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Jeff Davis 8 | |
---|---|
Details | |
Victims | 8 |
Span of crimes | 2005–2009 |
Country | United States |
State(s) | Louisiana |
The Jeff Davis 8, sometimes called the Jennings 8, refers to a series of unsolved murders in Jefferson Davis Parish, Louisiana. [1] [2] Between 2005 and 2009, the bodies of eight women were found in swamps and canals surrounding Jennings, Louisiana. Most of the bodies were found in such a state of decomposition as to make the actual cause of death difficult to determine. [1] [2]
Author and investigative reporter Ethan Brown has revealed how police investigations have been plagued by missteps in the sheriff's office, contributing to lost or missing evidence. [2] Brown's work has revealed that there are multiple suspects in the Jeff Davis 8 case and that therefore it is unlikely that this is a serial killer case; furthermore, Brown has revealed that law enforcement's own witnesses have named members of local law enforcement as suspects in the case. [2]
The first victim, Loretta Lewis, 28, was found floating in a river by a fisherman on May 20, 2005. [3] [4] Other victims were Ernestine Marie Daniels Patterson, 30; Kristen Gary Lopez, 21; Whitnei Dubois, 26; Laconia "Muggy" Brown, 23; Crystal Shay Benoit Zeno, 24; and Brittney Gary, 17. [4] The final body, that of Necole Guillory, 26, was found off Interstate 10 in 2009. [5]
Patterson and Brown had their throats slit; the other bodies were in too advanced state of decomposition to determine the cause of death, though asphyxia is a suspected cause of death. [2]
Brown's investigative work reveals many tangled connections between victims, suspects, and the police. [2] [6] Most of the victims knew each other well. [3] Some were related by blood (such as cousins Kristen Gary Lopez and Brittney Gary) or lived together (Gary lived with Crystal Benoit shortly before her death). [2] The victims also shared in common traits such as poverty, mental illness, and histories of drug abuse and sex work. [1] [2]
The women all also served as informants for the police about the local drug trade and often provided police with information about other Jeff Davis 8 victims before their own deaths. [2]
Kristen Lopez, one of the victims, was present when police shot and killed a drug dealer named Leonard Crochet in 2005 along with several individuals connected to the Jeff Davis 8 case, including Alvin "Bootsy" Lewis, who fathered a child with victim Whitnei Dubois and is also the brother in law of the first victim, Loretta Chaisson Lewis. [2] A grand jury investigated the shooting and determined there was no probable cause for a charge of negligent homicide against police even though a Louisiana State Police investigation into the Crochet shooting concluded that he was unarmed when he was shot to death by law enforcement. [2] However, witnesses told investigators they believed the police had killed many of the victims because of what they knew about the shooting of Leonard Crochet. [2]
In December 2008, a task force consisting of 14 federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies was formed to solve the killings. [4] [5] From the outset, the task force was searching for a serial killer. [1] However, Brown's recent investigative work exposing connections between victims, suspects, and the police casts doubt on the theory that the Jeff Davis 8 is the work of a serial killer. [4] [6] Family members of the victims suspect the police are actually responsible for the deaths. [4]
Task force investigative reports reveal a series of witness interviews in which local law enforcement were implicated in the murders. [2] Statements from two female inmates portrayed suspects working with the sheriff's office to dispose of evidence in the Lopez case. [2] However, the sergeant who took the statements was forced out of his job, and the allegations were ignored by law enforcement. [2]
Sheriff's office chief criminal investigator, Warren Gary, was also accused of purchasing a truck suspected of having been used to transport a body for the purpose of discarding evidence. [4] [7]
In 2009, the sheriff ordered that every investigator working the Jeff Davis 8 case be swabbed for DNA in response to the accusations against investigators. [2] However, the office refuses to comment on the results of the DNA testing. [2]
Police have arrested or issued warrants for the arrest of four people in connection with the case. [1] Two people were held on murder charges for months before being released due to issues with evidence. [1]
Frankie Richard, a local strip club owner and suspected drug dealer [1] [2] admitted to being a crack addict and to having sex with most of the victims. [1] He was among those last seen with one of the victims, Kristen G. Lopez. [1] Law enforcement's own witnesses have connected Richard to the Sheriff's Office. [3] The two female inmates who stated the Sheriff's Office disposed of evidence in the Lopez case alleged that the evidence was discarded at the behest of Richard. [2]
Byron Chad Jones and Lawrence Nixon (a cousin of the fifth victim, Laconia Brown) were briefly charged with second-degree murder in the Ernestine Patterson case. [2] However, the sheriff's office did not test the alleged crime scene until 15 months after Patterson's murder, and found it "failed to demonstrate the presence of blood." [2]
The murders and investigations feature in several media offerings.
Despite speculation, the Jeff Davis 8 cases were not the inspiration for the first season of the HBO series True Detective , according to creator Nic Pizzolatto in the series’ DVD commentary.
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