New developments in unsolved Jennings murders

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Hello all. I am from Youngsville, so maybe someone can help. I vaguely remember a short while after Derrick Todd Lee was captured, that the first Jennings victim was reported found. I thought I remembered she was tied up? I know, partially nude maybe? I wish I had kept that article, because it had the most info...since she was the first before the police became tip lipped. Then right after Sean Gillis was caught, another prostitute was found in Baton Rouge area, a park I believe. Does this ring a bell? As most of ya'll know..lots of those prostitutes murders (in BR)were never solved and to be quite honest, I assumed it was Sean Gillis, however after that last one, whom I assumed was random, I am beginning to wonder now. I am pretty good about keeping up with murders and I know that Lafayette, really hasn't had anything spooky, with the exception of that recent woman, anyone know of any other location that is having women...drug related or such having turned up missing or dead. Say Opelousas or Alexandria?
Just curious.
 
concernedperson said:
It would be easy for LE to check who was incarcerated during that time frame. I would also check military records for locals and see what deployment dates were available. Then, I would check mental institutions for admit/discharge dates. Jennings is so small that this would not be a monumental task.

After all of this has been ruled out or in, then I would widen the search area. For one thing, I don't believe a serial would stop killing for almost 2 years but anything is possible.
Click to expand...


I would certainly hope this has been done, concernedperson. Good idea about the military records! I do know Ft. Polk is not an unreasonable distance away. National Guard go there for training before they deploy. Some National Guard units go there for the once a month training weekends, I believe.

Checking the mental institution records in Jackson, Louisiana is a good idea as well. They do have a building seperate from the other buildings for the criminally insane. This facility is located not too far from Baton Rouge and is a regional one.

I agree that all of the above would be rather easy to do. At this point, I honestly believe that the FBI should be overseeing the investigation. Maybe these women had a drug problem and maybe some were prostitutes with a high risk lifestyle, but their lives were important. I want to see an arrest or arrests in this case!
 
DeepRedVelvet said:
Hello all. I am from Youngsville, so maybe someone can help. I vaguely remember a short while after Derrick Todd Lee was captured, that the first Jennings victim was reported found. I thought I remembered she was tied up? I know, partially nude maybe? I wish I had kept that article, because it had the most info...since she was the first before the police became tip lipped. Then right after Sean Gillis was caught, another prostitute was found in Baton Rouge area, a park I believe. Does this ring a bell? As most of ya'll know..lots of those prostitutes murders (in BR)were never solved and to be quite honest, I assumed it was Sean Gillis, however after that last one, whom I assumed was random, I am beginning to wonder now. I am pretty good about keeping up with murders and I know that Lafayette, really hasn't had anything spooky, with the exception of that recent woman, anyone know of any other location that is having women...drug related or such having turned up missing or dead. Say Opelousas or Alexandria?
Just curious.
Click to expand...

Derrick Todd Lee was arrested in 2003 and went to trial in August 2004 so this was way before the first Jennings murder. Now, with that said, I vaguely remember a murder of a woman in Calcasieu Parish around that time frame that I never heard anything about after it was reported.

I agree about all the Baton Rouge murders being more than one or two serial killers as some of the murders went back to the 80's when Lee and Gillis would have been too young. When I was actively following the BR serial killings I believe we counted 60 missing and murdered just in that one area.

Please share with us the info on the Lafayette woman as I would like to know what happened and who she was. TIA.
 
Here is a link to a good article i found on the google:

http://digitopus.com/?cat=568

"Muggy's death was different. Though reports on nearly all of the victims have been inconclusive due to advanced stages of decomp, Muggy's body was nearly still warm when it was found. Did the killer want her found sooner? Why leave her within miles of a known police shooting range? Was he taunting police, or was this a message to other young women in the area who knew too much?"

The above link is a really really good read, i recommend it for anyone who has an interest in this case. I cannot stress enough, there is a lot of good info in it! =)

That's just a snippet from the whole article. It really gives a lot of information on the murdered girls and how they knew each other. It shows the crappy work done by local LE, who basically blame the girl's murders on their lifestyles; which is not their fault they were killed.
Many serial killers will kill prostitutes or drug addicts since the police take that less seriously than if they kill a CEO's daughter. The local LE needs to start taking it seriously.
 
Does anyone know if LE were able to get any prints or DNA off any of the victims? If they have been able too, they can run it through the database to see if it was anyone with a record. (juvenile records, and mental health records too)
 
MeoW333 said:
Here is a link to a good article i found on the google:

http://digitopus.com/?cat=568

"Muggy's death was different. Though reports on nearly all of the victims have been inconclusive due to advanced stages of decomp, Muggy's body was nearly still warm when it was found. Did the killer want her found sooner? Why leave her within miles of a known police shooting range? Was he taunting police, or was this a message to other young women in the area who knew too much?"

The above link is a really really good read, i recommend it for anyone who has an interest in this case. I cannot stress enough, there is a lot of good info in it! =)

That's just a snippet from the whole article. It really gives a lot of information on the murdered girls and how they knew each other. It shows the crappy work done by local LE, who basically blame the girl's murders on their lifestyles; which is not their fault they were killed.
Many serial killers will kill prostitutes or drug addicts since the police take that less seriously than if they kill a CEO's daughter. The local LE needs to start taking it seriously.
Click to expand...

Great info in the article. Specifically the fact that Rapides Parish (Alexandria) is looking at these case because of 6 (SIX) unsolved murders of their own. Folks, that is 13 murdered and/or missing women in smaller communities. That is a lot.

One of the other things that the article mentions is that the Jennings victims were related or knew each....not unusual in Louisiana, especially South Louisiana. I am originally from the area and related to half and know the other half. Or, a working knowledge of the families or can find out in a hurry etc. Small villages are like that.

I am glad for the media inference here as this will put the heat on to do something about it.
 
CP, so true, i hope different local LE departments can work together and share everything; there may be even more similiar cases that can be linked.
IMO, a lot of times connections to cases can be overlooked since another department may not be aware; they really need to cooperate wholeheartedly together in the hunt for the killer if they want to solve it faster.

"Stephen Kartsimas and Steven Reed, two Rapides Parish sheriff's detectives, have also been noted as closely following the case and attempting to link it - if possible - to similar cold cases in their area. According to the detective, six women's bodies have been found in their area (between Lake Charles and Lafayette) since 2005; the latest just this past September. Yet there is another, more personal, reason for getting involved: Detective Kartsimas is on a personal quest to identify a "Jane Doe" whose body was found off I-49 near the Lena exit 11 years ago, and to catch her killer. The Jennings area killings definitely "raise a red flag" for Det. Kartsimas, and he - along with Detective Reed, head of the new Cold Case Task Force - have asked the Rapides Parish Sheriff's office to make contact with Jefferson Davis Parish officials."

http://digitopus.com/?cat=568
 
Loretta Lynn Chaisson - May 20, 2005

Ernestine Marie Daniel Patterson - June 18, 2005

Kristen Elizabeth Gary Lopez - March 8, 2007

Whitnei Charlene Dubois - May 12, 2007

LaConia Shontel "Muggy" Brown - May 28, 2008

Crystal Shay Benoit Zeno - September 11, 2008
Brittany Ann Gary - November 15, 2008

Above are the murdered Jennings women. (i just wanted to repost the time line again)

Rapides County is about 2 hours maybe a little less from Jennings, LA.

http://www.thetowntalk.com/article/20081123/NEWS01/811230302

"And the recent talk of a serial killer in Jefferson Davis Parish -- with a total of seven women's bodies found there since 2005 -- has given detectives a renewed interest in at least two local unsolved cases, that of Jane Doe found on the side of Interstate 49 near the Lena exit in 1998 and the 2004 strangulation death of Shamekka Garnette, 20, of Alexandria.Garnette's body was found dumped in a ditch off Old Boyce Highway near Interstate 49. The cause of death or the identity of the badly decomposed Jane Doe have yet to be determined."
 
DeepRedVelvet said:
Hello all. I am from Youngsville, so maybe someone can help. I vaguely remember a short while after Derrick Todd Lee was captured, that the first Jennings victim was reported found. I thought I remembered she was tied up? I know, partially nude maybe? I wish I had kept that article, because it had the most info...since she was the first before the police became tip lipped. Then right after Sean Gillis was caught, another prostitute was found in Baton Rouge area, a park I believe. Does this ring a bell? As most of ya'll know..lots of those prostitutes murders (in BR)were never solved and to be quite honest, I assumed it was Sean Gillis, however after that last one, whom I assumed was random, I am beginning to wonder now. I am pretty good about keeping up with murders and I know that Lafayette, really hasn't had anything spooky, with the exception of that recent woman, anyone know of any other location that is having women...drug related or such having turned up missing or dead. Say Opelousas or Alexandria?
Just curious.
Click to expand...

Deep Red,
Funny you should ask that question because it crossed my mind as well. I do not know of any that were not solved here (Baton Rouge area) but I do remember that some of Derrick Todd Lee's victims were from the Lafayette (and I thought Jennings) area, or at least dumped there. He also had some near LSU in Baton Rouge.
As far as the latest victims they are trying to solve, I am not sure if they have DNA from all to show it is the same person committing the murders or not. It may or may not be more than one person although they do seem to have been murdered in the same fashion.
I remember with the Derrick Todd Lee case, it took forever for the various LE in different areas of the state to cooperate with each other. Not sure if we are still having the same problem or not but I hope this is all straightened up since the more they work together the better the chances of solving this thing are, MOO
 
Don't forget Teresa GIlcrease, Alexandria?? She was found outside, naked..and stabbed. ?
She was during the Derrick Todd Lee fiasco.

She was actually seen leaving a bar with a guy. Anyone know if that was solved? They tried to pin it on a cop. ? But, charges were dropped.
 
concernedperson said:
Derrick Todd Lee was arrested in 2003 and went to trial in August 2004 so this was way before the first Jennings murder. Now, with that said, I vaguely remember a murder of a woman in Calcasieu Parish around that time frame that I never heard anything about after it was reported.

I agree about all the Baton Rouge murders being more than one or two serial killers as some of the murders went back to the 80's when Lee and Gillis would have been too young. When I was actively following the BR serial killings I believe we counted 60 missing and murdered just in that one area.

Please share with us the info on the Lafayette woman as I would like to know what happened and who she was. TIA.
Click to expand...

Hey. The Lafayette woman I spoke of was the one found recently. Acadiana Park perhaps? SHe was found by the runner and had a splotchy past and a hothead husband/ex? Regardless, I know Jennings came over there and had a series of meetings about the investigation. No one has formally announced it linked, but I haven't heard word on an arrest of the husband either. Lafayette is HORRIBLE about reporting crimes. A friend lived in a new Breaux Bridge subdivision and found out a Mexican worker who helped build the house had been living in her attic for MONTHS. (He and his wife) They would use their bathrooms and kitchen when they were gone. Never saw an iota on the news. So, It would not surprise me for this to be linked and no one says anthing, so not to cause the panic of Derrick Todd Lee.
 
Sorry to keep posting. I could have sworn it was around the time of Derrick's arrest, maybe 6 months after...The woman I am thinking of was a runaway or drug user and was found in a canal just north of Jennings. Robert's Cove? Or maybe she was from there. Was that Loretta or is this someone else? I just assumed it was the 1st victim.
Anybody remember this?
 
http://www.theadvertiser.com/article/20081208/NEWS01/81208033/1002

Here is a link to an article regarding the woman's body being found.

"Lafayette detectives have identified the dead woman found near Acadiana Park this weekend as Bonnie Ruphard, 47.
The woman was found early Saturday morning in a wooded area near the park in the 400 block of Lajaunie Road.
A runner participating in a Half Marathon at Acadiana Park observed a body lying in the wooded area."
 
http://www.theadvertiser.com/article/20081210/NEWS01/812100334/1002

Here's background info on the woman whose body was found in Arcadiana Park.

"Investigators have released little information about how she died but said the woman's death was ruled a homicide.Information about how long the woman had been in the wooded area near Acadiana Park has not been released despite a completed autopsy report.
The woman, originally from Illinois, had apparently been traveling with a group of people who did contract work around the country, according to Lafayette Police Department spokesman Cpl. Paul Mouton."


It goes on to say she had been in a woman's shelter due to an abusive exhusband.



"But Ruphard had apparently been in Burlington, Iowa, and was going by her married name - Bonnie Fay Hatfield.
She allegedly had been a victim of domestic violence committed by her husband, 28-year-old Lambert James Hatfield, according to Char Blodgett, director of a domestic violence shelter in Des Moines."


She also had children and grandchildren


"No matter who my mother may have been, she did not deserve to die," she said. "They took my mother. They took my friend. They took my children's grandmother."

I don't think it would be too hard to figure out whether or not her exhusband was involved in her death. That would rule her out or not as to if she is a victim of the same killer as the Jennings' girls..
 
"
But it has been ruled a homicide, and there are reports that the Illinois native was found stabbed in the neck before she was found Dec. 6.
Mouton said investigators are still trying to tie loose ends in the investigation to find a suspect.
Authorities believe Ruphard was last seen in the Cameron Street area around 1 a.m. Dec. 5 and frequented the area known as Four Corners.
Investigators say Ruphard, who also went by the names Bonnie Hatfield and Bonnie Sanchez, had recently moved to Lafayette with her boyfriend 28-year-old Lambert Hatfield and was living in a motel on Cameron Street.
Court records indicate that the man pleaded guilty to domestic abuse charges filed against him from fights with Ruphard when they lived in Des Moines County, Iowa just months ago.
He was recently interviewed by police, but has not been named as a suspect.
"He has and continues to be cooperative with investigators," Mouton said."
http://www.theadvertiser.com/article/20081230/NEWS01/812300318/1002

Ruphard's boyfriend/ husband? seems to be cooperating.

http://www.katc.com/Global/story.asp?S=9514208

"A vehicle was seen in the area with in the time frame of Ruphard's disappearance. The vehicle is believed to be a GM or Dodge pickup; early to mid-2000 model; full size/extended cab; fleet side; reverse lights on bottom of taillights; dark "Hunter" green."
 
MeoW333 said:
"
But it has been ruled a homicide, and there are reports that the Illinois native was found stabbed in the neck before she was found Dec. 6.
Mouton said investigators are still trying to tie loose ends in the investigation to find a suspect.
Authorities believe Ruphard was last seen in the Cameron Street area around 1 a.m. Dec. 5 and frequented the area known as Four Corners.
Investigators say Ruphard, who also went by the names Bonnie Hatfield and Bonnie Sanchez, had recently moved to Lafayette with her boyfriend 28-year-old Lambert Hatfield and was living in a motel on Cameron Street.
Court records indicate that the man pleaded guilty to domestic abuse charges filed against him from fights with Ruphard when they lived in Des Moines County, Iowa just months ago.
He was recently interviewed by police, but has not been named as a suspect.
"He has and continues to be cooperative with investigators," Mouton said."
http://www.theadvertiser.com/article/20081230/NEWS01/812300318/1002

Ruphard's boyfriend/ husband? seems to be cooperating.

http://www.katc.com/Global/story.asp?S=9514208

"A vehicle was seen in the area with in the time frame of Ruphard's disappearance. The vehicle is believed to be a GM or Dodge pickup; early to mid-2000 model; full size/extended cab; fleet side; reverse lights on bottom of taillights; dark "Hunter" green."
Click to expand...

Thanks for the articles as it helps a lot. It seems that LE is focusing on this truck for some reason. Could be someone saw her get into this vehicle or saw the vehicle slow down around her. Of course, the boyfriend with domestic abuse background is worrisome too.
 
How he got these women into his vehicle without ANY one noticing a young woman getting into a stopped vehicle.
With the last victim, we know she was walking home. Was it dark? I thought it was around 630. He'd have to have pulled up next to her or been parked somewhere already and stopped her to talk. Yet, no businesses or cars driving by saw anything. It's so strange.
How can this person be so lucky?
Anyone from Jennings know her route home? Any darkly lit streets? Bars?, known drug dealers? etc.
 
I keep checking back for updates hoping this murdering has been arrested.
 
No new info really on these cases......here's snippets from recent media coverage though:

  • A tip line devoted to developing leads into the deaths of seven women found in Jefferson Davis Parish over the past 3 1/2 years has generated about 25 calls but little information since its inception in mid-December, according to an official.
    “Most of the calls have yielded information that we already had and one of the calls was on a case out of state,” Edwards wrote Tuesday in an e-mail........continued
    Click to expand...

  • The family of possible serial killer victim Laconia “Muggy” Brown will hold a march and a memorial service on Saturday, Jan. 24 in remembrance of their loved one. Source

  • A blog detailing the deaths.
 
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