A 93-year-old former Catholic priest sentenced to life in prison earlier this month for raping a teenage boy has died, Louisiana authorities and his lawyer confirmed Friday.
Less than two weeks after being sentenced to spend the rest of his life behind bars, Lawrence Hecker died of natural causes at 3 a.m. Thursday at the Elayn Hunt Correctional Center, according to Ken Pastorick, Louisiana Department of Public Safety and Corrections communications director.
Hecker had pleaded guilty to charges including first-degree rape and aggravated kidnapping shortly before jury selection for his long-delayed trial had been scheduled to begin earlier this month, with other victims prepared to testify against him.
The survivor of the assault to which Hecker pleaded guilty had said that Hecker raped him after offering to instruct him in wrestling moves ahead of tryouts for a school team in the mid-1970s.
