ST. TAMMANY PARISH, La. —
A Lacombe man pled guilty to raping a woman on the Tammany Trace on Tuesday, he was sentenced to 50 years, according to a statement from Judicial District Attorney Warren Montgomery.
Rene Murrell, now 48, had been arrested for first-degree rape soon after the attack happened in July 2021; he pled guilty to attempted rape and to sexual battery on Tuesday.
"The victim chose not to be present in court for the sentencing, saying she did not want to give the defendent, ' another second of (her) time,'" According to the statement from district attorney. "But she requested that Mrs. Gritten directly relay to the defendant that, 'today's sentence is for every woman in St. Tammany Parish.'"
The attack happened in July 2021, a woman, 64, said she was raped by a stranger while riding her bike on the Tammany Trace. Apparently, the man who she identified in court as Murrell, had asked her for a cigarette while she was riding her bike. When she said no, he knocked the victim off her bike, pushed her face into the ground, and sexually assaulted her. He then ran off.
Two people who came to help the victim found a cell phone nearby. Detectives said that phone belonged to Murrell.
Although Murrell had initially denied being on the Trace, investigators said they also found security videos which put him near the scene of the attack.
Investigators also said they matched DNA found on the victim's body and clothes to Murrell's DNA.
Murrell had a history of sexual assaults, those crimes happened in St. Bernard Parish. One incident, in 1996, involved attacking and groping a woman riding her bike to work. He pled guilty to that attack as well as another rape in 2008.
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