District Attorney J. Collin Sims reports that on Thursday, August 27 54-year-old David Huey Rester, Jr., of Bogalusa pleaded guilty as charged to First Degree Murder in connection with the March 2022 shooting death of local business owner Marl Wayne Smith. Following the guilty plea, District Judge Martin Coady sentenced Rester to life imprisonment at hard labor without the possibility of parole, probation, or suspension of sentence. Assistant District Attorneys Jay Adair and Christina Fisher prosecuted the case for the State.
The charge stems from an incident on March 2, 2022, when deputies with the Washington Parish Sheriff’s Office responded to a medical emergency call at The Pub Lounge on South Columbia Street in Bogalusa. Upon arrival, officers discovered the bar’s owner, Marl Wayne Smith, deceased behind the bar with multiple gunshot wounds, and the business's ATM destroyed. A collaborative investigation conducted by the Washington Parish Sheriff’s Office, led by WPSO Detectives Raymond Myers and Corbet Hunt, the St. Tammany Parish Sheriff’s Office, the Louisiana State Police, and law enforcement partners in Mississippi linked ballistics, local firearm purchase records, and surveillance footage to Rester. Investigators obtained video surveillance from the bar that depicted Rester entering the establishment and drinking multiple beers while conversing with Smith, who was the only other person present at the time, for approximately 90 minutes. After rising as if to leave, Rester shook Smith’s hand, then pulled a gun from his waistband, shooting Smith several times. Rester then retrieved some of his fired shell casings before unsuccessfully attempting to retrieve cash from the bar’s ATM. He was subsequently arrested after robbing a bank in Waveland, MS, and shooting at pursuing law enforcement officials during a high-speed chase along I-10 through Hancock and Harrison Counties in Mississippi.
"This conviction ensures that a dangerous offender will spend the rest of his life behind bars," said District Attorney Collin Sims. "Marl Wayne Smith was a valued member of the Bogalusa community, and while this life sentence cannot replace the loss felt by his family and friends, we hope it brings a measure of justice and closure to all who loved him. I commend the thorough investigative work of the law enforcement agencies involved and our prosecution team for securing this result."
(Editor’s note: Here is the article published in The Era-Leader on March 9, 2022 detailing the actions of “One Man Crime Wave” David Rester.
Rester was sentenced to life in prison on Thursday of this week, as noted in the above article.)
•From The Era-Leader, March 9, 2022
David Rester Jr. has been described by a law enforcement officer as a “one man crime wave.”
Rester is charged with numerous crimes that occurred during the past week. The most serious of those crimes is a murder in Bogalusa.
Rester, age 51, is now in custody in Harrison County, Mississippi. He is expected to be extradited to Washington Parish to face first-degree murder charges in the death of Wayne Smith, owner of the Pub Lounge on South Columbia Street in Bogalusa.
Smith was found dead in his business late on Thursday, March 3. Responding deputies from the Washington Parish Sheriff’s Office not only found Smith dead, but they also discovered that the ATM machine at the business had been destroyed in a failed attempt to rob it.
A video camera in the business offered a good photo of the apparent murderer, and detectives with the Washington Parish Sheriff’s Office widely circulated this photo.
As the investigation into the Bogalusa murder proceeded, law enforcement officers learned that a man of similar description to the Pub Lounge suspect had robbed and sexually battered a convenience store clerk in Pearl River earlier in the week.
Then, the very next day after the Bogalusa murder occurred, Peoples Bank in Waveland, MS, was robbed. A Waveland police officer spotted the suspect’s car only minutes after the robbery and a lengthy police chase took place. The robber got onto I-10 headed east toward Biloxi. Speeds in the chase reached 120 mph as the Waveland officers were joined by law enforcement personnel from multiple agencies. At one point during the high speed chase, the robber fired at pursuing police officers and they fired back.
The robber’s car was finally stopped at D’Iberville, just north of Biloxi. At that time, the suspect was identified as Rester and officers were able to connect him to the Bogalusa murder and the Pearl River convenience store robbery and sexual battery, in addition to the Waveland bank robbery. A law enforcement officer said the Washington Parish and St. Tammany Parish investigators were actually in the process of positively identifying Rester as their suspect at the same general time he was obbing the Waveland bank.
Rester was initially being held in the Harrison County Jail. He will eventually be extradited to Washington Parish to face first-degree murder charges. In addition, he will face federal bank robbery charges for the robbery of the Waveland Bank. While robbing the Waveland Bank, Rester tied the hands of the tellers, and that action earned him a kidnapping charge. He also faces numerous lesser charges from his involvement in the three separate crimes.
However, of all of the charges Rester is facing from the crime wave, none is as serious as the first-degree murder charge from Bogalusa for the alleged killing of Smith at the Pub Lounge. Smith was apparently killed for money, and in Louisiana prosecutors frequently seek the death penalty for such a crime. Randy Seal, Sheriff of Washington Parish, called Rester a “cold-blooded killer” before he was arrested, and that is also the likely description that prosecutors will use in the courtroom as they try to win a guilty conviction and likely a death sentence. Seal said the Washington Parish Sheriff's Office will definitely push for the death penalty.
Law enforcement agencies involved in the investigation of Rester’s apparent crime wave and his eventual arrest include Washington Parish Sheriff’s Office, St. Tammany Parish Sheriff’s Office, Waveland Police Department, Bay St. Louis Police Department, Hancock County Sheriff’s Office, Harrison County Sheriff’s Office, Pearl River County Sheriff's Office, Mississippi State Bureau of Investigation, and the FBI.
Officials have said that Rester has made a statement concerning his involvement in the three separate crime wave incidents: first, the Pearl River convenience store robbery and sexual battery; second, the Bogalusa murder; and third, the robbery and kidnapping at the Waveland Bank.
While Rester's drivers license has a Vidalia, LA address, he has most recently been living on Madison Street in Bogalusa, officials said.
