Jeff Davis 8
Details
Victims8
Span of crimes
2005–2009
CountryUnited 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]

Murders

Victims

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 Guilory, 26, was found off Interstate 10 in 2009.[5]

Causes of death

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]

Connections

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]

Investigation

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]

Allegations of misconduct

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]

Suspects

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]

In media

The murders and investigations feature in several media offerings.

  • A 2011 investigative podcast series, Behind the Yellow Tape on Blogtalkradio (Joey Ortega) spanning 12 episodes.[8]
  • A 2012 episode of the series Dark Minds, in which show host M. William Phelps visited the area and interviewed several people connected to the case.[9]
  • The 2016 book Murder in the Bayou: Who Killed the Women Known as the Jeff Davis 8? by author Ethan Brown.[10]
  • The 2019 five-part series Murder in the Bayou on the Showtime network.[13]
  • A 2021 two-part podcast on The Casual Criminalist.[14][15]

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.

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Robertson, Campbell (2 January 2010). "8 Deaths in a Small Town, and Much Unease". New York Times.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 Brown, Ethan (14 August 2014). "Who Killed the Jeff Davis 8?". Medium.
  3. 1 2 3 Crosley, Hillary (4 February 2014). "In Louisiana, 8 Women Were Murdered and Cops May Be Their Killers". Jezebel.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Perlstein, Mike. "Jennings 8: Unsolved murders haunt town, police". WWLTV. Archived from the original on 2014-03-02.
  5. 1 2 Schmidt, Theresa (7 February 2014). "Jeff Davis 8: Why A.G. Buddy Caldwell doesn't intervene". KPLCtv.
  6. 1 2 Wolcott, James (24 February 2014). "The Jung and the Restless". Vanity Fair.
  7. ↑ "In the matter of Warren Gary". Louisiana Board of Ethics. Archived from the original on 2014-03-01.
  8. ↑ "A Serial Killer in Jennings". 30 July 2011. Retrieved December 25, 2022.
  9. ↑ Knox, James (2012-02-29), Brutal Bayou (Documentary, Crime), Billy Conner Jr, Jessica Drew, Liz Harper, John Kelly, retrieved 2021-03-25
  10. ↑ "Books: Murder in the Bayou". Ethan-Brown.com.
  11. ↑ True Crime Tuesday: What Happened to the Jennings 8? (Talk-Show), Mehmet Oz, Katie Couric, Harpo Productions, Oz Works, Zo Co Productions, 2018-04-24, retrieved 2021-03-25{{citation}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
  12. ↑ Death in the Bayou: The Jennings 8 (TV Series 2019– ) - IMDb, retrieved 2021-03-25
  13. ↑ "'Murder in the Bayou': TV Review". The Hollywood Reporter. 2019-09-13. Retrieved 2021-03-25.
  14. ↑ "The Jennings Eight, Part 1: "True Detective" Brought to Life in the Louisiana Bayou". YouTube. Retrieved 2021-09-24.
  15. ↑ "The Jennings Eight, Part 2: The Unmatched Incompetence of the Jennings Police Department". YouTube. Retrieved 2021-09-24.
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