John Jefferson
Left inset: Liz Quackenbush (WDSU). Right inset: Preston Higgs (New Orleans Police Department). Background: The location where Quackenbush was murdered (WWL).
A Louisiana man whose claim of self-defense in the ax murder of his girlfriend was dismissed by prosecutors as “lunacy” will spend the rest of his life in prison.
Preston Higgs, 40, learned his fate on Thursday in a New Orleans courtroom in the murder of his girlfriend, Liz Quackenbush, 39. He was convicted of second-degree murder in August.
“There’s no apology or punishment that will balance this horrible crime,” said Michael Quackenbush, Quackenbush’s older brother, NOLA.com reported. “Nothing will bring her light back into this world.”
The victim’s mother, Diane Holland, is shattered, the newspaper reported.
“As a parent, you worry about your children no matter what their age, but no parent should have to bury their child,” Holland said. “I understand that we all die, but how Liz died haunts me every day and every night.”
Higgs’ attempt at an apology and statement in which he said, “You will never get the truth from their twisted narrative,” irritated Orleans Parish Criminal District Court Judge Rhona Goode-Douglas, according to the news site.
“For you to take Ms. Quackenbush out like this was just so unnecessary and evil,” Goode-Douglas said, NOLA reported. “With that, Mr. Higgs, you will spend the rest of your life in the Department of Corrections.”
The bloodshed happened on March 3, 2021, at their home in the 1200 block of Desire Street, police said in a press release.
Officers responded to a call at about 8:24 a.m. of an “aggravated battery by cutting” at the location. Once there, police found the victim with stab wounds. She was declared dead at the scene. Higgs fled after the killing but was quickly identified as the culprit. Police obtained an arrest warrant for him and issued a “be on the lookout” notice.
Orleans Parish District Attorney Jason Williams described Quackenbush’s last terrifying moments, local Fox affiliate WVUE reported.
“She retreated as far as she can go,” he said. “Her final resting place was in a corner. This was no accident. This was an ax. He swung it multiple times. He doesn’t remember the number of times he swung it.”
Police caught Higgs on a Greyhound bus in Chicago after an 18-week nationwide manhunt led by the U.S. Marshals Service.
Prosecutors presented compelling evidence that included a critical 911 call from Higgs’ uncle in Minnesota. The uncle’s urgent plea for first responders to check on the victim at her home revealed chilling details relayed by Higgs’ family members, authorities said.
The call described how “Preston hit his girlfriend in the head with a weapon, that she was dead, and that the incident occurred on the previous day,” prosecutors said about the evidence that led authorities to the scene where the murder weapon was found, a press release from the Orleans Parish District Attorney announcing the verdict said.
Assistant District Attorney Penny Kissinger’s closing statement underscored just how brutal the killing was: “If the wounds to the front of her head were incapacitating, the wounds from the back must have come first. It’s easy to tell any story when the other witness is dead. He was pulled off a Greyhound bus in Chicago with a fake ID and a burner phone in his pocket. All he had to do was leave, but instead, he obliterated her face and left the ax on her. Preston Higgs is a liar. There is no reasonable doubt that he murdered Elizabeth Quackenbush.”
Prosecutors described Quackenbush as a dedicated chemistry teacher at New Harmony High School and “a source of inspiration and warmth for everyone she met.” She created an “Outdoor Adventures” program, which brought science and math to life through activities like gardening and kayaking, officials said.
“Liz was a remarkable woman who touched the lives of her students, colleagues, and everyone fortunate enough to know her,” District Attorney Jason Williams said after the verdict. “Her tragic death leaves a void that can never be filled.”
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