FRANKLINTON, La. (WVUE) - A Louisiana man accused of killing a Bogalusa bar owner last year as part of a two-state crime spree was indicted with first-degree murder Tuesday (Oct. 10) by a Washington Parish grand jury.
The panel returned the charge against 51-year-old David Rester Jr. of Bogalusa. Rester is accused of fatally shooting Pub Lounge owner Marl Wayne Smith and stealing money from an ATM inside the South Columbia Street bar on March 2, 2022.
Rester was arrested two days later after a high-speed chase in Mississippi, after allegedly robbing a bank in Waveland on March 4. Rester also has been accused of robbing and committing a sexual battery against a convenience store clerk in the Pearl River area three days before the Pub Lounge killing.
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Washington Parish Sheriff Randy “Country” Seal told Fox 8 last year that “evidence in Rester’s possession linked him to the murder” of Smith, and that Rester “admitted to murdering and robbing Marl Wayne Smith” when interviewed by a Washington Parish detective in the Harrison County (Miss.) jail. Seal also said Rester deserved the death penalty upon conviction.
“Circumstances of the murder justify the charge of murder in the first degree,” Seal said, “and Rester has undeniably earned his date with the executioner.”
The Washington Parish grand jury at least partially agreed by returning the first-degree murder charge. It remains up to 22nd Judicial District Court District Attorney Warren Montgomery as to whether prosecutors will seek capital punishment in the case.
Shawn Smith, spokesperson for Montgomery’s office, told Fox 8 on Tuesday that no decision has been made regarding the death penalty and that the DA planned to speak again with the victim’s family following the indictment. A Louisiana conviction for first-degree murder also can be punishable by life in prison without the possibility of parole, probation or suspension of sentence.
Montgomery’s office said Rester “was a past law enforcement officer in the state of Mississippi.”
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