A Jefferson Parish jury on Wednesday (Feb. 12) found Paul J. Beebe Jr. guilty of raping a woman in a Metairie apartment.
Beebe, 65, of St. Rose, was convicted as charged of the first-degree rape of the diminutive 59-year-old woman on May 13, 2023.
The victim, a friend of Beebe’s brother, was at the brother’s apartment in the 6300 block of Riverside Drive on the night before she was raped. Beebe was there, too, and became so intoxicated that he passed out and slept on the living room floor where he fell. The following morning, he groped the victim as she slept on a recliner.
After his brother left for work, his behavior escalated. “I got you now,” he told the victim. He beat and dragged the victim across the floor to the bedroom, where he strangled and raped her. Afterward, he fell asleep while sitting at the kitchen table. Suffering with abrasions and other injuries to her face, wrist, back and hip and cloaked only with a bed sheet, the victim fled.
The Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office was notified. Swabs collected during the victim’s sexual assault examination revealed the presence of Beebe’s DNA. At trial, Beebe suggested alternatively that the victim consented to sexual activity, but also that he was unable to complete a sexual act.
The jury that was seated Monday deliberated about 2 ½ hours Wednesday in finding Beebe guilty as charged.
Judge Shayna Beevers Morvant of the 24th Judicial District Court is scheduled to sentence Beebe on Tuesday (Feb. 18).
Assistant District Attorneys Brendan Bowen and Lindsay Truhe prosecuted the case.