Eunice man convicted of stabbing wife to death

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Robert Heard was convicted of stabbing his wife, Demetra Doyle Heard, to death in September 2012 by a jury in the 27th Judicial Court District in Opelousas on Thursday.
Heard, 40, faces a life sentence at an Aug. 24 hearing before Judge Jason Meche.
According to an earlier Eunice News story, police discovered his wife with a knife in the back of her neck and the blade of a broken knife in her lower back, along with several stab wounds.
They also alleged the woman’s clothing had been set on fire and she was burned on parts of her body.
Police said Heard found his wife with another man.
He and Demetra Doyle, 35, married in June, 11 months after Heard was released from prison after serving eight years for attempted second-degree murder.
Records show Heard killed a high school classmate in California when he was 15 and also served prison time for attempted second-degree murder and was released in early 2010.
The victim was the brother of actress Niecy Nash.
After the killing his wife in Eunice, Heard fled to Shreveport and was captured by Shreveport Police.
Heard was orginally charged with first-degree murder, but in March 2013 the St. St. Landry Parish District Attorney’s Office decided it would not seek the death penalty.