October 30, 2023: 16th Judicial District Attorney Bo Duhé announces that:
The Honorable Judge John E. Conery sentenced Michael Lee Guidry to 40 years in prison for the 2018 murder of Patricia Lynn Russo.
After a four day trial, a jury unanimously found Mr. Guidry guilty of Manslaughter on August 25, 2023.
On October 1, 2018, 70-year-old Patricia Lynn Russo was found dead by her housekeeper in her residence in Morgan City.
The last person the victim spoke with on the phone was her handyman, Michael Lee Guidry. Guidry was identified as a suspect after law enforcement investigation showed that his vehicle was seen on neighborhood surveillance video around the time of the murder. Six minutes after Guidry’s car was seen leaving the neighborhood, he used her bank card at an ATM in Morgan City. Subsequent surveillance video and the victim’s bank records showed Guidry using her bank card at gas stations and casinos in Louisiana, Texas, and Florida.
Days later, Guidry’s vehicle was found abandoned on the side of Interstate 10 in Harrison County, Mississippi. Guidry was found hiding in a closet inside a family member’s residence the following day in Independence, La. and placed under arrest.
The investigation was handled by the Morgan City Police Department. Assistance was provided by the Tangipahoa Sheriff's Office and scientific analysis was performed by the Acadiana Criminalistics Laboratory. Assistant District Attorneys Brady Holtzclaw and Jennifer Reasoner prosecuted the with case with assistance from Heather Hendrix and Katie Williams.