported Assistant District Attorney Chester Cedars.
Cedars attended the hearing to object to the release of Francis, serving 99 years for the armed robbery of a St. Martin Bank & Trust branch in Parks and the murder of the bank teller, 46-year-old Beverly Chauffe on May 26, 1976.
Francis, then 17, and Preston George Demouchet Jr., 24, both of New Iberia, were arrested largely on the strength of the images taken by the bank’s security camera, which was secretly triggered by Chauffe when the suspicious pair entered the bank for the second or third time that day.
Because Chauffe lingered in a coma for some 16 months before she died, Francis and Demouchet could not be charged with murder. Back in 1976, Cedars said, the law said death had to occur within a year and a day for the act to be murder.
Tried in Franklin on a change of venue, both men were convicted of armed robbery and sentenced to 99 years without benefit of parole.
The Louisiana Legislature subsequently passed the “old timers law,” opening the door to parole for prisoners having served 20 years and reached the age of 45. Those convicted of armed robbery were initially ineligible for the “old timers law” but a recent court case removed that exception.
Cedars, who had vowed to fight Francis’ release “tooth and nail,” said with some satisfaction that the killer is not going anywhere anytime soon.