NEW ORLEANS, La. – A man convicted in the axe- murder of a former Minnesota school teacher was sentenced to life behind bars. Before being sentenced, Preston Higgs, age 40, told the judge that Liz Quackenbush meant the world to him, that he cherished her, and that if he could he would breathe life back into her soul. Judge Rhonda Goode-Douglas wasn’t impressed. The judge said that Higgs had not apologized to the family but only made excuses. Quackenbush, age 39, formerly of Rochester, was killed in March 2021 at a New Orleans house where she lived with Higgs. She taught chemistry at New Harmony High School in New Orleans. The trial was emotional. Friends and family described Quackenbush as a magical, fearless and beautiful and a woman with a massive heart. Authorities found the body in the home. Higgs had fled. He was arrested four months later in Indiana after a nationwide manhunt.
Quackenbush. Killed in 2021 in house shared with Higgs.