A man today apologized for a mass killing in Jefferson Parish nine years ago and threw himself on the mercy of the court, blaming drugs for his actions.
"A Jefferson Parish judge sentenced Armande Tart to life in prison after he abruptly ended his trial... by pleading guilty as charged to murdering four people and attempting to kill a fifth person in a Metairie apartment complex," District Attorney's Public Information Officer Paul Purpura said in a news release.
The sudden change of plea came as prosecutors were preparing to present testimony from their fourth witness in the trial.
"Tart’s attorneys announced that their client would plead guilty. Tart did so knowing that the mandatory punishment is life in prison without benefit of probation, parole or suspension of sentence."
This was the killer's second trial for the mass murder. He was convicted in 2020 but received a new trial after the US Supreme Court ruled non-unanimous jury verdicts unconstitutional.
"Tarte, 30, of New Orleans, received four life sentences in prison for brutally stabbing and strangling a man to death in his apartment in the 2500 block of Pasadena Avenue in the early morning hours of March 15, 2017. He then shot four people in another apartment in the small complex, killing three of them and leaving a surviving woman with permanent scars from a gunshot wound to her head," Purpura detailed.
This ends the case.
"In court on Tuesday, Tart apologized for taking their lives and blamed his actions on the illegal narcotics he was abusing at the time. The lone survivor said in victim-impact testimony that she did not know Tart, and he didn’t need to shoot her."
The murders were particularly brutal.
"Tart’s first victim was Harold Frisard, 55, whom he stabbed 48 times in the neck and strangled to death, leaving his body in the bathtub before stealing many of his personal items. A short while later, at about 3:30 a.m., Tart walked into a nearby apartment and asked the occupants to use the restroom. He then opened fire, killing Kyle Turner, 50, of Laplace; John Henry, 56, of Metairie; and Rose Mary Charles, 61, of Metairie. They all were shot in their heads, and all died at the scene."
