The son of a 92-year-old man who was found beaten to death in his home on Archery Drive has been arrested as a suspect in the killing after a police pursuit ended in a car crash Tuesday morning, authorities say.
Larry Salisbury was found dead in his home in the 12000 block of Archery Drive at 6:27 p.m. Monday after a neighbor called police for a welfare check. Officers found the front door unlocked and discovered Salisbury’s body with injuries consistent with blunt force trauma.
His son, Bruce Salisbury, 45, was arrested Tuesday evening on a count of first-degree murder and was booked into the East Baton Rouge Parish Prison.
On Tuesday morning, police attempted to initiate a traffic stop of Bruce Salisbury’s vehicle, but he refused to stop. He led police on a pursuit that ended on Greenwell Street near Airline Highway.
Bruce Salisbury had a protective order against him after he was arrested for domestic abuse battery against his father on July 24. According to court documents, Salisbury, who was living with his father at the Archery Drive residence at the time, had beaten the elderly man and given him two black eyes.
As part of the conditions of Bruce Salisbury’s bond, the court issued a yearlong protective order upon his release from jail on July 31.
Just over 10 weeks after the court issued the protective order, Larry Salisbury was found beaten to death in his home with his son as the prime suspect, police say.
Peggy Noel, who lives two doors down from Larry Salisbury, was the one who called police Monday evening after her husband noticed the front passenger window of Salisbury’s car had been shattered.
“My husband came home from work yesterday and he saw the car window busted out of his car and had this gut feeling,” Noel said.
Noel said Salisbury had said he was terrified of his son, and that she and her husband had been helping Salisbury with chores like mowing the grass and cooking him food. She said she had even given him a gift card to one of his favorite restaurants, Golden Corral.
“You know, maybe it was God telling me to give him a good last meal,” Noel said when she found out he had used the gift card that Friday.
Noel said another neighbor called police “four or five times” Saturday afternoon because of a loud dispute.
Salisbury has an extensive criminal history, including a separate protective order issued in 2023 against his ex-wife who said he attacked her only hours after she served him divorce papers. He has violated that protective order extensively, according to court records.
