Is Serial Killer Loose In Baton Rouge?
Third Death Being Scrutinized By Police
POSTED: 9:40 am CST October 29,
2003
UPDATED: 12:00 pm CST October 29,
2003
BATON ROUGE, La. -- Sheriff's deputies in West Baton Rouge and East Baton Rouge parishes plan to meet this week to examine whether a third unsolved killing of a woman might be connected to one killer.
The case is significant because the FBI defines a serial killer as someone who commits three or more murders. West Baton Rouge Parish Sheriff-elect Mike Cazes said the 1994 strangling of Christina Daigle, 15, resembles the recently linked killings of two women in East Baton Rouge Parish.
"We're going to see what their crime scene looks like, compare it to our crime scene, and see if there are any simialrities," Cazes said. Daigle was wearing just a pair of socks when a truck driver found her body near the U.S. 190 bridge in March 1994. Her head and face had been wrapped in masking tape and her body had been mutilated. 
Last week, East Baton Rouge Parish sheriff's Col. Mike Barnett said the killing of a woman whose body was recently found near Pride resembles the death of Katherine Hall, who was found dead in January 1999. Barnett said both women were strangled and beaten, and their bodies were mutilated after they were killed. Other similarities include the fact that they were often in the same neighborhood and that their bodies were found nude near construction sites."Three or four things together, there, made us think they may be connected," said East Baton Rouge Parish Sheriff's Office Lt. Darrell O'Neal. "But you need to keep in mind we have nothing that links them scientifically, such as DNA or fingerprints." Barnett said the women also lived "high-risk lifestyles," which he defined as drug use, being in high-crime areas late at night and getting into cars with men whom they did not know.
Though no forensic evidence links the cases, Barnett said investigators believe one person is responsible for the deaths of both women. Barnett said he expects to have the latest body identified by the end of the week. Authorities arrested Derrick Todd Lee in May in the serial killings of six south Louisiana women between 2001 and 2003. He awaits trial. Investigators have said that Lee is linked to those killings by DNA evidence found at the crime scenes.
The case is significant because the FBI defines a serial killer as someone who commits three or more murders. West Baton Rouge Parish Sheriff-elect Mike Cazes said the 1994 strangling of Christina Daigle, 15, resembles the recently linked killings of two women in East Baton Rouge Parish.|
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Last week, East Baton Rouge Parish sheriff's Col. Mike Barnett said the killing of a woman whose body was recently found near Pride resembles the death of Katherine Hall, who was found dead in January 1999. Barnett said both women were strangled and beaten, and their bodies were mutilated after they were killed. Other similarities include the fact that they were often in the same neighborhood and that their bodies were found nude near construction sites."Three or four things together, there, made us think they may be connected," said East Baton Rouge Parish Sheriff's Office Lt. Darrell O'Neal. "But you need to keep in mind we have nothing that links them scientifically, such as DNA or fingerprints." Barnett said the women also lived "high-risk lifestyles," which he defined as drug use, being in high-crime areas late at night and getting into cars with men whom they did not know. Though no forensic evidence links the cases, Barnett said investigators believe one person is responsible for the deaths of both women. Barnett said he expects to have the latest body identified by the end of the week. Authorities arrested Derrick Todd Lee in May in the serial killings of six south Louisiana women between 2001 and 2003. He awaits trial. Investigators have said that Lee is linked to those killings by DNA evidence found at the crime scenes.Copyright 2007 by WDSU.com. The Associated Press contributed to this report. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
