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New Orleans, LA – After a tense and highly emotional three-day trial, a jury found Preston Higgs guilty of the 2021 murder of his girlfriend, beloved Liz Quackenbush. This verdict brings a measure of justice for Liz’s family after more than three years of heartache and uncertainty.
Higgs was apprehended in Indiana following a relentless 18-week nationwide manhunt, led by the United States Marshals Service, which brought him back to face trial in Louisiana. The Orleans Parish District Attorney’s Office, with District Attorney Jason Williams and Assistant District Attorney Penny Kissinger, was present when the jury delivered the long-awaited verdict.
The prosecution’s case was built on compelling evidence, including a critical 911 call made by Higgs’ uncle in Minnesota. The uncle’s urgent plea for first responders to check on Liz at her Desire Street home revealed chilling details relayed by Higgs’ family members. The call described how “Preston hit his girlfriend in the head with a weapon, that she was dead, and that the incident occurred on the previous day.” This evidence led authorities to the scene where the murder weapon was found, solidifying the case against Higgs.
Assistant District Attorney Penny Kissinger’s closing statement underscored the brutality of the crime: “If the wounds to the front of her head were incapacitating, the wounds from the back must have come first. It’s easy to tell any story when the other witness is dead. He was pulled off a Greyhound bus in Chicago with a fake ID and a burner phone in his pocket. All he had to do was leave, but instead, he obliterated her face and left the axe on her. Preston Higgs is a liar. There is no reasonable doubt that he murdered Elizabeth Quackenbush.”
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