Lisa Pate

After a tense afternoon of back-and-forth in the media, Lafayette's Police Chief Jim Craft confirmed to multiple media outlets that officials believe they have found the body of missing UL-Lafayette student Mickey Shunick, who has been missing since May.

Documents have been filed in court today in the case of the State of Louisiana versus Brandon Scott Lavergne.  Within the documents is information that will likely be divulged during Lavergne’s trial in connection with the murders of Lisa Pate and Mickey Shunick.

Lafayette TV stations KATC-TV and KLFY-TV are both reporting that Brandon Scott Lavergne has pleaded 'not guilty' to the murders of Mickey Shunick and Lisa Pate.

As we reported last week, Brandon Lavergne was indicted by a grand jury in Lafayette for the first degree murder of the still-missing Mickey Shunick. But in a shocking twist in the case, Lavergne was also charged with the first degree murder of Lisa Pate, an Acadia Parish woman who was found dead in 1999. Now the Lafayette Parish District attorney is saying that both cases may be tried together.

It was expected that on Wednesday’s grand jury that Brandon Scott Lavergne would be indicted for the disappearance of Mickey Shunick—but some were surprised to find that he was also indicted for the 1999 murder of Lisa Pate.

A Lafayette Parish grand jury indicted Brandon Scott Lavergne for the first degree murder of the still-missing Mickey Shunick.  But in a bombshell, grand jurors also found enough evidence to also charge him with the first degree murder of an Acadia Parish woman who was found dead in 1999.