Frickey claims self-defense in killing trial

The attorney for accused murderer Darby Frickey Jr. said Frickey killed his roommate Mark Berthelot in 2011 in self-defense after Berthelot attacked him at the residence they shared in Bayou Vista.
Frickey’s defense attorney, Philip House, said in his opening statement that Berthelot attacked Frickey, who defended himself. Berthelot was a meth user and producer, and was operating meth labs, House said.
The St. Mary Parish Sheriff’s Office was looking to apprehend Berthelot at the time he moved in with Frickey, House said.
The day of the incident, Berthelot had been using meth in the morning, House said. According to the attorney, Berthelot jumped off the couch and swung at Frickey with everything he had.
House said Frickey stated, “He (Berthelot) was trying to hospitalize me then and there. He was a big dude, and I ain’t that big.”
House said Frickey told detectives, “If I didn’t finish him, he would finish me. I fully thought it was him or me.”
The attorney said a year before his death, Berthelot punched a man, knocking him out with one punch and breaking his jaw.
Frickey told detectives that he killed Berthelot by striking him 15 to 20 times in the head and face with a lead pipe, House said.
Assistant District Attorney Anthony Saleme said the case started as a missing person case on Nov. 10, 2011, after the St. Mary Parish Sheriff’s Office received a complaint that Mark Berthelot, 38, of Bayou Vista, was missing. Berthelot had been missing since about Oct. 5, Saleme said.
On Nov. 18, 2011, sugar cane farmers found an ice chest in a cane field near Centerville about a mile-and-a-half south of the Intercoastal bridge, Saleme said.
“When it was opened, there was a body in advanced stages of decomposition,” Saleme said. The body could not be identified so it was sent to a forensic anthropologist, Saleme said.
On Nov. 22, 2011, detectives spoke to Frickey about his missing roommate, and on Dec. 1, 2011, the LSU FACES Lab positively identified the body as that of Berthelot, Saleme said.
“Eventually, the focus of the investigation came to rest on Mr. Frickey,” Saleme said.
Detectives obtained a search warrant and arrested Frickey on Dec. 5, 2011. “Mr. Berthelot was no angel, but Mr. Berthelot is not on trial today … That does not mean he deserved the type of ending he was given,” Saleme said.