Disgraced Louisiana mayor Misty Roberts’ former lover was found dead just weeks after her ex-husband accused him of being abusive, it was revealed Thursday.
Roberts, 43, who was found guilty on Tuesday of having sex with her son’s underaged friend, started dating William Andrew Cronce in the wake of her divorce from Duncan Clanton, the father of her children.
Cronce, a local pipe liner, was then found dead on February 23, 2024.
An online obituary described the 38 year old as a loving and hardworking father, who coached baseball in the DeRidder community where Roberts served as mayor.
‘He was unstoppable on a machine or with a ball in his glove,’ the obituary said. ‘He was truly the man in the arena – falling, standing up and trying again.’
It went on to say that ‘behind an extremely hard exterior was the most gentle man.’
‘He loved and lived with so much emotion and passion,’ the obituary concludes.
It is unclear how Cronce died, but his death came just about one month after Clanton accused him of being abusive in a civil restraining order to keep him away from his and Roberts’ two adolescent children, according to the New York Post.
Clanton argued that his ex-wife’s new lover had alcoholic, suicidal and ‘stalky’ tendencies in the January 24, 2024 letter asking a Beauregard Parish court judge to grant the protection order on behalf of his daughter, then 10 years old, and son, 13.
‘I am fearful for my children’s safety because William Andrew Cronce does have access to weapons/handguns, he is bold enough to publicly voice/threaten suicide and has shown stalking behavior with the mother of my children,’ he wrote.
The worried father then went on to claim that during an argument with Roberts, Cronce ‘exited the house loudly, shouting in front of [the children] that their mother needs to learn to shut her “c*** sucker” if she knows what’s good for her.’
Cronce had even allegedly threatened suicide in a Facebook post following a breakup with Roberts, and was later found by police ‘incapacitated and unconscious with a gun on his person,’ the ex-husband said.
‘If he is brave enough to take his own life, what is stopping him from shooting Misty, our kids and himself?’ Clanton asked, rhetorically.
He also said that despite Cronce allegedly ‘stalking’ his ex-wife by taking photos of her home and vehicle and sending them to her while they were broken up, she took him back.
Clanton then ultimately filed the request for a protection order after he said Roberts ignored his repeated pleas to keep Cronce away from their children – and even disregarded their own daughter’s wishes not to see him.
Cronce ‘has a history of instability and alcoholism that is abusive in relationships,’ the father-of-two wrote in the court document.
Hellbound and Down 