Murdered Slidell man well liked by neighbors

It didn’t take Tom and Joy Juhas long to decide they liked their new neighbor when Roy Wolfe and his family moved into Slidell’s Woodlawn subdivision several years ago.

A 34-year-old contractor who traveled throughout the greater New Orleans area renovating houses, Wolfe always trekked home at night to spend time with his three children, playing basketball or riding bikes, Joy Juhas said.

“He was the kind of guy you want in your neighborhood,” Joy Juhas said, adding he was the neighborhood’s go-to guy for any renovation advice. “He was a really nice guy.”

On Thursday, neighbors were devastated when Wolfe’s bullet-riddled body was found in a back yard on South Lopez Street in New Orleans, the result of a random burglary gone awry a day earlier, New Orleans Police Department spokesman Bob Young said.

In a bizarre set of events, Lopez, a slender man about 5 feet 8 inches tall and described as inquisitive by friends, was kidnapped from a renovation project on South Lopez Street and murdered, his Slidell home burglarized during the process, Young said.

The alleged killers, Alonzo Gonzales, 19, and Brent Braneon, 23, both of New Orleans, were arrested Wednesday, hours after they allegedly stopped about 2 p.m. at Wolfe’s renovation site in the 1700 block of South Lopez and emerged from a blue Dodge Neon. Approaching a man police described only as Wolfe’s relative, they robbed him and held him hostage until Wolfe arrived. They then forced Wolfe into his extended cab Chevrolet Silverado and, police believe, drove to Slidell.

The events for the next three hours remain unclear, but about 5 p.m. Wolfe’s wife received a call from a neighbor saying her Woodlawn Street home was burglarized. The wife, in New Orleans at the time, called Slidell police, who found no one at the home when they arrived. It was later discovered the family’s flat screen television set missing. New Orleans Police said neighbors said they saw Wolfe sitting in the truck and two men hauling out the TV, but Slidell police said neighbors are not sure it was Wolfe or his truck.

Back in New Orleans on Wednesday, New Orleans police officers received a call about 10:30 p.m. that Wolfe’s truck was seen traveling in the Broadmoor area.

An unmarked car trailed the truck, and the occupants started to fire at the police while on Washington Avenue. The police fired back, and the stolen truck spun out of control and stopped.

Two people got out of the truck and ran.

While in pursuit of the suspects, police dodged another round of bullets.

The officers fired back and hit Gonzales. Gonzales was taken to the hospital, and police arrested and charged Braneon and Gonzales each with five counts of attempted murder of a police officer, two counts of armed robbery and possession of stolen property, Wolfe’s Chevrolet pickup truck.

Each were again rearrested and charged with one count of first-degree murder when Wolfe’s bullet-riddled body was found Thursday night, two homes away from where the alleged kidnapping took place.

The third suspect, not identified by Young, was still at large Friday evening.

For the Juhas family, it’s a tragedy that won’t be easy to digest.

“I never heard him say a curse word or raise his voice,” Joy Juhas said. “He seemed like a decent family man. This was the first time any incident ever occurred since they lived there.”

STN Reporter Matthew Penix contributed to this article.