Serial Killer Capital: Baton Rouge (2022) - full transcript

Several women were victimized
in Baton Rouge.

People that had
high-risk lifestyles

that were killed.

There were women that were take
from their homes and killed.

We knew we had
a serial killer

operating in the city
of Baton Rouge.

I think that the fear
at Baton Rouge at that point

was starting to get
at a tipping point.

Remain calm. I know
there's a lot of fear

in the city and I feel it.

I didn't even know
he was a serial killer.



I believe I survived

because God needed
to use someone

to bring justice
for their loved ones.

A break in the
Louisiana serial killer case.

An arrest warrant
for Derrick Todd Lee

has been issued at
East Baton Rouge Parish.

On the charges
of first-degree murder

and aggravated rape.

For the city
of Baton Rouge,

it was a collective sigh
of relief.

And then as soon
as you can take a breath

and you realize that
that's over, it's not over.

We have
these murders that are different

happening in downtown
Baton Rouge.



Could we have
another serial killer?

Katherine Hall
was significantly cut

where you could
actually see the bone.

On Johnnie Mae Williams,

we discovered
her hands had been removed.

Donna Bennett Johnston,
one of her arms

had been severed
from the elbow down.

You've got
these ritualistic cuttings.

This is
a totally different animal.

They absolutely know
at this point,

this is serial killer
number two.

I couldn't even
imagine what type of person

would do this.

It didn't make any sense.

And there was more
female victims

popping up around town.

It was incredible
to even contemplate.

And then the next one happened.

But could there be
a third serial killer?

♪ Like a whisper in the hollow

♪ Tears fall down
while they pray for tomorrow ♪

♪ Nobody knows Nobody sees ♪

♪ Search back of roads
and cold city streets ♪

♪ There's evil in the dark ♪

♪ Blood on the hands
and the devil will follow ♪

February of '04, the body
of Donna Johnston was recovered

in a remote canal near LSU.

When they were working
the Donna Johnston scene,

we discovered a tire track.

The tire that we were looking at

was ultimately identified
was a Goodyear Aquatred 3.

When we identified
the individuals

that had the tire from Goodyear,

one of those was
Sean Vincent Gillis.

The following day,
I went to see Mr. Gillis

at his residence.

That's when we asked him
for his swab.

He readily volunteered
to provide a DNA sample.

Sean agreed to come down
to the office for questioning.

Before he got in the vehicle,
he smoked half his cigarette,

and he threw it on the ground,
and he said,

"Let's get this over with."

My first impression of Sean was

that he was an
intelligent person, well-spoken.

He seemed at ease,
but you could tell

there was
some underlying tension.

The question then moved
on to,

had he ever
been out to that field

where Donna Johnston's body
was found?

And he said, yes,
he had been familiar

with that pasture out there,

that he used to
go out there frequently

to smoke weed.

He said, in fact,
couple nights prior,

that he had gone out there
on his way home.

Gillis claimed that
he had to use the restroom,

so he proceeded to this field

where the body was located

to get out and do his thing.

So he put himself
at that location

where her body was.

We said,
"Well, why would you go there

instead of going to your house?

It would've been
very easy for him

to just go directly home.

It wouldn't have been
hardly any longer to get there,

and it just didn't make sense.

He made
some incredible statements

that really tied
into the victims,

along with the fact that he
said he knew Johnnie Mae

and she had frequently
ridden in his vehicle with him,

and he had had sex with her.

He put himself at that location

where Donna Johnston's body
was found.

Once he admitted that his car

had absolutely made
the tire track

and that he had backed up

exactly where the car would have
backed up to dump the body,

it became apparent
that it was him.

It was obvious
he was starting to panic

because of some
of the things he said,

which was only pointing
a finger more at him.

After several hours
of questioning,

Mr. Gillis, he didn't
confess to anything.

And he looked at me and he said,

"Jeff, you told me
you'd take me home

when I'm ready to go home.
And I'm ready to go home."

We were 99% sure
it was him.

We had developed probable cause.

We certainly could have
charged him at that point,

but we wanted to make sure

that we weren't wrong.

We put surveillance
on Mr. Gillis

the minute he got home.

At this point,
it was just a waiting game

for the crime lab
to give us a word

whether his DNA was a match.

Within four hours,
they got a hit.

"We've got a match,

and the killer of these women
is, in fact,

Sean Vincent Gillis."

"Sean's DNA has matched
to all three of our victims.

It's him. Absolutely, it's him."

I drafted an arrest warrant
for him

for the murder
of Katherine Hall,

Johnnie Mae Williams,
and Donna Bennett Johnston.

Once the warrants were signed,
SWAT hits the house.

My name is Terri Lemoine

and I lived
with Sean Gillis for nine years.

April 29th, 2004,

I was off that night and home.

And for some reason,
Sean came to bed

at the same time I did,

which was something
he never did.

Not even 10 seconds after
I had turned the light off,

there was what sounded
like a crash in the kitchen.

And people were yelling,

and all of a sudden,
the door got kicked in

to the bedroom.

And I'm standing in my bedroom,
in my bed clothes,

with a bunch
of policemen around me.

And I'm wanting to know
what is going on.

I want to know
what's going on right now.

The policemen turned around,
and looked at me and said,

"You didn't know you were
living with a serial killer?"

It was probably the most
disturbing interrogation

I've ever heard
in my life.

Gillis liked to talk about
what he did

in vivid detail.

He really enjoyed the attention.

Once we opened those floodgates,
it was hard to shut him up.

I'

With a bunch
of policemen around me.

I'm wanting to know
what is going on.

And the policeman turned around
and looked at me and said,

"You didn't know you were living
with a serial killer?"

I looked over at Sean
and he shrugged his shoulders.

And said, "Sorry, honey bunny."

I met Sean Gillis,
working the night shift

at a convenience store.

One of my friends decided
that we should meet

because we had
a whole lot in common.

Same likes, dislikes, movies.

He made me laugh too.
He was a geeky guy,

the kind you'd wanna bring
home to mom.

I basically worked
most of the time.

I went to work at night
from 11:00 to 7:00.

But Sean would always stay home

He didn't wanna go anywhere,
didn't wanna do anything.

That makes me angry
to think back.

Sean reminded me of someone
who never wanted to grow up.

I didn't know how to feel,

because, in a way,
it made me responsible

because I was
taking care of Sean.

It made me feel
like I was giving him

the wherewithal
to do what he wanted.

When you have
a lot of time to think,

you question a lot
of decisions that you made.

And when the policeman
turned around and said,

"You didn't know you were
living with a serial killer,"

I just looked at him, I said,

"Boy, have you got
the wrong house?"

I've told that to people
over and over.

None of what they were saying
made any sense.

There was no way possible.

Not Sean. No way.

We said, "We absolutely have him
on Katherine Hall,

Johnnie Mae Williams,
and Donna Bennett Johnston.

"He can't deny that."

We knew that he
absolutely had more victims.

So our interview strategy
was gonna be

we're not gonna press him
real hard.

We knew, from his
prior interrogation,

that, you know,
he liked to talk.

He just got to a point

where he was kind of
consigned to the fact

that he was caught.

And I said,
"Why don't you tell us

any others, Sean."

And I remember he said,
"Do you have a pencil?"

Once we opened those floodgates,
it was hard to shut him up.

And he wanted to talk
and talk and talk.

He really enjoyed
the attention.

He identified several
homicides that he had committed.

It seemed to be important
for him

to have more bodies
to his credit

than Derrick Todd Lee.

He knew that Derrick Todd Lee
had already been arrested

and was in the process
of going to trial.

He'd been following it.

In addition
to the three homicides

that we were working,

he confessed to killing
Ann Bryan,

Joyce Williams, Marilyn Nevils,

Hardee Schmidt,
and Lillian Robinson.

All were women who were killed
in the Baton Rouge area

in the years previous
to catching him.

He was very meticulous.

He gave us names, places,

graphic details at each scene,

intimate details
about each victim.

The Johnnie Mae Williams case,

he said that, one night,
he and Johnnie Mae

were riding around,

and, you know they were doing
their drugs, listening to music.

And he said he pulled
off behind a restaurant

in the southeast part
of Baton Rouge.

He said they were
just sitting there,

listening to music,

and he said Johnnie Mae
actually fell asleep.

He said
something just took over.

And so he said, "I just
slipped it around her neck

and killed her."

As soon as you
can take a breath

and realize that that's over,
it's not over.

Many plenty other
cold cases

that have remained unsolved.

He started choking me,

put both of his hands
on either side of my neck,

and he just started squeezing.

A suspected
serial killer

is behind bars tonight.

I think I survived
because I had a purpose.

Once Sean Gillis
started confessing,

he talked and talked.

He gave us names, places,
intimate details.

It was probably the most
disturbing interrogation

I've ever heard in my life.

With Katherine Hall's body,

the most striking thing
was the cuttings.

He talked about when he cut
Katherine Hall's leg,

he said he cut it deep

and he said
it kind of laid open.

He said that the moonlight
had hit her bone

and "It was so white,
I just wanted to touch it."

Sean told us that
he had the perfect situation

with his relationship
with Terri.

He would drive her to work
and drop her off,

he said,
which basically gave him

eight free hours
to roam the streets,

and he actually called it
hunting, "to go hunting."

Sean Gillis
has confessed

to the murder
of at least eight women.

Gillis led members
of the task force

to locations

where he allegedly
hid the bodies of his victims.

After going to court

and listening to
how some of the things occurred

one thing I had found out
was that

he had dismembered
one of his victims

on the kitchen floor.

And I made a point to go home

and tear up my floor
in the kitchen.

And as I was pulling it up,
underneath the tile,

there was still
big spots of blood.

It made me feel guilty

and then it made me feel angry

because I was feeling guilty.

And everybody told me I wasn't
supposed to feel guilty.

How can you not?

So many people have asked me,

"How could you not know?"

Why would I know?

If your husband stays gone
for an odd amount of time,

and you're gonna think he's off

I'll say the word,
actually killing someone?

First thing you're gonna
think about is,

"Oh, he might be
seeing another woman."

This was a letter
that Sean wrote to me

right after he was arrested
in 2004.

"My dearest Terri,

thank you so much
for the last eight years.

I wish we had 80 more.

I have never loved a woman
so much

that each day from you
seems like a year.

The closer my time daws near,
the less courage I have.

I do not wanna die this way.

I know there is
something wrong with my brain,

but no one gives a damn
to check it out.

Well, it's not over
until it's over.

Love you so much,
Honey Bunny. Sean."

Excuse me.

I know I can't change
anything that happened.

I mean, I would if I could.

Sean took away
the lives of those people.

I can't let him
take away mine also.

The first full day
of testimony underway

of the first-degree murder trial

of accused serial killer
Derrick Todd Lee.

The trial itself
was surreal.

It's like being caught
in a story that can't be true,

but you can't get out of it.

My being in
the same room

with Derrick Todd Lee

wasn't strange for me

because I had prayed.

I prayed and asked God
to let me face him,

and let me look him in the eye

so that he would know
that I know

what he had done to me.

God bless
Dianne Alexander.

Dianne Alexander
spoke for the dead.

She spoke for all the women
who came before her

who had lost their lives
in a violent way.

She was the voice
of the dead through her life.

She is unflappable.

And she identified him
absolutely positively

with no reservations,

and that's the deal.

She is the nail in his coffin.

And when the verdict
came down,

we were so happy,

and you get such
an intense relief.

We thought when it came back
so quickly...

I'm sorry.

I just can't believe
it's finally happened.

I'm overwhelmed.

Authorities say
Derrick Lee

and serial killer
Sean Gillis together

have killed 15 women,

but there are many, many
other cold cases

that have remained unsolved.

Authorities say about 60 women

have been murdered in and around
Baton Rouge since 1992.

With the trial
of Derrick Todd Lee

and the trial
of Sean Vincent Gillis,

we have two serial killers
being tried

for killing
women in Baton Rouge.

At the same time, they got
homicides that's not solved yet

They're both
in jail now.

There's still a lot
of unsolved homicides.

There's also more female victims
popping up around town.

We had quite a few
high-risk lifestyle women

killed in the same general area,

Florida Edwards
and also Sylvia Cobb.

I think that
law enforcement was concerned

that because they were both
posed, both bound

in areas that were frequented

by drug users and prostitutes,

that these victims may have been
murdered by the same person.

It was incredible
to even contemplate,

but could there be
a third serial killer

here at Baton Rouge.

It's been more than
two years and four month

since LSU grad student
Murray Pace

was brutally murdered.

Louisiana
investigators are searching

for more possible victims

of alleged serial killer
Derrick Todd Lee.

In 2002, while law enforcement
is investigating

the deaths of
Gina Green and Murray Pace,

there were a lot of murders
in downtown Baton Rouge,

under somewhat
different circumstances.

I think it was
just concern that,

"Oh, we've got
another dead woman here.

I mean, what is going on?"

And then the next one happened.

We got
a phone call

from a local resident
that observed a female body

near the south side
of the old Dillard's store.

This was the place where
the body was discovered

on that morning.

Ten feet from the building
south of the structure.

She was in a flower bed,

just about this area here.

The victim is laid on her back.

Her legs was positioned
between the two smaller trees.

Her shirt was pulled above

her breast area near her throat.

She was laid out
in the flower bed.

It appeared
that she had been posed.

It was obvious
she was strangled

because there was blood
on her T-shirt.

It appears that the shirt
that was on her body

may have been used as a ligature

to choke and strangle
the victim.

She was found
in downtown Baton Rouge

closer to where Sylvia
and Florida were found.

The three murders
had several things in common.

All three of the victims

appeared to be
sexually assaulted.

And all three of them
were in areas

where there were drugs,
prostitution, high-risk areas.

We processed the crime scene
and the victim was identified

as Renee Newman.

DNA was ultimately run
on the evidence found

on Florida Edwards' body

as well as evidence
on Renee Newman's body.

They connected those two,

but they didn't know
who the killer was.

Working as
a homicide detective,

you really wanna solve
every case that you work.

You wanna bring
closure to the families.

It takes a toll on you
as an investigator.

You always thinking about
the case that you're working.

You always thinking, "What is i
I could've done different,

what clues
I may have overlooked."

While investigating
Renee Newman's homicide,

we received a tip
that maybe Sean Vincent Gillis

may have known her.

That prompted us
to interview Sean Gillis

relative to that investigation.

Sean was very forthcoming

with the previous
murder investigations.

I would actually say in the ones
involving Renee Newman

and also the ones
done in Baton Rouge,

since he was accused of killing
high-risk lifestyle women.

Sometimes it takes
a killer to know a killer

and Sean can shed life

not only on himself
as being a killer

but also any additional killers
that he may know.

Sean told me that,
while he was out there

searching for a victim,

he observed another hunter,
another serial killer.

He said,
"I'm telling you,

when our eyes locked,

we both knew
exactly why we were there.

Sean would not
tell me

what the other hunter
looked like.

I guess maybe
they've got some kind

of strict code of conduct

when it comes to killers
recognizing other killers

not to divulge
who the other person was.

He refused to give that

and that's when
the interview stopped.

I am Johnnie Martinez.

I decided to catch my bus

to go to the store
to get me some medications.

I get off of the bus,

but the store
is still a ways around

from where the bus is.

On the right-hand side,

there's a big bush, wooded area.

And as I'm walking down
the pathway,

I see a man
coming down towards me.

He was walking
towards the bus stop.

He said, "You have
some extra change?"

When I reached out
to give it to him,

he grabbed my wrist.

He threw a punch,
kind of dazed me a bit.

And when I look,

he was drawing me
towards those big old woods.

And I was helpless.

There was nothing I could do

to prevent him
from taking me in there.

He was a lot larger than me,
real kind of big-looking guy.

He had droopy cheeks
like Droopy the dog.

That's how I remembered him,
by his cheeks.

I determined
that I would give him

the same eye each time
he went to punch me

because I saw him
with the other eye

and I wanted to make sure
that if

I would get out of there alive,

that I wanted to be able
to identify.

I think I survived
because I had a purpose.

God only knows
what your purpose is.

And he presents it to you
at that point in your life.

He started choking me,

put both of his big fat hands

on either side of my neck
and he just started squeezing.

Johnnie decided
the best way to survive

was to tell him,

as he tried
to sexually assault her,

that she had AIDS.

She did not have AIDS,

but she was hoping
that would keep her

from being sexually assaulted.

Once he couldn't rape me,

there was not much he could do
but steal my purse.

She decided
that she had a chance

to survive if she
just played dead.

I take a little breath

and close my eyes.

And I feel him get off of me.

And once he got off of me,

I waited a few more seconds.

And he was gone.

I get a call
and the call is in reference

to someone that was beaten,
possibly attempted rape,

really in bad condition.

And they said, "Hey,
the person that's injured

you know,

and she says
she knows you well."

And I said,
"Well, who would that be?"

And it was Johnnie.

And, you know, I was shocked.

Johnnie worked at
a fast food restaurant

that, during our patrol hours,

I would go over there and eat.

And me and Johnnie
became really good friends.

I immediately
got dressed

and I went to the hospital.

I can tell you this,
I walked into the room

and I stood
to the back of the room.

And when I saw her,

pretty much, tears
came from my eyes.

I had
one big swollen eye

with knots on the side of it.

I had marks
all on the side of my neck.

I looked just like a monster.

My friends came to visit me

after it happened.

They were all crying,

and it hurt me more

because I didn't want them
to cry for me.

We knew
that her purse was missing.

She said she had a debit card

and it had, possibly,
$700 or so on it.

So we asked her
to make the phone call.

He took her purse,

and he went to an ATM,

and he used her card at the ATM.

And they have a beautiful
picture of him using the card.

So this was the break
we was looking for.

I threw
the picture down.

I said, "Man, that's the guy."

That was him.

He said, "You sure?"
I said, "I'm positive."

Remember I told you
he had droopy cheeks?

Look at his droopy cheeks
on there.

She immediately identified
the guy,

the best feeling ever.

Police identified him
as Jeffery Guillory

and found
that he had frequented,

I think, a halfway house

that was in close proximity
to where she was attacked.

We found that Guillory
was from Lake Charles,

was from a family of 10.

He had several convictions

including burglary
and drug convictions.

So our detective
got a warrant for his arrest

for that particular case
with using the ATM machine

with a stolen credit card.

When he was arrested

for the attack
on Johnnie Martinez,

police took his fingerprints

as well as his DNA.

The DNA evidence that was
taken from Florida Edwards

as well as Renee Newman

was in the system,
and it was a hit.

It was also
able to match

Jeffery Guillory's fingerprint

to that of
a beer can left at crime scene

of Sylvia Cobb
on North Arcadian.

Jeffery Lee Guillory
was charged today

for the murders of three women,

Florida Edwards, Sylvia Cobb,
and Renee Newman.

Investigators
questioned him

about Sylvia Cobb.

They questioned him
about Renee Newman

and they questioned him
about Florida Edwards.

He denied
knowing the females,

but he was engaged
in the conversation.

I showed him
eight photographs

of the victims that was killed
in that same area.

Jeffery said he did not know
any of the women.

But he eventually said
he knew Sylvia Cobb.

The body of Sylvia Cobb
was found

in the same general area,
in an abandoned house.

This is all kind of close
to downtown Baton Rouge.

He knew her
but he had never been

at the house
where her body was discovered.

At times, he would smile
and he was not intimidated.

He seemed so calm and so cool.

He was totally unruffled.

He just continued to deny
any involvement.

We had Jeffery DNA
at a crime scene,

so as an investigator,
I'm thinking

that he's gonna
admit to what he did

because we could prove
that his DNA was there.

I'm thinking
that he's gonna man up

and say, "I was there.
I did kill the victims."

He never did
admit to it, you know,

so what do you get from that?

How do you assess a person

who don't wanna admit
to the truth?

Still, he's a killer,
and I knew he was

because of the fact that
we were able to trace him

to these three crime scenes.

Authorities call
Jeffery Lee Guillory

a suspected serial killer,

making him the third
man accused of that title

in the Baton Rouge area
in the last 10 years.

Guillory's
fingerprints were found

at the scene of
Sylvia Cobb's murder

but says DNA evidence

links Guillory
to both Newman and Edwards.

The mother of one alleged victim

is still in Baton Rouge tonight.

Ora Lee Jackson,
was at a loss for words

after news of today's arrest
in the death of Sylvia Cobb.

I cried and seemed
that I couldn't

get that together,
couldn't eat, couldn't sleep.

And I said,
"Well, thank you, Jesus.

They found the killer."

Johnnie Martinez
came to trial

in order to make sure

that Jeffery Guillory
would never be able

to harm another woman.

Finally, we have our guy

for these murders
that occurred in 1999,

2001, and 2002.

With the arrest
of Jeffery Guillory,

now we have
a third serial killer

that's taken off the streets
of Baton Rouge.

I think that Jeffery's
also responsible

for the other homicides
that took place in Baton Rouge.

A proximately 13 females

with high-risk lifestyle
was murdered

in the same manner.

I think he's also responsible
for those murders as well.

The arrest of
serial killer Derrick Todd Lee,

serial killer
Sean Vincent Gillis,

and serial killer
Jeffery Guillory,

all in Baton Rouge,

all within
a very short time period.

The whole city
was relieved,

but the amount of loss

and the amount of sadness,
it's hard.

There was such grief

for the mothers of those women,

such grief,

that I don't think that
that sorrow has ever gone away.

The families
of the victims

of Derrick Todd Lee
was a huge support

from sharing that common horror.

We felt very connected.

We weren't alone.

We had each other.

I don't want to be
overcritical of the police

because I really do think
they did the best they could.

I do think that.

Before AFIS, before CODIS,

before all those systems

kind of created a network

for law enforcement,

things were very isolated.

You could commit crimes

in two counties
in the same state.

They wouldn't connect.

That would be
the question there.

They're dropping this name
that he's a serial killer.

None of this really makes sense.

They were still
utterly convinced

that Randy's ex-husband was
the person who had killed her.

I told them

that the whole time
while you're investigating me,

the person responsible
is still out there.

And he killed
six more women after that.

In 1998,

they did not run
Derrick Lee's DNA,

and think how that would've
changed the world.

Why didn't you ever try
to get a DNA sample?

Had that been
the perfect world of now,

Derrick Todd Lee, he would've
been caught right away.

We wanted to get
Derrick Todd Lee's DNA.

It was early on in the DNA era

as what DNA could do

and never had training on DNA
up to the end,

and really never
understood it, what it could do.

I mean, I understand
what fingerprints can do.

But being a small agency,

we didn't know
a whole lot about DNA.

It was frustrating.

There's probably mistakes
we made too,

and like I say,
throughout my years

of working investigations

from '94 to 2010,
it taught me a lot.

And I think more communication

would've been better
on this case,

and maybe we could've stopped
some murders.

That's a thing that you
can't think about too much,

the fact that, had they run
that DNA in 1998,

that Murray, Gina,

Pam, Carrie, Dene,

all of them would be alive

'cause he would've been caught.

It's just one of those
horrible turns of life.

The wounds
of that time

are still open,
it's not healed yet.

The wounds are still fresh today

as it was back in the '90s

and 2000s as well.

It still haunts the city

because that's a dark part
of our history.

There are so many women

who had been murdered

whose cases were unsolved.

And that's one thing
you think of with ours,

that we were fortunate
to know what happened,

and to know who
and what and why,

as much as you can know why.

Eugenie Boisfontaine.

Dianna Williams.

Tannis Walker.

Patricia Harkins.

It's upsetting
to read so many names

of so many victims

that were killed
during that period of time.

And it's also upsetting

that their killer was never
made answerable

for those murders.

It may have been
Jeffery Guillory.

It may have been
Derrick Todd Lee.

It may have been
Sean Vincent Gillis,

or it may have been
somebody totally unrelated.

But their families
have even less answers

and have never received justice.