LA LA - Margaret Coon, 41, Mandeville, 19 Feb 1987

[nola]

Very little media coverage for this cold case/murder of Margaret Coon former Assistant District Attorney.

Her body was discovered at about 5:30 a.m. February 19 in the 600 block of North Beau Chene Drive in exclusive Beau Chene subdivision near Mandeville. Her Afghan dog was found standing by her body when investigators and ambulance attendants arrived on the scene, authorities said. For a short period of time, the dog would not allow authorities to approach the body, deputies said. The dog, Canulette said, was seen by neighbors running around loose. Afghans are a large breed of dog, but the breed has a reputation as being docile and not a protective animal.




http://lebontempsroule.net/Fitzsimmons/St%20Tammany%20Farmer%20Article.htm

 

[nola]

Okay, I went to my local Mandeville Library today --- no news articles from 1980s kept at this parish location -- must go to Slidell to view micro film.
So I decided to piece together a google map of the points of interest. Hope this links properly. What you should see is a current google map view of the following:
Mandeville Murder - Margaret Coon
Map shows location of Margaret's home address (123 Grand Cheniere in Beau Chene gated community and approximate location where her body was found on Friday morning Feb 20, 1987.


#1.
123 Grand Cheniere
Mandeville, LA 70471 Margaret's condo

#2.
600 N Beau Chene Dr
Mandeville, LA 70471 Margaret's body found

#3.
10 Fontainbleau Dr
Mandeville, LA 70471 Main entrance to Beau Chene Gated Golf Community

#4.
105 Beau Chene Blvd
Mandeville, LA 70471 -Beau Chene Gated Entrance from Hwy 22

#5.
5297 Louisiana 22
Mandeville, LA 70471 Marina entrance to Beau Chene (no gate/guard)

Just to give all an idea of where this crime occurred. https://maps.google.com/maps/ms?msid=202618544770751549495.0004ea8da42bca2b57ccd&msa=0&ll=30.41774,-90.106258&spn=0.03612,0.082655

I've also discovered that Margaret Coon was from Baton Rouge, LA but went to Bolton High School in Alexandria, LA. She graduated in 1963 and in addition to being in the National Honor's Society was voted "Girl with the Finest Character".

 

[bessie]

I remember the Margaret Coon murder pretty well, nola, and the rumors of a cover up (so what else is new). FWIW, here's an excerpt from a book written by a former St. Tammany Parish LEO who claims that he answered a call about an attempted robbery at the Beau Chene club house the evening that Coon was jogging, and presumably abducted. He says that he walked the wooded area looking for the would be robbers, and even passed the location the next morning, yet didn't observe a body.

http://books.google.com/books?id=vzcnVsYQhJgC&lpg=PA22&ots=CT--idzFh2&dq=margaret%20coon%20murder&pg=PA21#v=onepage&q=margaret%20coon%20murder&f=false

 

[nola]

Cool find, Bessie. I've lived in Mandeville since 2001 and only heard about this case a few years ago. I've never been able to find anything on-line except a local Madisonville man's blog. There was some talk (on Topix) that the FBI was looking into the case, but I've never seen anything else. This lady so deserves justice. And, not one photo of her (except her high school classmates.com ones) can I find.

I can't wait to read more from your link. (update: I read the LEO excerpts -- wow! never interviewed!!)

I had read about the security guard reporting a man with a knife earlier that night (and then the knife maybe wasn't a knife after-all), but LE didn't think he was connected to the murder since Margaret was seen 1.5 hours after the man ran away from the guard. I'm thinking that this could have been the guy lying in wait for his 'target' to jog by. She was found really not far from her condo in the 600 block of N Beau Chene -- that's just down the street (~1/2 mile) from the current club house -- I don't think it's changed locations, but I could be wrong. I have a friend who lived in Beau Chene at the time (I need to ask her about this); she has shared that the section where the condos are was mostly woods in the 80s. Margaret was known to jog both early morning and at night.

I can't reconcile why this has not been solved. Small community and a prominent member of the legal/social community. Margaret was a notable attorney with a great reputation for putting criminal behind bars, yet her murder goes unsolved for more than 20 years. She was married (either recently divorced from or in the process of divorcing) a former Mandeville mayor...Why so little media attention? There is one St Tammany Farmer's (weekly newspaper) article available on-line dated the Thursday following her murder - that's it. She was the first woman elected as president of the St Tammany Bar Association. She had worked as an assist DA for two DAs...<scratching head> Just can't figure this out. It wreaks of something...but what!!!???

The crime itself, (one knife wound nicking the bottom of her heart) has the appearance of a 'hit' to me. The attack didn't seem personal & no robbery; she was wearing 40K in jewelry. Most domestic crimes tend to be overkill -- this was violent (she was bruised and even had a broken rib), but just one kill stab to the heart.

Hope to find more at the Slidell Library...

ETA: update

 

[calamityjane831]

Wow thanks Nola for bringing this case here to WS. I was born and raised in Covington and at the time of this murder I was a freshmen in high school at SSA in Covington and some of my friends lived in Beau Chene and as a young kid we rode our bikes all over that place even before it was densely populated. Back in the day when Covington and Mandeville were still small communities I went to school with all the same kids from K to 12th grade. Even when this happened in 1987 it was still a small town but it was beginning to take off and after Hurricane Katrina I do not even recognize the place. I do not remember this case but in 1987 I did not follow crimes. I am amazed though that I never even heard of the case because I do remember cases that stood out even as a kid I never was in a complete bubble. Thanks again.

 

[nola]

I found this article (Dallas Times) that references the serial killer Henry Lee Lucas' ties to three St Tammany murder cases from '82 and '83. It is specific about the cases and LEOs role in connecting Lucas to these crimes. This article is dated 1986 (one year before Margaret's murder) so I'm not certain if there were additional cases that the former St Tammany LEO book speaks about, or if these are the cases - Margaret Coon's murder is not part of this, as it had not yet occurred. Wonder if this author got this confused? hmmmm...
*Both Lucas (and crime partner Ottis Toole) were arrested in 1983, so neither could have been Margaret's killer.

http://www.vicfeazell.com/html/Grand%20Jury%20Clears%20Lucas%20In%20Three%20Cases.PDF


This is a copy of a the 1991 St Tammany Framer's Letters to the Editor where three unsolved cases (Margaret Coon, Jerry Monus and Ann Manguno) are mentioned.
http://www.sttammany.lib.la.us/cfdb/obits/Images/6-27-91.pdf

 

[nola]

After all these years, I finally found an online photo of Margaret Ann Coon. This picture was included in a classified ad placed by her father four years after her murder in his local paper (Alexandria, LA). The classified ad and photo of Margaret is a memorial to his daughter and a reminder that her murder was still unsolved back in 1991. Tomorrow (Feb 19, 2018) will mark 31 years with no arrest and no answers.
http://https://www.newspapers.com/image/216894822/?terms=Margaret%2BCoon

 

[Deleted member 122964]

I, too, remember this case. My dad was actually working at the Beau Chene Country Club the night it happened. I remember that the LE interviewed/spoke with every person who worked at the club that night. I was in high school, so I remember thinking it was like something on tv....at that age, I really didn't think much else about it. Beau Chene was the fanciest neighborhood in the area at the time, and it was a world far removed from my poor one. The only connection I had at that time was as a place where my dad worked on the weekends. I later dated someone whose family lived in beau chene, and I don't recall anyone ever talking about it. The case kind of disappeared. As an adult looking back, my guess is that this crime had everything to do with her position as Assistant D.A. This town is sort of like an extension of the New Orleans region. The area is rife with corruption in politics, govt., and LE....at least during the decades i was in the area. It is sad that this case remains unsolved. She deserves justice.

 

[Deleted member 122964]

Here is an interesting article about the case that also mentions the murder of Lynn Nunez who was a court reporter and friend of coon's: Cold Cases and District Attorney Races
the DA mentioned in the article..Walter Reed...was DA all the way into the 2000s and was convicted and sentenced to four years in prison for political corruption. There's son and other associates were also put on on trial. The whole group of them could be bought.

 

[Smarc]

Here is an interesting article about the case that also mentions the murder of Lynn Nunez who was a court reporter and friend of coon's: Cold Cases and District Attorney Races
the DA mentioned in the article..Walter Reed...was DA all the way into the 2000s and was convicted and sentenced to four years in prison for political corruption. There's son and other associates were also put on on trial. The whole group of them could be bought.

Hi, I promised her dad, Mr. W.A. Con that I would continue to follow up on his daughter's case when he knew he was dying.
I was glad to see your post. If Mr. Coon was still alive he would be elated that you still remember and are talking about Margaret. Every year he went to the police department and visited so that she would not be forgotten. Mr. Coon had a heart of gold and his goal was to have this case solved before his death. It saddens me that I find myself at a loss as to what I can do at this point to keep my promise to him. I did get in touch with a source who had since retired but remembered the case well. He was a deputy who initially was assigned her case but was taken off of it once he began to make progress. He never gave up on solving her case but warned me that it would be dangerous to let certain officials know that I am still digging this information up. After Lynne died many people connected the two cases and there is plenty of information to indicate that Margaret knew too much about the corruption from twenty years ago that still impeeds this case being solved. The fear associated with the two cases are apparent when you view the anonymous posts dating all the way back to the first internet article. Mr. Coon was greeted each year by reporters taking his picture and posting a news article in the paper. He and I always thought that it was an attempt to remind the public about the case so that maybe someone would come forward with information that had not been reported before and the case would be solved. He would come back home with new hope and felt that he was helping solve her case. I am glad he never knew that it was nothing but a setup to appease him. The media didn't just happen to know he was visiting the police department someone made a call and initiated the whole thing! They played him for a fool! This case will not be solved in this lifetime because the corruption continues with the very same relatives and friends of the influential powerful corrupt judge who ran the parish then and still has influence now. Even if there's someone who wants to look at the case now the judicial system has already made any relevant evidence disappear including another person. It goes higher that the DA ! Quite a few members of the law enforcement community had a part in this and it goes as high as the judicial system all the way down to the media. There is at least one former detective who was made aware that his continued investigation would have consequences and the people involved were so scattered no one knew who to trust.

 

[Elle*Bee]

This article mentions Margaret and includes a lovely photo.

Who killed Nanette Krentel? Unsolved death joins other mysterious north shore cases

 

[BayouJustice]

Hi, I promised her dad, Mr. W.A. Con that I would continue to follow up on his daughter's case when he knew he was dying.

Sandra? If so, they told me you were no longer with us. I'd love to speak with you.

Lady PI investigated Margaret Coon murder | HL Arledge's Bayou Justice

 

[Teche]

I’m from Louisiana and I’ve never heard of this unsolved murder.

 

[ebadon]

I remember the Margaret Coon murder pretty well, nola, and the rumors of a cover up (so what else is new). FWIW, here's an excerpt from a book written by a former St. Tammany Parish LEO who claims that he answered a call about an attempted robbery at the Beau Chene club house the evening that Coon was jogging, and presumably abducted. He says that he walked the wooded area looking for the would be robbers, and even passed the location the next morning, yet didn't observe a body.

Roper Doper

I remember this case very well. At the time I was editor of the St. Tammany Farmer in Covington. Most everyone connected with the St. Tammany Parish Court system knew Margaret as the lovely person she was. She was lovely both inside and out. I wouldn't put too much stock in anything Joe Dene has to say. From 1979 to 1984, I was the police beat reporter in St. Tammany Parish for the Times-Picayune and later took the job as editor of the Farmer. I don't remember ever meeting or talking to a Joe Dene. And I talked to a lot of cops in St. Tammany Parish in those days. Not to say all of them liked talking to me since I was the press, but I talked to and knew a lot of them. It is possible Dene worked undercover for one or more Law Enforcement organizations, but I don't remember ever meeting him. One of the more inaccurate statements he makes in his book is that he was concerned about the drug problem in either the parish or Covington area and no one was doing anything about it. So he decided to take it upon himself to do something about it. For a fact, during that time there was a drug-enforcement task force that covered St. Tammany Parish. And it may still exist for all I know. Members of every law enforcement organization in the parish belong to the task force, including the Slidell, Covington, Mandeville and other police departments. I had some reservations with what the task force was doing, but to say no one was doing anything about it is a pure fabrication.

I’m from Louisiana and I’ve never heard of this unsolved murder.

 

[ebadon]

I’m from Louisiana and I’ve never heard of this unsolved murder.

It would depend on which part of Louisiana you're from. If not from Washington, St. Tammany or Tangipahoa parishes, it's likely you never heard of this case. If you are from one of those parishes, you failed to read your newspapers or watch television. The New Orleans TV stations carried much about the case.

 

[ebadon]

Okay, I went to my local Mandeville Library today --- no news articles from 1980s kept at this parish location -- must go to Slidell to view micro film.
So I decided to piece together a google map of the points of interest. Hope this links properly. What you should see is a current google map view of the following:
Mandeville Murder - Margaret Coon
Map shows location of Margaret's home address (123 Grand Cheniere in Beau Chene gated community and approximate location where her body was found on Friday morning Feb 20, 1987.


#1.
123 Grand Cheniere
Mandeville, LA 70471 Margaret's condo

#2.
600 N Beau Chene Dr
Mandeville, LA 70471 Margaret's body found

#3.
10 Fontainbleau Dr
Mandeville, LA 70471 Main entrance to Beau Chene Gated Golf Community

#4.
105 Beau Chene Blvd
Mandeville, LA 70471 -Beau Chene Gated Entrance from Hwy 22

#5.
5297 Louisiana 22
Mandeville, LA 70471 Marina entrance to Beau Chene (no gate/guard)

Just to give all an idea of where this crime occurred. Mandeville Murder - Margaret Coon - Google My Maps

I've also discovered that Margaret Coon was from Baton Rouge, LA but went to Bolton High School in Alexandria, LA. She graduated in 1963 and in addition to being in the National Honor's Society was voted "Girl with the Finest Character".

 

[ebadon]

Margaret was born in Baton Rouge as you say, but her father was from the Alexandria area. Mr. Coon lived in Alexandria until his death in 2005.

 

[ebadon]

Cool find, Bessie. I've lived in Mandeville since 2001 and only heard about this case a few years ago. I've never been able to find anything on-line except a local Madisonville man's blog. There was some talk (on Topix) that the FBI was looking into the case, but I've never seen anything else. This lady so deserves justice. And, not one photo of her (except her high school classmates.com ones) can I find.

I can't wait to read more from your link. (update: I read the LEO excerpts -- wow! never interviewed!!)

I had read about the security guard reporting a man with a knife earlier that night (and then the knife maybe wasn't a knife after-all), but LE didn't think he was connected to the murder since Margaret was seen 1.5 hours after the man ran away from the guard. I'm thinking that this could have been the guy lying in wait for his 'target' to jog by. She was found really not far from her condo in the 600 block of N Beau Chene -- that's just down the street (~1/2 mile) from the current club house -- I don't think it's changed locations, but I could be wrong. I have a friend who lived in Beau Chene at the time (I need to ask her about this); she has shared that the section where the condos are was mostly woods in the 80s. Margaret was known to jog both early morning and at night.

I can't reconcile why this has not been solved. Small community and a prominent member of the legal/social community. Margaret was a notable attorney with a great reputation for putting criminal behind bars, yet her murder goes unsolved for more than 20 years. She was married (either recently divorced from or in the process of divorcing) a former Mandeville mayor...Why so little media attention? There is one St Tammany Farmer's (weekly newspaper) article available on-line dated the Thursday following her murder - that's it. She was the first woman elected as president of the St Tammany Bar Association. She had worked as an assist DA for two DAs...<scratching head> Just can't figure this out. It wreaks of something...but what!!!???

The crime itself, (one knife wound nicking the bottom of her heart) has the appearance of a 'hit' to me. The attack didn't seem personal & no robbery; she was wearing 40K in jewelry. Most domestic crimes tend to be overkill -- this was violent (she was bruised and even had a broken rib), but just one kill stab to the heart.

Hope to find more at the Slidell Library...

ETA: update

Wouldn't say St. Tammany Parish or its communities in the Slidell, Covington and Mandeville areas were small in 1987. The estimated parish population in the parish in 1987 was 142,640. In the 1990 census, it was 145,156. To give you some contrast, when I was growing up in Slidell during the late 50s and early 1960s, the parish population was 38,643.

 

[nola]

Margaret Ann Coon (1946-1987) - Find A Grave...

Learned from a LE friend of Margaret's that she had been dating someone just prior to her murder. You'll recall that MC was either separated or newly divorced from the former Mandeville mayor. This source says that the divorce was an amicable decision. According to this person, the new love interest was female.

 

[Fede]

Is there any composite sketch or more data about the man with a knife seen by the security guard?