The boyfriend of a woman whose body was found in a wooded area of St. Tammany Parish last month is now facing a murder charge in connection with her death.
According to a St. Tammany Parish Sheriff’s Office spokesperson, deputies arrested Vernon Kenneth Lee, 59, on Monday in connection with the death of Billie Ann Blakley after obtaining an arrest warrant from a judge. Lee was already in the St. Tammany Parish Correctional Center on an unrelated domestic violence charge. He’s now facing a second-degree murder count.
Blakley’s remains were found in the woods near Tyler Drive and Kisatchie Drive just outside of Slidell on June 28. Investigators say Lee, whom they describe as a transient whose legal address is in North Carolina, was known to stay with Blakley in the Slidell area.
The sheriff’s office spokesperson did not say what evidence led authorities to Lee. However, she said detectives traveled to North Carolina and to Alabama twice to investigate the case.
