LSU Superfan "tow truck magnate" will now get to use his LSU coffin

[Beau Vine 55037]

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A long-simmering feud between the flamboyant and pugnacious tow truck company owner Lee “Big Lee” Martin and an elderly neighbor ended Saturday morning with the older man killing Martin in his front yard in Metairie.

Martin, 53, the owner of Big Lee’s Towing and a self-styled LSU sports superfan, was shot about 10:30 a.m. after spraying his neighbor with a water hose, Jefferson Parish Sheriff Joe Lopinto said. Martin died next to his house, feet away from his trademark colorfully outfitted truck.

Neighbor Wayne Higgins, 78, was detained on the scene and would be booked on a count of second-degree murder, Lopinto said. He faces life imprisonment if convicted on that count. 

 

 

 

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The entire confrontation was caught on a neighbor’s surveillance camera, Lopinto said, bemoaning the feud’s bloody conclusion.

“This is no way to start off a Saturday morning or end one, either. ... People can fight over a bunch of things, but none of it has to lead to this,” Lopinto said.

Neighbors said they weren’t shocked that there was violence between Martin, a businessman known as much for his big mouth as his love of LSU athletics, and Higgins, a retired plumber known for his quick temper.

Both men had lived in the 600 block of Bonnabel Boulevard for decades, neighbor Deborah Kirkley said.

 

 

 

 

According to Lopinto, the confrontation started as Martin was watering his palm trees. Higgins was pulling out of his driveway onto Bonnabel in a black Toyota Tundra, with distinctive flame decals, when Martin splashed his vehicle with water.

Higgins rolled down his driver-side window, and Martin — never one to shy away from a confrontation — sprayed water in through the opening.

An enraged Higgins got out of his truck and shot Martin, who died near an LSU tent flag and a children’s car that was under his own parked, oversized vehicle. The tow truck magnate made it to the side of his house before collapsing, Lopinto said.

A young girl who lives nearby discovered Martin's body, neighbors said.

Higgins went inside his house and later surrendered to deputies.

One shell casing was collected from the scene, and neighbors described hearing a single gunshot.

 

Higgins lived in a neat white one-story house with green trim, while Martin’s house next door was a well-known local landmark. He had LSU flags, Tiger mascot cut-outs and an LSU mailbox — and he talked about how inside the house he had a purple-and-gold casket that he hoped to be buried in when he died.

 

 

 

 

The neighbors had been at odds for years. Kirkley recalled that the feud stemmed from the placement of a fence between their properties. It escalated beyond that with trash and leaves being pushed from one yard into the other.

“Over time, they’ve always argued back and forth,” said Chris Lee, who lives on the other side of Martin. “We’d hear them yell.”

Martin was known to rub some people the wrong way, Lee said, and he described Higgins as irascible. “He’s an old man. You don’t want to mess with an old man,” Lee said.

Kirkley also said Higgins had a temper. Yet he was also the neighborhood “guard dog” when most residents evacuated after Hurricane Katrina, she said.

Martin had called authorities to report his neighbor drawing a gun in the past, Kirkley said. Still, neither she nor anyone else on the block knew of any incidents in the past few days. Martin had come over to her house the night before for a quick visit, she said.

“I figured it might come to blows,” she said. “But I never thought in my wildest dreams (Higgins) would have the audacity to shoot him.”

 

A search of online court records did not reveal any local criminal history for Higgins. 

While his colorful support for LSU sports drew Martin some favorable local news coverage, he also made headlines for negative reasons.

He was arrested last year on allegations that he intentionally hit a woman with his tow truck in Kenner. Prior to that, he pleaded guilty to punching the manager of a rival tow truck company, also in Kenner. The intentional ramming case was still pending. He received probation in the other matter.

 

 

Edited May 7, 2018 by Beau Vine

[mushroomface 62]

Was it Txtow's relative?

[BottleRocket 650]

 

[DaggerHorns 3109]

Looks like it was just his time to geaux...

[C-Man 27413]

Elderly man shot tow truck owner dead? I see nothing wrong here.

[Royalfan5 2357]

I'm pretty sure Rodney Crowell addressed this when singing about why you leave the state in the broad daylight.  

[TornACL 7767]

Tastefully decorated home.

[AUS-97HORN 11894]

guess the old man had had enough and said fuck it, i would rather be in jail than deal with this asshole anymore.

 

and frankly at 78, his DNGAF level was probably pretty high

[NeverMarryAStripper 22059]

I'm guessing there was no HOA

Edited May 7, 2018 by NeverMarryAStripper

[clapclapclap 9000]

No mo Hugo?

 

Would not have guessed he was 78, though.

Edited May 7, 2018 by clapclapclap

[Pescado_Rojo 19467]

When asked why he did it, the neighbor replied "ROLL DAMN TIDE!!!!"

[Trey3216 15382]

He brought a spray nozzle to a gun fight

[next2naus 439]

of course he has a framed Nagel, last time I saw one of those it was 1989 and I was at my dealers apartment

[DigglerontheHoof 21336]

I think we had the same drug dealer. 

[Walden Ponderer 12639]

Not a good neighborhood for flooring contractors to block driveways in, one would think.

[RPM 26433]

Not Guilty

[woohorn 1131]

This thread just pwn3d the Dickhead Neighbors Meta Thread

[Elvis Presto 21]

now hes Tiger Bait!

[Call 393]

That escalated quickly. 

[El Diablo 4232]

I wonder how long it took before someone secured the water hose. 

[Hugo Stiglitz 23367]

It’s easier to avoid getting shot to death if you’re not an enormous douchebag.

[Trey3216 15382]

Rank the 3:

1) Selfie with injured bear ends in (head) smashing success 

2) wild life shoot ends up with head butt and thrown into Geoffrey’s weather by Giraffe

3) shoot  your neighbor’s truck and through his truck window with hose: get shot with smoke wagon 

[woohorn 1131]

Which ranking system?

[Walden Ponderer 12639]

If we vote, do we get some sort of fast food coupon?

[Trey3216 15382]

2 minutes ago, Walden Ponderer said:

If we vote, do we get some sort of fast food coupon?

I usually give those and some cash to homeless people 

[dingleberryswitzer 2724]

I bet all the other neighbors are happy.  They just lost two assholes with one stone.