Sergeant Louis Henry Wagner, II

Louis Henry Wagner, II

Sergeant Louis Wagner was shot and killed in an ambush as he drove home from the sheriff's office.

His body was found in front of a business along Louisiana 21 south of the Covington city limits. It is suspected the assailant hid in the rear of his pickup truck while it was parked at the sheriff's office and surprised him as he drove home.

Sergeant Wagner's body was located in front of the business while his truck was found at a different location several hours later.

While one felon was on death row for capital murder, he pleaded to second-degree murder for killing Sergeant Wagner with three other men in retaliation for an arrest Sergeant Wagner had made. The felon received another life sentence for Sergeant Wagner's murder. He ultimately recanted the accusations against the other men, and they were never tried for his murder. Years later, another serial killer confessed to killing Sergeant Wagner, but authorities concluded he could not have committed the murder. Because of the other confession, the felon recanted his confession. He claimed his confession to the murder was because he believed he could escape from the St. Tammany Parish jail while awaiting sentencing. He was executed in 1984.

Sergeant Wagner was survived by his wife and daughter.