The Rapides Parish Sheriff’s office has charged a 71-year-old Alexandria man with two counts of first-degree murder for the 1989 deaths of his wife and her friend. Lt Stephen Phillips says Robert Blair was responsible for the disappearances of 34-year-old Isabelle Blair and 31-year-old Marian Coutee after finding a vehicle in a pond on a piece of property that once belonged to Robert Blair.
“We were able to determine that the vehicle was, not only matching the description of vehicle the two females were last seen traveling in, but also that the vehicle itself was associated with one of the victims,” said Phillips.
Phillips says a detective assigned to the case 30 years ago received some new information about two months ago, which led to a search of the pond that turned up the vehicle.
On Tuesday, Robert Blair was taken into custody without incident. His bond has been set at two-million dollars. Phillips says they are glad to finally get justice in this case.
“You never want to close to it because it’s always a slim chance that it might be solved, and you never want to close that door you always want to leave that open. Because you want to treat it as if it was your own family member,” said Phillips
