SwampMama
Insomniac Extraordinaire
- Joined
- Aug 16, 2011
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This is the video from the link in the post above by LuckySeven. (Because sometimes newspages change and video vanishes, I felt it was a good idea to link the video from youtube. I just got this video from a friend who knows with the lady in the interview, so she called me and sent me the youtube link. What an incredible story she has. [video=youtube;lOQq1EXgDcY]https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=lOQq1EXgDcY[/video]
Wow, amazing to make so much progress in such a short time after being such a cold case for so long. I am sure there is so much more to the story and what the lady in the video went thru with a father like John Chesson. I think it is fine to name his name here as it is already in the public domain/public records. (I will just refer to her as Ms.FCA so as not to bring any attention to her. She has been thru a lot as you will see in the summary below. My friend who knows her says she is just the nicest person in the world, a very sweet lady. I told my friend to give her a big hug and tell her how much we appreciate what she has done to help find the identity of this girl and to find the killer).
Mrs. FCA's interest in the case was initially that she and her sibling found the body in January 28, 1981. As she said, it was simply a skeleton in clothing when she and her brother and father found it. Police estimated she had been dead 4-6 weeks. So decades later, the girl is still unidentified and Mrs FCA posted the UID girls info on her FB, asking for information if anyone had any leads. That is why I came across her on FB page with the police sketch of the girl. That is when I discovered she and I have a friend in common. Now decades later, the girl is finally identified as Carol Ann Cole. Mrs. FCA finally gets to see a real pic of the girl (not just the vague sketch or the very badly done bust).
She has a flashback and realizes that she recognizes the girl as a teen her father gave a ride to when FCA was about 13. Her father was so callous that he set his kids up to discover the body, under the ruse of taking them "hunting" which he had never done with them before. He stayed on the road while directing his kids into the woods where he knew the body was. So knowing where he left the body, he sent his poor children to witness that! It wasn't just a twist of fate that the body was found. Her father knew it was there and wanted it found for whatever twisted reason and he didn't mind using his kids to accomplish that.
Now of course, just her identifying the picture of the girl, along with the remembrance that her father gave Carol a ride sometime before she died. While not exactly conclusive forensic proof, it is nevertheless quite compelling. It's pretty interesting circumstantial evidence that can be developed further to ascertain some facts and find more witnesses perhaps. But in the end, the important thing is that Carol's family can finally know what happened, Carol finally has her name and is longer unknown.
Chesson probably wont go to trial is because he is already in jail, serving a life sentence with NO parole. The story of that killing is a bit convoluted , so I took the liberty of trying to sort it all out and summarizing it below. I hope i got the details correct. I will amend them if needed. I found an appeal document about his murder conviction which has the details of that case. http://cases.justia.com/louisiana/third-circuit-court-of-appeal/2003-ka-03-0606.pdf?ts=1406822283
This murder occurred about 16 years after Carol's death. John Chesson was convicted of second degree murder in the death of his estranged wife’s former mother-in-law, Lucindy Thibodeaux . Mrs Lucindy was killed on February 17, 1997 and was 74 years old at the time of her death. So the woman Chesson killed was NOT related to him, but she was his wife'e ex-mom-in-law (aka her daughter's grandmother). Chesson's estranged wife was his 2nd wife (I think) and was not FCA's mom. They were estranged and she has told him her intent to leave the marriage. She also left their home, presumably into hiding where he could not find her. So he also left the home and went to stay with his adult daughters.
From the link above of the appeal of the case:
"According to the State, the defendant (John Chesson) awoke on the morning of February 17th and wrote a letter to his estranged wife. The defendant’s daughters (FCA and her sister) both testified that the defendant informed them that he had dreamed that the Devil told him to kill someone. He then left the house. Due to the statement, the daughters contacted a priest to bless the house. At approximately 9:00 a.m., Mrs. Lucindy Thibodeaux contacted her daughter, (TM), and informed her that the defendant (Chesson) had been to her home, inquiring as to the whereabouts of his wife."
His wife was not there but the visit scared Mrs Lucindy . She was frightened and told him to leave. She was so badly scared that she called her daughter (TM) and told her about the visit . She said she was home alone and her husband was not home. She also spoke with her son (J) and he called the police in Mrs Lucindy's town and also rushed to his mother's house (not sure how far away he was).
From the appeal, linked above
"A patrolman ..., responded to the call, traveling to the... home. When he arrived, he found Mrs. Thibodeaux’s husband sitting outside the front door. Mr. Thibodeaux was shaking and pointed into the house. Inside, Patrolman Granger found Mrs. Thibodeaux, lying in a pool of blood.... (She) had suffered, among other injuries, an eight and one-half inch cut to the throat. "
Neighbors placed Chesson at the scene earlier. He had shading his face so as not to be seen well but he was easily identified. He was quickly caught and was convicted and given life without the possibility of parole. He is in Angola prison.
Wow, amazing to make so much progress in such a short time after being such a cold case for so long. I am sure there is so much more to the story and what the lady in the video went thru with a father like John Chesson. I think it is fine to name his name here as it is already in the public domain/public records. (I will just refer to her as Ms.FCA so as not to bring any attention to her. She has been thru a lot as you will see in the summary below. My friend who knows her says she is just the nicest person in the world, a very sweet lady. I told my friend to give her a big hug and tell her how much we appreciate what she has done to help find the identity of this girl and to find the killer).
Mrs. FCA's interest in the case was initially that she and her sibling found the body in January 28, 1981. As she said, it was simply a skeleton in clothing when she and her brother and father found it. Police estimated she had been dead 4-6 weeks. So decades later, the girl is still unidentified and Mrs FCA posted the UID girls info on her FB, asking for information if anyone had any leads. That is why I came across her on FB page with the police sketch of the girl. That is when I discovered she and I have a friend in common. Now decades later, the girl is finally identified as Carol Ann Cole. Mrs. FCA finally gets to see a real pic of the girl (not just the vague sketch or the very badly done bust).
She has a flashback and realizes that she recognizes the girl as a teen her father gave a ride to when FCA was about 13. Her father was so callous that he set his kids up to discover the body, under the ruse of taking them "hunting" which he had never done with them before. He stayed on the road while directing his kids into the woods where he knew the body was. So knowing where he left the body, he sent his poor children to witness that! It wasn't just a twist of fate that the body was found. Her father knew it was there and wanted it found for whatever twisted reason and he didn't mind using his kids to accomplish that.
Now of course, just her identifying the picture of the girl, along with the remembrance that her father gave Carol a ride sometime before she died. While not exactly conclusive forensic proof, it is nevertheless quite compelling. It's pretty interesting circumstantial evidence that can be developed further to ascertain some facts and find more witnesses perhaps. But in the end, the important thing is that Carol's family can finally know what happened, Carol finally has her name and is longer unknown.
Chesson probably wont go to trial is because he is already in jail, serving a life sentence with NO parole. The story of that killing is a bit convoluted , so I took the liberty of trying to sort it all out and summarizing it below. I hope i got the details correct. I will amend them if needed. I found an appeal document about his murder conviction which has the details of that case. http://cases.justia.com/louisiana/third-circuit-court-of-appeal/2003-ka-03-0606.pdf?ts=1406822283
This murder occurred about 16 years after Carol's death. John Chesson was convicted of second degree murder in the death of his estranged wife’s former mother-in-law, Lucindy Thibodeaux . Mrs Lucindy was killed on February 17, 1997 and was 74 years old at the time of her death. So the woman Chesson killed was NOT related to him, but she was his wife'e ex-mom-in-law (aka her daughter's grandmother). Chesson's estranged wife was his 2nd wife (I think) and was not FCA's mom. They were estranged and she has told him her intent to leave the marriage. She also left their home, presumably into hiding where he could not find her. So he also left the home and went to stay with his adult daughters.
From the link above of the appeal of the case:
"According to the State, the defendant (John Chesson) awoke on the morning of February 17th and wrote a letter to his estranged wife. The defendant’s daughters (FCA and her sister) both testified that the defendant informed them that he had dreamed that the Devil told him to kill someone. He then left the house. Due to the statement, the daughters contacted a priest to bless the house. At approximately 9:00 a.m., Mrs. Lucindy Thibodeaux contacted her daughter, (TM), and informed her that the defendant (Chesson) had been to her home, inquiring as to the whereabouts of his wife."
His wife was not there but the visit scared Mrs Lucindy . She was frightened and told him to leave. She was so badly scared that she called her daughter (TM) and told her about the visit . She said she was home alone and her husband was not home. She also spoke with her son (J) and he called the police in Mrs Lucindy's town and also rushed to his mother's house (not sure how far away he was).
From the appeal, linked above
"A patrolman ..., responded to the call, traveling to the... home. When he arrived, he found Mrs. Thibodeaux’s husband sitting outside the front door. Mr. Thibodeaux was shaking and pointed into the house. Inside, Patrolman Granger found Mrs. Thibodeaux, lying in a pool of blood.... (She) had suffered, among other injuries, an eight and one-half inch cut to the throat. "
Neighbors placed Chesson at the scene earlier. He had shading his face so as not to be seen well but he was easily identified. He was quickly caught and was convicted and given life without the possibility of parole. He is in Angola prison.
