Sailor Accused of Murder in Battle Over Life Jacket

A Louisiana fisherman was charged with second-degree murder Monday for allegedly killing his captain in a dramatic fight for the only life jacket aboard their sinking shrimp boat.

Alvin Latham, 46, has been jailed on $200,000 bail for the death of Raymond Leiker on the night of July 16 in stormy seas off the Louisiana coast, said John Marie, spokesman for the Plaquemines Parish Sheriff’s Department.

Latham, who survived without the life jacket, faces up to life in prison if convicted.

Latham initially told police that Leiker, 34, drowned when he got tangled in the boat’s trawl net, but he confessed to murder when Leiker’s body, recovered on July 21, was found to have suspicious wounds, Marie said.

Latham said he and Leiker began fighting over the life jacket when their boat was swamped by heavy seas in the Gulf of Mexico, 35 miles southeast of New Orleans.

He said he stabbed Leiker several times, then a large wave swept Leiker overboard. Leiker was clutching the life jacket but lost it when he fell into the turbulent water.

He tried to climb back in the boat, but Latham beat him on the head and arms with a pipe, causing him to fall back in the sea and disappear, Marie said.

Latham leaped from the sinking craft and survived by floating on his back and treading water for more than 13 hours before a fishing boat rescued him.

An autopsy found five stab wounds on Leiker’s arms and “blunt trauma” to his head and arms, Marie said.

“What we thought was a truly remarkable survival tale [by Latham] turned out to be a horrible murder,” Marie said.