In April 2018, it was reported that the French murder case was one of 16 that was going to be re-reviewed. Long story short, the Rockingham County DA that served during the French trial has recently been in deep doo-doo over fraud charges. I doubt the entire case will be reopened but who knows.
French Murders Among 16 Cases Being Reviewed in Rockingham Co.
I am extremely surprised that there is a thread for the French murders. I was born and raised in the town this murder happened in - Reidsville, NC. The town has a population of 15,000 people. It's relatively quiet, but there have been a handful of scandals that shook the entire town and this homicide is hands down one of the largest. Troy and LaDonna French were well-known and liked by hundreds of people. Yellow ribbons were hung everywhere in memoriam and hopes of catching their killer. My sister lives minutes from their house where the murders occurred. I was a senior in high school. I vividly remember going home on the school bus, passing the extremely packed church that was hosting their joint funeral.
Everyone initially believed this was a robbery gone wrong. Who else could have murdered this sweet couple? When the shocking details of this story began to spill out, the town was quickly divided.
It was well-known to family and friends of the Frenches that Troy and LaDonna did not approve of Whitley's boyfriend, John Alvarez. At the time of the murders, their daughter Whitley was a freshman at East Carolina University in Greenville, NC, where she had insisted on applying to and attending because John was already a student there. Her parents did not approve but yet, she still went.
While there is no solid evidence to tie Whitley and John to the murders, practically everyone in Reidsville was and is still convinced they were in on it, specifically convincing Jose to murder Troy and LaDonna - mostly likely so Whitley and John could finally be together in peace. I find it no coincidence that the youngest child, Hunter, was away on a swim meet trip with his school that weekend and Whitley happened to be home from college when the murders occurred. I mean really, how did she only get away with a cut on her arm but her parents were brutally shot and murdered downstairs?
Not long after the murders, Whitley and John became engaged, had a lavish wedding (Jose was one of the groomsmen), and recently moved to Texas. If my entire hometown thought my husband and I plotted my parents' murders, I would move away to Texas too.
I honestly think Jose was used as a pawn. Someone had to go down for it and he was an easy target. He was easy to access, to convince, to manipulate.
