New developments in unsolved Jennings murders

[mahmoo]

He may not be back for a year or two as they are known for cooling off but bet your booties he has the grid memorized

post snipped.....bolding mine

Holy bejeezus..........that gave me serious chills and the major creeps.

 

[concernedperson]

post snipped.....bolding mine

Holy bejeezus..........that gave me serious chills and the major creeps.

You aren't a stranger to this behavior as you have witnessed this with me before. We spent a few years analyzing this in Baton Rouge. This is no different but we don't have people selling memorabilia and capitalizing on crimes, we just have you and me and kat and meo and Amanda who drop in regularly. We may get some others or at least I hope so. LaLAW always has a good perspective. This is going to be a tough one....no question. I'll hang if you will.

 

[mahmoo]

You aren't a stranger to this behavior as you have witnessed this with me before. We spent a few years analyzing this in Baton Rouge. This is no different but we don't have people selling memorabilia and capitalizing on crimes, we just have you and me and kat and meo and Amanda who drop in regularly. We may get some others or at least I hope so. LaLAW always has a good perspective. This is going to be a tough one....no question. I'll hang if you will.

I'm hanging......something about these girls have gotten to a part of me. It would a dream come true if we could get some of the "big boys" to post......some awesome, awesome sleuthers here.....that's why I love it. I've read many, many of LaLAW's posts.....very prolific poster.

 

[Kat]

I would like to have a gander at Richard's arrest record. I can't find any LA websites that let me access that, LA seems stingy with all details or I'm just being slow.

I looked up Richard last night on a people find kind of search engine and saw that he has connections to LaFayette LA also (has had an address there). There is also a female with the same surname that is associated with him but that means nothing at this point, I assumed it was a spouse or ex-spouse.

I was thinking about the fast food connections and the insight that concernedperson gave us. I wonder if, hanging out at a fast food joint in a small town is still today what it was for my generation 30 years ago? You go hang out and socialize.

I agree we shouldn't judge a book by it's cover but I would like to know what Richard does for a living. I would like to know where he resides in Jennings. I'm not sure how to find this information out because I cannot find a lot of public records for LA...please let me know where to go and dig if you know.

 

[concernedperson]

I would like to have a gander at Richard's arrest record. I can't find any LA websites that let me access that, LA seems stingy with all details or I'm just being slow.

I looked up Richard last night on a people find kind of search engine and saw that he has connections to LaFayette LA also (has had an address there). There is also a female with the same surname that is associated with him but that means nothing at this point, I assumed it was a spouse or ex-spouse.

I was thinking about the fast food connections and the insight that concernedperson gave us. I wonder if, hanging out at a fast food joint in a small town is still today what it was for my generation 30 years ago? You go hang out and socialize.

I agree we shouldn't judge a book by it's cover but I would like to know what Richard does for a living. I would like to know where he resides in Jennings. I'm not sure how to find this information out because I cannot find a lot of public records for LA...please let me know where to go and dig if you know.

I betcha LALaw could help us access some of this info. I have to be out most of the day today so if you see her around please ask!!

 

[mahmoo]

Kat.....it's not just you.....I haven't been able to locate much information on anyone involved in this case....seems to be very little available. Wish some of the super sleuthers here would join in....I'm amazed at what some of them are able to uncover.

This is all I've been able to come up with from reading through news articles:

Neither Richard, or his niece, are strangers to police. Richard has been convicted of DWI’s and charged with assault & battery. Conner has been charged with burglary, theft and trespassing.

This is regarding Lawrence Nixon, who at one time was arrested in connection with Patterson's death. Nixon may not be a murderer but apparently he is a career criminal……arrested six times in sixes years. According to this article:

A man who’s made a career out of stealing other people’s property is back behind bars for possession of stolen lawnmowers, weed eaters, leaf blowers, edgers, hand tools, power tools, a shop vacuum and some fine china.

Jennings police arrested Lawrence Nixon, 33, of South Main Street in Jennings on Thursday, Aug 14 after investigators followed a trail of stolen property to a local antique store. The trail led back to Nixon’s residence where police found the house cluttered with stolen items yet to be pawned.

 

[Kat]

Mahmoo, I think it was in one of your links that I was able to read where these victims worked and which restaurants they were associated with...do you happen to have that link again? I know probably nothing to do with these crimes but I want to go have a looksee again.

 

[Kat]

I am rereading all the articles (yes, again) and this caught my eye:

From this article:

http://blogs.discovery.com/criminal_report/2009/01/another-serial.html

"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."

Any more reports on this murder victim?

 

[MeoW333]

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.

A pickup truck from what i recall, right? We also know that Ewing? was his name? was involved with some shady dealings with a former prisoner (a woman) for a $9,000.00 pick up truck. Please correct me if i am inaccurate with the information.
A pickup truck would be a good vehicle for the killer to use. The bed of it could be easily washed down, a cap could be added to the back to diguise it's physical appearance. I also am wondering if pickup truck bed liners could be purchased so that there are 2 layers of them, the first one obvious, the underlying layer not noticeable..

 

[MeoW333]

Good information concerned...........I agree it about it being muddy and complicated. All we can do is hope the Task Force gets a good break in one of the cases before another victim comes into the mix.

And you're right, there's more than likely 2-3 serial killers at work along that I-10 corridor. I learned that lesson well about not being able to link several murders to 1 killer thanks to following what I thought at the time was only one person involved in the Baton Rouge serial killings.......I was really surprised how that turned out. (i know that sentence was way too long :crazy

The I-10 serial killer(s) was never caught. Maybe it's possible some of these serial killers are actually working together, it wouldn't be the first time that's happened, such as the Hillside Stranglers. It's a stretch, yet you never know.

 

[MeoW333]

In my meager mind this tells me that someone is apt to pull off to a fast food place and interact with patrons and employees. It is a benign environment at first thought. But, could be a fertile ground for spotting vulnerable people. Especially if that is your mission. This is the serial aspect along with bars that front or are frontage roads to major interstates. It is easy to figure out ingress and egress if you are used to traveling.

Lopez is different.

The connection most are looking at isn't high risk lifestyle so much as low income opportunities. These opportunities are the only available jobs with possible secondary opportunities. In other words, these people weren't hooking at street corners as much as hoping for a break, either by better jobs, or a prince charming or a quick sniff. Young and without much hope for progression leads to a lot of mistakes....some of them fatal.

These young ladies should have never been in that position. Not in a very small town where the village is supposed to care for its children. I remember hanging out at Duck's Drive Inn in New Iberia. We were always watching out for each other. Never in a million years would a stranger have interloped without one of us knowing or acting.

Someone knows something even if it is fleeting. Being afraid of some local position is not the same thing as dealing with a serial killer. He may not be back for a year or two as they are known for cooling off but bet your booties he has the grid memorized.

Awesome post, CP, i agree with you about the fast food angle. Also many fast food spots are close to major roads.

I am wondering about the killers cooling off periods, maybe he is cooling off in a specific area, only to be killing in another area during the silent period in say, the Jennings area.

 

[mahmoo]

Mahmoo, I think it was in one of your links that I was able to read where these victims worked and which restaurants they were associated with...do you happen to have that link again? I know probably nothing to do with these crimes but I want to go have a looksee again.

It was post #237

I'm thinking the fast food joints my be another common denominator here as well. Patterson (2nd victim) had been an employee at Wendy's (Brittney Gary's mother was the manager) and Sonic has been mentioned a couple of times.

Loretta (1st victim) "was known" to hang out at the local Sonic (assume it's the one in Jennings) and Crystal (6th victim) was an employee of the Sonic in Lake Arthur.

 

[mahmoo]

A pickup truck from what i recall, right? We also know that Ewing? was his name? was involved with some shady dealings with a former prisoner (a woman) for a $9,000.00 pick up truck. Please correct me if i am inaccurate with the information.

It was Warren Gary, Chief Criminal Investigator, Jeff Davis Parish Sheriff's Dept.

 

[MeoW333]

What's interesting is how far out victim 3's body was taken in relation to the others .

Mahmoo, thank you so much for these maps, :blowkiss: !! They are beyond helpful!
http://i44.tinypic.com/sgtmz9.jpg

On the map, victims #5, 2, 6, 4 seemed to be dumped in a cluster. Then it spreads out farther with victims #1, then more with #7, to finally fartherest out with victim #3.

#1 Loretta Lynn Chaisson
#2 Ernestine Marie Daniel Patterson
#3 Kristen Elizabeth Gary Lopez
#4 Whitnei Charlene Dubois
#5 Laconia "Shontel" Muggy Brown
#6 Crystal Shay Beniot Zeno
#7 Brittney Gary

Lopez & Gary are related, their bodies dumped farther from the rest.

Both Lopez and Gary that were murdered seem to have had their bodies dumped in farther away spots than the other victims. They also are the only two that are related to one another (cousins) I wonder why the pattern? Did the killer get "freaked out" for some reason after dumping 4 of them around the same area; so decided to deviate from his pattern?

"Every one of the victims is connected to the Garys' in some way, and Teresa Gary said they knew all of them. The second victim, Ernesteine Marie Daniel Patterson, was one of Teresa Gary's employees at Wendy's.When Brittney Gary went missing, the Garys had returned to Jennings less than a week earlier after living with family in Houston and Lufkin, Texas, for four months. Her daughter had done drugs in the past, Gary said, but was clean while they lived in Texas.
"We left to find a new life," she said. And when they returned, Brittney Gary tried to stay away from the people she used to associate with, Teresa Gary said."
http://www.theadvertiser.com/article/20081116/NEWS01/811160319


Laconia "Muggy" Brown was last seen & her body was found on May 28, 2008

Crystal Benoit Zeno body was found Sept 11, 2008

Upon Brittney's return back to Jennings, her body was found Nov 15, 2008 by her own family who had been searching for her since her disapearance on Nov 2, 2008.

That's 3 murders in a very short time span. The summer seems to have gone by with no ado from the killer in the Jennings area.
It's very sad that Brittney's family are the ones that found her, shows how much LE cares. I think actions of LE also play a part in how the serial killer functions. He knows he can get away with more.

I wonder if we can pinpoint other murders in nearby or other areas in La. when it seems the killer has cooled off in Jennings..

Also, does anyone know if the 8th case is the woman found in Arcadian park, or a different case?

 

[Kat]

Just having a look at this, it's more than likely not directly related to the murders but it's interesting. I'm trying to figure out what T. Gary meant by "we are connected to all of them". Was it said because Jennings is a small town and everyone knows everyone, or were they really connected in some way? I just wanted to rule this out...

Gary family connections: (Again, probably not related to these murders)
1. T. Gary (B. Gary's mother) is a manager at the Wendy's.
2. Ernesteine Marie Daniel Patterson worked at the Wendy's.
3. Tracee Chaisson (now Egelston) currently employed at the BK (as per her wedding announcement, link in post #31)

Anyone want to add?

 

[Kat]

Dang MeoW333 we were on the same wavelength You did a much better job though!

 

[MeoW333]

It was Warren Gary, Chief Criminal Investigator, Jeff Davis Parish Sheriff's Dept.

Once again, thank you Mahmoo for the information, i had been mistaken with the price this man paid for the truck:

"Warren Gary, a veteran detective with the Jeff Davis Parish Sheriff’s Office, was the subject of a seven month investigation by Louisiana State Police. The case involves Detective Gary purchasing a vehicle that may have been involved in the death of Kristen Lopez, the 3rd victim in a series of mysterious female deaths in the parish. Gary allegedly had no prior knowledge that the vehicle may have been a “crime scene”. The vehicle was a truck and was purchased from an inmate named Connie Siler who was under arrest for worthless check charges. Siler was also questioned in regards to 3 of the 4 JDP deaths over the previous couple of years. Reportedly, the truck had been rented out to 2 black males in exchange for cocaine and was found abandoned in a private driveway while Siler was in jail.

Siler offered to sell Detective Gary the truck after she was notified her bank was prepared to foreclose on it due to past due payments. Gary paid just under $9,000 cash for the truck. Siler used the money to pay off the truck loan and as restitution towards the hot checks she had written.

Gary purchased the truck to replace another vehicle but did not like the truck’s gas mileage and quickly re-sold it to the ex-wife of an LA State Trooper for $15,000…….netting himself a quick and impressive profit."


.."On June 26, 2008, the Louisiana Board of Ethics found Gary in violation of Sections 1115B and 1116A of the Code of Governmental Ethics and subsequently fined him $10,000.

Warren Gary remains the Chief Criminal Investigator at the Jeff Davis Parish Sheriff Office."
http://jdpkiller.wordpress.com/2009/01/05/warren-gary-jeff-davis-parish-sheriff-detective/

Does anyone know if Detective Gary is related to Brittney Gary and Kristen Gary Lopez?
Also with all these violations of Ethics that Detective Gary has been fined for, why is he still even on the force? Especially when the whole truck incident may have been related to serial homicide cases??

 

[Kat]

I think to focus on Gary and Lopez connections. Since they are out of the way from the others.

 

[Kat]

I'm going to try to locate Obits for these ladies. Many times that is a way to make family connections through relatives.

 

[MeoW333]

Dang MeoW333 we were on the same wavelength You did a much better job though!

Thank you, Kat, however Mahmoo should be getting the credit, she has done an awesome job on the information organizing in this case, and that's where i've got a lot of my info from

I asked Tricia for a seperate section forum for these Jennings cases, i'm not sure if i asked in the right spot, yet hopefully she'll get it.
If we have a forum (i hope thats the right term) we can organize all the information better..