- Female narrator: When a fun-loving country girl
falls for a real-life louisiana cowboy, sparks fly.
- He was one of the toughest, most rugged cowboys
that there ever was.
- He wore spurs on his boots.
She, on the other hand, was always dressed to a t.
- She had him totally captivated.
- Narrator: But one March evening,
their picturesque life comes to a sudden end.
- Victor: He was lying on his back, face up
with his hands extended over his head.
Quite a bit of blood.
- It appeared as if the perpetrator
was searching for something.
- [siren wails]
- narrator: As investigators hunt for answers, they uncover
a plot far more devious than they could imagine.
- People had seen them together, and you know how it is.
Little towns, they start talking.
- She was all he thought about.
He was in love with her.
- William: There was a bunch of bickering back and forth
between the families.
- Van: The noose was tightening, so to speak.
The wagons were circling.
- It became a cold and calculated murder.
- William: She twisted his mind.
And that's the truth about it.
- ♪
- [gunshot blasts]
- ♪
♪♪
- narrator: March 1st, 1997.
Natchitoches, louisiana.
Though it's been over 60 years since john wayne filmed
his westerns in this small southern city,
the town still plays host to genuine american cowboys.
- It's more than just the cowboy hat
and wrangler jeans and cowboy boots.
They're the people who go out first thing in the morning
at daylight and work the fences and haul the cattle,
come in at night exhausted,
but feeling that they did a good hard day's work.
- ♪
- narrator: It's just after 7:00pm when a call comes
into the natchitoches sheriff's office.
The caller is 36-year-old princess lacaze.
- She had come home and found her husband lying
on the kitchen floor.
She called out to him, and he didn't answer.
She saw him only from the door, saw him lying on the floor,
a lot of blood around, so she didn't know if he was dead
or what happened.
She was very emotional.
- [siren wails]
- narrator: Natchitoches sheriff's deputies rush
to the home where princess lives with her husband,
41-year-old mike lacaze.
Responding officers request that she stay put
as they enter the home.
- Mike was found, uh, on the floor
by the bar in the kitchen.
- ♪
- victor: He was on his back face up with his hands
extended over his head and had no shirt on
and some blue jeans.
Quite a bit of blood in the area where mike was lying.
- It appeared that he had the single gunshot wound
in the shoulder area left side.
- Narrator: Officers are unable to find a pulse.
- Victor: I was surprised.
I knew mike probably right out of high school.
I knew the whole family.
I started thinking about: Who would want to kill mike lacaze?
Because even though he was so rough and tough,
I never knew of mike having a real enemy,
somebody who would want to hurt him.
I didn't know of anyone.
- ♪
- narrator: Born in 1955, mike lacaze grew up
with his three siblings just south of natchitoches.
By high school, mike could just as easily rope a calf
as saddle a horse.
- Joe: He always was out with the rest of them cowboys.
He went and rode bulls for a while
just to show people that he could do it.
- Narrator: Though mike attracted plenty of attention
from the opposite sex, one young woman knew
her feelings for mike were more than a crush.
- Rhonda: When I met mike, he was getting off a school bus,
and I looked at my girlfriend next to me and I said,
"I'm gonna marry that man one day."
and I did a couple of years later.
- Narrator: In June of 1974, just after mike's graduation
and with rhonda still in school, the young couple married.
- Rhonda: I was in love.
Mike could be very funny, playful, joking.
We got married when I was 14.
Me and mike had two children together.
Our first one was michael junior in 1978.
And then william lane was born in 1981.
- Narrator: Eager to provide for his family, mike turned
his natural skills with livestock into a living.
- Mike started working for rayburn smith in the 70s.
They sold cattle, sheep, horses,
any kind of animals pretty much.
- Mike was one of the toughest, most rugged cowboys that
there ever was in this country, anyway.
He worked for me for 20-plus years off and on.
I got to be really good friends with mike.
- Narrator: In addition to the bruises and broken bones
that came along with being a cowboy, 19-year-old mike
started experiencing symptoms that couldn't be explained
by his job.
- Mike was diagnosed with polycystic kidney disease
at 19.
- Narrator: Mike didn't let the diagnosis slow him down.
He continued to put in long days at work
and came home every night to wrangle his two sons.
- William: My brother's three years older than I am,
and we was raised up on a farm.
We rode horses, worked cows, had chickens, dogs.
- ♪
- narrator: Mike lived and breathed his job,
and his best friend often worked alongside him.
- William: That was daddy's hobby, he worked.
And merilyn robinson was my daddy's lifelong friend.
They was probably friends for 20 years or better.
- Rhonda: Him and merilyn grew up like brothers.
Where you seen one, you seen the other.
Merilyn probably knew him better than I did.
- Narrator: Though they'd built a family together, by 1990,
mike's 16-year marriage to rhonda was falling apart.
- Thought I was in love, and I didn't know what love was.
So...
We just went our separate ways.
- Narrator: Following the split, mike focused on his work,
until a 30-year-old local woman named princess potmesil
came into his world.
- Victor: Princess was a very nice-looking young white female.
Being raised up out in the country,
I would see her, she'd be out there working with her dad.
- Mike and princess got together in 1992 whenever mike
went back there and was working cows for joe potmesil.
- Narrator: Princess's father, joe, was well-known
in natchitoches both as a farmer and a hothead.
- You would have to know her father,
he pretty dominant in that family.
Uh, he kind of ran the roost.
- Narrator: By the time princess was 30, she was
a divorced, single mom looking for a happily ever after.
And to her surprise, she found her prince charming
in the arms of mike lacaze.
- William: Princess had three kids
from a previous marriage.
They were close to my daddy, and they did a lot.
They did a lot together.
- Princess and mike, to me, was totally opposite.
Mike was a cowboy, wore blue jeans,
uh, he wore spurs on his boots.
Princess, on the other hand, was always dressed to a t.
- Narrator: Despite the talk around town,
it seemed their differences brought them closer together.
On July 3rd, 1993, princess and mike married.
They settled into mike's modest home
tucked away in the country just outside of town.
- Victor: Not a very big house,
uh, just a country--country home, uh, wood-frame house.
They appeared to be real close.
- Narrator: In 1997, after four years of marriage,
the couple was dealt some frightening news.
Mike's kidney disease and years of grueling physical labor
had caught up with him.
- Van: Mike had been experiencing kidney failure,
and he was scheduled to have a shunt put in
to begin kidney dialysis.
- Narrator: Princess vowed to be by his side,
and mike took the news like a true cowboy.
- They had told him that he could live five or more years.
- Michael: I'm sure he worried about health issues,
like anybody would, but my dad was a fighter.
- ♪
- narrator: But all hope the new treatment promised
was soon dashed.
Just two days before his appointment,
princess calls 911 to report that mike is lying
in a pool of blood inside their home.
- He was shot one time.
The cause of death was, uh, the single gunshot wound.
- Victor: The body had not been there a long period of time.
We knew we were looking at something that had happened
within--within the last three, four, five hours.
We found at the doorway coming into the kitchen
a shell casing, a .30 caliber shell casing,
which gave us, uh, indication of what type of weapon was used.
He was shot through the left shoulder area
on his left side, which would be pretty much impossible
for someone to shoot himself, and there was no weapon.
So, we pretty much knew when we saw the body
that we were looking at a homicide.
- ♪
- narrator: Coming up:
Detectives sit down with their first suspect.
- Victor: Everybody's a suspect at that point.
We were trying to get her whereabouts
to make sure she wasn't involved.
- Narrator: And a chance sighting has detectives
suspecting foul play.
- A citizen had seen a black, suburban suv
driving down the road.
- We've had some break-ins and burglaries out in that area.
- ♪
- narrator: On March 1, 1997,
natchitoches county sheriff victor jones stands over
the body of mike lacaze, theorizing how someone took
this rough and tumble cowboy's life.
- You could see mike lying on the floor
face up...
With hands extended behind his head.
Television was on.
Looked like somebody walked in
and took his life whether he actually saw it coming or not,
you know, we don't know that.
- Narrator: After immediately ruling out suicide,
investigators search the home
and begin to consider the possibility of a robbery.
- Victor: A lot of papers thrown around in disarray.
Some drawers pulled out and emptied on the floor.
We've had some break-ins and burglaries out in that area.
- Narrator: Aside from the ransacking and mike's body,
the killer didn't leave much evidence behind.
- You're looking at the crime scene,
seeing if it will tell you
or give you some idea of what may have happened,
that's the first thing you're looking at,
and I always referred to it, sometime crime scenes
have a way of talking to ya.
And this particular crime scene didn't give us a whole lot.
- ♪
- narrator: Investigators complete their initial
examination of the crime scene and escort mike's wife,
princess, back to the station,
hoping she will be able to give them more information.
- Victor: Everybody's a suspect at that point.
And of course, at that time, we were trying to get
some timeframes and her whereabouts
to try to make sure that she wasn't involved.
- ♪
- narrator: Princess tells detectives she'd spent the day
working and running errands.
- Van: She provided those receipts
to the sheriff's office as well.
Those receipts were timed around 6:30 at night
before she went to the house
and discovered mike's body and made the 911 call.
- Narrator: According to princess,
when she saw mike sprawled on the floor in a pool of blood,
she panicked and ran back outside.
- Van: Interestingly, in her statement, she stated
that she did not go to check the body,
she saw him from across the room and immediately left
and made the 911 call.
- Narrator: Princess insists mike's upcoming dialysis
had given them newfound hope about their future together.
- Van: Princess at that point stated that mike was willing
to undergo the treatment,
that he knew what was happening and that he was happy to have
something done to--to improve his--his life quality
at the time.
- Narrator: Princess tells detectives that after parting
ways with mike that morning, she hadn't spoken to him again.
- They said their goodbyes and, according to her in this
statement, that was the last time she saw him alive.
She did not talk to him, uh, for the rest of the day.
She did not indicate any knowledge
of how this murder could have happened, who may have done it.
- Victor: Mike was just a hardworking guy,
and we didn't find anyone that had any grudges,
or he owed anyone a bunch a money or nothing like that.
- There was no red flags that went up before he was murdered.
They were living their lives normal.
Mike was dealing with his health issues and trying to work.
There were no suspects,
and it was just a great mystery at the time.
- Narrator: With no leads emerging from the interview
with princess, detectives let her go.
As they plot their next move,
word of mike's death reaches his family.
- We was down south, in south louisiana,
on our way back from a trip,
and my mother wouldn't tell us nothing about it.
Then when we got back home, she--she told us what happened.
- William: I was 16 years old.
It was pretty rough to get that, like I say,
just find out of the blue.
One day he's here, and the next day he's gone.
It's that simple.
It's something that you can never get ready for.
- ♪
- narrator: Back at the station, detectives continue
working their theory that this hardworking father of two
had been a victim of a robbery gone wrong.
- Van: Robbery was the first, obvious potential motive
given the crime scene, given the disheveled, uh,
nature of the house.
The fact that it appeared to be rummaged through as if, uh,
the perpetrator was searching for something,
or searching for money.
There could have been a transient person that was from
out of the area that just randomly selected the house.
- Victor: We contacted the crime lab to get them
to come down to help us process this crime scene,
check for fingerprints,
and see if there was anything that we may not have been seen.
- ♪
- narrator: While crime scene techs revisit the lacaze home,
officers reach out to mike's neighbors for new leads.
- A citizen had seen a black, uh, suburban suv
driving down the road suspiciously in the area
in the weeks surrounding the murder.
- Narrator: In fact, the neighbor says she saw
the suv on the day of mike's murder.
- One of the neighbors said that the day of the murder,
March 1, there was a black suburban
coming out of the driveway, turning onto posey road.
She did not get the license plate.
She got a good look at the driver.
A white male, light complected, dark hair.
- And she reported that to the investigators,
who were trying to track down the possible suspect.
- This case kind of took priority over a lot of the cases
that we were working,
so we immediately start trying to get this suburban.
- Narrator: Coming up:
Detectives run down their first lead.
- We put out bolos, uh, for this suburban
and the composite drawing.
- Narrator: And rumors throw the investigation for a loop.
- People had seen them together and...You know how it is.
Little towns, they start talking.
- To me, her daddy was the most likely suspect early on,
more than anyone else.
- ♪
- narrator: In March of 1997, the natchitoches parish
sheriff's department is tracking down their first lead
in the shooting death of beloved local cowboy, mike lacaze.
- Victor: One of the neighbors indicated that, March 1st,
there was a black suburban in the area driving slow,
looking somewhat-- she described as--suspicious.
- The person who observed the truck actually gave
the sheriff's office, ah, a description of the individual
driving the vehicle, which was white male with dark hair.
- We later got her to come in and do a composite drawing
of the driver.
We put out bolos, uh, for this suburban
and the composite drawing.
We put it out to law enforcement
to see if we could identify this person.
- ♪
- narrator: While officers search for the driver,
investigators ask mike's wife, princess, to accompany them
back to the crime scene.
- Victor: Before we released the crime scene back to the family,
after the crime lab finished up that Monday evening,
we did another walkthrough with princess to see
if she could determine if anything was missing.
And the only thing that I can recall her determined
that was missing was some photographs.
Normally, on burglaries people go in and steal like
the televisions, stereos, maybe some tools.
But there was nothing at this crime scene,
nothing to that nature was taken.
- ♪
- narrator: Doubting mike was the casualty
of a random robbery, two days later,
investigators question mike's friends and family
to see if there is anyone who may have wanted to harm him.
One name comes up:
Mike's father-in-law, joe potmesil.
- William: There was a bunch of bickering back and forth
between the families.
- Victor: They thought that joe, if not himself,
would have gotten someone to kill mike.
As far as I was concerned at that time, joe was a suspect.
Princess's daddy.
To me, he was the most likely suspect early on,
more than anyone else
to get princess clear of that relationship.
- ♪
- narrator: On March 3rd, 1997,
investigators pay a visit to joe.
- Victor: We had gone down to visit with joe potmesil
just to see if he had any ideas,
or if he could point us in a direction.
- Narrator: Joe is adamant that he had nothing to do
with his son-in-law's death.
- Victor: He also came up wanting to know,
through that conversation, what type of weapon was used.
I just told him a high-power rifle.
- Narrator: Eager to prove his innocence,
joe shows investigators his gun collection.
- Victor: In his cabinet, he had a 30/30 caliber rifle,
but all his guns was, uh,
was in place, nothing was missing.
- Narrator: Following the interview,
investigators find no way to connect joe to the murder.
- Victor: We had several conversations during the time
when we were investigating the homicide.
He had no access in the murder, and we knew that joe potmesil
had no involvement in the killing of mike lacaze.
- Narrator: As the weeks pass, leads dwindle,
including the most promising tip
about the suspicious suv and its driver.
- It went on several months, and I don't think
we ever stopped looking for that black suv.
We was hoping that it would show up somewhere.
But everything led to a dead end.
We never got any--anything going on it.
- Narrator: Five months pass, and it looks as if
mike's killer may have gotten away with murder.
- Michael: It all could have been a little bit quicker,
you know, just from being the son,
it--you know, it wasn't fast enough.
- Narrator: Until detectives get a surprise visit
from someone who claims to have new information about the case:
Princess lacaze.
- Victor: On September 12th, she brought in
a handwritten statement she made indicating that
maybe mike had hired someone to assist him in a suicide.
She started telling us that mike was wanting to die.
- Van: She said mike lacaze, her husband,
refused to go on dialysis,
did not wanna be hooked up to a machine,
did not wanna undergo a kidney transplant,
and essentially had talked about ending his own life.
- Narrator: Investigators find princess's sudden
shift in demeanor suspicious.
- Victor: Early on, uh, in the investigation, March 1,
she was adamant that he was looking forward to getting
dialysis and getting help, and there was no mention
at that time about him wanting to die in that interview.
Her story had changed, just trying to throw us off
and throw us in a different direction.
That's what we looked at it as a distraction,
just to throw us off.
- Narrator: When investigators sit down with mike's family,
they insist that there is no way mike was suicidal.
- Mike never said that he wanted to commit suicide,
or he wanted to die or anything.
- He never, ever said he wanted to commit suicide.
He was all for getting the stent put in
and trying to get better.
- Narrator: Detectives ask mike's family if they know
of anyone else that might want to hurt him.
That's when they bring up some unsettling rumors
concerning mike's wife, princess,
and his best friend, merilyn robinson.
- Rhonda: People had seen them together,
and you know how it is.
Little towns, they start talking.
- Van: They think that she had been having an affair with
merilyn robinson, who was known to be a good friend of mike's
for about a year and a half to two years
prior to mike's death.
- Narrator: Detectives must now determine whether the rumors
are true, and if they have anything
to do with mike's death.
- We started looking closely to see if princess could have
been involved in this,
and who possibly she could have gotten to do it.
- ♪
- narrator: Detectives decide to pull both merilyn
and princess' phone records.
Scouring the files, they notice something unusual
from the day of the murder.
- The sheriff's office discovered that a call was made
from a convenience store, which would have been on
the route from the lacaze home to the walmart in winfield,
where princess lacaze was working.
The call was made to merilyn
at about 8:30 the morning of the murder.
- Narrator: Detectives wonder,
could princess have made the call?
And if so, what was she hiding?
- Van: Princess had a cellphone, and her cellphone could have
easily been tracked to her, whereas a payphone,
obviously, could have been anyone making the call.
- Narrator: It's clear to detectives that if princess
did make the call, she didn't want anyone to know about it.
- So that further made us suspicious of,
"what are you trying to hide here?
What--what are you hiding?"
- narrator: Detectives dig deeper into the life princess
has been leading in the months since mike's death.
It seems this widow has been living up to her name.
- Not only did she go to the bahamas or the caribbean,
uh, she also went to hawaii.
So, she was at least making
some lavish trips after mike died.
- Narrator: It seems princess paid for those trips
by cashing in on mike's death.
- It came out that there were four insurance policies
for $25,000 each.
- Van: Then she sold the house and the property on posey road
for some $110,000, something-- uh, something to that effect.
- Narrator: The big payoff only heightens investigators'
suspicions around princess.
- Van: By that point, I was convinced that she had
participated in the murder, and from my perspective,
the noose was tightening, so to speak,
the wagons were circling ever so close to her.
- ♪
- narrator: Coming up:
A new lover emerges with a shocking confession.
- She made statement about, "the gun is in the river."
- narrator: And princess has yet another tale to tell.
- Van: She stated that he told her that he would take care
of mike's wishes to die that day.
- ♪
- narrator: By December of 1997,
detectives in natchitoches, louisiana,
are homing in on princess lacaze
as the primary suspect in the murder of her husband,
mike lacaze.
In addition to cashing in on
multiple life insurance policies,
it's rumored around town that princess was once involved
with mike's best friend, merilyn robinson.
- Merilyn and princess had taken trips to houston
and new orleans after mike died.
- Victor: We knew there was something between them,
and of course, we had already heard from people on the street
and everything that there was a relationship.
- Van: Not long after mike's death,
she picks up, uh, in another relationship, uh, while she's
trying to exit the relationship with merilyn robinson.
Princess starts up another relationship with simon sarpy.
- ♪
- narrator: Nine months since the murder of his friend,
mike lacaze, investigators bring in simon sarpy,
who sheds a new light on the relationship
between princess and merilyn.
- Narrator: Simon tells detectives that while princess
didn't admit to being involved in the murder,
she did make a bizarre statement.
- At that point, he indicated he didn't know
what she was talking about.
- He did not know the location of the river,
the body of water.
- Narrator: Simon's interview gives investigators one more
reason to believe that princess played a role in mike's death.
Armed with information from her former lover, simon sarpy,
police bring princess in for questioning,
and once again, she changes her story.
- She said mike had asked her to, uh, end his life.
She could not do it.
- Narrator: When she declined, princess claims mike turned
to his best friend, who, unbeknownst to mike,
was also princess's lover.
- Victor: She knew that merilyn and mike had talked.
She was putting the whole plot
of the killing of mike lacaze on merilyn.
She was working that angle.
She said, on March 1st, early morning,
sometimes between 8:30, nine o'clock that morning,
princess calls merilyn,
let him know that she would be out of town.
And he assured her that it would be taken care that day,
meaning that--that mike would be taken care of.
- Narrator: Investigators believe that princess's
latest story is still missing important details--
details that likely center around her involvement.
- Van: She continued to try to manipulate her story
and manipulate the investigation to deflect from her, uh,
and of course at that point, she was placing, uh,
the entire blame on merilyn robinson,
who had been her lover for the last year and a half or so.
- Narrator: While it's unclear if princess is being entirely
truthful, her statement, along with simon sarpy's,
are enough for investigators.
- We secured warrants for merilyn and princess,
placing both of them under arrest.
- Narrator: Merilyn has little to say in his own defense.
- When he was arrested, I still don't think he gave us
a whole lot of information, if any.
He didn't give us nothing at that time.
- Narrator: The news that merilyn and princess have been
arrested for mike's death is both a relief
and a shock to his family.
- William: There was no doubt in my mind that princess
had something to do with it.
I would've never thought merilyn.
I would never thought
that his best friend would do that to him.
- Michael: I remember saying, "there ain't no way.
Ain't no way merilyn done that."
it was like, you know, "what in the world?"
- rhonda: I was very shocked when all that came out.
Merilyn and mike, you'd have to seen them together.
They were...Just...
Best friends, brothers.
- William: She twisted his mind.
And that's the truth about it.
- Narrator: Shortly after their arrests,
the former couple bonds out of jail.
For investigators, the fact that merilyn and princess
are temporarily free isn't necessarily bad news.
- I can recall thinking to ourselves, "at some point,
"there need to be some type of fallout
"between princess and merilyn.
"we need to monitor their actions
"and wait for a fallout between the two of them
before we find out the real truth."
- narrator: On may 14th, 1998,
their hunch pays off when princess calls 911.
- Victor: Princess frantically called in and said that
her daddy was holding someone at gunpoint, and she was afraid
that he was gonna kill whoever he had out there.
And when the officers arrive
is when they found out it was merilyn robinson.
- [siren wails] - narrator: Coming up:
Merilyn has a change of heart.
- Victor: He felt like his life was in danger.
He needed to tell us what had happened.
- Van: His testimony was just striking.
It was probably the most powerful testimony
I've heard in my career.
- ♪
- narrator: On may 14th, 1998,
police in natchitoches, louisiana
receive a frantic 911 call from princess lacaze.
- Victor: She indicated that someone was in the yard
trespassing and her daddy was holding him at gunpoint.
When the officers arrived is when they found out
it was merilyn robinson.
That's when I told them to arrest him and hold him
until I could interview him.
- Narrator: Once in police custody,
merilyn explains that he wasn't breaking in,
princess had invited him over.
But when he showed up,
he came face to face with joe potmesil's gun.
- Merilyn robinson finally got it that princess lacaze
wasn't his lover, wasn't his friend,
had essentially tried to set him up.
- Victor: He felt like his life was in danger.
He really felt that he was lucky to be living at this point,
and that he needed to tell us what had happened.
- Van: He gave sheriff jones a statement that he actually
perpetrated the murder, that he killed mike.
- Narrator: But merilyn insists he didn't kill mike
because mike asked him to.
- Van: Merilyn robinson, in his statement indicated that
princess lacaze planned the murder,
that she actually asked him to kill mike.
- Narrator: According to merilyn,
princess wasn't happy about mike's upcoming dialysis.
- The insurance money played a part.
She knew that if he'd go on dialysis, that his health
would start improving, and that means she would have
to take care of him even longer, so she didn't wanna wait.
- Van: He said they were married for several years,
and princess was fed up with her marriage
and simply fed up with mike and his medical condition,
and she didn't wanna go through it.
- Narrator: Merilyn claims that princess told him,
if he agreed to kill mike, they would be together.
- Van: Merilyn robinson was completely enamored
with princess lacaze-- in love might be the right term.
She had him totally captivated.
- She began encouraging merilyn robinson
to kill his best friend.
And in my opinion, it became a cold and calculated murder.
- ♪
- narrator: Merilyn says that on the morning
of March 1st, 1997,
princess called to let him know she was out of the house
and to confirm the plan.
- She did not want to walk in the home until he was dead.
And merilyn confirmed to her
that mike would be taken care of that day.
- Narrator: Later that afternoon, merilyn asked
his teenage son to give him a ride to mike's house.
- Jaunice: His son, rodney, did not know what was going on,
because it was common for them to visit the lacaze residence.
Merilyn walked in through the sliding glass doors of the home.
Mike lacaze was sitting watching television.
He aimed and shot him through the shoulder
and through the chest. - [gunshot blasts]
- ♪
- jaunice: He died on the spot.
- Narrator: Following the confession, merilyn leads
investigators to the place where he dumped the gun.
- Victor: He brought us to old river down at cypress
where the bridge was and showed us where he had thrown
the weapon, and of course, we got divers,
and we searched and found part of the gun.
- Van: Merilyn robinson pled guilty prior to the trial
to manslaughter.
He was sentenced to the maximum imprisonment
for manslaughter, which is 40 years.
- He agreed to testify in princess's trial.
- Narrator: In August 1998, princess's trial begins.
Merilyn is the prosecution's star witness.
- He admitted that he agreed to kill mike lacaze,
because she asked him to do it and to do it for her
so that the two of them could be together.
- He said that she got him to kill his best friend.
- Van: He was emotional.
He cried, his testimony was--was just striking.
It was probably the most powerful testimony I've heard
in my career.
- Narrator: When princess takes the stand,
she sticks by her story.
- Van: This notion of mike's desire
to take his own life was injected into the case
and kind of became the theme of princess lacaze's defense.
- Narrator: The jury disagrees.
- The day of the verdict,
I remember that like it was yesterday.
The jury come in the courtroom.
It come back guilty, that's automatic...
Natural life, second degree-- natural life imprisonment.
- Narrator: But just when investigators and mike's
loved ones believe that princess is behind bars for good,
she gets a break no one sees coming.
In September 2011, before a us court of appeals,
princess' attorneys allege they weren't aware of a deal
prosecutors made with merilyn prior to his guilty plea.
- Jaunice: He had a deal that if he testified against
princess lacaze in her trial, then his son, rodney,
who actually drove him to the murder scene,
he would not be brought up.
He did not testify, and he was never charged.
- They reversed the conviction,
stating that the defense should've had that information.
- Jaunice: Princess was in jail until 2011,
when she was released, an appeal resulted in another trial.
That trial did not happen until 2017,
at which time they entered a plea.
- Billy joe: The family wanted to have some closure
and hear her say that she was responsible
for the murder of their dad.
- William: Part of the plea agreement was that princess
was gonna have to stand up in front of everybody.
And princess stood right there in front of the judge and us
and everybody and said, "I did it, I'm guilty."
that was the first time in all the years that all
this's been going on that I ever heard her finally say,
"I did it."
that was a good part of the plea.
One of the only few things that was a good part of the plea.
- Jaunice: She received manslaughter and was given
credit for 13-and-a-half years time served, plus time served
in the parish jail.
That only left approximately a year for her to serve.
And since, she has gotten out.
- Narrator: For mike's family, the news is devastating.
- I mean, it was like getting hit with a hammer.
- Rhonda: Princess should be in jail.
If anybody should walk, it should be merilyn.
Princess plotted this out to a t.
- Rayburn: I miss everything about mike.
Most of all, I miss-- I miss his friendship.
- William: As far as his legacy,
there's no one around here that's ever gonna forget.
That was the last cowboy right there.
It was mike lacaze.
Everyone to this day still talks about him.
And I'm proud of that.
- ♪