Coast man pleads not guilty to capital murder, other charges in Hancock deputy’s killing
Joseph Michael Rohrbacker is tentatively set for trial on Aug. 1 on capital murder and other charges related to the shooting death of a Hancock County deputy, Assistant District Attorney Matthew Burrell said Tuesday.
A grand jury indicted Rohrbacker, 31 ,on a charge of capital murder and two counts of aggravated assault, one on a police officer.
Rohrbacker is accused of shooting and killing Deputy Lt. Michael Boutte on Feb. 1 shortly after deputies responded to his home on Earl C. Ladner Road.
Rohrbacker fatally shot Boutte as he stepped out of his police car. A second deputy, Braxton Manuel, shot and injured Rohrbacker in an exchange of gunfire.
Rohrbacker is also accused in the second aggravated assault charge for firing a shotgun at a a neighbor.
Additional sex crimes charges are still pending grand jury review for indictments.
Mental illness and molestation charges
The day of the shooting, Rohrbacker’s wife, Shannon Rohrbacker, told the Sun Herald her husband became enraged when he learned he had been reported to Child Protective Services for allegedly molesting a minor in his family.
Afterward, his wife said she could do nothing to calm him down and he was cussing, kicking screaming and punching the seats in car.
He grabbed a shotgun and later cut the throat of his wife ‘s dog, Scrappy, in front of the children on the property, which included a teenager he had allegedly molested.
His wife attributed his reactions to mental health issues, saying he suffers from bipolar disorder and schizophrenia.
Rohrbacker later told an investigators he had just started his shotgun that day because he was trying to cause suicide by cop to end his own life.
Molestation charges pending
Deputies also arrested Rohrbacker on three additional counts of touching of a child for lustful purposes, but those charges were not included in the capital murder murder case because it was investigated as a different case.
Deputy also arrested Rohrbacker on three counts of contributing to the delinquency of a child and one count each of aggravated animal cruelty and intimidating a witness.
