Baton Rouge had two serial killers roaming free at the same time, in 2002 -03. This did cause problems for Police as it was determining who was whose victim. One of these men was Sean Gillis. The other was Derrick Lee. But this particular serial killer did not fit the traditional profile. That very near all serial killers are white. The theory is that black serial killers target their own colour, but this has been seen to be not the case. Another theory is that killers always kill to a particular type of M.O. Richard Ramirez blew that out of the water, as he targeted men, women, children, young, old, race irrelevant. The series of murders centred near Louisiana State University, did have a couple of matching details. Mobile phones taken, no sign of forced entry into the victims homes, and two of the victims were dumped in Whiskey Bay.
What brought Lee on the Police radar was the murder of Geralyn DeSoto in January 2002. She had been repeatedly stabbed in her home in Addis. Her husband was the original suspect but scrapings from under the victim's fingernails put a new suspect in the cross hairs. DNA tests confirmed the husband was innocent and the real killer was one Derrick Todd Lee. A warrant was issued for his immediate arrest. The DNA results also linked Todd to six unsolved murders. Lee was arrested in Atlanta in May 2003. Defence lawyers claimed that Lee was mentally incompetent and therefore not fit to stand trial. He scored just under 69, the level used to determine mental incompetence. His trial went ahead, nonetheless, for 2nd degree murder, convicted and received life without parole in August 2004. He faced a second trial in October 2004, and was convicted of the first degree rape and murder of student Charlotte Pace. He received the Death Penalty, and resides on Death Row at Angola Prison in Louisiana. (where John Gotti died)
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