Slidell police have launched a deeper probe into the death of Brooke Buchler, a young Louisiana waitress—precisely nine months after she was found dead at an abandoned Navy base under mysterious circumstances.
In an unexpected twist—with data obtained from information present in court documents and phone calls made from the jail— it is now believed that the prime suspects behind her murder had killed her to silence her after she knew that they allegedly nearly beat to death a man she accused of rape. The following information was mentioned in court documents submitted by police and obtained by The Times-Picayune.
Buchler, who was 25 at the time of her murder, reportedly succumbed to serious gunshot wounds in the head before her corpse was dumped at the former Naval Support Activity building in Bywater, La. She was reported missing on Aug. 22, and her body was found the next day, PEOPLE reported.
The documents highlighted how Buchler went around telling many people about how an acquaintance had raped her. The spread of the news allegedly triggered a retaliation of sorts, which led to two men Dylan Craddock, 27, and Cody Matthews, 33, severely beating the (man) inside of Buchler's apartment, followed by relocating (him) to another location in Slidell. But, upon learning that she was fully aware of their acts, they reportedly tried to finish her to do away with any existing trail of the murder.
The information led to Craddock and Matthew’s arrest at the same spot where the attack on the rapist allegedly occurred—St. Tammany Parish. The two men were charged with attempted murder and kidnapping of the man on Sept. 3. However, during a phone call in the jailhouse, Matthews allegedly revealed (as stated in court documents) how Craddock had slain Buchler, while he was around at the scene of the crime.
Authorities are yet to zero in on the man whom Buchler had accused of rape. Since Buchler was allegedly killed in New Orleans, the city's police department filed an arrest warrant for both men. They are both charged with second-degree murder as well. Craddock is currently lodged at Orleans Justice Centre on a $1,000,000 bond, while Matthews has been placed in custody at St. Tammany Parish Jail with a $625,000 bond. Not much has been revealed as to whether they entered a plea at this time for their murder charges.
Both have pleaded not guilty to the charges of attempted murder and kidnapping, and are currently awaiting separate trial dates for those charges. There has been no information from legal representatives of Matthews and Craddock, as the attorneys who will be representing the suspects in court are yet to be identified.
