Trahan found guilty for killing father

Paxton Trahan was found guilty of second degree murder for the killing of his father, James Robert Trahan.

Trahan, along with Brady Harrington, were arrested by the Vermilion Parish Sheriff Office on April 13, 2008.

They were both charged with second degree murder.

The crime occurred south of Kaplan. The two men allegedly shot the victim and then burned the body.

After the body was burned, they was brought to the end of T. Earl Road in Forked Island. This remote area has almost no surrounding homes.

Dane Allen, from Kaplan, testified at the trial he was threatened by Harrington the night of the murder to help move Trahan’s body into the woods. He said he helped move the body, which was wrapped in a sheet, about an inch, but refused to move it any further. He also said, while this was happening, Trahan was inside the house cleaning the bedroom with bleach.

Mason Deygood, a friend of Harrington, testified Harrington told him that he and Trahan kicked in the father’s door and Harrington shot the man. Trahan proceeded to clean the blood in the bedroom and burn the body to dispose of evidence.

Deygood added that Trahan and Harrington had discussed what to do with the body and agreed to get chains, weights and wrap the body and dump it over a bridge. He also said Harrington’s phone had video recordings of a body on fire in the back yard.

Trahan was found guilty after the jury deliberated roughly and hour and a half.

The verdict was met with tears from the Trahan family.