REVEALED: Uncle 'hired two hitmen to shoot and kill niece who accused him of rape to stop her testifying at his trial' - but they ended up 'murdering her mom and neighbor' by mistake

 A Louisiana uncle accused of raping his niece allegedly hired two of his friends to kill her so she couldn't testify against him in court – but the hitmen botched the job and shot and killed two women protecting her instead.

Hitmen Andrew Eskine, 25, and Dalvin Wilson, 22, have been arrested for the January 13 double homicide after the victims were found dead by deputies at a home in Montegut, Terrebonne Parish Sheriff Timothy Soginet said in a press conference on Monday.

The intended victim's uncle Beaux Cormier, 35, has also been arrested for the deaths of the two women, his 34-year-old sister Brittany Cormier and her 37-year-old neighbor Hope Nettleton.

Victim Brittany Cormier was the mother of the girl allegedly raped by Cormier, The Advocate reported.

Samantha LeMaire, a close friend, told the outlet that she never expected Cormier would have to sacrifice her life to protect her daughter.

'She would do anything for her kids,' LeMaire said. 'But to this extent? I would have never thought it would ever have come down to this.'

Brittany Cormier's daughter and stepdaughter were hidden in a closet when their mother was shot to death, LeMaire and Soignet told the outlet.

'Maybe they hid in the closet because they were scared. But I like to think she locked them in the closet to protect them,' LeMaire said.

Brittany Cormier, left, who is reported to be the girl's mother was killed with neighbor Hope Nettleton

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Brittany Cormier, pictured, reportedly told the hitmen hired by her brother that she was the victim

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There were reportedly five people in the home, pictured, at the time the victims were shot to death

Cormier, Eskine, and Wilson have each been charged with two counts of first-degree murder and prosecutors said that the death penalty 'is absolutely on the table.'

Beaux Cormier was initially arrested for the rape in March 2020 in nearby Lafayette Parish and 'is already a convicted sex offender,' according to officials.

'Cormier hired Eskine and Wilson to murder the rape victim so she could not testify,' Soginet said.

Cormier hired Eskine and Wilson kill his niece and the three conducted surveillance on the target home 'sometime after July but before November,' cops said.

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Andrew Eskine, left, and Dalvin Wilson, right, have been arrested by deputies in Louisiana for the January 13 double homicide

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Terrebonne Parish Sheriff Timothy Soginet said the two hit-men have confessed in the case

Eskine and Wilson returned to the home using a family vehicle in November to kill the niece but the attempt failed and a neighbor reported the license plate to police.

Cops said Wilson returned to the home using Eskine's truck on January 13 to commit the double murder.

The alleged shooter asked for the rape victim by name and Brittany Cormier pretended to be her daughter – 'accepting her fate to save the life of the actual victim,' Soginet said.

He said: 'Hope Nettleton actually struggled with the shooter and was shot fighting him off. Andrew Eskine and Dalvin both confessed to their involvement in this incident.'

There was initially five people present in the home at the time, cops said.

Soginet said that it took law enforcement a couple weeks to crack the case of the double homicide and the license plate noted in November was 'critical' to solving it.

'We don't get this type of things happening, double homicides, in Terrebonne Parish, especially Montague – it's a small town. People are very close over there and you know there were good people that ended up dying as a result,' Soginet said.

District Attorney Joseph L. Waitz, Jr. said prosecutors 'feel like we have a very strong case.'

'I will get convictions in this case. The only issue, I'm sure everyone wants to know, is about the death penalty. That decision I do not make on my own,' Waitz said.

'I am in the process of scheduling a meeting with the victims. That decision will be made with myself and them after we have along conference and some soul searching about what's the proper thing to do.'

He added: 'But as far as the death penalty, that is absolutely on the table.'

The three men have all been booked into the Terrebonne Parish Criminal Justice Complex and each are being held in lieu of a $2million bond.