An incident at a courthouse in Poplarville, Mississippi on Tuesday revealed that Republican Mississippi state House member Jansen Owen could maybe be a little better at picking and choosing whom he represents in his lawyering day job given that he’s probably not going to see another dime in fees from one specific client. And probably spent hours getting interviewed by homicide detectives and likely a whole hassle with testifying against her in a criminal trial.
Plus, according to WLOX, Owen had to physically toss the client, 49 year-old Tanya Saucier, to the ground and restrain her before rushing to try to save the life of her 62 year-old newly-unwed ex-husband James Saucier as he succumbed to gunshot wounds in the entryway of the Pearl River County Chancery Courthouse, just after the hearing in which their divorce was finalized.
“Basically, I left the courthouse and she opened fire. I did ultimately subdue her at which point she made threats against me,” Owen said. “I administered first aid as best I could to Mr Saucier. I grabbed her and put my knee in her back until law enforcement took over. I kicked the gun away.”
Whether Tanya brought a pistol into the courthouse or had somehow retrieved it from a hidden location or her car is unclear. What isn’t in question is whether this was an isolated incident: He was set to go on trial in March for – wait for it – aggravated assault and domestic violence with a deadly weapon for shooting Tanya in the face and torso at some point last year and a grand jury returned an indictment for that shooting in August, though it’s possible it was self-defense. James’s lawyer Don Rafferty had evidently been planning to sell the trial jury on that, telling WLOX “My client said he was defending himself [when he shot Tanya] and you saw what happened today,” when both Rafferty and Owen saw their future billable hours savagely murdered right in front of them.