Ex-con ‘slaughters date he met online & her dad after she complained he didn’t look like his pic & had a “pumpkin-head”‘
AN EX-CONVICT allegedly killed his date and her father after she described him as a "pumpkin head" and tried to end the encounter.
Jamal Harris, 36, is facing murder charges for the October 3 deaths of Jessica Troulliet, 35, and her father, Robert Templet Jr, 56, who were reportedly found shot to death in Troulliet’s car in Marrero, Louisiana.
Investigators have not yet determined a motive for the killings, but said during a Tuesday court hearing that text messages between Harris and Troulliet suggest the pair argued at Troulliet’s home after she attempted to end the date.
According to Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Detective Steven Keller, Troulliet said in texts to a friend that “he did not look like his profile pic, and she [said] he looked like a pumpkin head."
At some point, Troulliet reportedly told Harris she had another date and he had to leave.
“He admitted being upset with her because she was speaking to another individual on the phone,” the detective testified in court on Tuesday, adding that Harris told investigators he felt insulted.
Harris said he left Trouillet’s home at 9.30pm and headed to his father’s house in Marrero, where his cousin, Jamal Gabriel, 34, picked him up, Keller testified.
But phone records for Trouillet and Harris don’t back up his account, showing that Trouillet picked up Harris in her SUV some 45 minutes later, Keller said.
Trouillet then texted a friend for help to “come to the house” to make Harris leave, Keller said.
The friend balked at the request and detectives believe Trouillet agreed to take Harris back to where she was picked up while her father was along for the ride, NOLA.com reported.
Keller said Troulliet’s phone, which has not been found, last pinged five blocks from Harris’ home. Authorities believe he stole her phone from the crime scene before dumping it at an undisclosed location, according to NOLA.com.
Defense attorney Richard Bourke called the case against Harris “completely circumstantial,” asserting that no witness accounts or physical evidence links his client to the double slaying.