Louisiana woman tells '48 Hours': Millionaire husband had me kidnapped from Lafayette home
Schanda Handley was kidnapped at gunpoint from her own home in a plot officials say was orchestrated by her estranged husband.
The two men hired by Lawrence Michael Handley to carry out the crime later drowned near Baton Rouge trying to evade police, according to court records.
Schanda Handley's story, including her first TV interview, will be featured on true crime docuseries "48 Hours" on Saturday.
Lafayette native and CBS News lead national correspondent David Begnaud spoke with Handley, her divorce attorney, two prosecutors, the deputy who saved Handley's life and Michael Handley's defense attorney, Kevin Stockstill.
"Even for folks who think they know a lot, who live in Lafayette, who may be followed every detail of the case, you're still gonna learn a lot of stuff," Begnaud said. "Everybody was really able to unravel the onion and set the scene of this story that just doesn't happen in Acadiana."
Handley's pleaLafayette millionaire takes plea after he masterminded kidnapping of estranged wife
They were married nine years when things began to change
Handley seemed to "flash" into Acadiana, Begnaud said. He found business success early in the technology industry and was a millionaire by the time he was 30.
"Schanda Handley told me, 'David, when times were great, they were really great.' And she was really into Michael," Begnaud said. "But when the train derailed, oh my God."
Begnaud said he was surprised and disappointed when Schanda Handley told him that when she reported the abuse to the authorities, she had a hard time convincing them she was a victim.
The two married in 2006 but in 2017, things turned volatile. Multiple restraining orders were filed.
Past coverage: Millionaire's charmed life implodes in bizarre kidnapping plot
Shanda Handley's kidnapping began with a deal at a Mississippi camp
From their rural Mississippi camp, Michael Handley hired two men to kidnap his estranged wife on Aug. 6, 2017.
They posed as deliverymen, pushing their way into Schanda Handley's Lafayette home, then held Handley, a 14-year-old relative and a friend hostage before forcing them into the garage, placing a bag over Schanda's head and putting her in the back of the van, according to court records.
The men drove the van east on Interstate 10 toward Baton Rouge.
Near Port Allen, an overturned piece of equipment caused a major traffic jam. The men drove on the shoulder of the road to get away from the traffic, and an off-duty Iberville Parish Sheriff's deputy noticed.
That deputy was late getting home and his wife was upset, Begnaud said. But he saw the van pull off and chased it.
An Iberville Parish deputy chased the van with Shanda Handley inside
"I was blown away by the insight that deputy had," he said. "There is a fairly strong chance that Schanda Handley would be six feet below the dirt."
"I hope somebody comes away from watching this hour and thinks to themselves, 'the next time my gut says something's not right, I'm gonna call the police, I'm gonna call a manager, I'm gonna call whoever it is,'" Begnaud added.
Court records: Gold, money disappears from Lafayette kidnapping suspect's home
The deputy followed the van until it reached Highway 415 in Port Allen. Instead of turning left, where the kidnappers could have taken a number of routes, they turned right onto a road that dead-ends at an industrial fabrication facility.
The van got stuck in a swampy area, so the kidnappers bailed and ran into the nearby woods. They jumped into the Intracoastal Canal, where their bodies were found less than a day later. A gun that authorities thought belonged to one of the men was recovered in a nearby pipe.
It isn’t clear how Handley learned the kidnapping scheme had unraveled. But at some point, he ran. Police found him on Aug. 11, 2017, in a Slidell hotel. He tried to charter a plane to escape capture, according to court records.
Michael Handley pleaded guilty in July 2021
Michael Handley pleaded guilty in July 2021 to two counts of second-degree kidnapping and one count of attempted second-degree kidnapping.
Handley was sentenced in March to 35 years at hard labor with credit for time served, the maximum sentence available under his plea deal. (He originally was charged with aggravated kidnapping, which carried a life sentence.) He cannot apply for post-conviction relief for two years, according to court records.
His attorney Scott Hawkins has since filed a motion to reconsider Handley's sentence and plea agreement.
The "48 Hours" episode will air at 9 p.m. Central Time on Saturday on CBS.
"It's a compelling hour from wherever you are in the country," he said. "But even for Acadiana and people who heard the headlines, they're gonna find it fascinating."
Contact Ashley White at adwhite@theadvertiser.com or on Twitter @AshleyyDi.
This article originally appeared on Lafayette Daily Advertiser: Schanda Handley on '48 Hours": Millionaire husband planned kidnapping
