Marl Wayne Smith, a 79-year-old male resident of Bogalusa, Louisiana, was killed on March 2, 2022. The beloved local bar owner was at his establishment, the Pub Lounge, when the fatal incident occurred. That night, he was shot during a robbery. In addition to the shooting, the assailant destroyed the ATM inside the bar and fled with all the money from the machine.
Smith, who was born in Bogalusa on November 3, 1942, was a graduate of Poplarville High School and had attended Pearl River Junior College. He had a passion for music, having played with a local band called American Empire in his youth and later opening a small business called Music World before owning the Pub Lounge.
The investigation into the murder led authorities to identify a suspect, David Huey Rester, Jr., a 51-year-old from Bogalusa. Rester's apprehension came after he committed a string of additional crimes across state lines in Mississippi. He was arrested in D'Iberville, Mississippi, following a police chase. Prior to his capture, Rester was the suspect in an armed bank robbery and kidnapping that took place in Waveland, Mississippi. Law enforcement officials described him as a 'one-man crime wave' and a 'cold-blooded killer'. Authorities in Mississippi reported that Rester also confessed to robbing and beating a convenience store clerk in the Pearl River area.
Following his arrest in Mississippi, the focus turned to his extradition to Louisiana to face charges for the death of Marl Wayne Smith. In October 2023, a Washington Parish Grand Jury handed down an indictment against David Huey Rester, Jr., formally charging him with one count of first-degree murder. The indictment was announced by District Attorney Warren Montgomery, bringing a significant development in the case that had deeply affected the Bogalusa community, where Smith was remembered as a man who would give the downtrodden a chance.
