DTL - Part 14: The Final Victim

0:09 In the sultry heat of Louisiana, where the bayous whisper secrets and the air hangs heavy with the scent of magnolias, a darkness lurked beneath the surface. Dereck Todd Lee was a man whose charm masked a sinister reality. He was a monster. Lee, a seemingly ordinary man with a disarming smile, led a double life that would unravel in a series of murders in the capital city of Baton Rouge and the surrounding areas. As the first reports of disappearances and murders began to surface, South Louisiana was thrust into a nightmare, igniting a frantic search for answers. The true horror was just beginning, and the hunt for a serial killer eventually known by just three letters, would reveal not only the depths of Dereck Todd Lee's depravity, but also the resilience of those most affected by his evil acts, the families and the survivors.

1:00 This is DTL. With Marianne Fowler's family left to wonder where she may be and who took her, many felt they already knew who was responsible. Things were out of control with this craze serial killer, and every day felt like Russian Roulette for the women of the area. You couldn't help, but wonder, am I being watched? While I wake up to find another woman has been killed? Will it be someone I know? Every noise at night seemed suspicious, but no one dared open their door. An unexpected knock of a delivery man was enough to make the hair on your neck stand up.

1:41 A Detective Boyd, an investigator at the Saint Martin Paris Sheriff's Office, was still actively working the Diane Alexander attack. He in Detective Sonny Stuts with the Lafayette Para Sheriff's Office, wondered Dene Colombe's murder and Diane's attack may be linked. They were not only. Relatively close in proximity, but there was something else were black. While the bat Us serial killer was killing white women, maybe somehow someone was now possibly targeting black women. That was their thought process. Roughly two months after Denay was murdered, the task force had to make a decision. They were sitting on the evidence of the shoeprint recovered from her murder scene, fearful that releasing knowledge of it may cause the killer to throw them away. This was the only real evidence for now other than DNA, but it was good evidence. With time passing and fearing another woman may be killed, they made the decision to release the shoeprint information to the public.

2:34 They hated to release it, but they were desperate for something, anything, that could end the hunt for a killer. So on January twenty third of two thousand and three, the task Force released the following information, along with photos of the suspected shoes. They had identified an Adidas brand shoe as possibly worn by the killer. The logo on the bottom was the same for both the Give and Go and Buzzer Beater models, and they were believed to be a side ten to eleven. They even went so far as to tell the public where they were sold. They added specifically that the shoe was designed for basketball and was commonly sold at Academy Sports as well as Carnival's shoe stores. They even made mention of the JC Penny store in Metori as well. The shoe was manufactured in two thousand and two and it cost approximately forty four dollars. What was interesting to me was how much effort was put into detailing this shoe while so much scrutiny was still being placed on the task force. Behind the scenes, there was a ton of boots on the ground work being done that was slow, meticulous, and in instances like this, rather old school. To make this point, I'd like to give you some insight to just how tedious this information was to gather. This isn't the movies where it happens.

3:48 In thirty minutes, a print was developed and it had to be compared to all running shoes, which narrowed it down to an Adidas brand. Then they had to contact the manufacturer to get more detail on where it had been distributed. Only a number of stores were actually selling it, but it was multiple stores. Indeed, they set out and visited the stores one by one, which back then everything at the store wasn't digitally stored like today. Store clerks pulled out old. Cash registered tapes and they manually reviewed the sales at each store. Incredibly, in the Acadiana and Baton Rouge area, they found that only twenty pairs of this shoe had been sold. Sixteen of those were bought with credit cards and four with cash. Investigators now tracked down the sixteen people who used credit cards and got DNA samples from them, none of which matched the killer. That meant four people paid cash and there were no cameras to see who they were. But one of those four.

4:47 Was believed to be the killer. So as you can see, they had an incredible piece of evidence here that would rule out so many people, and DNA would exclude the remaining nineteen. People who bought the shoe. But with time passing and the fear of more women dying, they decided to roll the dice and give up this very precious piece of information in hopes that it would return with something big. But all of this work was done and it led nowhere. Nothing would come of it, and all of the time and effort in working this one lead was fruitless. So back to the drawing board. The task force began swabbing white males in white trucks. Anyone who would be willing to give up their DNA it was taken. If they didn't want to give it up, a warrant could be obtained, and this started the damned if you do and damned if you don't movement as I like to refer to it as, because at this time the ACLU piped up and they were calling for concern that police were violating rights of people by collecting a DNA dragnet while searching for the killer. One man even claimed that he refused to give up his DNA per his rights, and at that point police went through the proper channels and got a warrant which made the name of the man public. After the warrant was cut, he gave this ample, but he was mad that he was even forced to, especially considering that it came back negative.

6:05 So while it seems like common sense would be applied here, the public is never happy with law enforcement no matter what they do. But they continued forward in their mission to stop this killer. As you can imagine, their efforts in swabbing these white men would be feudile. They were doing so based on the FBI profile that was created, which we know was wrong. Derek Toddley was a black man and for now would pass right through the swabbing checkpoints untouched and unscathed because of this massive error in the profile. Yes, the profile was based in scientific probability, but as we know, that's never one hundred percent. Police also released information on a missing ring that Denay was believed to be wearing the day she was murdered. The ring was a gold band with the word love spelled out on the front of it, and releasing this information had purpose if it was pawned and may catch attention.

6:54 If it was regifted to someone, it would also hopefully grab attention. Charlotte Murray pays a silver ring was missing, as was Pam Kinnimore's silver toe ring. This wasn't far fetched to believe the killer may have taken Daney's ring as well. Since the beginning of the Task Force investigation, police had received more than eleven thousand, seven hundred tips through the tip line. The public was updated that if they called in a tip, they needed to give as much detail as possible about the person they were calling in. For if someone called in a vehicle, providing a license plate number or any identifying marks of the truck would be crucial. The public was listening and they wanted to help, but a majority of the tips were found to be fruitless.

7:36 Hundreds of swabs were taken based on tips, but none of them came back as a match to the killer. However, there was one call that came in and in hindsight, it would seem a massive oversight in the investigation. A woman called into the Task Force in July of two thousand and two after Pam Kinnimore was killed and specifically named Derrick Todd Lee someone the Task Force should look at, and it turns out she was one of the many women that DTL had harassed but not attacked. He had called her numerous times, showed up unannounced at her work, and once even pushed into her apartment. He wasn't arrested on it, though, because many of the calls he made had originated from payphones, which could have been anyone calling.

8:20 The proof just wasn't good enough. Investigators also didn't think he could have stalked the woman when she gave that information, because he was supposed to be under house arrest at the time because of another case. And then there was that same big issue Derek Todd Lee was black and the killer was believed to be white, so that tip never took off, but the Task Force was steadily applying all of its time and resources to still finding the killer. Meanwhile, back in Baton Rouge, twenty six year old Carrie Yoda and her boyfriend Lee had just returned from having an amazing Marty Girl everyone in Louisiana knows what's up. When carnival season comes around, Parades are held all over the state to celebrate the indulgences and party time before the fasting period of Lent begins. And while the parties are NonStop in places like New Orleans, Fat Tuesday is the Marti Gras day. The parade floats roll down the streets one after another, throwing goodies to the crowds who are waving their hands at street level. Throw me something, mister, throw me something. Some parents even go the extra mile, adding wheels to tall ladders and rolling them to the perfect spot along the parade route. Of course, on top there's a wooden seat built by likely a semi pro and attached with screws to ensure that the kids get seen and catch some good throws from up high. OSHA approved construction. Absolutely not dangerous, maybe, but do we care?

9:44 Hell no, But don't be foolish. You can ensure there's gonna be a dad standing on the back of the ladder acting as a counterweight while chugging a bud light. Safety first, guys, we know what we're doing. Down here in the South, people dress in wild costumes from glittering feathers to the more provocative Get wild, hang loose and lesse le bonten roulet my friends. Let the good times roll. And after this we all have to tighten up and prepare for the Easter season. And this is one of the perks of being an LSU student. You're only about an hour and fifteen minutes away from the biggest party on the planet, which Carrie and Lee had just attended. They drank and had fun, took tons of pictures to remember it all. It was a blast, and now with the season coming to an end, it was time to start buckling down and prepare for the end of the semester.

10:32 May would be here before you knew it. And Carrie was a graduate student, very invested in her studies. She was working on her PhD specializing in ecology, and y'all, her GPA was a three point eight. This girl was smart and she had already passed her written and oral exams, where she defended her research in front of a committee. Sustainability was something that really resonated with her, and she dreamed of playing a vital role in improving as well as protecting the biodiversity of our local ecosystems. The swamps of Louisiana and our coast are some of the most famous wildlife places in the world. Its dynamic and humid, with coastal marshes, cypress, tupelo swamps, everything of the like.

11:16 It also contains forty percent of the coastal wetlands of the lower forty eight States. Thus it serves as a critical location for fish nurseries and habitat for millions of migratory waterfowl, not to mention our alligators. Carrie wanted to protect these lands and ensure they thrived for generations to come. Unfortunately, these lands were also a place that serial killers appreciate in terms of hiding bodies. Carrie didn't know it, but Derreck Todd Lee was a fan of the swamps too, especially at night under the cover of darkness, when he could drag his victims to the murky water's edge and leave them to whatever fate may come. Carrie was much like all of the other victims, thus far, smart, educated, driven, and a go getter. She lived on Dodson Avenue, which lay between Highland and Burbank, and this was an apartment building filled with students who could quickly commute to campus because it was only about a five minute drive from there to the Life Sciences building where she worked. Her relationship with boyfriend Lee was a good one, yet the couple understood that they had their own lives and responsibilities which they each respected, and as you can imagine being at the doctor at level, Carrie was a very dedicated student, but also a trusted employee.

12:31 She worked and went to class. Those were her main goals for the moment, and at times she and Lee seemed to be talking on the phone more than physically hanging out. But this was just for this current season of life and it wouldn't be forever. Successful people are busy, and they recognized that in one another. Neither of these two resented the other for it. It just was what it was. But when Wednesday, March fifth of two thousand and three year old around, Lee was getting frustrated with Carrie not returning his calls. No one's that I got busy. She hadn't called him back in over a day, which wasn't normal. By ten pm, Lee's aggravation had turned to worry, so he jumped in his car and rode over to her apartment to check on her.

13:11 When he got there, he knocked on the door, but she never came to answer. He could tell that the lights were on, but it was so still and so quiet inside that he didn't think. She was there. Maybe she had decided to go out with friends or something. Did she forget her phone? What in the world. He knocked some more just to be certain, before returning to his car and going back to his house. But by the early morning hours of the following day, Carrie still wasn't returning his calls to her. Even if she had forgotten her phone, she would have been home by now by nine am. He couldn't take it any longer, and he drove back to her apartment again. He banged on the door, but nothing, just stillness. The lights were still on as they were the night before. Something was definitely wrong. Carrie, Are you in there? Carrie? He walked around the ground floor apartment, trying to look in the windows and knocking, but he found much of the same. That wasn't until he realized that a window, well, it was open. Carrie didn't leave her windows open. He poked his head inside and he called out to her, but she didn't answer.

14:21 At this point, overcome by fear and stress, he decided to crawl in that window to look for her. The thought of her being hurt did enter his mind, so he hesitantly walked through the small apartment, calling out and checking every room. But when it was all said and done, nobody was home. Lee just stood there, perplexed by the situation. You, as a listener, have the luxury of hindsight and probability of situation, but Lee, in this moment, he didn't. He did what many of us do. He tried to rationalize something less worrisome in a moment where the situation clearly wasn't right. Checking the front door, he was even more alarmed to find that it was unlocked. He hadn't even tried it the day before when he came. He didn't try it because he knew it would be locked. But it turns out it must not have been her. Items that she would certainly take with her were still in the apartment as well, her purse, her wallet, her keys held the car was still in the driveway. These were things that a woman wouldn't leave behind, especially one that hadn't been heard from him. Now two days Lee thought back and realized that the last time he actually spoke with Carrie was really Sunday, Monday. He had missed her call and he tried to call her back, but she never picked up. He went about his evening and then he went to bed. Tuesday, he got up and he called, and he called. He also texted, but there was no answer.

15:48 And that's when he became frustrated from not hearing from her, and drove by. But she never came to the door. And now here he was early Wednesday morning, having gone inside and she was gone. Walking into the kitchen, he noticed that the keyholder by the door was knocked askew, and he found her necklace on the floor. In that moment, he knew he needed police, and right now, so he made the call. When they arrived, he recounted the last few days and they began a more in depth search of the apartment, but overall it didn't seem like there had been much of a struggle with anything inside. They did locate a very small amount of blood on her purse, but it was like a drop, maybe from like a bloody nose or something like that, but nothing major. The worst part of all of it was that Carrie was nowhere to be found. But other small oddities would paint a picture of when she was last there. On the table in the living room was a half eaten piece of cheese, which had obviously been sitting there for a few days. Considering her door was unlocked, was it possible that she was snacking on a piece of cheese when there was a knock at the door, she unlocked it and then maybe left with someone. Checking around the outside of the building, investigators noticed that the curtains were slightly open, just roughly an eight inch gap, but when standing there, someone could perfectly watch and see what was going on from inside the apartment. If someone had been watching her, this was the perfect spot to do so. For now, though,

17:19 this was classified as a missing person's case, as there was nothing to suggest anything beyond that. At this time, police would have to backtrack her last known movements to try and see where she may have gone, and to start they needed to take a look at Lee, but not Dereck Toddlee Lee Stanton, the very boyfriend who had reported her missing. Truth be told, we all know that usually when something happens to someone, it's someone very close to them who is involved. He did climb in a window, after all, and was this possibly a jealous lover who crawled in a window to try to catch her or maybe even hurt her. Crazier things have happened, but checking in everything he shared with police, he was telling the truth.

18:02 They had been in New Orleans on Saturday, and this was proven not only by photos but also the records showing they had both checked in and out of a hotel in Metory, just as Lee had said. Based on phone records and other electronic data received, plus interviews with those in Carrie's typical circle, police were able to nail down a basic working timeline of Nomes. On March third, two thousand and three, Carrie had gone about her day as usual, with no one sighting any red flags or issues as far as they knew. Carrie's mentor and professor, Bill Platt, spoke with police who wanted to know more about her work life. He knew her well and described her as neat and orderly, showing them her cozy little work area on campus. Investigators were led to her workspace where they meticulously went through all of her items, but nothing stood out. He was also able to confirm that Carrie had been on campus around noon that last day, when she helped him move a table and complete some other general tasks. Police knew she had returned home, which was also confirmed by an Amazon delivery to her address, which she signed for with ups. That delivery was a book all about short day trips near New Orleans. It looked like she had so much fun when she was partying that she wanted to do some more exploring when able to. In that area. Police believed she was still home around four thirty, as phone records confirmed that she spoke with Lee. She had asked him if you wanted to come over for supper, and she was cooking. Unfortunately, he had to pass because he was working on some

19:32 projects at his own house and he wanted to finish them up. So canvassing the area and using cell phone data, investigators were led to a nearby grocery store on Highland Road, a when Dixie, where they requested to see surveillance footage for the third The managers were happy to help in any way they could, so they got on the computer and targeted the search to the timeline police requested, and sure enough, after a few moments in walked carry bright eyed, bushy tailed, and very much alive. Matter of fact, She was grocery shopping for some good eats too, a steak and some Arizona sweet tea some of those items to be specific. She checked out at exactly four fifty eight PM.

20:15 The groceries from the receipt had been unloaded into the house, minus the sweet tea, which she seemed to have forgotten in the car and was located by police. She had cooked her steak and ate while jumping on her computer to review the Marti Gral photos, hoping she got some good ones that she could share with her family back home. She was originally from Tampa, Florida, and they would absolutely get a kick out of them. She had inserted her digital camera memory card into the computer around seven forty two pm. But after this the trail went cold. Nothing, no word, no sightings, just nothing. There hadn't been a burglary either, because her purse had the wallet still in it and there was forty four dollars cash inside. Her license and her credit cards were still there. The book she signed for was still lying on the sofa. Now.

21:06 Carrie had been very concerned about the Batonu serial killer, and that unlocked door was so out of character. Detectives realized that she lived on Elishu's campus. They also realized that women were going missing just like Carrie. They weren't stupid and were cautiously confident that this may not turn out well. Neighbors were questioned, but most of them had been gone. The day she disappeared. Police set up traffic stops to and from her home to question anyone living in the area and see if maybe they had heard or seen something, but nothing came as a result of the effort. Even Elishu's chancellor met with a serial killer task force to get any information he could. Elishu's pr at this moment was in a nightmare situation and now another woman was missing from campus.

21:54 Days passed, and on March thirteenth, a vigil was held for the still missing Carrie. Parents and siblings had come into town to look for her. The community rallied in an effort to find her. The news covered her disappearance constantly. The police even had a chopper in the sky now panning over the area to. See if they could locate her boots. On the ground efforts weren't resulting in anything, so by air they hoped to cover more area. Carrie's cousin spoke out publicly stating to the person responsible for Carrie's disappearance, replace your cowardice with courage and allow our loved one to return to our family. But there were two other women who met with Carrie's parents before the vigil, two powerhouse moms who knew all too well how it felt for your child to be missing and gone. Murray's mom and Pace and Pam's mom Lynn Marina were there in show of support. In their gut, they knew they should be involved in helping find Carrie. But ten days after she was reported missing, police would be notified of a body floating right underneath Ski Bay Bridge, the same area where Pam's body had been recovered months prior. This body hadn't been hidden underbrush like PAMs, though this one had been far more blatant in its disposal. This one had been thrown from the top of the bridge, right over the edge, as presumably cars passed by, slamming into the water below. The body was that of a white female

23:25 and she was nude from the waist down. She was found floating face down with her long curly hair messily tangled in sticks and debris. Her legs were covered in mud their full length. Detectives knew that the description alone, it sounded a lot like Carrie. The condition of the body was less than ideal, as it had been decomposing for over a week in the southern humidity and water. Was it possible that the very waterway Carrie had dedicated her life to preserving had held on to her all this time, waiting for someone to pass by and see her. The identification would require more than a visual idea, as she was so decomposed. The body was brought to the lab where an autopsy was performed, and what this young woman had been through was evident through her documented wounds.

24:14 A rape test kit would confirm that she had not only been raped, but DNA had been left by her killer. The trauma to her stomach was severe, eight broken ribs, all of which were snapped off her spinal column. Her lungs and liver were all punctured as a result of those broken ribs. Her face had been beaten mercilessly and was swollen from the numerous blows. She had received a massive contusion spread across one side of her forehead. There was bruising around her eyes and also around her wrists, but lots of bruising was found around her neck, not from a ligature and not from a rope. This was a manual.

24:56 Someone's hands had been around her throat with an immense amount of pressure applied. She had been asphyxiated, strangled to death, and her eyes bore the witness to broken blood vessels inside of them. She also had a series of scratches on the lower portion of her abdomen. After all of her wounds and damage were documented, the body was sent back straight to Elis Hue, where the famous Mary Manheind would further attempt to identify this body Carrie's parents, David and Linda. They would share information about Carrie that may help to identify if the body was her. Things like the tattoo she had on her lower back. It was a Celtic weave or a Celtic knot. This wasn't something she just got off the cuff either.

25:40 It had meaning. The Celtic weaves symbolized as many things, but in general, the acceptance of growth and life, endurance and strength, all of the things we hoped to achieve in life. She also wore a ring on her left hand, three silver interlocking circles. This information was all taken down, and when doctor Manhein received the body, she would X ray the jaw of the woman, which she would then compare to the known dental records of Carrie. While all of this was done for scientific certainty, the detectives already knew the truth before those results would even come back. The video of Carrie at Wynn Dixie the day she was believed to go missing showed her wearing a blue halter top with a black and gray fleece jacket over it. The woman recovered from the waterway she was nude from the waist down, but she was wearing the identical top and jacket as Carrie was last seen wearing. When the x rays were compared, doctor Manhein confirmed what police already knew.

26:42 The body found was that of Carrie Lynn Yoder. What exactly happened that day is unknown, but it's logical to believe that Derek Todley had seen her out that day. Maybe he had been watching her, or maybe he spotted her at the store, but either way he was wahed After she returned home from the store. He continued to spy on her from the open space in the curtain. Carefully and quietly watching and assessing how she moved. He watched as she cooked and sat down smiling at her computer as the funny photos she was looking at came to life. When he was confident that she was home alone, it was time for his tried and true ruse. There was a knock on Carrie's front door. Of course, she had it locked after all of the women going missing, but she wasn't alarmed because serial killers don't knock. They aren't polite and well dressed, gently asking to borrow a phone.

27:40 They jump out of the bushes, and they break down doors like in the movies. Right, So when the knock was heard, Carrie set down her slice of cheese and walked to the door, unknowingly unlocking it. For the very man and entire state was frozen in fear. Over as she opened the door, he met her with a smile, asking to use the phone. Or maybe he asked if Monroe lived there. I'm not sure, but as soon as she turned to help, he came through the door, and he did as he always did. He likely struck her in the face to scare her into submission, and he forced her out of the door and into his car, just like he did Pam, and just like he did Denay, he kidnapped Carrie without much of a struggle. Where he raped her is still a mystery, as there was no evidence recovered in her home to suggest it was done there.

28:31 She was likely gone within a minute of unlocking the door. Where it happened may be unclear, but the timing of how long she endured his brutality would be realized eventually, nestled in phone records that would be available with time. Derek Toddley had Carrie in his possession and under his vicious control for about two hours. She suffered at the hands of a man that beat her mercilessly before violating her While she struggled to even breathe. He brutally raped her, depositing his semen inside of her body without a care in the world, before loading her in his truck and jumping back on that long.

29:11 Bridge towards Lafayette. Whisky Bay was again his destination, his favorite spot to dump a woman when he was done having fun with her. This was around ten PM and his cell phone would be connecting to the Raima tower right near the Whisky Bay. He pulled over as he approached the exit but this time he wasn't going to waste time taking the exit and parking. He also wouldn't spend the energy it would take to pull a dead body through the mud and the muck. No way, just like the task force profiler had said, he was gonna make this one more thrilling. His plan was to dump her in plain sight while cars passed by. The thought of possibly being seen only spiked his excitement. As the car slowed to a stop on the top of the bridge, he got out and under the cloak of darkness. He then opened his passenger side door. There Carriyoder lay lifeless, bloodied, beaten, raped, and half naked. He pulled her from the truck and he rolled her on top of the concrete side.

30:19 Of the bridge. The dead weight of her body caused her skin to scratch on her stomach as he pushed her across the railing. He pushed until she rolled over the side, and after a second or two he heard the loud splash below. His work was done. He walked back, got back in the truck, and continued on down the highway towards the next exit. Six minutes later, his cell phone would connect to the gross Tate tower just. Down the highway. That cell phone, however, was a prepaid cell phone commonly called a burner phone, no contact tied to a name, so this would take time for investigators to uncover in the future. One can only assume he took that exit to turn around and head back home towards Baton Rouge.

31:07 Poor Carrie was floating in the water for nearly ten days before she was recovered. The young woman who took life by storm, the one who loved ballroom dancing and skydiving and was secretly learning to play the violin, had every opportunity ripped from her by a monster, and during autopsy, a very detailed rape kit had been completed and the vaginal washings did find the semen inside of her body. By March eighteenth, the task Force had taken over the investigation because the DNA results. Were back from the crime lab. The monster that the task Force was chasing had officially claimed another victim. Carrie Yoder was named as the fifth known victim of the Baton Rouge serial killer. While they didn't know who the DNA belonged to, they knew for certain it was the same person who had killed Gina grit Charlotte Murray, Pace, Pam Kinnemore, Denee Cologne, and now Carrie Lynn Yoder.

32:08 That DNA again. Was run through COTIS at not only the local and the state level, but also the national level. It's not unheard of that killers will travel the globe, serial killers like Israel Keys, for example, but incredibly nothing came back. In two thousand and three, there were some one point seven million profiles in that system, all from convicted felons through state workers alike. Today it's around more like thirty million. But remember CODIS was relatively new then, having only been released nationally in nineteen ninety eight. Five years prior. But still, to think this killer had never been arrested on a felony worth inputting.

32:49 DNA was mind blowing. This wasn't your run of the mill drug felon. This guy was destroying women at a rapidly increasing pace. Finding by DNA alone was literally the needle in a haystack scenario. The population of South Louisiana alone at the time was some four point five million people. For perspective, that would mean police would have to swab twelve thousand, three hundred and fifty eight people a day if they wanted to swab everyone in the state in one year. This guy needed to be found now, like right now, and luckily for investigators, science technology was about to make a breakthrough that would help to pinpoint an ID the unknown man behind the serial murders in South Louisiana.