Bunnak Landon is a killer from Louisiana who was convicted of the murder of Bella Fontenelle
According to court documents Bunnak Landon was dating Bella Fontenelle father. Bella who had expressed concerns regarding Landon would be brutally murdered inside of her home. Landon would place the body of the little girl in a bucket and would bring the bucket to Bella mother’s home where she left it on the front yard.
Bella Fontenelle father would come home and find both Landon and Bella gone.
The grisly discovery would soon be made and Bunnak Landon would be arrested and charged with the murder of the little girl
A jury would find Bunnak Landon guilty of murder. Landon would be sentenced to life in prison plus forty years ensuring she will die behind bars
Bunnak Landon Case
A Jefferson Parish woman has been convicted of killing a 6-year-old Harahan girl.
Bunnak Landon was convicted of first-degree murder by a jury Thursday in the brutal killing of 6-year-old Bella Fontenelle, leaving her body in a bucket on the child’s mother’s front lawn.
Landon was also found guilty on two counts of obstruction of justice.
Bunnak Landon faced trial for four days. The jury reached their verdict in less than an hour.
She will be sentenced on May 6 and will receive a mandatory life in prison sentence.
Below is a summary of each day of the court proceedings:
Thursday the defense began presenting witnesses, including a paramedic and a psychiatrist, following the state resting its case.
The paramedic, who was called to the Harahan Police Department the night of Bella’s death, described the moments they began evaluating Landon.
“We pulled up, gathered all our equipment, walked into the police station, they directed us to where she was sitting. The patient was sitting in a chair in the lobby, and the officer was standing with her,” the paramedic said.
The paramedic testified that Bunnak Landon was described as “acting strange.”
“When we were called, obviously I went in with the mindset that I’m going to make sure she’s not a danger to herself or anyone else.”
The paramedic described Landon as stressed.
“She would look through me, not at me,” the paramedic said. “She just seemed like she wasn’t in an ideal situation.”
Currently, a psychiatrist is testifying about Landon’s traits, including symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder.
Bunnak Landon decided not to testify in the case. A judge asked her if she came to that decision on her own, she said yes. Landon said she chose to invoke her 5th amendment right.
The defense has rested their case, and the state has called one more witness, Dr. Gina Mire.
Mire is a forensic psychologist.
After Mire’s testimony, the state rested their case.
A 45 minute recess was called and closing arguments began at 4 p.m.
Bella Fontenelle’s emotional grandmother took the stand, crying, recounting where her grandchild was found — in a white bucket on the front lawn of Bella’s mother’s home.
The jury also heard from the former Harahan officer who opened that bucket, which he said was blood-stained.
Prosecutors asked what he saw when he opened it. “I seen a little girl,” Deputy Jordan Bloomer testified.
“Was she deceased?” they asked.
“Yes, ma’am,” he said.
Jurors were shown that bucket, with a detective on the stand describing “the little girl face down in her pajamas” inside.
They were also shown the blue wagon that the bucket was wheeled in on.
The defendant’s sister also took the stand. She detailed a phone call she had with Landon, who told her about burying a phone in a Ziplock bag, asking her to let her attorney know about it.
That testimony was followed by questions about their life growing up.
When asked what would happen if they showed emotion as children, Landon’s sister said, “We’d get punished. We kept getting hit until we stopped crying.”
Prosecutors asked: “If a child shows emotion, should you physically abuse them?” Going on to ask, “Should you kill them?” The sister replied no.
And in one of the more heart-tugging moments of the day, Bella’s sister took the stand.
She said the defendant would “treat me OK, but Bella would go to time out for no reason,” noting that the two sisters were treated differently by Landon.
Bella’s school teachers described her as a sweet student with the sweetest little angel voice, but said she came to school sad every day.
After opening statements, emotional testimony was given by Bella Fontenelle’s mother, Jennifer.
Michael Fontenelle and Jennifer began dating in 2012 and eventually had two children, Bella and her older sister, who are 17 months apart. Jennifer said that when she was pregnant with their first child, Michael became abusive, leading her to buy him out of their shared home on Sedgefield Drive in 2019.
Michael moved nearby, and they shared custody of their children equally, according to Jennifer’s testimony.
After their separation, Michael attended a conference in Gulfport, Mississippi, where Jennifer accuses him of visiting a strip club where he met Landon, who went by the names Valentina and Hannah.
When the pandemic hit in 2020, Bunnak Landon could no longer work as a stripper, but the children continued to move between their parents’ homes, according to Jennifer.
According to Jennifer, Bella was anxious following her parents’ separation, and voiced that she was not comfortable with Landon, her father’s new girlfriend.
While in pre-kindergarten, Bella began experiencing anxiety, tying her hair in knots and crying before the school day ended. Bella’s anxiety persisted into kindergarten, where she was diagnosed with separation anxiety and began seeing a psychiatrist. Bella confided in a school counselor about Hannah’s behavior but asked them not to tell her father.
Jennifer testified that Bella began seeing a therapist and voiced that Bunnak Landon was mean to her.
The day before her death, Bella told her parents and the therapist her concerns about Landon. However, when pressed for specifics by her father, she didn’t provide any, according to Jennifer’s testimony.
The next day, Bella was killed, according to Jennifer.
The day of the killing, testimony revealed Michael took the children to school and went to work, leaving Hannah at home.
Around noon, Michael texted Hannah about coming home. When he came home, he and Landon had an argument about a wagon, and he left the house.
Michael arranged for his mother to pick up the girls from school.
They went to McDonald’s and the library before returning home. Michael took a selfie with Bella at 6:27 p.m., the last photo of her alive. That evening, Landon and the children were left together, according to testimony during the trial.
It was revealed in court that Michael texted Landon about the argument they had. When he returned home, he went straight to bed.
The next morning, Michael couldn’t find Bella or Landon. After calling around, he went to the police to file a missing person’s report.
Testimony revealed Jennifer’s mother found a chlorine bucket with blood on it on the front lawn. Police discovered Bella’s body inside.
Jennifer testified that she reviewed surveillance footage showing Bunnak Landon with a wagon, placing a bucket on the lawn.
Surveillance footage revealed that Michael was at work at the time the body was placed in the yard.
A forensic pathologist testified that blood swabs from the bucket were confirmed to be Landon’s. An autopsy revealed Bella was strangled and suffered blunt force trauma, with her own fingernail marks on her neck, according to the pathologist’s testimony.
Bunnak Landon’s cell phone, buried under a tree, was recovered.
Texts revealed in court showed that after Michael yelled at her, Landon made several calls, including to her ex-boyfriend’s mother, who was raising her children.
Landon’s texts read, “I don’t need a bus ticket. I’m at peace with what I’ve decided to do.” She also did an online search for criminal defense attorney Walter Becker.
It was revealed in court that Landon secretly recorded Bella crying under the covers and sent messages to her old friends from the strip club before deleting them.
Bunnak Landon’s texts also revealed a message to her sister that read, “I buried my phone underneath a tree. Call attorney,” before going to the Harahan Police Department, where she requested to make phone calls and was eventually committed to a mental health hospital.
Prosecutors argued that Landon acted with intent, describing her as “evil, vindictive, spiteful, and mean,” and asked the jury to find her guilty on all counts.
Bunnak Landon’s attorney argued that she was not in her right mind, did not understand her actions, and was in crisis, needing a mental health evaluation.
The defense claims the case is about mental illness, asserting that Landon did not know or understand her actions.
https://www.wdsu.com/article/louisiana-bunnak-landon-trial-day-three/64644293
