NEW ORLEANS (AP) - The Orleans Parish Coroner’s Office has classified the drowning deaths of Lakeitha and Kenneth Joseph as homicides.
John Gagliano, the coroner’s chief investigator, said Friday that an autopsy determined the victims were alive when someone bound their feet with blue nylon rope. The New Orleans Advocate reports (https://bit.ly/1lGhIp5 ) a preliminary autopsy shows the couple died weeks before they were found, but neither was shot, stabbed, strangled or beaten.
The rope around Kenneth Joseph’s feet also was attached to a 30-pound weight used for exercising, which detectives believe was used in an attempt to weigh down his remains.
The couple was reported missing Feb. 9. Their bodies were pulled from the Intracoastal Waterway last month, although weeks apart from each other.
Authorities have not identified a motive in the couple’s killing.
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Information from: The New Orleans Advocate, https://www.neworleansadvocate.com
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