Thread: Arrest Made of **Another** Accused Serial Killer In Baton Rouge, LA

Made of Another Accused Serial Killer

www.wafb.com/Global/story.asp?S=1826593

(Baton Rouge-AP) -- A Baton Rouge man was arrested today in the killings of three women since 1999.

41-year-old Sean Vincent Gillis was booked in the deaths of 29-year-old Katherine Hall, 45-year-old Johnnie Mae Williams and 43-year-old Donna Bennett Johnston.

Gillis was arrested at his home around 1:20 a.m. Thursday morning and charged with three counts of first degree murder and three counts of ritualistic acts. Authorities say Gillis did not resist arrest and agreed to a DNA swabbing. At around 7:00 a.m., authorities say Gillis confessed to the murders.

The arrest affidavit says a unique kind of tire led officers to Gillis. The affidavit also says that Gillis had an eight-year relationship with one of the victims, Johnnie Mae Williams.

9 News has also learned that Gillis has had three prior run-ins with the law. On March 9, 1980 Gillis was charged with criminal trespassing; On July 6th, 1982 he was arrested for running a red light and resisting arrest. On January 6th, 1993 he was cited with improper lane usage and DWI.

Hall was slain in January 1999, and Williams was killed in October, 2003. Johnston's body was found February 27th. Each woman had an arrest record for prostitution, drugs or both. Authorities have not said what led them to believe Gillis is a suspect in the women's deaths.

A task force of the Sheriff's Office, Baton Rouge Police, Louisiana State Police, the FBI and the Attorney General's Office have been involved in the investigation. Court records show that Gillis has been arrested once in the past, for criminal trespass in 1980.

We'll have more details on this story as it continues to unfold on 9 News at Five and Six.

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A segment broadcast on the noon news stated they are also linking the murder Hardee Schmidt and others ....

Originally Posted by Jolie Rouge

Does Baton Rouge Have ANOTHER Serial Killer ?


http://www.wafb.com/Global/story.asp?S=1690077

One day after authorities formed a task force to investigate the murder of Donna Bennett Johnston as well as the murders of two other known prostitutes, Johnston's family laid her to rest.

Johnston's body was found, brutally murdered, February 27th. An autopsy showed she was strangled to death. Although there is no DNA to conclusively link the murders of Katherine Hall, Johnnie Mae Williams and Johnston, authorities there were several similarities between each case, including the method of how the women were killed and their bodies dumped. Authorities also say all of the women had criminal records involving drugs or prostitution.

Johnston's son tells 9 News that he is not happy with the impression the police description leaves with the public.

"I would like to say that my mother is not just some 'high-risk lifestyle' prostitute. She is a ray of sunshine and there is a lot that loved her. Everything she ever came into contact with she left something with," said Michael Bennett.

"I urge everybody out there who's ever lost a loved one who knows how I feel to please come together at this time because if you know how I feel then you know there's somebody out there walking the street that snuffed out my mom as well as other people and anybody could be next," said Bennett.

Police are asking anyone who may know anything about this murder to call the task force tip line at 866-973-2734 or 866-9SEARCH.

BR man arrested in deaths of three women, suspect in fourth

By MELINDA DESLATTE Associated Press writer

www.2theadvocate.com/livepages4/522.shtml

Less than a year after one man was arrested for the serial slayings of seven women, Baton Rouge police today accused a second man of being a serial killer, arrested in the murders of three women since 1999 and a suspect in the death of a fourth woman.

Sean Vincent Gillis, 41, of Baton Rouge, was arrested in a SWAT team raid early this morning at his home. He was booked on three counts of first-degree murder and three counts of ritualistic acts in the deaths of Katherine Hall, 29, Johnnie Mae Williams, 45, and Donna Bennett Johnston, 43.




A DNA swab from Gillis' mouth matched DNA evidence collected from the women's bodies, according to police, who refused to give further details about the DNA. "The goal now is to convict this man and, hopefully, to execute him," said Lt. Col. Greg Phares, with the East Baton Rouge Parish Sheriff's Office.

No court date was announced.

While police had said they suspected one man likely was responsible for the murders of all three women, they had shied away from using the term serial killer until Gillis' arrest.

Hall was slain in January 1999, Williams was killed in October 2003, and Johnston's body was found Feb. 27. Each woman had an arrest record for prostitution, drugs or both, and law enforcement officials formed a task force to track the murderer.

The women were killed in a similar manner and their bodies were cut and mutilated, according to Gillis' arrest warrant. Police said they tracked Gillis through tire tracks left at the site where Johnston's body was discovered, declining to give further details.

Gillis also was being investigated in the death of Hardee Schmidt, 52, who disappeared from her Baton Rouge neighborhood while jogging in 1999, Phares said at a news conference today, adding police planned to review other unsolved murder cases to see if Gillis was involved.

"We will look at any murder in the Baton Rouge area that is similar to the murders he has been charged with," Phares said.

Authorities said Gillis was unemployed and had previous arrests for trespassing and drunken driving but gave no other details.

Gillis lived in a one-story house with pink trim in a neighborhood with a blend of working people and college students from nearby Louisiana State University.

John Bullock, a neighbor, said he didn't know Gillis but often noticed people going in and out of the home "at all times of the day, early in the morning." Bullock said he saw officers storm into the home about 1:30 a.m. today and heard a boom that deputies later told him had been a concussion grenade.










In the other serial killings case, police arrested Derrick Todd Lee in May 2003 and said DNA linked him to the murders of seven south Louisiana women between April 1998 and March 2003, plus an attack on an eighth woman. Lee has been indicted in three killings and is charged in the other attack.

He has pleaded innocent, and his first trial is scheduled to begin May 10. Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty.

Sean Vincent Gillis



Hall, Williams, Johnston

As 9 News first reported, with the arrest of 41-year-old Sean Vincent Gillis early Thursday morning, authorities say they have a second serial killer suspect in the East Baton Rouge Parish Prison. Vincent is charged in the murders of 29-year-old Katherine Hall, 45-year-old Johnnie Mae Williams and 43-year-old Donna Bennett Johnston.

Gillis was arrested at his home on Burgin Road around 1:20 a.m. Thursday morning. Gillis is charged with three counts of first degree murder and three counts of ritualistic acts. Authorities say Gillis did not resist arrest and agreed to a DNA swabbing. At around 7:00 a.m., authorities say Gillis confessed to the murders.

The arrest affidavit says a unique kind of tire led officers to Gillis. They say they found the tracks of those tires in the area near Ben Hur where the body of Donna Bennett Johnston was found. The State Police crime lab were able to take that tire track and determine the brand, model and type of tire. Then, investigators learned that this type of tire was only manufactured for a three-year period ending in 2003. They say that particular type of tire had only been purchased 90 times in the Baton Rouge area.

"When you split a piece of firewood, the first few blows might make a tiny little crack and it begins to break wide open. That tire track was the first little crack. The work of the State Police Crime Lab laid it open. Investigators swabbed Sean Gillis and the State Police Crime Lab matched his DNA," said Lieutenant Colonel Greg Phares, with the East Baton Rouge Sheriff's Office.

On that same date, detectives came into contact with Sean Vincent Gillis and found that he normally operates a vehicle equipped with matching tires. Detectives questioned Gillis and say he admitted that his vehicle was at the scene where Johnston's body was found. He says he was there six days before authorities recovered her body. The affidavit also says Gillis had an eight year relationship with Johnnie Mae Williams and that she was inside his vehicle about 30 days before authorities found her body.

The affidavit says Gillis told authorities they would probably find a lot of evidence of blood in his car and blamed that on a health-related condition of his common-law wife, Terri. 9 News spoke with Terri who said Gillis confessed to her at 7 a.m. She told WAFB's ***** Davidson that detectives kicked in their door around 1 a.m. and sent a concussion grenade inside. She says they were both taken into custody and questioned and calls Gillis "a teddy bear" and a "normal person."

"The door got kicked in and they threw the little bomb in here and got us up and took us downtown," says Terri, "And I saw a ton of sheriff's deputies assaulting the house across the street."

Late Thursday afternoon investigators began taking pictures and collecting evidence from Gillis' home, including a small white car and grey minivan from the scene. Investigators say Terri does not ever remember bleeding in Gillis' vehicle.

Terri says she is still in shock. She says she didn't believe Gillis could kill Katherine Hall, Johnnie May Williams and Donna Bennett Johnston until Gillis called her later in the morning and told her of his confession to the crimes. "He said I confessed at 7," said Terri.

Sources tell 9 News, Gillis has confessed to investigators about other murders. According to our sources, since detectives arrested the accused serial killer, Sean Gillis has made seven taped confessions to detectives concerning women's murders. When asked about other murders, sources tell us Gillis told investigators, quote -- "If you show me photo's, I may be able to remember more."

At 9:12 a.m., Gillis agreed to a DNA test. Joanie Wilson, with the State Police Crime Lab tested the sample and reported that Gillis' DNA matched the suspect in the cases of Katherine Hall and Donna Bennett Johnson. Then, the FBI Crime Lab compared the sample to one taken in the murder of Johnnie Mae Williams. They say it matched the suspect in that murder as well.

Hall was slain in January 1999, and Williams was killed in October, 2003. Johnston's body was found February 27th. All three women were strangled. Authorities also say Gillis is a suspect in the unsolved murders of other women in south Louisiana. They confirmed he is a suspect in the murder of Hardee Schmidt and possibly, Mary Ann Fowler.

9 News has also learned that Gillis has had three prior run-ins with the law. On March 9, 1980 Gillis was charged with criminal trespassing; On July 6th, 1982 he was arrested for running a red light and resisting arrest. On January 6th, 1993 he was cited with improper lane usage and DWI.


http://www.wafb.com/Global/story.asp?S=1826593

Gillis Confession Solves Two More Murders

www.wafb.com/Global/story.asp?S=1831138

Hall, Williams, Johnston (top row); Bryan, Schmidt (bottom row)



One family has waited a decade. Another five years. The Joint Homicide Task Force says a confession by Sean Vincent Gillis solves the murders of Ann Bryan and Hardee Schmidt. 81-year-old Ann was stabbed more than 50 homes in her inside her residence at the exclusive retirement home, St. James Place on Lee Drive back in March of 1994.

This comes one day after Gillis was arrested and charged with three counts of first-degree murder and three counts of ritualistic acts in the murders of 29-year-old Katherine Hall, 45-year-old Johnnie May Williams and 43-year-old Donna Bennett Johnston. Detectives have conclusively connected Gillis to these three murders through DNA.

Authorities are now testing evidence in the murders to which Gillis has confessed. Those confessions include graphic details described in arrest warrants release Friday.

According to the arrest warrant, Gillis told detectives he went to St. James Place in the early morning of March 21st, 1994. The warrant says Gillis told detectives he entered Ann Bryan's home to rape the 81 year old, but she started screaming when he touched her. Gillis then told detectives he cut her throat to stop her screaming and began stabbing her. The warrant says Gillis gave them details about this elderly woman's death only the killer could know.

The description of what the killer did to Hardee Schmidt is far more graphic. Detectives say Hardee was abducted while jogging in the Perkins Road/Quail Run area on May 30, 1999. Her body was dumped into a St. James Parish bayou back in May of 1999. Gillis now has additional charges of first degree murder, aggravated kidnapping and stalking in the Hardee Schmidt case and first degree murder in the Ann Bryan case.

The arrest affidavit sheds new light on both crimes. It says that in May of 1999, Gillis saw Hardee jogging in the south Baton Rouge area and then spent the following three weeks driving around the area looking for her. It was about 5:30 in Sunday morning, May 30, 1999 when Gillis was driving on Quail Run Drive and first saw Hardee jogging. The affidavit says he hit her with his vehicle and knocked her into a ditch. It says Gillis got out of his vehicle armed with heavy duty wire plastic wrap, placed the wrap around her neck and pulled it tight. Gillis then forced her into his vehicle, drove to a park in the Highland Road area, removed her clothes and sexually assaulted her.

The affidavit says Gillis then placed her dead, naked body into the trunk of his vehicle and drove to his house. According to that affidavit, Gillis waited until the next day to drive to Highway 61 in St. James Parish and dump Hardee's body into a bayou. Her body was found June 1st--two days after her murder.

Gillis is now officially charged with the murders of five women. Sources tell 9-News he has confessed to eight. While authorities won't talk about any specific cases, Lieuntenant Colonel Greg Phares says investigators will continue to look into the possibility of Gillis's involvement in other unsolved murders in the Baton Rouge Metro and surrounding areas. Both Phares and Baton Rouge Police Chief Pat Englade say the investigation will not be limited and they will go back as far as they can to determine exactly how many murders are linked to Gillis.

"We're going to be very careful not to say anything that would muddy the waters for a successful prosecution of Sean Gillis," said Phares.

Family Members Form Mixed Emotions From Confessions

The news of the Gillis' confessions has drawn mixed emotions from the family members of his alleged victims. Some are pleased with Friday's developments, while others still feel uneasy.

Hardee Schimdt's husband, Bob Schmidt, says when authorities came to his house at about midnight Thursday night, he wasn't really surprised when they told him Sean Vincent Gillis had been charged in the murder of his wife Hardee. He says by that time, he'd heard that Gillis was a suspect. But it's the details that police shared with him of exactly what happened that affected him the most.

"My feeling was relief. I was happy that finally, we're getting an idea of what happened," said Schmidt.

It's been nearly five years since 52-year-old Schmidt got up for an early morning jog and never returned home. Since then, her family has been living with countless unanswered questions. -- Questions like how Hardee, who was a wonderful runner, could have been chased down on foot.

Schmidt says his late night conversation with police answered that question and many more -- leaving him first upset, but now, relieved. Schmidt admits that at first, he wasn't really sure that police had the right man. But now, he says, he's confident. Schmidt says, "You know you always have to be careful, but I think the police appear to be taking great pains to be sure that they have the right fact and the right person."

Schmidt says he's glad police have captured the man they believe is guilty. But when asked if he would ever like to confront his wife's accused killer, he says "No, there's nothing the person could say to make him understand."

"There can't be a very good reason. He certainly didn't know her," says Schmidt. "I don't know any explanation that would be satisfactory."

Schmidt says police were very open with him and two of his three children. He says as difficult as it was to hear the gruesome details of what Gillis allegedly did to his wife, not knowing may have been even harder.

Meanwhile, the family of Ann Bryan remains cautiously optimistic. Racheal and Jon Ericht say they are almost a 100 percent sure but they still have some doubts. They hope police will now test the evidence they have had for 10 years and get more proof.

In the years following Bryan's 1994 murder, her family says at times they've had to pretty much beg police for answers. However, Bryan's family got some of the answers they were looking for at Friday's news conference. Although detectives say Gillis confessed to killing Bryan and offered exclusive details only Ann's killer could possibly know, her family wants conclusive evidence.

While authorities say they are certain, details that Gillis described were never released to the public, a former detective contradicts that information and says a lot of those details were disclosed.

Ann's family remains hopeful Gillis is telling the truth so they can close a few chapters of their life. "I'm holding back on my enthusiasm. I'm a little concerned it's a confession. I hope there's evidence from my mother's crime scene. I hope they test it to see if there is any DNA," said Rachel Ehricht, Bryan's daughter.

What Led Authorities To Their Man

It was early Thursday morning, when Gillis was booked into the East Baton Rouge Parish Prison. He is now charged with three counts of first degree murder and three counts of ritualistic acts in the murders of 29-year-old Katherine Hall, 45-year-old Johnnie Mae Williams and 43-year-old Donna Bennett Johnston.

Gillis was arrested at his home on Burgin Road around 1:20 a.m. Thursday morning. Authorities say he did not resist arrest and agreed to a DNA swabbing. At around 7:00 a.m., authorities say Gillis confessed to the murders.

The arrest affidavit says a unique kind of tire led officers to Gillis. They say they found the tracks of those tires in the area near Ben Hur where the body of Donna Bennett Johnston was found. The State Police Crime Lab was able to take that tire track and determine the brand, model and type of tire. Then, investigators learned that this type of tire was only manufactured for a three-year period ending in 2003. They say that particular type of tire had only been purchased 90 times in the Baton Rouge area.

"When you split a piece of firewood, the first few blows might make a tiny little crack and it begins to break wide open. That tire track was the first little crack. The work of the State Police Crime Lab laid it open. Investigators swabbed Sean Gillis and the State Police Crime Lab matched his DNA," said Lieutenant Colonel Greg Phares, with the East Baton Rouge Sheriff's Office.

On that same date, detectives came into contact with Gillis and found that he normally operates a vehicle equipped with the matching tires. Detectives questioned Gillis and say he admitted that his vehicle was at the scene where Donna's body was found. He says he was there six days before authorities recovered her body. The affidavit also says Gillis had an eight year relationship with Johnnie Mae Williams and that she was inside his vehicle about 30 days before authorities found her body.

The affidavit says Gillis told authorities they would probably find a lot of evidence of blood in his car and blamed that on a health-related condition of his common-law wife, Terri. 9 News spoke with Terri, who said Gillis confessed to her at 7 a.m. She told WAFB's ***** Davidson that detectives kicked in their door around 1 a.m. and sent a concussion grenade inside. She says they were both taken into custody and questioned and calls Gillis "a teddy bear" and a "normal person."

"The door got kicked in and they threw the little bomb in here and got us up and took us downtown," says Terri, "And I saw a ton of sheriff's deputies assaulting the house across the street."

Late Thursday afternoon investigators began taking pictures and collecting evidence from Gillis' home, including a small white car and grey minivan from the scene. Investigators say Terri does not ever remember bleeding in Gillis' vehicle.

BR man described as 'loner,' troubled

http://www.2theadvocate.com/stories/...loner001.shtml

[i]By PENNY BROWN ROBERTS Advocate staff writer


Several years ago, Carolyn Clay caught a man peeping in the windows of the orange-brick home where her daughter and son-in-law lived on Burgin Avenue. The 64-year-old Clay persuaded the couple not to have the man arrested because she had known him -- and his strange ways -- since he was a teenager.

Now Clay wishes she had reported the incident to police.

The man, she said, was Sean Vincent Gillis, 41, who was arrested Thursday and booked in the killings of three women in East Baton Rouge Parish.

"Oh my God, my family," Clay said, bursting into tears when told the crimes with which Gillis is accused. "I knew he was drunk or on drugs. He jumped the fence and said he was looking for his cats. We could have all been victims."

Gillis made his home in this neighborhood of mostly retirees and college students off Lee Drive in March 1978. He and his mother, Yvonne, settled into a pink brick ranch-style house with green shutters shaded by a magnolia tree in the front yard. Neighbors grew accustomed through the years to the odd goings-on there.

As a teenager, Gillis once pounded on garbage cans as if they were drums, lamenting in the middle of the street that he didn't have a girlfriend. As an adult, the 125-pound, 5-foot-7-inch bespectacled Gillis would lie in what neighbors described as an unkempt, rat-infested front yard and bark at the moon -- or scream obscenities about his mother.

Said Cynthia Cash, a 50-year-old landscape architect who lives just around the corner: "He gave me the willies."

Young Gillis

Gillis was born in 1962 to Norman E. Gillis Jr., a Collier's Encyclopedia salesman, and Yvonne Gillis, who worked as an office secretary at radio station WXOK. Old Baton Rouge city directories also show the couple lived on St. Charles Street in Beauregard Town.

A year later, Gillis' father became an agent for Life Insurance Co. of Virginia and Yvonne Gillis became a "continuity" manager at WBRZ-TV. The couple purchased a home at 875 W. Roosevelt St.

Gillis' father died sometime between 1963 and 1964, the city directory indicates, and Yvonne Gillis went to work as a copywriter for the television station.

In 1978, Yvonne bought the home at 545 Burgin Ave., where she and her son lived until she moved to Atlanta about a decade ago. A woman answering the phone Thursday at the home of Yvonne Gillis in Atlanta said she "is not home right now," and promptly hung up.

Gillis graduated from Redemptorist High School in Baton Rouge in 1980, academic records show. Few classmates reached Thursday remember him, and those who do say he distinguished himself only as a nerdy kid who wore out-of-style clothes and as an obsessive Star Trek fan. Aubin Chustz, 42, said Gillis regularly was "ostracized" by his classmates for being different.
"He was a very weird guy -- always talking about Star Trek."

Joey Frosch, a 42-year-old fire captain with the St. George Fire Department, said Gillis was quiet and kind of kept to himself in high school. "He was kind of in the Star Trek group, and you couldn't really hold a decent conversation with him," Frosch said. "You could never fit on the same wavelength with him -- he was always off on another tangent."

After graduation, Gillis maintained "a series of low-level jobs," said Lt. Col. Greg Phares of the East Baton Rouge Parish Sheriff's Office. Neighbors say he worked at various times as a clerk at the Circle K on Boone Avenue, and most recently as a copier technician. Phares said Gillis was unemployed at the time of the arrest.

Through the years, he also developed a minor criminal record.

The same year he graduated from high school, Gillis and two friends were arrested on counts of simple trespass -- accused of forcing their way through the fence of a property on Harrell's Ferry Road. He and another man ran into the woods when authorities arrived, but were caught. He was fined $500.

In January 1993, he was cited for first-offense DWI and improper lane usage.

On Dec. 9, 1999, police arrested Gillis for possession of marijuana. He pleaded guilty a month later, and was placed on probation with several conditions, City Prosecutor Carl Jackson said. Jackson did not know what the conditions were, but said Gillis violated his probation at least once. Several bench warrants for the violation were issued, and Gillis was arrested in June 2002.

Gillis also had one traffic violation, for misuse of a temporary tag and failure to register his 1990 gray Mazda van. He was ordered to pay $170 in fines.


Neighbors suspicious

While Gillis failed to distinguish himself in school or a profession, he certainly made an impression in his neighborhood. After his mother left, he lived in the home with his longtime girlfriend, Terri Kay Lemoine, Gillis' arrest warrant shows.

Neighbors say the couple never had any children, but Lemoine has at least one child from a previous marriage. A woman who answered the phone Thursday afternoon said, "We're not interested. We have no comment." No one answered the phone at the residence later in the evening.

Over the years, visitors came and went from the home at all hours of the night -- including a Brown's Velvet truck that stopped by once a week.
"They were almost like people of the night," said Alan Brown, a 23-year-old college student who lives across the street from Gillis. "There were always a bunch of cars there, but we would only see them at night."

Added his roommate, 23-year-old John Bullock: "They were kinda shady."


One night a few years ago, Gillis repeatedly pounded on the front door of June Townsend's home, a retired school teacher who has lived two doors down since 1962. He refused to identify himself. "My antenna went up," she said. "I'm thankful I never opened that door."

Cash said Gillis knocked on her door, too -- shortly after the landscape architect moved in around the corner 12 years ago. He had a message: She needed new drapes, because he could see in her windows. "At first I thought it was sweet," Cash said Thursday as she watched investigators pull a sword from Gillis' attic. "Now I'm thinking, 'What the hell was he doing looking in my windows?' "

When Gillis was arrested for driving while intoxicated in 1993, he asked Clay to retrieve his cat. Inside the home, Clay said, she saw what appeared to be "a lot of stolen merchandise and pot."

Most who live in the neighborhood were horrified to discover an accused killer living in their midst. David Abadie, 23, spent more than a year living in fear of a serial killer who stalked victims on the LSU campus. Police arrested Derrick Todd Lee in those killings.

Abadie added safety features to the home he shares with his wife, Courtney, and young son, David. He came home for lunch every day to check on her.
"I'm in shock," Abadie said. "I can't believe this. Two serial killers in one town. Why?"

But Clay -- who's lived on Burgin Avenue since 1971 -- isn't surprised.
She said she always thought Gillis "fit the profile" of the man who killed Ann Bryan, who lived in nearby St. James Place until she was stabbed and mutilated in 1994. The killing remains unsolved. "He's a troubled fellow," Clay said. "He was a loner who did strange things. He was separated from the mainstream."


Editor's note: Advocate reporter Josh Noel and librarian John Sykes contributed to this report.


*** Note -- since my earlier post at 9:45 the 10 o'clock news added another confirmed victim to the list accrued by this man. **

Murders of dozens of women remain unsolved

By BRETT TROXLER - 2theadvocate.com staff
From a report by WBRZ's Veronica Mosgrove

http://www.2theadvocate.com/stories/...rders001.shtml

East Baton Rouge Parish now has two suspected serial killers behind bars, with Derrick Todd Lee and Sean Vincent Gillis accused of a dozen murders between them. But dozens more area murders involving women remain unsolved, according to Baton Rouge Police.

One murder that remains unsolved is that Christine Moore, who was reported missing in May 2002. Nearly a month later her body was discovered off River Road near Ebenezer Baptist Church. The LSU graduate student's body was decomposed and authorities said she was beaten to death. Until now, Moore's family believed Lee was responsible for her death.

"The No. 1 suspect in my daughter's death is Derrick Todd Lee because of his method of operation -- blunt force trauma," said Anthony Moore, Christine's father. But when Anthony Moore learned of Gillis' arrest, he immediately called authorities. "I asked one simple question, 'Did you ask Mr. Gillis if he killed my daughter?" he said. "And they said they'd get back to me."

Anthony Moore said without a confession he believes his daughter's murder will remain unsolved because there was little evidence left at the scene, including no DNA evidence.

In addition to Moore's death, there are dozens of other women whose murder cases remain unsolved in south Louisiana. Cpl. Don Kelly of the Baton Rouge Police Department said there are about 40 unsolved cases in the capitol city alone.

As for Christine Moore's family, they said they will not rest until they can get closure on her death. "I want to know who killed her," Anthony Moore said. "I want to know what circumstances. I want to know what weapon was used. I want to know why."



[i]As reported on April 30 on WBRZ's 6 p.m. telecast. If you have information or comments related to this story, e-mail them to news@wbrz.com.
[i]

Originally Posted by Jolie Rouge

*** Note -- since my earlier post at 9:45 the 10 o'clock news added another confirmed victim to the list accrued by this man. **

Gillis Confesses To Another Murder

www.wafb.com/Global/story.asp?S=1831138




Lillian Gorham Robinson


After continued questioning, sources tell 9 News that Sean Vincent Gillis has confessed to yet another killing. Sources say Gillis has confessed to killing prostitute Lillian Gorham Robinson. Robinson's family members say they've now been told Gillis confessed to killing 51-year-old Lillian after police showed them her picture. This comes just hours after the Joint Homicide Task Force says Gillis confessed to the murders of 81-year-old Ann Bryan and 52-year-old Hardee Schmidt.

Gillis was arrested Thursday and charged with three counts of first-degree murder and three counts of ritualistic acts in the murders of 29-year-old Katherine Hall, 45-year-old Johnnie May Williams and 43-year-old Donna Bennett Johnston. Detectives have conclusively connected Gillis to these three murders through a voluntary DNA sample.

Lillian Robinson turned up missing in January of 2000. Months later, someone found her body in the Atchafaylaya Basin near Whiskey Bay, just two miles from where Pam Kinamore's body was recovered. Lillian had been strangled and thrown off from bridge. The coroner's office says she also showed signs of drowning.

Authorities are now testing evidence in the murders to which Gillis has confessed. Those confessions include graphic details described in arrest warrants released Friday.

According to the arrest warrant, Gillis told detectives he went to St. James Place in the early morning of March 21st, 1994. The warrant says Gillis told detectives he entered Ann Bryan's home to rape the 81 year old, but she started screaming when he touched her. Gillis then told detectives he cut her throat to stop her screaming and began stabbing her. The warrant says Gillis gave them details about this elderly woman's death only the killer could know.

The description of what the killer did to Hardee Schmidt is far more graphic. Detectives say Hardee was abducted while jogging in the Perkins Road/Quail Run area on May 30, 1999. Her body was dumped into a St. James Parish bayou back in May of 1999. Gillis now has additional charges of first degree murder, aggravated kidnapping and stalking in the Hardee Schmidt case and first degree murder in the Ann Bryan case.

The arrest affidavit sheds new light on both crimes. It says that in May of 1999, Gillis saw Hardee jogging in the south Baton Rouge area and then spent the following three weeks driving around the area looking for her. It was about 5:30 in Sunday morning, May 30, 1999 when Gillis was driving on Quail Run Drive and first saw Hardee jogging. The affidavit says he hit her with his vehicle and knocked her into a ditch. It says Gillis got out of his vehicle armed with heavy duty wire plastic wrap, placed the wrap around her neck and pulled it tight. Gillis then forced her into his vehicle, drove to a park in the Highland Road area, removed her clothes and sexually assaulted her.

The affidavit says Gillis then placed her dead, naked body into the trunk of his vehicle and drove to his house. According to that affidavit, Gillis waited until the next day to drive to Highway 61 in St. James Parish and dump Hardee's body into a bayou. Her body was found June 1st--two days after her murder.

Gillis is now officially charged with the murders of five women. Sources tell 9-News he has confessed to eight. While authorities won't talk about any specific cases, Lieuntenant Colonel Greg Phares says investigators will continue to look into the possibility of Gillis's involvement in other unsolved murders in the Baton Rouge Metro and surrounding areas. Both Phares and Baton Rouge Police Chief Pat Englade say the investigation will not be limited and they will go back as far as they can to determine exactly how many murders are linked to Gillis.

"We're going to be very careful not to say anything that would muddy the waters for a successful prosecution of Sean Gillis," said Phares.

Originally Posted by greenstar

We sure live in a small world. DTL knew Lillian Robinson - Lillian Robinson was killed by Sean Gillis. Lillian Robinson also knew Veronica Courtney.

The first task force secret victims (I say secret because they did not publicly state which cases they were studying) were:

Tannis Walker - strangled
Florida Edwards - strangled
Patricia Hawkins - strangled
Veronica Courtney - strangled
Shirley Mikell - beaten
Dianna Williams - beaten

I know I have read that Tannis Walker's case had DNA, I believe they let a suspect go because he didn't match. When are they going to test Walker's DNA to match against Gillis or are they going to let him confess and put him away and sweep all this garbage under a rug where no one will ever look?

I would like to know whether Derrick Todd Lee knew Sean Vincent Gillis, period.

http://boards.courttv.com/showthread...hreadid=123146

Originally Posted by Granny02

This is my theory on Lillian. Yes, she did know DTL and we assume that on occassion he hung out where they lived.

In the apts. behind old Bon Marche Mall.

Veronica Courtney was one of her friends, so she probably knew DTL as well.

IF Gillis killed Lillian and dumped her in the basin, it's possible that DTL knew this from mutual "friends" and took his clue from Gillis as to where he could dispose of his victims.

Lillian and Veronica were both scared, in the weeks before they were killed. Lillian had told several family members that she was being followed and apparently the police knew it also, because they "relocated" her, due to something she had witnessed.

Veronica would not talk to family members, because she was scared, after Lillian died. So did she know something? Did the police know something?

Then 4 months after Lillian, Veronica is dead. Odd?

The pattern seems to show that Gillis also disposed of his victims, killed them in one area, and took them to another.

The water connection between Gillis and DTL is erie to say the least. Could be DTL took this from Gillis. ??

I believe that Christina Daigle will be a victim of Gillis

Originally Posted by Granny02

http://community.webshots.com/user/crimewatch1

Be sure to click on the POI that is showing. There are more photo's in the album.

Pay attention to Lafayette POI and Suspect Joe.

Colomb Person Of Interest

Suspect JOE / Person Of Interest


Lafayette Person Of Interest


Sean Vincent Gillis

www.2theadvocate.com/stories...deaths001.shtml


....City Police Chief Pat Englade said after the news conference that detectives "are still going full-bore" to re-examine unsolved murders dating back to the early 1980s -- Gillis' late teens. An FBI profiler might be flown in to help, he said.

"I think there are going to be more, but I don't want to stick a number on it," he said. "As long as he wants to talk, we'll talk."

However, Gillis' lawyer, public defender Bert Garraway, asked for the talking to end Friday. Garraway said he called Sheriff's Col. Mike Barnett about 3 p.m. and asked that detectives stop questioning Gillis without a lawyer present. "He assured me he would and he and I understand each other," Garraway said. "So far I don't know who has questioned the guy or about what."

Garraway, who was assigned the case Friday afternoon, said he'll probably meet with Gillis for the first time today.

Englade said that detectives have taken Gillis from Parish Prison to conduct the interviews, but he would not say where. All the questioning has been legal, he said. "We followed the book and Miranda was absolutely done," he said. "He was Mirandized and Mirandized." Police must recite the Miranda warning before questioning suspects to tell them of certain rights.

A SWAT team arrested Gillis at his home at 545 Burgin Ave., early Thursday morning. Investigators said DNA evidence linked him to the killings of Katherine Hall in 1999, Johnnie Mae Williams in October and Donna Bennett Johnston in February.

He was booked into Parish Prison on three counts of first-degree murder and three counts of ritualistic acts, accused of mutilating their bodies after death.

Sudden resolution

The Sheriff's Office formed a task force to investigate the killings of Hall, Williams and Johnston based on several commonalties, particularly their "high-risk lifestyles" and the fact that their bodies had been mutilated. All three had been arrested for drugs, alcohol or both.

However, few suspicions had ever been uttered about the killings of Bryan and Schmidt being related to each other or to the "high-risk" killings. Bryan lived in a retirement community and Schmidt in Pollard Estates with her husband and children.

Both deaths have long-confounded investigators, with a total of three arrests being made in the two cases. All three suspects ended up being released for a lack of evidence.

Englade said Friday that detectives have not been able to find Gillis' name in their files as a suspect in either case, but continue to look.

Gillis also was not asked for a DNA sample in the investigation of another series of serial killings in the Baton Rouge area, Englade said. Derrick Todd Lee, 35, is scheduled to stand trial May 10 in those crimes.

Bryan was found stabbed to death March 21, 1994, inside her apartment at St. James Place on Lee Drive, about a third of a mile from Gillis' home.

According to a warrant for Gillis' arrest, he told police he intended to rape, not kill, Bryan, but stabbed her and cut her throat when she screamed. Investigators found the bloody imprint of a large hunting knife and shoe prints on the carpet near her body, the warrant says. Bryan died of a wound to her throat, but there were numerous stab and slash wounds on her body.

During interviews with detectives, Gillis cited details of the attack, including the wounds to Bryan's body and the weapon used, neither of which had been made public, the warrant says.

Bryan's daughter, Rachel Ehricht, said she is skeptical of the confession, and would prefer police had arrested Gillis based on physical evidence, such as DNA. After two previous arrests in the case that ended with the suspects being freed -- in 1994 and 1996 -- she said she had "been down this road before. You have to reserve your enthusiasm," she said. "I'd love to have closure and if this is it I'm truly thankful."

She said Englade and Detective John Colter visited her at home about 10:15 p.m. Thursday to tell her and her family of the confession.

Stalker

Schmidt was kidnapped about 5:30 a.m. May 30, 1999, -- a Sunday -- while jogging in a Baton Rouge subdivision. Her body was found three days later in St. James Parish.

According to a warrant for Gillis' arrest in her case, he told police he saw Schmidt jogging in south Baton Rouge about three weeks earlier, and had been driving in the area in the early morning hours ever since to look for her.
When he finally found her on Quail Run Drive, he ran into her with his vehicle to knock her into a ditch, the warrant says. He used a "heavy duty plastic wire wrap" to choke her and drove her to a park in the Highland Road area, where he sexually assaulted her, the warrant says.

Gillis put Schmidt's "dead naked body" into the truck of his vehicle, drove home and left it there. The next day, Gillis took Highway 61 to St. James Parish and dumped Schmidt's body into a bayou, the warrant says.

Semen was found in the body during an autopsy, but authorities have not said it is linked to Gillis. No physical evidence, such as DNA, ties Gillis to either crime, but both Englade and Phares said that should not be a matter of concern. "A confession is actual evidence," Phares said. "Many people are in penitentiaries, and rightly so, on confessions."

Englade said "other supporting evidence" will bolster the cases once they reach the courts, but he declined to name it. However, Englade did say the State Police Crime Lab has been asked to re-examine evidence in both cases to look for a DNA match to Gillis. "Things have changed so much in the last 10 years, it's time to re-evaluate all that stuff," he said.

Based on the confessions, police booked Gillis Friday on counts of first-degree murder, aggravated kidnapping and stalking in Schmidt's case and first-degree murder in Bryan's.

Gillis' father

No one at Gillis' home answered the door Friday even though lights were on in a front room. In a window in the carport, a sign taped to the door invokes an "Area 51 warning." "Restricted area," the sign says. "Use of deadly force is authorized." Area 51 is a government site in Nevada where some people believe the United States conducts experiments on UFOs.

A woman answering the phone at the home said, "We have no comment" and hung up.



However, reached Friday at his home in Lathrop, Calif., Gillis' father, Norman E. Gillis Jr., said he had no idea his son had been arrested in the murders of five Baton Rouge women.

"Oh my God," he said. "I haven't heard anything about it."

Norman Gillis Jr. married Sean Gillis' mother, Yvonne Marie Bourgeois, in Mamou in November 1960, according to a petition for separation filed in court in East Baton Rouge Parish. The couple immediately moved to Baton Rouge, and Sean Gillis was born in 1962.

In April 1963, Norman Gillis Jr. abandoned the family after seeking treatment for alcoholism, the petition says. A divorce was granted in September 1965.

Norman Gillis Jr., now 68 and retired from hospital administrative work, said the last time he saw his ex-wife or son was when he visited for two days when the boy graduated from Redemptorist High School in 1980.

"The family has been estranged for quite some time," said Norman Gillis Jr., who described himself as a recovered alcoholic. "I haven't seen or heard from Sean since then. He wanted to go his own way."

"He was just an ordinary boy," Norman Gillis Jr. said. "I was out of contact, he was out of contact. He was only about a year old when I left. I had no influence in his life. His mother was the sole influence in his life."

Norman Gillis Jr. said he has no plans to contact his son.

Originally Posted by St.Lunatic

Senior Member

http://boards.courttv.com/showthread...hreadid=123044

Just me typing out loud...here goes.

For me, the only thing we have linking DTL as the serial killer is his DNA.

Let's consider this. From what I can tell about Mr. Gillis, he appears to be a drama queen, your typical psycho, is willing to take credit for his crimes and seemed to enjoy sadistic behavior.

Ann Bryan, a KNOWN victim, was murdered March 21st, 1995.

She was murdered in her home and her body was left there. She was stabbed 42 times and suspect says he stabbed her in the throat to stop her screaming. She was 82 . She was a resident at St. James Place, an up scale retirement home on Lee Drive which was approximately 1.2 miles from suspects home. No signs of forced entry.


Eugenie Boisfontaine, 34

(I include her because she was also abducted while jogging and her body was also foudn in a Bayou, this time in Manchac in Iberville Parish). She had a skull fracture but was too badly decomposed for DNA. She disappeared June 14th, 1997. Her home was approximately 2.1 miles from Mr. Gillis.

Katherine Hall's body was found in JANUARY 1999.

She was a KNOWN victim of Mr. Gillis. Her body was found off of Poujeaux Road. She was 30.

Hardee Schmidt, a KNOWN victim, was abducted WHILE JOGGING in Pollard Estates on MAY 30th, 1999.

She was strangled. Her body was found along Hwy 61 in a Bayou. Her abduction site is between 2 to 3 miles from where Mr. Gillis lived. She was 52.

Lillian Robinson, a KNOWN victim, was last seen JANURY 9th, 2000.

Her body was found at the Whiskey Bay and Butte La Rose Bridge in the Atchafalaya Basin. She was 53.


Gina Green, a DTL/SK victim, was murdered September 24th, 2001.

She was murdered in her own home. Reports are that she was strangled and beaten. It has also been reported that her body was posed, but this is not verified. It was also reported that suspect left the imprint of a ring he wore from the beating. Just FYI her house is approximately 2.1 miles from Mr. Gillis.

Geralyn Barr DeSoto , age 21, was murdered on January 14th, 2002

shortly after leaving LSU campus. She had been stabbed and her throat had been cut. She was killed between noon and 2:00 pm at her home. At the time it was said that "DNA was not taken because she had been redressed." but ironically after DTL's arrest DNA magically turned up. LSU campus is approximately 2.1 miles from Mr. Gillis home.

Christine Moore, (I am including her because she was abducted while jogging) was murdered May 24th, 2002.

Her body was later found dumped along River Road behind a church. She was 23. Cause of death was determined to be blow to the head, but too decomposed to tell much else.

Charlotte Murray Pace , age 22, was murdered May 31st, 2002 in her own home.

She was stabbed and her thoat cut. She was able to fight her attacker with a vengence. (Could this because the perp only weighed 125 pounds?) Her home is 2.1 miles from Mr. Gillis, plus she used to live just up the street from Gina, who lived just up the street from Eugenie. Lots of people close to the investigation of Murray's death has said her throat was cut to stop her screams.

Pam Kinamore , age 44, was abducted July 12th, 2002.

She was abducted from her home. Her body was found four days later off I-10 Exit at Whiskey Bay. ( Just up the road from Lillian's body dump site. She had been stabbed and her throat cut. Pam had visited the LSU campus the week prior to her murder. And a truck driver says he saw a white man in a white truck with nude female pull off whiskey bay exit the night/ early next morning of her abduction. Under hypnosis he says the driver had blonde/red arm/leg hair (Mr. Gillis appears to have such).

Trineisha Dene Colomb, age 23, was murdered November 21st, 2002.

She was most likely abducted while visiting her mothers grave in Grand Coteau. Witnesses say they saw a white man in a white truck near the abduction and dumping locations.She died from a blow to the head.

Carrie Lynn Yoder , age 26, was abducted March 3rd, 2003

She was reported missing from her home. Her body was found in Whiskey Bay. (near Pam and up the road from Lillian).Cause of death listed as asphyxiation. She had also been beaten and sexually assaulted. She lived 2.1 miles from Mr. Gillis and the grocery store she had just visited prior to her abduction was just up the block from Mr. Gillis' home. Also, even though police had staked out Whiskey Bay and had already searched it, they did not turn up Carrie's body. However, a week later, a fisherman found her in Whiskey Bay. Where was Carrie's body all that time? We know Mr. Gillis tended to drive around with his victim's in his trunk. Where did DTL keep Carrie? For that matter, where did DTL take Carrie and Pam after he abducted them, but before he killed them?

Mona L. Burt, age 35, is murdered March 11, 2003 in Hammond, LA in her own home.

She was found stabbed and her throat slashed in her home at 109 Rosewood Circle. She was found by her roommate at 11:00 pm

Johnnie Mae Williams, October 11th, 2003.

Found near Pride Port Hudson Road, badly decomposed. Mr. Gillis says he had her in his trunk for a while. Was she in there alive or dead?

Donna Bennett Johnston , February 27th, 2004 .

Her body was dumped on Ben Hur Road, which is just up the street from Mr. Gillis' home.


Plus, add to this the fact that from Gina's murder until Carrie's murder I have a difficult time trying to find any other murders that fit this guy's MO, i.e. stabbing, prostitutes and strangulation. But after Carrie, we know of TWO KNOWN victims, one in October 2003 and one in February of 2004, just four months apart. There was four months between Gina and Geralyn, There were four months between Geralyn and Murray. There was 1 1/2 months between Geralyn and Pam. There was four months between Pam to Dene. There was four months from Dene to Carrie.

I'm just saying that these similarities are too in your face to completely ignore. He was a white man with a white truck who had no clear cut choice of victims. He murdered black and white or all ages. He murdered some in their homes and some while jogging out in the open. He left their bodies in their home or he dumped them in a bayou or Whiskey Bay. He liked to use a knife and he liked to cut throats. He also strangled. He appears to have a comfort zone that the SK victims just happened to live in. He also apepars to have a comfort zone of dumping bodies that the SK just happened to dump in. He also appears to have NO KNOWN VICTIMS during the time the Serial Killings attributed to DTL were being committed.

Hmmm, is all I can say. And I will continue to search.

Were DTL & SVG working together ?

Originally Posted by St.Lunatic

http://boards.courttv.com/showthread...0&pagenumber=2

I will also add that after the murders of Johnnie Mae Williams and Donna Bennett Johnston the police devised they had a second serial killer and formed a new task force. They included KATHERINE HALL as a possible victim linked to these three also, but said they were still trying to determine whether KATHERINE was a victim of DTL or not. From this I deduce the following:

We know that there was mutilation going on that linked these victims. From the facts as they unfolded, we can conclude that Johnnie Mae and Donna Bennet must have for sure had the same "DISTINCT" mutilation. Katherine Hall must have been similar, but she also must have been similar to DTLs work for them not to have cleared her as one of his victim's yet. They only link Katherine Hall as a victim of the "new SK" after DNA testing confirms they match.

Hardee Schmidt, Ann Bryan and Lillian Robinson ARE NOT including in the group of the "new SK" victims. From this I conclude that Mr. Gillis DID NOT mutilate Hardee, Ann and Lillian in the same manner as Johnnie and Donna, and that possibly Kathleen was not mutilated in the same manner either. So I further conclude that it is all together possible that Mr. Gillis did not start performing this "DISTINCT" mutilation until the death of Johnnie Mae Williams, who we all know IS NOT his first victim. So, I ask myself, why start mutilating in a different way? The first thing that pops out at me is that Johnnie Mae is the first murder AFTER the capture of DTL. Is Mr. Gillis, if he had any involvement in the SK murders, attempting to set himself apart from all prior murders by creating a new calling card, thus making police think they have a "NEW KILLER" in town.

Also, he starts dumping bodies out of his norm. Katherine Hall was dumped in a bayou. Hardee was dumped in a Bayou. Eugenie, if a victim, was dumped in a bayou. Christine Moore, if a victim, was found behind a church near the banks of a pond just North up the way from where Eugenie was found. Lillian Robinson was dumped in Whiskey Bay. Ann Bryan was left in her own home. Why now, after the capture of the SK, does Mr. Gillis start dumping in "new territory"? He dumps Johnnie Mae in a vacant lot and he dumps Donna just of Ben Hur Lane. Just some things to think about.

Originally Posted by St.Lunatic

I would also question whether Francis Baldwin was a victim of this nut. She was beaten and her throat slashed I believe in 2001, yet four years earlier SHE HAD HAD HER THROAT SLASHED AND BEEN LOCKED IN A TRUNK. This guy seems crazy enough to have done the first attempt and then came back four years later to do the job right.

This person is brillant ...