Another Serial Killer in Louisiana? Yes, No, Maybe?

January 01, 2009

Ronald Joseph Dominique, Sean Vincent Gillis, John Peter Malveaux and Derrick Todd Lee - each one of these men has been arrested in recent years for committing serial murders in the state of Louisiana. They are certainly not responsible for all of the unsolved cases in the state; however, they are four of the most recognized criminals. Louisiana has, for all intents and purposes, become Serial Killer Central. Consequently, investigators in Jefferson Davis Parish have formed a task force to investigate the mysterious murders of at least seven women dating back to 2005.

Jefferson Davis Parish Sheriff Ricky Edwards is hesitant to use the term "serial killer" in connection with the unsolved murders; this may, however, be precisely what he is facing. Some speculate that his reluctance to categorize the cases may be a way of keeping the killer from reveling in media attention, but previous cases have shown that it is only a matter of time before all bets are off.

The victims in these unsolved cases shared several similarities. Most were in their 20s, traveled in the same circles, had a history of alcohol and substance abuse, and lived high-risk lifestyles, which in some cases included trading sex for drugs.

          1. Loretta Lynn Chaisson Lewis

Loretta Lynn Chaisson Lewis, 28, was last seen on May 17, 2005. Three days later, a fisherman discovered her partially clothed body floating in the east fork of the Grand Marais Canal. This location is roughly three miles west of Highway 26.

Despite the fact that she had been dead for only a few days, Loretta's body was in an advanced state of decomposition, which made it impossible for the medical examiner to determine the exact cause of death. Toxicology tests revealed high levels of drugs and alcohol in her system.

Loretta was married and had two children.

          2. Ernestine Marie Daniels Patterson

Ernestine Marie Daniels Patterson, 29, was an employee of a local fast food restaurant. The events leading up to her disappearance remain unclear. What is known is that her partially clothed body was found floating in a drainage canal on June 18, 2005. This location was roughly six miles from where Loretta Lewis's body had been found.

During the autopsy, the medical examiner determined that Ernestine's throat had been cut. As with Loretta's toxicology tests, Ernestine's also indicated high levels of drugs and alcohol in her system.

Prosecutors initially indicted two local men, Byron Chad Jones and Lawrence Nixon, for Ernestine's murder; however, the charges were later dropped due to lack of evidence.

          3. Kristen Elizabeth Gary Lopez

Kristen Elizabeth Gary Lopez, 21, was last seen alive on March 5, 2007. Due to her transient lifestyle and alleged involvement in prostitution, the exact time Kristen went missing remains unclear. A report was not filed with the police until March 15, 2007.

Three days later, on March 18, a fisherman discovered Kristen's nude body floating in the Petitjean Canal. The location was roughly 10 miles south of Welsh.

The medical examiner was unable to determine how Kristen had died; however, toxicology tests did reveal high levels of drugs and alcohol in her system.

Investigators initially arrested Tracee Chaisson, Frankie Richard and Richard's niece, Hannah Conner, in connection with the case, but the charges were later dropped due to lack of evidence. Both Richard and Conner had also been questioned in the death of Ernestine Patterson.

          4. Whitnei Charlene Dubois

The exact date of 26-year-old Whitnei Charlene Dubois's disappearance remains unclear. According to family members, she was last seen around the first week of May 2007.

On May 12, 2007, Whitnei's nude and decomposing body was found lying on a rural road just south of Jennings.

The medical examiner has not yet released a cause of death in Whitnei's case. Authorities have said that toxicology tests revealed high levels of drugs and alcohol in her system. They believe that Whitnei had been dead for several days prior to her body being dumped on the roadway.

         5. LaConia Shontel "Muggy" Brown

LaConia Shontel "Muggy" Brown, 23, was last seen on May 28, 2008, just hours before a city police officer found her body lying in the middle of East Racca Road. This location is on the edge of the city/parish border, not far from a police shooting range.

The medical examiner determined that LaConia's death was caused by a cut throat. It was also determined that her body had been doused in bleach. Toxicology test results have not yet been released.

          6. Crystal Shay Benoit Zeno

As with some of the previous victims, the exact time 23-year-old Crystal Shay Benoit Zeno first went missing remains unclear.

On September 11, 2008, Crystal's rapidly decomposing remains were found in a dry canal southeast of Jennings.

It took two months for the medical examiner to positively identify Crystal. Authorities have yet to comment on a cause of death and the toxicology test results have not yet been released, but the case has been ruled a homicide.

          7. Brittney Ann Gary

Brittney Ann Gary, 17, was the youngest of all the victims previously listed. She was last seen at about 5:30 p.m. on November 2, 2008, when she left her Jennings home and went to a nearby convenience store. Surveillance cameras inside the store show that she arrived and made a purchase. What happened to her after that remains a mystery.

Roughly 24 hours later, Brittney's mother filed a missing person report with police. Investigators had few leads to follow, and the case quickly came to a dead end. Then, on November 15, a searcher found Brittney's remains in the grass near Keystone Road, roughly three miles from where Loretta Lewis was found in 2005.

Authorities have yet to comment on a cause of death; however, the case has been ruled a homicide.

According to Brittney's mother, her daughter had been known to use drugs in the past, but, to her knowledge, she had never worked as a prostitute.

The second victim, Ernestine Patterson, worked with Brittney's mother at a local fast food restaurant. The third victim, Kristen Lopez, was Brittney's cousin. The fourth victim, LaConia Brown, was Brittney's best friend.

Another?

An eighth murder victim, recently found in Lafayette, may also be connected to the case. At this point the connection remains unclear and no further details are available at this time.

Despite the obvious links among some of the victims, certain factors - race and dumping locations - do not agree with others, suggesting that a few of the cases may not be related or that there are two separate serial killers operating in the area.

Jeff Davis Parish Sheriff Ricky Edwards has given conflicting statements on this matter, which seem to indicate that he cannot make up his mind.

In a November 2008 interview with Thetowntalk.com, Edwards is quoted as saying, "I'd be a fool to say they're not connected."

In a December 2008 interview with Theadvertiser.com, Edwards had this to say:

"The facts that we currently have do not allow me at this time to say with certainty that these cases are all linked."

In another December, 2008 interview, with KPLCTV.com, Edwards said:

"If we don't have a serial killer, we have a lot of killers, and that's still disturbing."

Regardless of whether Edwards blames the murders on a serial killer, it is obvious that he is not taking any chances, given the fact that he recently formed a joint task force made up of the Jefferson Davis Parish Sheriff's Office, the Calcasieu Sheriff's Office, the Acadia Sheriff's Office, the Jennings Police Department, the Louisiana State Police, the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Calcasieu Crime Lab.

Meanwhile, the Rapides Parish Sheriff's Office is trying to determine whether there are links between the Jennings cases and several unsolved cases they are investigating, including a Jane Doe, whose decomposed body was found on the side of Interstate 49; the murder of 20-year-old Shamekka Garnette, whose body was found in a ditch near Interstate 49; and the 2002 murder of Teresa Wren Gilcrease.

Other local departments have similar cases, but they do not yet believe there is a connection.

Unfortunately, the person(s) who holds the keys to each of these mysteries is not talking. Instead, the person(s) remain in hiding, fantasizing about these depraved acts and perhaps contemplating the next.

Anyone with information about any of these cases is asked to contact the Jefferson Davis Parish Sheriff's Office at 337-821-2106 or the FBI's Louisiana office at 504-816-3000.

Related Links:
Serial Killers : Quiz Central : Investigation Discovery
Most Infamous Murderers : Investigation Discovery
On the Run: Game: Investigation Discovery
Dr. Stone's Evil Scale : Most Evil : Investigation Discovery

Photo Credits: victims: police file photos

This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission from Discovery Communications. All quotes must include a link back.

Comments

[christain]

myself i think the police is a bunch of back ward red necks. its a serial killer, for sure he is smarter than they are. thank god im not from this town. they need to get some one with some smarts like from houston to solve this case because they will never do it. if they think its a couple of people god women need to look out.with barney vi on the case god help them.cant even say serial killer. i guess blame it on something supernatural how they talk. get some one with some smarts please or more women will die.

[Jon]

I keep track of all the living incarcerated Serial killers, mass murders, spree killers and school shooters. If you would like their addresses you can find them all for free at www.askaconvict.com If I am missing any please send them to me and I will ad them.

[scaredconfused]

Well..... i know that this is very strang what i'm about to say but , however it is all true.....I know that they say that there are 7 bodies but i keep feeling that there are more then 7 like atleast 9....But however thats not the strang thing , that i was going to say.....the strang thing is i felt it when the killer killed 3 out of the 8 women bodies that were found thus far.....8 being the one that they founded in or near Lafayette , Louisiana.....i have no idea why i am able to feel when he is killing these women , it is very scary....no i am not saying this because of any reward money , for i don't even care about the reward money , i just want them to make him stop , so that i could stop feeling it when he is killing these women....i know that they never confirmed that the Lafayette woman was linked to the others but i'm almost 100% sure of it because i felt it as did the others he killed....i told others a week or two about the woman they founded in lafayette , befor they even founded her , for i actually heard the killers taught , as God is my witness...i don't want to be known , nor do i want the reward money , i just want the cops to make him stop killing these women , for i am very tired of experienceing these events and dreams about these women....the 17 years old teenager , may god rest her beautiful soul... i was cooking one sunday and i turned to others and i told them , that seril killer has another one , for i felt like something about around the throat area and i felt like a spirit left ones body.... and that same day i felt that , thats the same day and around the same time that 17 years old girl went missing i believe , for it was around 5 something p.m. when i expereienced that event....and there was another older case of a black woman the news crewe interviewed... i turned unto others i said watch she going to be the next one the seril killer kills and you know what ... she was , for i say it as the news crew inter viewed her about another dead woman they founded that she knew.i have no idea why i dream these dreams or experienced these things , all i know is that i've been sharing my dreams and visions and experience for years and they were all true....although there is a few things i would like to know about these 8 bodies that was found thus far... , you see i keep seeing and feeling some type of defense found to the right hand of some woman and some type of head found to the front right side of some females face..... maybe these wounds has nothing to do with these 8 women , but i know that which i keep seeing.....well i just wanted to share this with anyone else who is willing to hear me out , for there are many who already knows that i've experience these things as these women where being murdered....and some told me that it's an ex-cop whoes killing these women , for they say that he blame them for him loosing his job on the police force....i told some of my friends about the body of that lil flordia girl that i dreamed about also and look , when the cops founed her , they founed her in the exact condition i saw in my dream...that ala. young lady that went to mexico with here class on a filed trip some years ago , i dream about it a week befor she went missing and i told others about it befor it happen and it happened just like i saw in those dreams....no i don't look at my self as being psychic , for i hate the word psychic , but this one thing i know... and that is i do dream , see vision and feel thing about certain people befor they die....i told others about sept. 11 since 1997... but no one really believed me , but then when it happen they said...OMG you told us this....sorry my post was sooooo long , but please help the cops catch this killer so , that i won't have anymore dreams,visions or experience of these killings....sign , scared and confused

[cathaleen perkins]

To:scaredconfused-There is no shame to ones' gift of such dreams/visions as you've described in slight detail to us readers, and obvious voiced self assurance of these specific horrific incidents of deaths of individuals.If you have not already done so, nomatter what disregard and/or ridicule that you may encounter, you should log-down these events as you see/dream them and also share with the officials working on these cases.Sometimes a seemingly insignificant piece of information, even if it's one gained from a self-proclaimed psychic or simply someone like yourself with visions/dreams, ends up being a final piece to complete the puzzle.The families of dead victims need any help they can get for resolution to what happened to their loved-ones.

[Living in Fear]

Here's another question for you
Many of us are writing,calling and emailing to get this on the news...especially AMERICAS MOST WANTED.
And no one responds or comes to help solve these horrible crimes.
Well now we know and can ask
Why did Ricky Edwards tell America's Most Wanted that Jennings didn't need their help. AMW wanted to do the story, sent people down to interview the family's. but need the Sheriff's cooperation to continue. And AMW confirmed what we all had heard as a rumor...RICKY EDWARDS SAID NO! He has it handled just fine, don't need their help. well here we are, 7, maybe 8 dead women and no arrests. NOW ask HIM......WHY???!!!

[Blink34]

Cathaleen, that is an excellent question. Additionally, why have they not requested forensics help from the FBI?

[Cheryl Thompson]

Everyone wants an immediate arrest, but the little evidence they have does not point to anyone specifically. The police can SUSPECT any number of people. If there is little or no evidence that's all they are.... SUSPECTS. This not a TV show. It can't be solved in an hour.

[Tina Marie]

"If I'm Your Next Victim"

"You" and those like you, who makes such a beautiful place
"God created called Earth" so unsafe, here's some food for thought for you today, you hide in unseen places waiting for unsuspecting faces, who are unaware of your deadly stare, how did your life get on such an evil course? Is your heart still there, do it have remorse?

It's you who will die a million deaths, yet never die, because there's no room for you up high. Hell will drop lower to accommodate your rotten soul, my face is what you'll see every time your eyes close!

"If I'm A child" you have taken, those of you who search for me and pray for my safety from my heart you are appreciated, yet if in their twisted mind they decide my demise, my body please don't hide, so I'm returned
to those who truly love me, for once in your life, do something right!

Also deliver this message to my family & friends, tell them to live life to the fullest for me and for them, and not to let an animal such as yourself take away their happiness, this poem's sadly a sign of the times, it was created in
the hopes of changing minds, about committing such unthinkable crimes!

I've chosen to be another voice for those who's voice has been stubbed out or silenced from your unsuspecting, undeserving and unnecessary violence!

So " If I'm Your Next Victim" and I pray to "God" I'm not
I pray that it means either voluntarily or forced "Your Crime Spree Has Stopped!"

Poet: Tina Marie Clark @2009

Dedicated To: The Families And Victims, of Unsolved and Solved Abductions and Murders "You're No Alone"

[rose]

PEOPLE YHAT COMMIT THESE CRIMES ARE NOTHING BUT COWARDS,THEY HIDE AND KILL PEOPLE THAT CANT FIGHT BACK.THESE PEOPLE DONT EVEN HAVE A CHANCE BECAUSE THESE COWARDS HAVE TO HIDE.

[concerned resident]

Today, another body was found. WF from Jennings La. She was last seen Sunday August 16, 2009. That makes this #9. I believe law enforcement are following the wrong profile.

[Joe]

If it's not a cop, I'd be surprised.

[Michelle]

People and when I say people I mean the Jennings police needs to put more effort into these crimes or get help from the FBI that has more experience with these kind of crimes. And lack of evidence....well who can leave little OR NO evidence? They may need to look in a different direction.