Father convicted after ‘unspeakable crimes’

A St. Charles Parish jury has found Ed Veillon Jr. guilty of the second degree murder of his 15-year-old son, Seth Veillon, and the attempted murder of his wife, Nicole Veillon.

Following a two-day trial and just over an hour of deliberation, a jury unanimously returned the verdict today (May 2) in the 2018 shooting. The case was prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney Connie Aucoin.

Veillon, 50, was arrested on April 22, 2018 following the shooting. He faces a mandatory sentence of life in prison with the Louisiana Department of Corrections on the second degree murder conviction. That sentence is without the benefit of parole, probation or suspension of sentence.

Judge Emile R. St. Pierre set sentencing on July 2, 2019 at 9 a.m.

At the scene, around 6 p.m. at 136 Lynn Drive, Paradis, the Veillons’ then 9-year-old daughter was seen fleeing their residence and crouching in fear behind a truck in the driveway. A neighbor asked her what was wrong and she replied, “My parents and brother are dead.”

Neighbors say they didn’t hear gunfire, but Sheriff’s Office spokesman Cpl. James Grimaldi said Veillon apparently used a handgun in the shooting. At the residence, Grimaldi said deputies found Seth and Nicole Veillon both on the floor with multiple gunshot wounds. Seth was pronounced dead at the scene and Nicole was taken to the hospital.

District Attorney Joel T. Chaisson II called the shootings “unspeakable crimes” and that Veillon “broke a family and shocked a quiet community.”

“I cannot imagine the anguish that Nicole and her young daughter have had to endure over the past year while waiting for this trial to begin,” Chaisson said. “This conviction would have been much more difficult to secure without the eyewitness testimony of Nicole’s 10-year-old daughter. It is my hope that this verdict will bring the closure that this family needs to try to move on with their lives”

Chaisson added Assistant District Attorney Connie Aucoin and the men and women of the St. Charles Parish Sheriffs Office deserve special recognition for their professionalism and the compassionate manner in which they handled the investigation.