James E. Newman, 53, was found with gunshot wounds at his Rousselin Drive home in New Orleans’s Seventh Ward on April 10, 2025. Neighbors remembered Newman as kind and helpful. His 73-year-old roommate, William Shoop, who lived with him at the same address and was described as a genuine man who loved to help people, was also found shot and died from his injuries.

Authorities focused their investigation on the third roommate, 39-year-old Jared Pawlus. Police located Pawlus hours later in the 900 block of Royal Street in the French Quarter armed with a handgun, leading to a four-hour standoff with SWAT. During negotiations he reportedly admitted to killing his roommates and said he did not want to return to jail; officers say Pawlus fired at them before they took him into custody using less-lethal foam impact rounds.

Pawlus’s sister told investigators her brother struggled with mental illness and substance abuse, had become paranoid, and had allegedly confessed to his girlfriend. She said she had warned James Newman days before the shootings. Did anyone in the neighborhood notice signs of trouble at the Rousselin Drive home before April 10?