More than a month after a 9th Ward man admitted to killing a woman whose dismembered body was found on his property, Orleans Parish District Attorney Jason Williams on Wednesday defended the plea deal that netted Benjamin Beale a 30-year prison sentence.
Criminal District Judge Benedict Willard imposed the sentence Feb. 4, a day after Beale pleaded guilty to manslaughter in the January 2022 death of 36-year-old Julia Dardar, criminal court records show.
Beale’s guilty plea came on the first day of his trial on an eight-count indictment that included charges of second-degree murder and obstruction of justice. He was originally indicted for second-degree murder and multiple counts tied to distributing psilocybin and operating a clandestine meth lab inside his Pauline Street home in the Florida neighborhood…