Jan. 30, 2025

The Storyville Slayer

The Storyville Slayer

In this episode of Bloody Angola, Jim explores the hunt for the Storyville Slayer, who terrorized New Orleans from 1991 to 1996, after being possibly linked to 27 murders in the area an arrest was made, but…was there more then one killer?...

Apple Podcasts podcast player badge
Castro podcast player badge
RSS Feed podcast player badge
Apple Podcasts podcast player iconCastro podcast player iconRSS Feed podcast player icon

In this episode of Bloody Angola, Jim explores the hunt for the Storyville Slayer, who terrorized New Orleans from 1991 to 1996, after being possibly linked to 27 murders in the area an arrest was made, but…was there more then one killer?

#storyvilleslayer #neworleans #louisiana #bloodyangola #podcast #crime

Timestamps
01:40 Introduction to the Storyville Slayer
06:10 Rising Body Count
09:33 The Killer's Patterns
14:29 A Survivor's Encounter
16:47 The Police Investigation
28:54 Connections to the Past
31:51 Formation of the Task Force
32:48 The Continuing Horror

Sources:
- Associated Press. https://www.newspapers.com/image/218520318/?match=1&terms=lydia%20madison The Town Talk. 24 Oct 1992.
- Darce, Keith. https://www.newspapers.com/image/1037358474/?match=1&terms=cheryl%20lewis%20 L’Observateur. 28 Feb 1993.
- Hoeschen, Brad. https://www.newspapers.com/image/1037313819/?match=1&terms=karen%20ivester L’Observateur. 17 May 1995.
- Hoeschen, Brad. https://www.newspapers.com/image/1037330105/?match=1&terms=serial%20killer L’Observateur. 11 Aug 1995.
- Associated Press. https://www.newspapers.com/image/470233309/?match=1&terms=serial%20killer The Daily Review. 28 Aug 1995.
- Associated Press. https://www.newspapers.com/image/218627459/?match=1&terms=serial%20killer The Town Talk. 30 Aug 1995.
- Associated Press. https://www.newspapers.com/image/218658672/?match=1&terms=serial%20killer The Town Talk. 06 Jan 1996.
- Associated Press. https://www.newspapers.com/image/470144403/?match=1&terms=russell%20ellwood The Daily Review. 05 Dec 1997.
- Associated Press. https://www.newspapers.com/image/1037843915/?match=1&terms=russell%20ellwood Southwest Daily News. 14 Dec 1997.
- Associated Press. https://www.newspapers.com/image/1037881536/?match=1&terms=russell%20ellwood Southwest Daily News. 17 Jan 1998.
- Associated Press. https://www.newspapers.com/image/539253523/?match=1&terms=russell%20ellwood The Daily Advertiser. 21 Jan 1998.
- Associated Press. https://www.newspapers.com/image/228918590/?match=1&terms=russell%20ellwood Daily World. 26 Jan 1998.
- Associated Press. https://www.newspapers.com/image/1037886313/?match=1&terms=russell%20ellwood Southwest Daily News. 01 Mar 1998.
- Associated Press. https://www.newspapers.com/image/470203793/?match=1&terms=russell%20ellwood The Daily Review. 04 Mar 1998.
- Associated Press.

For Louisiana Local Advertising inquiries or to book appearances please email BloodyAngola@gmail.com

WEBVTT

1
00:00:15.599 --> 00:00:26.079
I walk straight line shackle change, Oh someome gird, it's

2
00:00:26.160 --> 00:00:32.560
calling my name. There is no mercy and it's been

3
00:00:32.759 --> 00:00:42.119
a tentery juice as the huge stream game Wrangle three.

4
00:00:42.719 --> 00:00:47.920
Come in by me to die.

5
00:00:49.479 --> 00:00:54.640
Inside these walls, inside the wild.

6
00:00:56.240 --> 00:01:32.040
And when the girl as I s Hey everyone, and

7
00:01:32.159 --> 00:01:35.640
welcome back to Bloody Angola, A podcast one hundred and

8
00:01:35.640 --> 00:01:38.599
forty two years in the making, the complete story of

9
00:01:38.640 --> 00:01:43.680
America's bloodiest prison. I'm Jim Chapman, and today I have

10
00:01:43.879 --> 00:01:47.200
got one hell of a story to tell you that

11
00:01:47.359 --> 00:01:52.680
took place in New Orleans, Louisiana, primarily between nineteen ninety

12
00:01:52.719 --> 00:01:56.280
one and nineteen ninety six, and the crimes of who

13
00:01:56.359 --> 00:02:01.239
became known as the Storyville slagh. And before we get

14
00:02:01.239 --> 00:02:03.560
into it, I want to give you a little history

15
00:02:03.760 --> 00:02:08.039
on why this part of New Orleans is called Storyville. So,

16
00:02:08.240 --> 00:02:13.840
from eighteen ninety seven to nineteen seventeen, New Orleans established

17
00:02:13.919 --> 00:02:18.199
what was known as a centralized prostitution district believe it

18
00:02:18.319 --> 00:02:22.280
or not, known as Storyville. It was named after the

19
00:02:22.560 --> 00:02:27.400
city Alderman Sidney Story who sponsored the creation of the district,

20
00:02:27.439 --> 00:02:33.439
and Storyville is bordered by Ibberville Basin Saint Louis and

21
00:02:33.719 --> 00:02:39.840
North Robertson Streets in New Orleans. So, on July twenty

22
00:02:39.879 --> 00:02:45.319
second of nineteen ninety one, a known prostitute in the

23
00:02:45.360 --> 00:02:49.360
Algiers area of New Orleans, a young black woman known

24
00:02:49.479 --> 00:02:53.840
only as Brenda. She goes into the police station and

25
00:02:53.879 --> 00:02:57.680
she reports an assault. She tells police that a man

26
00:02:57.879 --> 00:03:01.520
picked her up after having a show conversation with her.

27
00:03:01.840 --> 00:03:07.199
He strangled her to the point that she actually lost consciousness. Now,

28
00:03:07.280 --> 00:03:10.800
when she awoke, she was half naked under a pile

29
00:03:10.840 --> 00:03:15.520
of tires near Memorial Park Drive in Nevada Streets in

30
00:03:15.639 --> 00:03:19.000
New Orleans. She was able to give police a description

31
00:03:19.199 --> 00:03:22.639
which was used to create a composite sketch, and she

32
00:03:23.000 --> 00:03:27.439
described this man as a muscular, well dressed, middle aged

33
00:03:27.520 --> 00:03:31.120
black male who drove a dark colored vehicle similar to

34
00:03:31.280 --> 00:03:36.199
a Buick Regal or Monte Carlo. So police get this information,

35
00:03:36.800 --> 00:03:41.199
but honestly, not a whole lot is done at this point.

36
00:03:41.280 --> 00:03:45.960
It's New Orleans, and unfortunately, in the lifestyle that Brendo

37
00:03:46.199 --> 00:03:50.360
was living, these things happened more often than you may think,

38
00:03:50.599 --> 00:03:55.280
and to police, I'm sure it was one of hundreds

39
00:03:55.400 --> 00:03:59.159
of assaults going on at that particular time in New Orleans,

40
00:03:59.199 --> 00:04:03.759
nothing really stood out about it. Then on August fourth

41
00:04:03.879 --> 00:04:07.960
of nineteen ninety one, just twelve days later, the body

42
00:04:08.159 --> 00:04:10.719
of a seventeen year old girl by the name of

43
00:04:10.840 --> 00:04:14.960
Danielle Britton is found in a ditch, and it wasn't

44
00:04:15.199 --> 00:04:19.839
far from where Brenda had been assaulted and strangled. Her

45
00:04:19.920 --> 00:04:23.720
body was covered with garbage, and an autopsy determined that

46
00:04:23.759 --> 00:04:27.319
the teen had been beaten and strangled to death. Just

47
00:04:27.399 --> 00:04:30.560
shortly before her murder, Britain had dropped out of school,

48
00:04:30.639 --> 00:04:33.800
and just shortly before her body was discovered, she was

49
00:04:33.839 --> 00:04:37.399
seen in a New Orleans bar next to an unknown man.

50
00:04:37.879 --> 00:04:41.319
And it's important to note there was nothing found in

51
00:04:41.439 --> 00:04:45.800
Danielle Bretton's background that indicated she was involved in any

52
00:04:45.879 --> 00:04:49.360
kind of prostitution, so a little bit different than the

53
00:04:49.439 --> 00:04:56.040
first murder, but some simularities were surfacing between these two females. First,

54
00:04:56.279 --> 00:05:00.959
they were left obviously in very close proximity to each other,

55
00:05:01.680 --> 00:05:06.160
They were both strangled, they were both placed under piles

56
00:05:06.199 --> 00:05:10.920
of trash or tires in Brenda's case, and the crimes

57
00:05:11.000 --> 00:05:14.600
took place just twelve days a part. So we move

58
00:05:14.680 --> 00:05:18.920
on to September third of nineteen ninety one, About a

59
00:05:18.959 --> 00:05:23.519
month later, and twenty one year old Tyra Tassam was

60
00:05:23.600 --> 00:05:27.680
found strangled to death. Now she had a criminal record

61
00:05:27.680 --> 00:05:30.439
for drug possession and she was a mother of three.

62
00:05:30.680 --> 00:05:35.639
Here again more similarities a high risk lifestyle. The body

63
00:05:35.759 --> 00:05:39.480
was found in the same general area, the timing less

64
00:05:39.519 --> 00:05:42.160
than a month from the Britain murder and just over

65
00:05:42.240 --> 00:05:46.279
a month from the Brenda assault, and the method of

66
00:05:46.399 --> 00:05:50.360
killing was the same. So at this point you would

67
00:05:50.439 --> 00:05:55.839
think police may realize they have a problem. But again,

68
00:05:56.000 --> 00:05:59.959
these are not ladies from a wealthy area of New Orleans,

69
00:06:00.279 --> 00:06:04.600
and sadly, the attention is just not the same. The

70
00:06:04.680 --> 00:06:08.680
sense of urgency is not there, not from the media

71
00:06:08.879 --> 00:06:13.160
or the police by this time. Then, on November twenty

72
00:06:13.279 --> 00:06:17.000
first of nineteen ninety one, the body of thirty seven

73
00:06:17.079 --> 00:06:21.560
year old Regina Ono is discovered, also a mother of

74
00:06:21.639 --> 00:06:27.319
three with multiple prostitution arrest. Her autopsy was performed and

75
00:06:27.360 --> 00:06:32.120
again the cause of death was strangulation. It was also

76
00:06:32.240 --> 00:06:35.439
noted in the autopsy that just prior to the death

77
00:06:35.639 --> 00:06:40.040
she had taken a large dose of cocaine. We move

78
00:06:40.120 --> 00:06:44.319
on this time to December fourteenth of nineteen ninety one,

79
00:06:44.839 --> 00:06:49.800
and skeletal remains are found in a ditch near a highway. Now,

80
00:06:49.839 --> 00:06:53.199
this is just three weeks after the body of Regina

81
00:06:53.240 --> 00:06:58.279
Ono is discovered. The autopsy established that the remains belonged

82
00:06:58.319 --> 00:07:01.519
to that of a twenty year old young black girl

83
00:07:01.600 --> 00:07:04.680
who at the time was in her early twenties and

84
00:07:04.720 --> 00:07:08.839
she was approximately five feet one inch tall. Now, despite

85
00:07:08.920 --> 00:07:12.399
having some characteristics that stood out, such as she had

86
00:07:12.560 --> 00:07:19.120
strongly protruding front teeth, she went unidentified. The victim is

87
00:07:19.319 --> 00:07:23.279
referred to as Jane Doe number one and presumably was

88
00:07:23.319 --> 00:07:28.759
strangled and just found a short distance from Danielle Britton's body.

89
00:07:29.600 --> 00:07:33.279
So let's talk about this for a second. In six

90
00:07:33.319 --> 00:07:38.040
months time, you have four dead women in one who

91
00:07:38.120 --> 00:07:42.279
was nearly killed, all found in the same general area,

92
00:07:43.160 --> 00:07:45.519
as it relates to the manner and death, all the

93
00:07:45.560 --> 00:07:50.160
same strangulation. So what are the police doing and what

94
00:07:50.439 --> 00:07:55.360
was the public reaction? Like, surely everyone has to be

95
00:07:55.439 --> 00:07:59.639
talking about this in the New Orleans area, right, Well, No,

96
00:08:00.240 --> 00:08:03.199
as a matter of fact, it's not really anything that

97
00:08:03.360 --> 00:08:07.120
anyone at this point is discussing. And this is really

98
00:08:07.879 --> 00:08:12.560
pre Internet. So while in today's world, Facebook would be

99
00:08:12.839 --> 00:08:17.160
absolutely lit up with all of these martyrs taking place,

100
00:08:18.000 --> 00:08:23.240
it seemed that no one was talking about this in

101
00:08:23.279 --> 00:08:27.959
the early nineties, and guess what, a new year didn't

102
00:08:28.040 --> 00:08:33.559
change much. On January fourth of nineteen ninety two, the

103
00:08:33.559 --> 00:08:38.320
body of twenty nine year old Lydia Madison is found

104
00:08:38.399 --> 00:08:43.039
in a ditch under a highway overpass. Lydia also had

105
00:08:43.080 --> 00:08:46.919
several convictions for drug related charges, and like the other women,

106
00:08:47.279 --> 00:08:51.639
strangulation was deemed the cause of death. Then there was

107
00:08:51.679 --> 00:08:55.600
a little bit of a break but on June tewod

108
00:08:55.759 --> 00:09:00.639
of nineteen ninety two, twenty five year old George William's

109
00:09:00.879 --> 00:09:05.200
body was found in the Labranch Wetlands area of Saint

110
00:09:05.279 --> 00:09:09.000
Charles Parish. Now, again the autopes he showed he had

111
00:09:09.039 --> 00:09:13.919
been strangled. Now this would not have matched the killers

112
00:09:14.279 --> 00:09:19.440
mo completely. George was a man, right however, he was

113
00:09:19.480 --> 00:09:23.120
a transgender and without going into too much detail on this,

114
00:09:23.320 --> 00:09:27.120
he looked like a female and had some female features,

115
00:09:27.200 --> 00:09:31.000
so it's likely that the Storyville slayer, whoever it is,

116
00:09:31.559 --> 00:09:35.080
may not have realized this was a man. George also

117
00:09:35.279 --> 00:09:38.759
lived a very high risk lifestyle. He had prior rests

118
00:09:38.879 --> 00:09:42.759
for drugs and robbery, and was employed as an exotic

119
00:09:42.879 --> 00:09:46.799
dancer at in New Orleans strip club, and the killer

120
00:09:46.840 --> 00:09:50.200
did not wait long to strike again a month later.

121
00:09:50.240 --> 00:09:52.840
As a matter of fact, on July twenty fifth of

122
00:09:52.960 --> 00:09:56.960
nineteen ninety two, the body of Noah Filson is found

123
00:09:57.039 --> 00:10:00.360
in the waters of a canal near I fifty five,

124
00:10:00.720 --> 00:10:04.399
and in this case there were a lot of commonalties

125
00:10:04.519 --> 00:10:07.960
to the death of George Williams the prior month. Noah

126
00:10:08.159 --> 00:10:12.879
was also a transgender and also worked at a New

127
00:10:12.960 --> 00:10:18.360
Orleans strip club under the name Brenda Bewitched. Then two

128
00:10:18.399 --> 00:10:22.720
months later, on September twenty first of nineteen ninety two,

129
00:10:23.159 --> 00:10:27.639
the remains of twenty nine year old Regretta Martin are

130
00:10:27.639 --> 00:10:31.639
discovered in the waters of yet another canal near a

131
00:10:31.720 --> 00:10:35.559
highway in the New Orleans area, this time in the

132
00:10:35.600 --> 00:10:39.320
town of Boutet. Regretta was a mother of three who

133
00:10:39.440 --> 00:10:43.879
had previous arrest and again high risk lifestyle with prostitution,

134
00:10:44.399 --> 00:10:47.480
and her autopsy showed her cause of death as a

135
00:10:47.639 --> 00:10:52.440
drug overdose. And incidentally, many of the victims that we've

136
00:10:52.480 --> 00:10:56.440
discussed so far had high levels of drugs in their

137
00:10:56.480 --> 00:11:00.440
system at the time of death. But yet again, any

138
00:11:00.480 --> 00:11:03.759
similarities in the way these victims were killed and in

139
00:11:03.799 --> 00:11:07.799
the manner in which these bodies were dumped. So here

140
00:11:07.840 --> 00:11:11.879
we are nearing the end of nineteen ninety two, and

141
00:11:12.000 --> 00:11:16.519
you have at this point seven people dead and one

142
00:11:16.639 --> 00:11:21.960
nearly killed in the New Orleans area, all living similar lifestyles,

143
00:11:23.000 --> 00:11:30.639
and something at this point absolutely crazy happens. Remember the

144
00:11:30.679 --> 00:11:33.960
first victim that actually survived I told you about at

145
00:11:33.960 --> 00:11:41.000
the beginning, Brenda, Well, she actually runs into her attacker

146
00:11:41.279 --> 00:11:46.000
in a grocery store nearly two years after her attack.

147
00:11:46.159 --> 00:11:49.960
This was on October twenty fourth of nineteen ninety two.

148
00:11:50.000 --> 00:11:53.639
An article came out in the New Orleans paper, and

149
00:11:53.759 --> 00:11:58.559
here's the highlights from that article. It reads, an unidentified man,

150
00:11:58.600 --> 00:12:01.159
believed to be a possible the serial killer of at

151
00:12:01.240 --> 00:12:05.759
least four New Orleans women, was spotted in Algiers recently

152
00:12:05.879 --> 00:12:10.639
by a woman who survived an attack. The young woman

153
00:12:10.879 --> 00:12:14.799
left for dead on July twenty second, nineteen ninety one,

154
00:12:15.320 --> 00:12:19.279
known as Brenda, saw her attacker in a grocery store

155
00:12:19.440 --> 00:12:23.679
parking lot last week. When he saw that she recognized him,

156
00:12:24.039 --> 00:12:28.000
he fled. Police said, can you imagine that? And what

157
00:12:28.120 --> 00:12:31.360
are the chances? It goes on to read. Crime Stoppers

158
00:12:31.399 --> 00:12:34.799
announced rewards of up to five thousand dollars for the

159
00:12:34.919 --> 00:12:39.240
arrest and indictment of the alleged killer. Police said they

160
00:12:39.240 --> 00:12:42.480
are investigating whether the same man may have murdered yet

161
00:12:42.559 --> 00:12:45.639
another woman, Regretta Martin, who was found dead in Saint

162
00:12:45.759 --> 00:12:50.000
Charles Parish. Her decomposed body was found September twenty first

163
00:12:50.039 --> 00:12:54.840
Police said of nineteen ninety two. Decomposition has prevented the

164
00:12:54.879 --> 00:12:57.759
authorities from determining how she died or if she was

165
00:12:57.799 --> 00:13:02.000
a victim of foul play. Assistant Police Superintendent and Twine

166
00:13:02.039 --> 00:13:06.320
Sacks said investigators are not sure if the deaths are related,

167
00:13:06.360 --> 00:13:10.320
but similarities include the ages of the women, their hangouts,

168
00:13:10.360 --> 00:13:13.480
the fact that their bodies were found dumped almost nude,

169
00:13:13.679 --> 00:13:18.399
and that the women were either strangled or suffocated. Police

170
00:13:18.440 --> 00:13:22.000
are circulating a composite sketch of the suspect, who is

171
00:13:22.120 --> 00:13:26.240
described as black, broad shouldered, in his thirties, about five

172
00:13:26.279 --> 00:13:29.480
feet eight inches tall. Police said he has been seen

173
00:13:29.559 --> 00:13:34.399
in an old model brown Chevrolet Nova or blue Buick Regal,

174
00:13:34.720 --> 00:13:37.960
or a green car. All of the victims have been poor,

175
00:13:38.000 --> 00:13:41.159
black women with slim to medium builds in the New

176
00:13:41.240 --> 00:13:45.000
Orleans area, and some have frequented the same bars. Two

177
00:13:45.080 --> 00:13:47.759
of the victims were found to have cocaine in their systems,

178
00:13:47.799 --> 00:13:51.600
and Sacks believes the suspect is targeting young women he

179
00:13:51.679 --> 00:13:56.120
believes to be either prostitutes, drug users, or both. Police

180
00:13:56.279 --> 00:13:59.799
did not provide any evidence to show that the victims

181
00:13:59.799 --> 00:14:03.879
were prostitutes or drug users, however, So that's how that

182
00:14:04.039 --> 00:14:08.320
article read. And at this point you would think, Okay,

183
00:14:08.559 --> 00:14:11.399
the police are on it, right, I mean, I guess

184
00:14:11.440 --> 00:14:13.840
they were. I guess they were doing what they could.

185
00:14:14.080 --> 00:14:17.919
But considering the body count here, to me, it just

186
00:14:17.960 --> 00:14:20.759
didn't seem to have a whole lot of a sense

187
00:14:20.799 --> 00:14:24.399
of urgency that you would think it would have. Yes,

188
00:14:24.639 --> 00:14:28.720
the composite sketches they were being circulated, but this is

189
00:14:28.840 --> 00:14:34.080
still the early nineties. DNA was just starting to be understood,

190
00:14:34.200 --> 00:14:37.159
really in its infancy at this point, and police just

191
00:14:37.200 --> 00:14:40.200
didn't have a ton to go on. So a few

192
00:14:40.240 --> 00:14:45.279
months pass, and then on February twentieth of nineteen ninety three,

193
00:14:45.360 --> 00:14:49.440
the skeletal remains of thirty year old Sheryl Lewis are

194
00:14:49.480 --> 00:14:54.039
discovered yet again in the waters of a canal, this

195
00:14:54.200 --> 00:14:57.879
time off a highway near Hanville, which is on the

196
00:14:57.879 --> 00:15:01.679
outskirts of New Orleans. Now. While when investigating her death,

197
00:15:01.919 --> 00:15:06.279
police learned that she was seen alive on February second

198
00:15:06.600 --> 00:15:11.000
of nineteen ninety three, so just three weeks earlier, getting

199
00:15:11.039 --> 00:15:16.360
into the car of an unidentified white male. Cheryl's autopsy

200
00:15:16.480 --> 00:15:19.440
did not report a cause of death. Her body was

201
00:15:19.840 --> 00:15:23.759
very badly decomposed, it had been in a canal for

202
00:15:23.919 --> 00:15:27.080
nearly a month before she was found, but it was

203
00:15:27.200 --> 00:15:32.519
discovered that she was very drugged up with both cocaine

204
00:15:32.879 --> 00:15:38.320
and meth amphetamine. Then the very next day, on February

205
00:15:38.480 --> 00:15:41.840
twenty first of nineteen ninety three, the body of forty

206
00:15:41.840 --> 00:15:45.480
two year old Delores Matt was found in the waters

207
00:15:45.559 --> 00:15:48.799
off of a canal near a highway not far from

208
00:15:48.799 --> 00:15:53.360
where Cheryl Lewis was murdered. She had been strangled, and

209
00:15:53.480 --> 00:15:57.360
although she had no prior history of drugs, a large

210
00:15:57.399 --> 00:16:01.320
amount of cocaine was found in her system. Her body

211
00:16:01.360 --> 00:16:05.200
had only been in the water for twelve hours when

212
00:16:05.240 --> 00:16:09.679
she was found. And that's an important movement in this case,

213
00:16:09.720 --> 00:16:14.240
if you will. This tells me that this serial killer,

214
00:16:14.519 --> 00:16:17.759
by this point, he's doing what all serial killers do.

215
00:16:18.200 --> 00:16:21.440
He's getting cocky, he's getting very arrogant. Think of the

216
00:16:21.600 --> 00:16:26.360
arrogance it takes when just twenty four hours prior twelve hours.

217
00:16:26.440 --> 00:16:30.759
In fact, after an investigation is started into a body

218
00:16:30.879 --> 00:16:35.919
found in a neighboring canal is taking place, you dump

219
00:16:36.159 --> 00:16:40.000
another body close by. Guaranteed that serial killer knew that

220
00:16:40.120 --> 00:16:43.519
body had been found just twenty four hours before. It

221
00:16:43.559 --> 00:16:47.519
was almost like he was laughing at the police. By

222
00:16:47.559 --> 00:16:52.320
this time, this guy is begging for attention. So let's

223
00:16:52.440 --> 00:16:58.200
jump to February fourth of nineteen ninety four too. Off

224
00:16:58.320 --> 00:17:03.399
duty Saint Charles Perry deputies they stumble upon a guy

225
00:17:03.799 --> 00:17:07.759
on the same stretch of road where Sheryl Lewis remains

226
00:17:07.880 --> 00:17:11.119
had been discovered. It was late at night, it was

227
00:17:11.279 --> 00:17:17.000
dark in the car, which was a cab, just seemed suspicious.

228
00:17:17.400 --> 00:17:20.079
So the two off duty policemen they want to get

229
00:17:20.079 --> 00:17:23.880
a closer look see what's going on, and they get

230
00:17:23.920 --> 00:17:27.319
out of their vehicle. They look inside of that cab

231
00:17:27.839 --> 00:17:31.920
and they see a man sitting in the driver's seat masturbating.

232
00:17:32.599 --> 00:17:36.240
So the deputies they get the driver, who was partially undressed,

233
00:17:36.640 --> 00:17:40.519
to exit the vehicle. The driver he produces a valid

234
00:17:40.680 --> 00:17:46.039
Louisiana driver's license that identified him as Russell Elwood, and

235
00:17:46.119 --> 00:17:49.680
Elwood tells the deputies that he was there to change

236
00:17:49.720 --> 00:17:52.759
the oil and breaks in his car, and they said, well,

237
00:17:52.839 --> 00:17:56.720
can we search your car? He says, sure. The deputies

238
00:17:56.759 --> 00:18:00.200
search the car. However they don't find motor oil, don't

239
00:18:00.240 --> 00:18:04.839
find oil changing supplies, they don't find oil filters, all

240
00:18:04.880 --> 00:18:07.720
the things you need. And then he also said he

241
00:18:07.799 --> 00:18:10.519
was working on his brakes and don't find brake pads,

242
00:18:11.039 --> 00:18:13.960
none of that in his vehicle. Obviously he was lying.

243
00:18:14.759 --> 00:18:19.359
He also didn't contain any flashlight or anything like that

244
00:18:19.359 --> 00:18:21.640
that he would have had to have to make those

245
00:18:21.839 --> 00:18:26.640
necessary repairs to his vehicle in an unlit area at night.

246
00:18:26.960 --> 00:18:29.279
So if you don't have a flashlight, you're not going

247
00:18:29.359 --> 00:18:32.640
to park in the pitch dark to do this work.

248
00:18:32.960 --> 00:18:37.359
That much is obvious. Now I bring up this guy

249
00:18:37.400 --> 00:18:42.519
because this situation right here that I just mentioned is

250
00:18:42.559 --> 00:18:45.440
going to play a big part in the story later on.

251
00:18:46.200 --> 00:18:48.960
So for now, I want you to put this particular

252
00:18:49.400 --> 00:18:52.480
discovery in your back pocket, just kind of in the

253
00:18:52.519 --> 00:18:54.799
back of your mind somewhere, And we're going to get

254
00:18:54.839 --> 00:18:58.440
a February fifth of nineteen ninety four, and we're going

255
00:18:58.519 --> 00:19:03.759
to get a Saint John the Baptist parish, another parish

256
00:19:03.920 --> 00:19:07.319
just on the outskirts of New Orleans, and the skeletal

257
00:19:07.559 --> 00:19:11.400
remains that were found and later determined to be that

258
00:19:11.559 --> 00:19:14.759
of a twenty five to thirty five year old female

259
00:19:14.880 --> 00:19:19.480
who was determined to have been strangled to death. Unfortunately,

260
00:19:19.839 --> 00:19:23.720
due to decomposition, she was never identified and she is

261
00:19:23.920 --> 00:19:29.680
listed as Jane Doe number two. Then, on February tenth,

262
00:19:29.880 --> 00:19:34.359
just five days later of nineteen ninety four, more skeletal

263
00:19:34.720 --> 00:19:38.000
remains are found, this time determined to be a fifteen

264
00:19:38.079 --> 00:19:44.200
year old girl. Again, However, due to extreme decomposition, she

265
00:19:44.440 --> 00:19:49.480
remained unidentified and is listed as Jane Doe number three.

266
00:19:49.839 --> 00:19:54.319
Two days later, on February thirteenth of nineteen ninety four,

267
00:19:54.640 --> 00:19:57.039
the body of a twenty five year old by the

268
00:19:57.119 --> 00:20:00.119
name of Stephanie Murray is found in a SMA i'm

269
00:20:00.119 --> 00:20:04.960
all pond near the Bonna Carey Spillway in New Orleans.

270
00:20:05.720 --> 00:20:11.559
Then two days after that, on February fifteenth of nineteen

271
00:20:11.640 --> 00:20:16.480
ninety four, the skeletal remains of another young girl are found.

272
00:20:16.559 --> 00:20:20.400
Her identity was never ascertained and she became known as

273
00:20:20.559 --> 00:20:27.200
Jane Doe number four. So in February of nineteen ninety

274
00:20:27.400 --> 00:20:32.839
four alone, four more dead women are found, and to

275
00:20:32.920 --> 00:20:37.440
tell you how underreported and little known all of this was.

276
00:20:38.119 --> 00:20:42.680
In February of nineteen ninety four, I was nineteen years old,

277
00:20:43.079 --> 00:20:47.039
very in touch with the news, et cetera, and like

278
00:20:47.440 --> 00:20:50.759
most nineteen year olds at that time, I probably went

279
00:20:50.839 --> 00:20:54.000
to New Orleans with friends to party on Bourbon Street

280
00:20:54.160 --> 00:21:00.680
at least once a month, and knew nothing about any

281
00:21:00.759 --> 00:21:05.799
of this, not one word of it. And also, incidentally,

282
00:21:05.880 --> 00:21:09.519
if you're keeping count, by this time, I have read

283
00:21:09.599 --> 00:21:15.960
you off twelve victims that died and one victim that

284
00:21:16.000 --> 00:21:21.319
barely lived, and no one is talking about it that

285
00:21:21.440 --> 00:21:24.799
I was aware of. But it didn't stop there. On

286
00:21:25.160 --> 00:21:31.079
April second of nineteen ninety four, two sets of skeletal

287
00:21:31.160 --> 00:21:34.799
remains are found in canals on the very same day,

288
00:21:35.880 --> 00:21:40.000
later determined as one set belonging to a young female

289
00:21:40.559 --> 00:21:44.480
and another set belonging to that of a young male. Now,

290
00:21:44.680 --> 00:21:48.880
due to the extreme composition from being left in those canals,

291
00:21:49.599 --> 00:21:52.599
neither could be identified, and they are referred to as

292
00:21:52.759 --> 00:21:55.880
Jane Doe number five in John Doe number one. And

293
00:21:55.960 --> 00:21:59.319
let's talk about that for a second. As these deaths

294
00:21:59.640 --> 00:22:04.279
became more and more frequent, if you notice, the killer

295
00:22:04.680 --> 00:22:09.079
starts putting these victims in canals. Why do you think

296
00:22:09.119 --> 00:22:14.119
that is well, I would submit to you just my

297
00:22:14.279 --> 00:22:19.640
opinion that he's realizing they're struggling to identify these victims

298
00:22:19.680 --> 00:22:22.640
when they find them in canals. He's figured out the

299
00:22:22.680 --> 00:22:27.319
decomposition speeds up when they're in canals, and in a

300
00:22:27.359 --> 00:22:31.839
lot of cases they were finding just bones. So obviously

301
00:22:31.880 --> 00:22:35.359
it's harder to find victims when you dump them in

302
00:22:35.400 --> 00:22:38.960
the middle of nowhere in the swamps of South Louisiana.

303
00:22:39.000 --> 00:22:43.720
But we'll move on. On July third of nineteen ninety four,

304
00:22:44.039 --> 00:22:47.759
the body of thirty two year old Michelle Foster was

305
00:22:47.839 --> 00:22:52.000
found after she was reported missing from New Orleans just

306
00:22:52.200 --> 00:22:57.119
a few days prior. And then on October nineteenth of

307
00:22:57.240 --> 00:23:01.559
nineteen ninety four, the skeletal remains of yet another woman

308
00:23:02.079 --> 00:23:06.000
is found in a wooded area near a highway within

309
00:23:06.119 --> 00:23:10.519
the limits of Bridge City, Louisiana, which is just outside

310
00:23:10.559 --> 00:23:14.799
the New Orleans area. Those remains were later found to

311
00:23:14.880 --> 00:23:18.559
be that of twenty eight year old Stephanie Lewis, who,

312
00:23:19.039 --> 00:23:24.640
unlike the prior victims, had no criminal record at all.

313
00:23:25.119 --> 00:23:27.599
So we're going to move forward a couple of months,

314
00:23:27.640 --> 00:23:31.039
and I'm going to bring you to December ninth of

315
00:23:31.160 --> 00:23:35.000
nineteen ninety four, and I'm gonna mention another name for

316
00:23:35.119 --> 00:23:37.880
you to keep in the back of your mind, and

317
00:23:37.960 --> 00:23:47.160
that is of NOPD officer Victor Gant. Now, on this day,

318
00:23:47.559 --> 00:23:51.599
a woman by the name of Sharon Robinson, who was

319
00:23:51.680 --> 00:23:56.359
Gant's girlfriend, she goes into the NPD and she reports

320
00:23:56.480 --> 00:24:00.359
that Gant beat her. Now remember this, this is a

321
00:24:00.519 --> 00:24:05.799
police officer forth had department. According to the statement, Gant

322
00:24:05.839 --> 00:24:10.200
punched her in the face and broke her nose. Now Gant,

323
00:24:10.240 --> 00:24:13.759
of course, he denies this allegation, and he said he

324
00:24:13.960 --> 00:24:17.319
just pushed her during an argument in that she fell

325
00:24:17.480 --> 00:24:21.240
and hit her nose on a chair. But Gant had

326
00:24:21.279 --> 00:24:26.119
a problem because her children actually witnessed the entire thing

327
00:24:26.440 --> 00:24:30.839
and they cooborated their mother's story in an interview with police.

328
00:24:31.640 --> 00:24:36.200
Even the er doctor who treated miss Robinson said that

329
00:24:36.359 --> 00:24:39.400
this type of break was a direct result of a

330
00:24:39.559 --> 00:24:43.480
beating and not her nose hitting a chair. In early

331
00:24:43.799 --> 00:24:47.960
nineteen ninety five, because Gant was a police officer and NOPD,

332
00:24:48.279 --> 00:24:51.000
he has to go in front of a disciplinary committee

333
00:24:51.039 --> 00:24:54.400
on these accusations. And it's during that time that they

334
00:24:54.440 --> 00:24:58.160
scheduled testimony for later on in the year from several

335
00:24:58.279 --> 00:25:04.279
key witnesses, including Sharon Robinson. In the meantime, on January

336
00:25:04.440 --> 00:25:08.880
twenty second of nineteen ninety five, the body of twenty

337
00:25:08.960 --> 00:25:12.960
nine year old Wanda Ford is found in a swamp

338
00:25:13.119 --> 00:25:18.039
outside of New Orleans near I fifty five. Now, like

339
00:25:18.319 --> 00:25:21.480
nearly all of the murders so far that I've told

340
00:25:21.519 --> 00:25:24.880
you about, she had a lengthy criminal record and a

341
00:25:24.960 --> 00:25:28.720
long history of drug abuse. Then the very next day,

342
00:25:29.279 --> 00:25:32.880
January twenty third of nineteen ninety five, the body of

343
00:25:33.039 --> 00:25:37.960
twenty nine year old Sandra Warner is found in Saint

344
00:25:38.079 --> 00:25:43.680
John the Baptist Parish. Two days later, on January twenty

345
00:25:43.720 --> 00:25:47.640
fifth of nineteen ninety five, the remains of Henry Calvin,

346
00:25:47.799 --> 00:25:53.599
who had gone missing months earlier in New Orleans, is found. Then,

347
00:25:54.359 --> 00:25:59.119
on March twenty fourth of nineteen ninety five, more skeletal

348
00:25:59.240 --> 00:26:03.880
remains found under an overpass in Tangipahoa Parish, which is

349
00:26:03.920 --> 00:26:08.799
about thirty minutes from New Orleans. Those remains are identified

350
00:26:08.960 --> 00:26:13.839
as those of Linda Debetedetto. So the next few months

351
00:26:14.279 --> 00:26:21.279
are quiet until a major break occurs in this case,

352
00:26:22.240 --> 00:26:28.920
on April thirtieth of nineteen ninety five, two local fishermen

353
00:26:29.480 --> 00:26:33.799
find the body of a woman in a swampy area

354
00:26:34.359 --> 00:26:38.160
off I fifty five, just twenty minutes from New Orleans.

355
00:26:38.480 --> 00:26:42.480
When officers arrive on the scene, they discover a footprint

356
00:26:42.680 --> 00:26:46.079
from a woman's training shoe next to the body, and

357
00:26:46.200 --> 00:26:50.160
they see a wad of chewing tobacco nearby. Rigor mortis,

358
00:26:50.200 --> 00:26:55.400
which typically occurs Approximpately twelve hours after death, was still

359
00:26:55.480 --> 00:26:58.920
in its early stages, and that told detectives the victim

360
00:26:58.960 --> 00:27:03.240
had not been in the area long. The lead detective stated,

361
00:27:03.559 --> 00:27:07.920
at the time, we had no trace of who she was.

362
00:27:08.599 --> 00:27:13.079
We later found out that she was Karing Ivister, white female,

363
00:27:13.480 --> 00:27:16.319
thirty years of age, and the cause of death was

364
00:27:16.359 --> 00:27:21.880
asphyxia due to suffocation. You could see in the autopsy report.

365
00:27:21.960 --> 00:27:25.440
They had made notes of some abrasions on her neck

366
00:27:25.559 --> 00:27:29.559
where she had been grabbed by someone and choked. But

367
00:27:29.640 --> 00:27:35.640
get ready for this. Roughly three hours after Ivester's body

368
00:27:35.880 --> 00:27:41.839
was found, detectives were notified another body had been discovered

369
00:27:41.960 --> 00:27:46.680
about a mile south of Ivesters. The body was face

370
00:27:46.799 --> 00:27:50.359
down in a shallow body of water next to an

371
00:27:50.400 --> 00:27:54.480
I fifty five off ramp. The victim, a twenty eight

372
00:27:54.519 --> 00:27:58.519
year old woman was fully dressed, which was kind of

373
00:27:59.559 --> 00:28:02.880
rare in these murder cases that were occurring in New

374
00:28:02.920 --> 00:28:07.079
Orleans at that time. Usually they were nude or partially nude.

375
00:28:07.200 --> 00:28:11.160
But this victim was fully dressed, clad in a uniform

376
00:28:11.240 --> 00:28:14.839
from Harris New Orleans Casino in a hotel, and she

377
00:28:15.000 --> 00:28:19.640
was wearing an ID badge that said her name was

378
00:28:20.680 --> 00:28:28.720
Sharon Robinson. That's right, the same Sharon Robinson that filed

379
00:28:28.759 --> 00:28:33.680
that abuse complaint against her then boyfriend NOPD police officer

380
00:28:33.920 --> 00:28:39.559
Victor Gant in nineteen ninety four. Now, Robinson's cause of

381
00:28:39.720 --> 00:28:44.559
death was listed as a drowning, and police theorized her

382
00:28:44.680 --> 00:28:49.519
killer stood behind her and held her head underwater. And

383
00:28:49.559 --> 00:28:53.960
if you have any thoughts of the killings being coincidental, don't.

384
00:28:55.160 --> 00:28:59.960
Detectives discovered Robinson was wearing woman's training shoes with trail

385
00:29:00.079 --> 00:29:04.039
had the match that footprint I told you about next

386
00:29:04.079 --> 00:29:10.640
to Ivester's body, meaning Robinson was still alive in standing

387
00:29:11.000 --> 00:29:16.960
when Ivester was killed. And incidentally, Ivester and Robinson were

388
00:29:17.240 --> 00:29:23.960
good friends. So at this point, Gant, considering his history

389
00:29:24.240 --> 00:29:28.599
with Robinson, and especially considering she has yet to testify

390
00:29:28.640 --> 00:29:32.400
against him in that NPB hearing couple that with the

391
00:29:32.440 --> 00:29:36.319
fact that he not only personally knew Ivest, but according

392
00:29:36.359 --> 00:29:40.559
to family and friends' statements, had a personal grudge against Syvester.

393
00:29:41.440 --> 00:29:46.119
And well, Victor Gant has a major problem. So to

394
00:29:46.160 --> 00:29:49.720
give you a little more detail regarding these two killings

395
00:29:49.960 --> 00:29:52.920
in the manner in which they were killed. Karen Ivester's

396
00:29:53.000 --> 00:29:56.359
boyfriend he had reported that he last saw Karen on

397
00:29:56.559 --> 00:29:59.960
April twenty ninth at ten o'clock PM, when she was

398
00:30:00.119 --> 00:30:04.680
going to work in a booth. Now, Detective A. Wayne Schaeffer,

399
00:30:04.880 --> 00:30:09.079
when he was asked about this, he stated, the boyfriend,

400
00:30:09.440 --> 00:30:12.680
nor anyone else investigating the case knew what kind of

401
00:30:12.680 --> 00:30:16.319
booth she was talking about, specifically, only that she told

402
00:30:16.319 --> 00:30:19.319
her boyfriend, I can make fifty dollars if I work

403
00:30:19.640 --> 00:30:24.279
the booth. Now. Karen's body was also found nude in

404
00:30:24.359 --> 00:30:28.759
that swampy canal, and an autopsy showed, as I told

405
00:30:28.799 --> 00:30:32.119
you that the cause of death was suffocation due to

406
00:30:32.160 --> 00:30:36.279
asphixia strangulation. Notes of some of the abrasions around her

407
00:30:36.400 --> 00:30:40.640
neck indicated that she was grabbed and choked, And as

408
00:30:40.640 --> 00:30:43.559
I mentioned that what of chewing tobacco? And I keep

409
00:30:43.559 --> 00:30:45.960
bringing that up for a reason. It was found near

410
00:30:46.000 --> 00:30:49.319
her body. Now, in regards to Sharon Robinson and her

411
00:30:49.440 --> 00:30:54.359
autopsy listed drowning as her death, and of course police

412
00:30:54.599 --> 00:31:00.359
they question Gant about this and they request his DNA

413
00:31:00.559 --> 00:31:04.880
and the hope was that chewing tobacco still had the

414
00:31:04.960 --> 00:31:07.559
DNA on it and they can match that to Gan.

415
00:31:08.720 --> 00:31:12.279
That would place him at the actual scene where the

416
00:31:12.319 --> 00:31:18.279
bodies were found and subsequently make the case just about bulletproof.

417
00:31:18.799 --> 00:31:24.759
But again, this is nineteen ninety five. DNA is not

418
00:31:25.440 --> 00:31:30.599
what it is today. In the processing of DNA, definitely

419
00:31:30.720 --> 00:31:35.240
not what it is today, even working hours on end

420
00:31:35.400 --> 00:31:39.119
every single day, it could take many months to get

421
00:31:39.160 --> 00:31:42.839
a full profile and then match that to Gan. So

422
00:31:43.000 --> 00:31:48.839
on May one of nineteen ninety five, after some twenty

423
00:31:48.839 --> 00:31:55.960
two bodies are found and one nearly killed woman are discovered,

424
00:31:57.039 --> 00:32:03.359
the NOPD finally forms a task force to find and

425
00:32:03.440 --> 00:32:09.319
bring to justice what will become known as the Storyville Slayer.

426
00:32:10.559 --> 00:32:17.119
But the Storyville Slayer ain't done yet. Just six days

427
00:32:17.599 --> 00:32:21.640
after that task force is formed, on May sixth of

428
00:32:21.799 --> 00:32:26.200
nineteen ninety five, the body of thirty nine year old

429
00:32:26.559 --> 00:32:31.039
Sandra Williams is found on a boulevard in New Orleans,

430
00:32:31.920 --> 00:32:39.000
cause of death strangulation. So they are still continuing to

431
00:32:39.119 --> 00:32:45.359
stack up. And if you think this story is unbelievable already,

432
00:32:45.960 --> 00:32:51.200
you ain't heard nothing yet. Next week we wrap it up,

433
00:32:51.319 --> 00:32:55.240
so look for that. Thank you so much for lestening

434
00:32:55.440 --> 00:32:58.759
and supporting. If you enjoy the podcast, please write it

435
00:32:59.000 --> 00:33:02.240
wherever you listen and check out the Patreon page Patreon

436
00:33:02.359 --> 00:33:06.599
dot com slash Bloody Angola Podcast for commercial, free early

437
00:33:06.680 --> 00:33:13.319
release episodes and other benefits. And until next time, I'm

438
00:33:13.400 --> 00:33:18.599
Jim Chapman for Bloody Angola, a podcast one forty two

439
00:33:18.680 --> 00:33:23.799
years and making the complete story of America's bloodiest present.

440
00:33:25.079 --> 00:33:51.880
Peace a wall Street line, shackle Chaine, who's gourd? It's

441
00:33:51.960 --> 00:33:58.519
calling my name? There is no mercy and this being

442
00:33:58.559 --> 00:34:06.519
a tentery juice says the huge string game Rango three.

443
00:34:08.519 --> 00:34:10.079
I'm here behind.

444
00:34:11.840 --> 00:34:20.079
By me to die inside these walls, inside the wild

445
00:34:22.039 --> 00:34:33.880
and when the walks, I'm no, it's ould bloody anglelder,

446
00:34:36.800 --> 00:34:40.280
ohbody angle