The Lafayette Parish Sheriff's Office provided an undated photo of Lawrence Handley (53), a Lafayette business executive who pleaded guilty to three criminal charges following a plot to kidnap the wife of his estranged husband. (Lafayette Parish Sheriff's Office via The New York Times).Schanda Handley was home with her daughter, and a neighbor when two men arrived at the door in blue uniforms from an appliance shop.Handley asked them to demonstrate a carpet steamer they had. She said that the men forced her into her home at gunpoint and put a hood on her head. They also handcuffed her neighbor.They then pushed Handley in a van, and drove away, leaving Handley's 14-year old daughter and neighbor behind.Subscribe to The Morning newsletter of the New York TimesLawrence Michael Handley, Handley's estranged husband had hired the kidnappers. He planned to drive Schanda Handley to his camp near Woodville in Mississippi from her Louisiana home, prosecutors claimed. Authorities were not clear on what he intended to do next.The men were driving east on Interstate 10, with Schanda Handley in her back, but sheriffs deputies spotted the van was swerving as they drove past, prosecutors stated.Sylvester Bracey, Arseniohaynes and the men drove off the interstate and turned down a gravel road. Police then penned them in, prosecutors claimed. Prosecutors said that both men attempted to swim through a canal to escape. Both men drowned.Prosecutors said that Lawrence Michael Handley (53), pleaded guilty Monday to two counts second-degree kidnapping. He could spend between 15 and 35 years in prison. He has yet to be sentenced.Handley was able to plead guilty to the charge of aggravated child abduction, which carries a mandatory sentence for life imprisonment, according to prosecutors.In an interview with Schanda Handley (50), she said that Lawrence Michael Handley was her ex-husband and would not face the possibility that he would be sentenced to life in prison.She said that she hopes that he is sentenced and given the 35-year term. My freedom and my life will end when he is released.Continue the storyLawrence Michael Handley, a once-successful businessman, had previously run software and vitamin businesses. He was also the CEO of several drug treatment centers, which were sold in 2015 for $21 million.She said that he threatened Schanda Handley with hundreds of threats. He once told her Armageddon was coming as they went through a separation. She claimed that she was under live-in security for two months at her home.She said that I knew he was coming for me.Kevin Stockstill, Lawrence Michael Handley's lawyer, stated in an interview that the client had been using methamphetamines and cocaine for several days before he devised the plan to kidnap his wife. In an attempt to win his wife back, he said that Lawrence Michael Handley planned to rescue Schanda Handley and be a hero.Stockstill stated that although it was not rational thinking, it made sense when Stockstill was doing a lot meth and cocaine. It was a horrible decision.Detective Jared Istre from the Lafayette Police Department investigated the case and found video footage of Lawrence Michael Handley planning to kidnap, checklists he had created, and evidence proving that he rented the van as well as the handcuffs used in the kidnapping, according to prosecutors.The case is resolved by the plea, according to Alan Haney, a prosecutor in Louisiana's 15th Judicial District. He stated that the victims will not have to go through the same ordeal again. Additionally, the state is looking forward to presenting additional evidence during the sentencing hearing.Stockstill stated that the case presented a difficult set of facts to his client and that he did not want to risk Handley's life.Stockstill stated that he has helped thousands of addicts. Stockstill said that he must accept his punishment. He deserves another chance at life.Schanda Handley claimed that it was an off-duty officer of police who saw the kidnappers' van speeding along the shoulder of Interstate and decided to follow it. She believed it might have been stolen. She later spoke to him.She said that he didn't know anything about the kidnapping and that he had a moment where he wasn't sure if he would pursue the van.Handley stated that if the police had not stopped the van, she was not sure what would have happened when she got to her husband's camp in Mississippi.She said that he was extremely unpredictable and could have been suffering from drug-induced psychosis. He seemed to have lost his mind and was determined that he would be with us.2021 The New York Times Company
