Kidnapping of Schanda Handley

Schanda Handley was at her Lafayette, Louisiana, home on August 6, 2017, when two armed men forced their way inside. According to the factual basis later recited in court, they handcuffed her, placed her in a van, and drove toward Baton Rouge. Other people at the home were restrained but left behind.

An off-duty sheriff's deputy noticed the van being driven along the shoulder around stopped traffic and followed it. After a pursuit, the van reached a dead end in a swampy area. The captors fled on foot, leaving Handley in the vehicle, where police found her alive. Both captors later died while attempting to escape through the Intracoastal Canal. Because neither lived to face charges, they are not named or assigned a legal role here.

Investigators connected the plot to Handley's estranged husband, Lawrence Michael Handley. Evidence described in reporting included surveillance footage, the purchase of handcuffs, and the rental of the van. Police arrested him in Slidell after a four-day search. A Lafayette Parish indictment initially included kidnapping, conspiracy, and other counts, which were later narrowed through a plea agreement.

On July 26, 2021, Lawrence Handley entered guilty pleas in the kidnapping case. After proceedings concerning withdrawal of portions of the agreement, a guilty plea to second-degree kidnapping remained. The trial court sentenced him on March 24, 2022, to 35 years at hard labor without parole. The Louisiana Court of Appeal, Third Circuit, affirmed the conviction and sentence on February 8, 2023.