Feb. 15, 2026

DTL - Part 15: Takedown

DTL - Part 15: Takedown
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Season 9

Derrick Todd Lee is running scared - bouncing buses and ducking into Atlanta hotels, slipping from one place to another like a ghost who knows that the walls are closing in. But the streets talk. Credible tips and a chance phone call would lead to the Atlanta P.D. rolling out hard and fast, to catch and takedown a serial killer.
Derrick Todd Lee (DTL) terrorized the Baton Rouge and Lafayette Louisiana. A Serial Killer who took the lives of at least (7) women in the late 1990’s and early 2000’s, Lee’s reign of terror finally ended in late May of 2003 when he was captured in Atlanta, GA after being linked by DNA to several of the murders.

This is DTL  Hosted by Kelly Jennings and produced by the experts at Envision Podcast Productions.

Timestamps
01:10 The Emergence 13:38 A Pattern of Behavior
14:23 The Task Force is Determined
19:46 The Match
25:23 Running Scared
34:45 The Hunt Ends

For Media or Advertising Inquiries 
Envisionpodcaststudios@gmail.com

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In the sultry heat of Louisiana, where the bayous whisper

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secrets and the air hangs heavy with the scent of magnolias,

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a darkness lurked beneath the surface. Derrick Todd Lee was

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a man whose charm masked a sinister reality.

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He was a monster.

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Lee, a seemingly ordinary man with a disarming smile, led

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a double life that would unravel in a series of

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murders in the capital city of Baton Rouge and the

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surrounding areas. As the first reports of disappearances and murders

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began to surface, South Louisiana was thrust into a nightmare,

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igniting a frantic search for answers. The true horror was

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just beginning, and the hunt for a serial killer eventually

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known by just three letters, would reveal not only the

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depths of Derreck Todd Lee's depravity, but also the resilience

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of those most affected by his evil acts, the families.

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And the survivors. This is DTA.

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Five women had now been officially linked as murdered by

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the same man. The task force was working harder than ever,

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but even so, another woman was now dead. Even with

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all of the media coverage and warnings boosting fear, he

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was still able to make his way into her home

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and do what everyone in the Capital area feared. What

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would it take to stop this monster? What he was

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leaving DNA in and on his victims with every rape,

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But it didn't match any of the thousands of white

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men being swabbed. Tips and leads were pouring in, yet

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they led nowhere. His hunting ground was obvious as Carrie's

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body had been pulled from right near Whiskey Bay.

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It almost felt like he knew.

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He was untouchable, a ghost hiding in plain sight now

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dumping bodies from atop the brain. It was unlike anything

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investigators had dealt with in their entire careers. This was

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something that would mark seasoned investigators as the case or cases.

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Of their lifetime.

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Effectiveness of the investigators, as far as the public knew,

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seemed to be rather low, but they, of course would

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never know all of the work.

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Being done behind the scenes.

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Taxpayers would be footing the bill too for all of

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the extra work required, as half a million dollars in

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just overtime alone was paid to this point. As many

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of the men and women worked this case around the clock,

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as far as the community went, these victims, all of

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these women had become household names. They were almost like

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our friends. We knew their names and where they lived,

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their majors, and what they drove. I mean, hell, we

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all knew their mom's names. At this point, Miss Lynn

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Marino and miss Anne Pace were seen as guardians of

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these women, almost as a collective. Miss Lynn was a

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beast behind a microphone too. She couldn't have cared less

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what this man was capable of as she looked straight

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into the camber lens, calling him a coward and a

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menace to the community, and that he didn't deserve to

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live amongst us. She wasn't backing down, she was just

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getting started. We all wanted justice for them too, as

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we all remained glued to the TV each night and

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received our updates while eating our dinner. Law enforcement wanted

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to keep the public from panicking, but at this point

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that was just a pipe dream. Students weren't safe on campus.

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It was clear no one was safe anywhere really. From

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Port Allen to Lafayette, Baton Rouge to Saint Francisville. This

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killer was attacking all over and everyone knew it. But

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despite all of the emotion and anger. Something more black

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and white would come to be, something that doesn't care

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about how skilled you are at murder or how well

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you can go undetected by police. And this thing was

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called forensic science. Quiet and steady science continuously gets better.

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People dedicated scientific professionals with theories, they test them, and sometimes,

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in an epic moment of genius, those tests will prove

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a scientific certainty, one that no matter how evil and

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how slick you think you are, you can't talk your

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way out of it. And this, my friends, was about

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to be the case. See several years before DTL began

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his rampage, Tony Frudaccus, a molecular biologist at a DNA

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forensics lab, had a scare. His own father was shot

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when he confronted a man trying to steal his car

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in Long Beach, California. The shooter got away, but he

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dropped his own ID at the scene and was apprehended

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quickly because of the easy visual ID. Mister Freudacus had

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heard about the baton U serial killer, and he knew

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that DNA in a way is an ID as well,

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So why couldn't they catch this guy by using it?

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Well?

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I'm here to give you a little insight. The answer

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to this would be politics.

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Hear me out.

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People always have opinions, but they rarely get into the

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nitty gritty of reality.

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See CODIS. It was great at.

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Linking criminals who are already in the system, but that's

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only via DNA sequence, not physical characteristics. But this was

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done on purpose. When the National DNA Advisory Board selected

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the gene markers to use in CODIS, they deliberately left

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out any markers associated with identifying a perpetrator's race, even

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though they had the technology.

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To do it.

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The question here is why, But the answer is because

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they were afraid that it would cause a political uproar

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people would complain about race being an identifying factor in criminality. Sadly,

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they were probably right. The science was there, but society

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wasn't ready for that level of accuracy. It might hurt

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feelings to say the race of an offender, as unbelievable

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as that sounds. Either way, multiple witnesses at multiple scenes

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described seeing a white male and a white truck in

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some fashion. But also it couldn't be ignored that multiple

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witnesses at other scenes said their attacker was a black man.

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Information on the vehicle driven by the serial killer now

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ranged from a golden at Subishi to a white truck

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to now the task force mentioning a possible burgundy truck.

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After leaning in so hard on that white truck information,

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now police were more hesitant and they advised the public

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to not focus too much on that information alone. People

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do change their cars and hello, even the killer probably

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watched the news and knew a white truck was now

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a focal point. The families of the victims well, they

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were also growing weary in the fact that no one

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had been arrested yet. The situation between law enforcement and

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the families was somewhat tense and would spill over into the.

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Media, which we all could see.

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The anger wasn't personal, though it was.

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What it was.

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The only people who could stop this monster didn't seem

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to be doing it, and now carry Yota was the

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most recent woman to pay the price. But the tunnel

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vision that they may have had originally based on the

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FBI's inaccurate profile of the killer being white, was breaking

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now under the pressure, and even police wanted more in

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depth information on the profile of who this killer may be.

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They consulted with many outside agencies and labs, but their

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attention would even go as far as Scotland Yard for help.

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Why there, Well, basically, they have a reputation for expertise

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in handling high profile, complex and international investigations. They're often

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considered a global leader in law enforcement and can offer

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specialized assistance and forensics. This is why they were contacted.

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Was it possible that they may have a method of

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DNA testing that could give more information on this raping

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serial killer? But it turned out police wouldn't even have

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to go that far because at the end of February

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two thousand and three, task Force members were put in

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contact with DNA Print Genomics in.

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Sarasota, Florida.

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The very lab were molecular biologist Freudacus worked. Frudacus was

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pretty clear in that he could determine someone's race by.

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Simply testing the DNA. While this claim seemed.

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To be way too good to be true, the task

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Force was ready to try anything at this point, but

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they did so under a controlled test to ensure legitimacy.

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Twenty DNA samples were sent to the lab. One was

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that of the DNA of the serial killer, and the

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other nineteen were random yet known people to the Task Force.

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If the test results were accurate on the known folks,

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then they would trust the findings on the serial killer.

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The DNA was sent and everyone waited. Days later, the

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call came in with the results. Starting with the known

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person samples, Freudacus got all of them correct, one hundred

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percent accuracy on race and ethnicity. When the killer's results

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were given, it was met with stark silence. The killer

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was eighty five percent sub Saharan African and fifteen percent

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Native American. Basically put, the serial killer of Baton Rouge was.

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A black man.

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Every effort so far in swabbing white men had been

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a total waste of time, and women had continued to

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die because that original FBI profile was flat out wrong.

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They hung up the phone and they looked at one another, like,

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oh no, we have to regroup, We need to adjust

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our focus. We have to tell the public everything we

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as a public had feared was now a myth. That

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white truck and that crazed white man killing women wasn't real.

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It was wrong. All of it was wrong. And on

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March twenty first, the task would issue a new press

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release in summary, everyone needs to be on the lookout

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for a blackmail. To say it was a shock would

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be an understatement. I know where I was when I

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found out that Princess Diana had died. I know where

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I was standing when the second Twin Tower collapsed, and

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I know for sure where I was standing when the

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serial killer is now a black mail revelation was revealed.

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No one was blaming them, as this wasn't a malicious

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intention to give misinformation. But it was gut wrenching to

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know I had let my guard down around men who

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could have actually been the killer, just like Carrie Yoder

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had done when she answered her door the last night

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of her life. I mean the shoe released by the

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task Force. That was a shoe very much in line

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with black culture and fashion.

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How was that overlooked?

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Diane Alexander said her attacker was black, She saw him,

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she was with him. Her sketch done with police was

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that of.

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A black man.

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The witness believed to see the killer of Dene Cologne

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said they saw a black man. It just makes you

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wonder if science would have been available at full capacity

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and the FBI hadn't been so specific in their profile,

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could lives have been saved. But now everyone knew the truth,

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and it opened up a world of new investigative leads.

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At least even in those leads, even if they had

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already been overlooked or somewhat dismissed, they were going to

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be looked at. And this included Derrick Todd Lee. Police

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had been all around this guy, really, but he always

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squeaked by due to dumb luck or technicality. Police had

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even been at his house back in the fall of

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two thousand and two when his name came up, but

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again he was black. They had gone so far to

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look at not only him but his truck. He was

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black and the truck wasn't white. They had been there,

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there was just no reason at that time to go

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any further.

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They would need.

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Cause, and hopefully you can see that that just wasn't

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there based on their findings at that time. How could

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police possibly explain to a court that they were looking

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for a white man in a white truck and then

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found a black man with a different color truck, but

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they still focused on him.

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That would have never.

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Made any sense to the community, and it certainly would

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have made people lose their minds. But now his name

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would be brought up again when an officer from the

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West Feliciana Paris Sheriff's office would call the task Force

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with names of black males that had a history of

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sex crimes. Obviously, this killer was sexually motivated, so this

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was a good start to now investigate, and Dereck todd

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Lee was listed by name in that group. This information

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was cross referenced with prior tips that were called in

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and it was realized that Colette Walker, the woman Dereck

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Toddlee had stalked and harassed uars back, was She had

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called him in as a person of interest to the

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task force as well, and again she did it by name,

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seeing his name multiple times. The lead was assigned to

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an officer who went to Derrick Toddley's home, but he

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wasn't there. They went again the next day, but no

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one was home again, so they left a card and

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they asked him to return their call. More days would

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pass as Derreck todd Lee continued on his miserable life

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00:13:21.759 --> 00:13:24.720
like nothing was up and he wasn't out there slaughtering women.

237
00:13:25.320 --> 00:13:28.440
He did things like pawn jewelry at a pawnshop, including

238
00:13:28.480 --> 00:13:30.919
a knife, by the way, and a ten carrot chain

239
00:13:31.159 --> 00:13:33.440
with of course a cross hanging in front of it.

240
00:13:34.159 --> 00:13:36.279
My guess is he bought that with the payout money

241
00:13:36.279 --> 00:13:38.559
he blew after his father in law's death at the plant.

242
00:13:39.120 --> 00:13:41.000
I say this because he was broke.

243
00:13:41.120 --> 00:13:43.919
In April of two thousand and three, he was fired

244
00:13:43.919 --> 00:13:46.080
from his job and he was also in court at

245
00:13:46.080 --> 00:13:49.399
that very same time for a bankruptcy filing. He had

246
00:13:49.440 --> 00:13:52.360
to go through security in everything for the court. He

247
00:13:52.440 --> 00:13:55.559
walked past bailiffs and cops alike, and no one had

248
00:13:55.600 --> 00:13:57.960
a clue. He was the serial killer of Baton Rouge.

249
00:13:58.399 --> 00:14:01.320
But he wasn't worried or bothered any way. Some white

250
00:14:01.360 --> 00:14:03.600
man was going to take the heat for his killings.

251
00:14:04.279 --> 00:14:07.159
He had gotten more and more brazen with each murder.

252
00:14:07.320 --> 00:14:11.080
But here's the thing that very confidence and bravado, all

253
00:14:11.159 --> 00:14:14.559
that no care in his actions that would come back

254
00:14:14.759 --> 00:14:15.799
to bite him.

255
00:14:16.120 --> 00:14:17.480
While so many moving.

256
00:14:17.240 --> 00:14:19.679
Parts were in motion, there were people involved in this

257
00:14:19.759 --> 00:14:22.399
case from a million different angles and for a million

258
00:14:22.440 --> 00:14:25.879
different reasons. While the case is now twenty years old

259
00:14:26.039 --> 00:14:28.960
and specific details often only in the memories of those

260
00:14:29.039 --> 00:14:31.120
doing the day in and day out work of this case,

261
00:14:31.519 --> 00:14:35.000
there is no doubt that everyone wanted this to be solved.

262
00:14:35.559 --> 00:14:39.240
As the timeline actually lays out Carrie Yoder was murdered

263
00:14:39.399 --> 00:14:42.759
while the task force was awaiting the DNA results from

264
00:14:42.759 --> 00:14:46.879
that lab in Florida. Literally every day that passed meant

265
00:14:46.919 --> 00:14:50.159
more lives were at risk. I certainly would love to

266
00:14:50.159 --> 00:14:53.200
give credit and mention everyone involved in this, but for

267
00:14:53.240 --> 00:14:55.960
storytelling sake, I'm going to laser in my focus at

268
00:14:55.960 --> 00:14:59.200
this point on the Zachary Police Department and the Louisiana

269
00:14:59.200 --> 00:15:02.679
Attorney General's Office. Zachary is where this whole series began.

270
00:15:03.159 --> 00:15:06.679
Connie Warner and Randy Meebrewer were murdered there, as well

271
00:15:06.679 --> 00:15:09.120
as the young teen Michelle and her boyfriend that were

272
00:15:09.159 --> 00:15:12.919
attacked in the cemetery. Although those cases were years ago,

273
00:15:13.279 --> 00:15:17.399
they were still being worked. And that said, around five

274
00:15:17.559 --> 00:15:21.919
age investigators had or were still helping the Zachary Police

275
00:15:21.919 --> 00:15:25.320
Department on those very cases. Dereck Todd Lee was the

276
00:15:25.440 --> 00:15:28.399
name that kept coming up, but Zachary knew that they

277
00:15:28.440 --> 00:15:31.399
never quite had enough to arrest and get a conviction

278
00:15:31.519 --> 00:15:34.960
on him at the time of those murders. Even today,

279
00:15:35.200 --> 00:15:39.080
there's discrepancies between agencies as to what exactly happened, but

280
00:15:39.279 --> 00:15:44.440
for sure, the age investigator, Christopher Rivera, requested Derek Toddley's

281
00:15:44.480 --> 00:15:49.000
criminal history on May second of two thousand and three. Meanwhile,

282
00:15:49.320 --> 00:15:52.279
detectives from Saint Martin Parish felt like there were a

283
00:15:52.320 --> 00:15:56.039
lot of similarities between Denay Colomb's murder and the near

284
00:15:56.159 --> 00:16:01.279
murder and rape of Diane Alexander. Working with Diane, they

285
00:16:01.279 --> 00:16:05.720
were able to develop a sketch of her attacker, a blackmail.

286
00:16:05.440 --> 00:16:07.320
Driving a gold Mitsubishi.

287
00:16:08.000 --> 00:16:11.080
The murders and Baton Rouge well, they also seemed so

288
00:16:11.320 --> 00:16:15.879
similar in nature to both Diane and Daney's cases, But again,

289
00:16:16.600 --> 00:16:21.039
the profile of that killer was a white male. DNA

290
00:16:21.200 --> 00:16:24.840
from Diane's rape and attack was resubmitted by an investigator

291
00:16:24.840 --> 00:16:27.639
to the Akkadiana Crime Lab just to see if something

292
00:16:27.679 --> 00:16:29.919
new could be found. The lab was only able to

293
00:16:29.960 --> 00:16:34.200
develop a partial profile, but within that profile were enough

294
00:16:34.279 --> 00:16:39.080
comparison points that the lab could confidently say that this

295
00:16:39.279 --> 00:16:42.480
killer was probably the same guy killing.

296
00:16:42.320 --> 00:16:44.159
In Baton Rouge.

297
00:16:44.200 --> 00:16:50.519
The matches were there, jaws dropped, this killer was everywhere.

298
00:16:51.600 --> 00:16:55.600
In the meantime, Investigator Danny Mixon well, he was also

299
00:16:55.679 --> 00:16:58.720
convinced that Derek Tudley was the most obvious subject to

300
00:16:58.759 --> 00:17:01.320
be further looked at. He didn't just base this on

301
00:17:01.399 --> 00:17:04.319
a gut feeling. Either he had compiled some I guess

302
00:17:04.319 --> 00:17:07.359
you would call it unofficial data that made him zero

303
00:17:07.480 --> 00:17:10.160
in on Dereck todd Lee. And this data was a

304
00:17:10.200 --> 00:17:15.799
mixture of him looking at maps, locations, victims, incarceration history

305
00:17:15.799 --> 00:17:19.920
of DTL, comparison charts of his employment history, and also

306
00:17:20.000 --> 00:17:23.160
what cars he owned at that time, and what stood

307
00:17:23.160 --> 00:17:24.839
out to him was a pattern.

308
00:17:25.759 --> 00:17:27.119
It wasn't a pattern.

309
00:17:26.839 --> 00:17:31.359
Of what DTL was doing, but rather what he wasn't doing.

310
00:17:31.759 --> 00:17:35.680
That god Investigator Mixon's attention, and I'll post this chart

311
00:17:35.720 --> 00:17:39.319
on Patreon. But basically, here is the pattern as it

312
00:17:39.359 --> 00:17:42.960
emerged from the papers, a document three pages long and

313
00:17:43.039 --> 00:17:49.279
almost spreadsheet like organization. Something became very clear. Derek Toddley

314
00:17:49.640 --> 00:17:53.720
was fired on August eighteenth, nineteen ninety two, from his job.

315
00:17:54.440 --> 00:17:58.440
Connie Warner was murdered two days later. A witness said

316
00:17:58.480 --> 00:18:01.319
he saw a man with a large bundle being shoved

317
00:18:01.319 --> 00:18:04.400
into the backseat of a Buick in her driveway, and

318
00:18:04.480 --> 00:18:08.640
at that time DTL was driving a red Buick Electra.

319
00:18:09.680 --> 00:18:13.279
He was fired on April sixteenth, nineteen ninety eight, from

320
00:18:13.279 --> 00:18:17.839
his job. Two days later, Randy Miebrewer was murdered, and

321
00:18:17.920 --> 00:18:20.799
Derrek was confirmed to not be in jail at that time.

322
00:18:22.079 --> 00:18:25.200
DTL was employed in September two thousand and one, but

323
00:18:25.759 --> 00:18:28.359
he was off of work on the twenty second and

324
00:18:28.440 --> 00:18:32.440
the twenty third. Gina Green was murdered on the twenty third.

325
00:18:33.640 --> 00:18:37.160
DTL was laid off on January eleventh, two thousand and two,

326
00:18:37.680 --> 00:18:41.119
but he went to pick up his check on January fourteenth.

327
00:18:41.920 --> 00:18:47.640
Jerrelyn DeSoto was murdered on January fourteenth. DTL was unemployed

328
00:18:47.680 --> 00:18:50.920
the entire month of May two thousand two, and both

329
00:18:51.000 --> 00:18:55.400
Christine Moore and Charlotte Murray Pace were murdered that same month.

330
00:18:56.359 --> 00:18:59.240
He was also unemployed in June and July of two

331
00:18:59.240 --> 00:19:02.559
thousand and two, when Diane Alexander was attacked and Pam

332
00:19:02.640 --> 00:19:06.920
Kennimore was murdered. He was back employed in November, but

333
00:19:07.039 --> 00:19:09.920
he took off the work week of the nineteenth through

334
00:19:09.960 --> 00:19:14.400
the twenty third. Denee Cologne was murdered November twenty first.

335
00:19:15.240 --> 00:19:17.799
He was employed in December of two thousand and two,

336
00:19:17.960 --> 00:19:20.880
but he took off the dates of the twenty first

337
00:19:21.079 --> 00:19:24.839
through the twenty fifth. Maryanne Fowler went missing on the

338
00:19:24.880 --> 00:19:28.039
twenty fourth. He was employed in March of two thousand

339
00:19:28.079 --> 00:19:31.559
and three, but he took off from February twenty eighth

340
00:19:31.759 --> 00:19:35.319
through March ninth, and Carrie Yoder was murdered on March

341
00:19:35.480 --> 00:19:39.519
the third. Basically, every time he lost a job, he

342
00:19:39.599 --> 00:19:41.880
got in trouble with the courts, or he took off

343
00:19:41.920 --> 00:19:45.319
of work a woman had died. It was right there

344
00:19:45.480 --> 00:19:48.960
in black and white, and this timeline was enough for

345
00:19:49.079 --> 00:19:52.720
investigator Mixon, who immediately turned around and drew up a

346
00:19:52.759 --> 00:19:56.480
subpoena for Derrick Todd Lee's DNA, but a judge would

347
00:19:56.519 --> 00:19:59.519
have to first sign off on it. The request included

348
00:19:59.599 --> 00:20:03.279
all of the timeline information. I just gave a direct

349
00:20:03.359 --> 00:20:07.400
quote from the affidavit read. Lee has remained a viable

350
00:20:07.480 --> 00:20:11.160
suspect in the disappearance and alleged death of me Brewer

351
00:20:11.400 --> 00:20:14.279
and the murder of Warner, and a possible suspect in

352
00:20:14.319 --> 00:20:17.480
the deaths of five females in the Baton Rouge and Lafayette,

353
00:20:17.519 --> 00:20:21.519
Louisiana areas that have been linked by DNA profiling to

354
00:20:21.559 --> 00:20:25.680
the serial killer operating in the Baton Rouge and Lafayette areas.

355
00:20:26.640 --> 00:20:30.319
On May fifth, two thousand and three, just two days

356
00:20:30.359 --> 00:20:33.759
after Carrie Yoder was murdered. Judge George Ware read the

357
00:20:33.880 --> 00:20:37.519
six page request, grabbed his pen, and he signed it.

358
00:20:38.000 --> 00:20:41.720
This was huge, because now Derek Lee could not refuse

359
00:20:41.839 --> 00:20:45.720
to give his DNA sample. The investigators jumped right in

360
00:20:45.799 --> 00:20:50.160
their vehicles again when they got there, he wasn't home,

361
00:20:50.359 --> 00:20:53.680
but this time they wouldn't be leaving a card. They

362
00:20:53.720 --> 00:20:56.000
were going to wait it out and pounce when they

363
00:20:56.039 --> 00:21:00.680
saw him get home. They waited and waited, even watching

364
00:21:00.680 --> 00:21:04.559
his daughter get off the bus. They waited and waited,

365
00:21:04.640 --> 00:21:08.880
and then, just as they hoped, Derek Toddley turned into

366
00:21:08.920 --> 00:21:13.200
his driveway. Nixon and another investigator they jumped out of

367
00:21:13.240 --> 00:21:15.880
their cars and they approached him, saying, hey, we need

368
00:21:15.920 --> 00:21:18.960
a sample of your DNA. Well, he wasn't going to

369
00:21:19.039 --> 00:21:21.920
do anything without an order, which Mixon happily handed over

370
00:21:22.000 --> 00:21:25.559
with a smile. Derek looked it over and he remained

371
00:21:25.599 --> 00:21:30.359
calm as a cucumber as he read through each page. Okay,

372
00:21:30.400 --> 00:21:33.519
then do it, That was all he really said. And

373
00:21:33.559 --> 00:21:36.240
they'd be lying if the investigators said they weren't expecting

374
00:21:36.240 --> 00:21:39.160
a fight from the man capable of so much violence.

375
00:21:39.720 --> 00:21:43.079
But in dtl's case, it was simple. When you can't.

376
00:21:42.839 --> 00:21:45.279
Avoid the waves all you got to do is learn

377
00:21:45.319 --> 00:21:49.400
to surf, and that's exactly what DTL did, never even

378
00:21:49.440 --> 00:21:52.839
breaking a sweat as they swabbed his cheeks sitting on

379
00:21:52.880 --> 00:21:56.839
his living room sofa. Leaving without him seemed dangerous, but

380
00:21:56.920 --> 00:22:00.240
they had nothing to arrest him on yet, just suspicion.

381
00:22:00.559 --> 00:22:03.799
In a need to stop more women from dying, the

382
00:22:03.880 --> 00:22:06.839
investigators left and they submitted the sample to the crime

383
00:22:06.920 --> 00:22:10.359
lab on May sixth, two thousand and two, alongside hundreds

384
00:22:10.400 --> 00:22:13.880
of other swabs waiting to still be tested. All they

385
00:22:13.880 --> 00:22:17.160
could do now was wait and also pray that no

386
00:22:17.240 --> 00:22:19.880
woman died during the night and in the days to come.

387
00:22:20.799 --> 00:22:23.720
In the meantime, Derek now knew his days of freedom

388
00:22:23.720 --> 00:22:27.160
were likely numbered. The police had been harassing him for years,

389
00:22:27.440 --> 00:22:29.880
at least in his mind, trying to railroad him on

390
00:22:30.000 --> 00:22:32.680
charges of things he just didn't do. He wasn't going

391
00:22:32.759 --> 00:22:35.559
to let that happen, and this time he decided right

392
00:22:35.559 --> 00:22:38.759
then and there that his family needed a change. His

393
00:22:38.880 --> 00:22:41.039
plan was to go alone for now and to try

394
00:22:41.039 --> 00:22:43.880
to secure a job, maybe in Chicago or something like that.

395
00:22:44.720 --> 00:22:48.000
Not because it was a highly populated area, far away

396
00:22:48.039 --> 00:22:50.359
from the heat of local police. No no, no, of

397
00:22:50.400 --> 00:22:53.759
course not. It was just because he was broke, creditors

398
00:22:53.759 --> 00:22:56.160
were after him, and after all, they were being evicted.

399
00:22:56.559 --> 00:22:58.920
Jackie wasn't happy either when she found out the police

400
00:22:58.920 --> 00:23:02.200
had come to her house and taken her husband's DNA sample. Sure,

401
00:23:02.279 --> 00:23:04.359
he had abused her and was a cheater who was

402
00:23:04.559 --> 00:23:07.599
often unemployed, but in her mind, they were just out

403
00:23:07.640 --> 00:23:09.839
to put another poor black man in prison.

404
00:23:09.640 --> 00:23:11.400
And this was going to be the way they did it.

405
00:23:11.960 --> 00:23:14.519
So he and his wife decided the best bet for

406
00:23:14.599 --> 00:23:16.319
them was to pack up and.

407
00:23:16.319 --> 00:23:17.839
Leave the state all together.

408
00:23:18.680 --> 00:23:22.039
Jackie wasn't stupid as far as his criminality was concerned.

409
00:23:22.359 --> 00:23:24.920
She knew that something was probably going to happen between

410
00:23:24.960 --> 00:23:28.000
her husband and the law for whatever reason. This time,

411
00:23:28.279 --> 00:23:30.640
their family made a plan to leave. The very same

412
00:23:30.720 --> 00:23:33.920
day that Derek's DNA was taken. Jackie called her aunt,

413
00:23:33.960 --> 00:23:36.079
who lived in Detroit, and she asked if they could

414
00:23:36.079 --> 00:23:38.759
come stay with her for a while. They needed time

415
00:23:38.799 --> 00:23:40.720
to pack up, though, so it would be a few

416
00:23:40.799 --> 00:23:43.799
days before they got there. But as for Derek, he

417
00:23:43.839 --> 00:23:47.079
wouldn't be helping. He needed to go, and he needed

418
00:23:47.119 --> 00:23:50.480
to go now. His wife, Jackie, drove him to the

419
00:23:50.480 --> 00:23:53.359
Greyhound bus station in Baton Rouge that very night, where

420
00:23:53.400 --> 00:23:56.640
Derek got a single ticket to Chicago, loaded the bus,

421
00:23:56.839 --> 00:23:59.920
and he was out of the state of Louisiana by nightfall.

422
00:24:00.599 --> 00:24:03.960
With every minute that passed, he was further and further

423
00:24:04.039 --> 00:24:07.960
away from accountability. When he arrived in Chicago, though, things

424
00:24:08.039 --> 00:24:10.880
just didn't go as planned for him. In his mind,

425
00:24:11.079 --> 00:24:12.720
he would get a job within a day or so,

426
00:24:13.079 --> 00:24:15.359
and then he would quickly start a new life. But

427
00:24:15.440 --> 00:24:18.079
it just wasn't that easy. He wasn't able to get

428
00:24:18.079 --> 00:24:21.079
a job, and he quickly ran out of money. Within

429
00:24:21.160 --> 00:24:23.759
a few days of leaving. He was forced to return

430
00:24:23.799 --> 00:24:27.839
back home, but this time he was moving quickly. He

431
00:24:27.839 --> 00:24:31.519
helped the family offload anything that wasn't a necessity, including

432
00:24:31.559 --> 00:24:34.839
their furniture and their personal effects. He then jumped back

433
00:24:34.880 --> 00:24:37.279
on a Greyhound bus, but this time he was headed

434
00:24:37.319 --> 00:24:41.039
for Atlanta. Three days after this, his wife and kids

435
00:24:41.079 --> 00:24:43.839
took a bus to Detroit, arriving there the next day.

436
00:24:44.759 --> 00:24:46.640
Derek told his kids that he was going to make

437
00:24:46.640 --> 00:24:48.920
some money and that he would see him soon, but

438
00:24:49.000 --> 00:24:52.599
those words were actually pretty hollow in reality. He had

439
00:24:52.599 --> 00:24:55.640
rented a room at the Lakewood Motor Lodge and found

440
00:24:55.680 --> 00:24:59.160
employment with a construction company in the area. The people

441
00:24:59.200 --> 00:25:01.759
at the lodge found him to be a very likable guy,

442
00:25:02.000 --> 00:25:05.799
although some did have reservations about him. He would barbecue

443
00:25:06.000 --> 00:25:08.240
and he would have people over, but he also would

444
00:25:08.240 --> 00:25:10.319
do things like telling one woman he was a building

445
00:25:10.359 --> 00:25:13.519
inspector and he was trying to enter her apartment. Overall,

446
00:25:13.559 --> 00:25:16.000
people said that they really enjoyed his company, and he

447
00:25:16.039 --> 00:25:19.480
even branched out into a new social get together opportunity.

448
00:25:20.200 --> 00:25:23.799
Derek Toddley was hosting Bible study at his new home.

449
00:25:24.519 --> 00:25:27.000
Of course, all of this would cost money, none of

450
00:25:27.039 --> 00:25:28.839
which he would be sending to his wife to help

451
00:25:28.839 --> 00:25:32.480
support his children. The days continued to pass as the

452
00:25:32.519 --> 00:25:35.960
crime lab muddled through thousands of DNA samples that were

453
00:25:36.000 --> 00:25:38.799
being turned in. As soon as one was cleared, there

454
00:25:38.799 --> 00:25:42.119
were ten more in its place, including the sample taken

455
00:25:42.200 --> 00:25:45.880
from DTL. On May twenty fifth, two thousand and two,

456
00:25:46.279 --> 00:25:49.359
forensic analyst Natasha Poe with the State Police Crime Lab

457
00:25:49.599 --> 00:25:53.160
checked her most recent DNA test submission. Usually, it was

458
00:25:53.200 --> 00:26:00.359
the same thing over and over. Test Look no match repeat, test, Look,

459
00:26:00.759 --> 00:26:05.559
no match repeat. But to her stunned excitement, this test

460
00:26:05.599 --> 00:26:08.839
looked different. She leaned over for a closer look with

461
00:26:08.960 --> 00:26:12.640
near disbelief, but sure enough she was seeing what she

462
00:26:12.680 --> 00:26:16.839
had hoped to see so many times before, but now

463
00:26:17.599 --> 00:26:22.359
it finally happened. The DNA submission on the desk right

464
00:26:22.440 --> 00:26:25.440
in front of her was an exact match to that

465
00:26:25.640 --> 00:26:31.279
of the Baton Rouge serial killer. Oh my god, she

466
00:26:31.400 --> 00:26:32.480
fell back in her chair.

467
00:26:33.400 --> 00:26:33.920
It's him.

468
00:26:34.839 --> 00:26:38.839
I can't believe it. I am looking at him. She

469
00:26:38.920 --> 00:26:41.759
picked up the phone and she dialed her supervisor, breaking

470
00:26:41.799 --> 00:26:46.039
the massive news. What is the name on the sample tube?

471
00:26:46.240 --> 00:26:49.839
Dereck todd Lee was the name written on the sample.

472
00:26:50.839 --> 00:26:51.960
We got him.

473
00:26:52.279 --> 00:26:55.519
The task Force was alerted, and now the chase was on.

474
00:26:55.920 --> 00:26:57.920
They prepared to go get him that night, but when

475
00:26:57.920 --> 00:27:00.200
faced with the fact that children maybe in the home,

476
00:27:00.559 --> 00:27:03.880
they decided to rethink things. If Derek was cornered, no

477
00:27:04.000 --> 00:27:06.680
telling what he may do, and obviously he was capable

478
00:27:06.680 --> 00:27:09.640
of deadly violence. But there were three homes in the

479
00:27:09.680 --> 00:27:11.880
sights of the task force that needed to be checked.

480
00:27:12.400 --> 00:27:15.200
Derek's home with his wife Jackie, Derek's home with his

481
00:27:15.240 --> 00:27:19.839
girlfriend Cansandra, and his parents' home. Derek Toddley's parents had

482
00:27:19.880 --> 00:27:24.160
known the police Captain archer Lee his entire life. He

483
00:27:24.240 --> 00:27:26.319
knew that they likely had nothing to do with this,

484
00:27:26.519 --> 00:27:28.839
and he wanted to make sure that everything went smooth

485
00:27:29.039 --> 00:27:33.359
yet respectful. At the parents home. Police waited until after

486
00:27:33.480 --> 00:27:36.680
any children would have left for school before approaching any

487
00:27:36.720 --> 00:27:40.880
of the homes. It was a near simultaneous event. Derek's

488
00:27:40.920 --> 00:27:43.559
home was feared to be an extremely dangerous place to

489
00:27:43.559 --> 00:27:46.920
confront him. It was his turf and he knew it best.

490
00:27:47.599 --> 00:27:50.640
Possible weapons were unknown, and his reaction time would need

491
00:27:50.720 --> 00:27:53.480
to be limited. The entry would need to be swift,

492
00:27:53.640 --> 00:27:56.799
and it needed to be tactical. Police surrounded the home

493
00:27:56.920 --> 00:27:59.839
and they prepared to take it by surprise. As they

494
00:28:00.039 --> 00:28:03.039
busted through the front door and loudly announced their presence,

495
00:28:03.319 --> 00:28:07.599
they were shockingly met with absolute silence. It was pure stillness.

496
00:28:07.720 --> 00:28:10.200
The home was found to be near empty. There was

497
00:28:10.279 --> 00:28:13.240
trash left here and there, as well as unwanted remnants

498
00:28:13.240 --> 00:28:14.759
of household items.

499
00:28:14.359 --> 00:28:15.799
And pieces of toys.

500
00:28:16.359 --> 00:28:19.200
Dirty kitchen walls and holes throughout the sheet rock told

501
00:28:19.240 --> 00:28:22.200
a story of poverty and lack of care, combined with

502
00:28:22.359 --> 00:28:26.200
bouts of violence behind closed doors. At his parents' home,

503
00:28:26.599 --> 00:28:30.119
there would be no forced entry. Captain Archerlee simply asked

504
00:28:30.119 --> 00:28:33.119
for Derek's stepdad to come outside, which he did, and

505
00:28:33.160 --> 00:28:36.519
he was informed of the situation. The news nearly knocked

506
00:28:36.559 --> 00:28:40.559
him to his knees. Derek's mother and grandmother were horrified

507
00:28:40.599 --> 00:28:42.480
by it all, but they were too asked to come

508
00:28:42.519 --> 00:28:45.880
outside while their home was searched. There was nothing they

509
00:28:45.920 --> 00:28:49.680
could do but sit and watch, all the while refusing

510
00:28:49.720 --> 00:28:53.680
to believe that their son was a serial killer. His

511
00:28:53.759 --> 00:28:57.240
parents were forthcoming throughout the ordeal. It was a stepfather

512
00:28:57.279 --> 00:29:00.200
who told the police that Derek had left town. They

513
00:29:00.240 --> 00:29:03.720
knew though, was that he was headed to Chicago. Obviously

514
00:29:03.759 --> 00:29:05.960
this was a lie, but it was the truth as

515
00:29:06.000 --> 00:29:09.839
far as his parents knew. Police maintained a professional, yet

516
00:29:09.839 --> 00:29:13.680
caring attitude, painfully aware that these people didn't do any

517
00:29:13.720 --> 00:29:16.799
of this. They were simply another casualty in the wake

518
00:29:16.839 --> 00:29:20.599
of their son. When girlfriend Cassandra's home was searched, it

519
00:29:20.599 --> 00:29:24.279
would prove a valuable source of information, maybe not in quantity,

520
00:29:24.519 --> 00:29:27.640
but in quality. Derek left items at her home when

521
00:29:27.640 --> 00:29:31.400
he stayed there, and this included a Wolverine brand work boot,

522
00:29:31.720 --> 00:29:35.279
one that would prove a very useful item for investigators.

523
00:29:36.279 --> 00:29:39.279
No one knew the whereabouts of Derek's wife or children

524
00:29:39.319 --> 00:29:41.920
when they were questioned. They had believed what they were

525
00:29:41.960 --> 00:29:44.720
told and had no reason to expect that they wouldn't

526
00:29:44.720 --> 00:29:48.119
be together. Solving these murders had been hard enough, but

527
00:29:48.160 --> 00:29:50.119
now the serial killer of Baton Rouge was on the

528
00:29:50.200 --> 00:29:53.240
run and he could be anywhere in the world. The

529
00:29:53.319 --> 00:29:56.480
Task Force jumped into action, following any trail they could

530
00:29:56.519 --> 00:29:59.279
to track him down, but police also had an obligation

531
00:29:59.519 --> 00:30:02.359
to the peace people. They needed to know who he was,

532
00:30:02.880 --> 00:30:05.519
see his face for the first time, and now beyond

533
00:30:05.599 --> 00:30:08.839
high alert that the infamous killer may have a face

534
00:30:08.880 --> 00:30:11.759
and a name, but he was unaccounted for and on

535
00:30:12.079 --> 00:30:15.400
the run. A press conference was called and the community

536
00:30:15.480 --> 00:30:18.519
listened on edge as the information everyone longed to hear

537
00:30:19.000 --> 00:30:22.720
was now available. Task Force leaders took to the podium

538
00:30:22.920 --> 00:30:25.359
and everyone hushed so as to not miss a word.

539
00:30:26.200 --> 00:30:29.079
This is the man believed to be the Baton Rouge

540
00:30:29.160 --> 00:30:34.400
serial killer linked by DNA. His name is Derek Todd Lee.

541
00:30:34.640 --> 00:30:37.160
A photo was held up and panned before all of

542
00:30:37.200 --> 00:30:40.200
the cameras as the additional information was given and the

543
00:30:40.240 --> 00:30:40.759
fact that.

544
00:30:40.680 --> 00:30:44.240
He was on the run. This news was huge.

545
00:30:43.960 --> 00:30:47.039
And coverage was everywhere. While Derek may have had a

546
00:30:47.079 --> 00:30:49.599
head start in Atlanta, it was very clear that he

547
00:30:49.680 --> 00:30:52.640
was now going to be the one hunted, but finding

548
00:30:52.680 --> 00:30:55.640
him won't require you to wait for another episode. When

549
00:30:55.640 --> 00:30:58.720
he was lurking in the shadows an unknown man, he

550
00:30:58.759 --> 00:31:01.680
seemed rather skilled at high and seek, but all they

551
00:31:01.720 --> 00:31:04.359
needed was a name, and the task Force made finding

552
00:31:04.440 --> 00:31:07.759
him look like child's play. He could have been anywhere

553
00:31:08.000 --> 00:31:10.960
in the world, but once they had his name and

554
00:31:11.039 --> 00:31:14.640
a multi agency, multi state effort to grab him, it

555
00:31:14.680 --> 00:31:18.599
would take only two days to track him down. When

556
00:31:18.680 --> 00:31:21.279
Derek pulled his kids out of school, he told the

557
00:31:21.319 --> 00:31:24.039
school that they were moving to Los Angeles. When he

558
00:31:24.119 --> 00:31:27.880
left town, he told his family he was going to Chicago.

559
00:31:27.920 --> 00:31:30.000
Of course, his wife knew that he was in Atlanta,

560
00:31:30.240 --> 00:31:32.960
but no one knew where his wife was. But there

561
00:31:33.000 --> 00:31:36.960
was another woman that Lee was close with, his girlfriend, Cassandra,

562
00:31:37.960 --> 00:31:41.079
and credit must be given in all aspects of his capture,

563
00:31:41.359 --> 00:31:43.480
and the fact that his wife, Jackie was a crucial

564
00:31:43.480 --> 00:31:47.960
component to this can't go unmentioned. When Derek was identified

565
00:31:48.000 --> 00:31:51.960
as the serial killer suspect, she contacted the FBI and

566
00:31:52.039 --> 00:31:54.440
she told them that he was supposed to be in Atlanta,

567
00:31:54.640 --> 00:31:58.200
but she didn't know exactly where. She loved her husband

568
00:31:58.400 --> 00:32:00.839
but this was bigger than that, and she knew it.

569
00:32:01.359 --> 00:32:04.720
With Atlanta now on the radar, officials there were contacted

570
00:32:04.799 --> 00:32:07.880
and the sharing of information began to try and locate him.

571
00:32:08.240 --> 00:32:12.079
But back home, detectives were busy questioning Derek's girlfriend at

572
00:32:12.119 --> 00:32:17.200
her house when incredibly, her phone rang. When she answered

573
00:32:17.200 --> 00:32:19.880
the phone, the room went silent because the man on

574
00:32:19.920 --> 00:32:23.759
the other end just started casually talking. He said, Hey,

575
00:32:23.799 --> 00:32:28.160
what's up, what are you doing? It was Derek, because

576
00:32:28.160 --> 00:32:30.519
when you're on the run from being a serial killer,

577
00:32:30.720 --> 00:32:32.839
of course you need to make a call and check

578
00:32:32.880 --> 00:32:36.839
in with your girlfriend. As he continued to talk, investigators

579
00:32:36.880 --> 00:32:39.599
noticed that the caller id registered a four to four

580
00:32:39.799 --> 00:32:45.039
area code BINGO. He's in Atlanta. Phone records would verify

581
00:32:45.079 --> 00:32:46.920
that the number was registered to a.

582
00:32:46.920 --> 00:32:48.400
Booboo Cuddy Idakala.

583
00:32:49.200 --> 00:32:51.480
Booboo Cuddy was found to be the manager of a

584
00:32:51.559 --> 00:32:55.079
hotel where Derek Lee was confirmed to be staying, and

585
00:32:55.119 --> 00:32:58.799
when they called the number back, he verified this. When

586
00:32:58.839 --> 00:33:02.759
investigators made it to that hotel, they had just missed him,

587
00:33:03.079 --> 00:33:06.319
Derek was already gone. Through further questioning of Booboo Cutty,

588
00:33:06.519 --> 00:33:08.799
they found out that Derek had hung up his phone

589
00:33:08.880 --> 00:33:11.279
and then told him, I've got to go. My mother

590
00:33:11.359 --> 00:33:14.079
is very sick and I've got to go back to Louisiana.

591
00:33:14.319 --> 00:33:18.559
He then abruptly left the motel. Investigators didn't think that

592
00:33:18.680 --> 00:33:20.680
he would have made it far, though, because even the

593
00:33:20.759 --> 00:33:23.039
residents of the motel said he didn't have a car.

594
00:33:23.400 --> 00:33:26.359
He was always asking them for rides, specifically to a

595
00:33:26.400 --> 00:33:30.000
nearby pawnshop where he would pawn jewelry for cash. Other

596
00:33:30.079 --> 00:33:32.960
than this, they knew that he traveled by bus. The

597
00:33:33.039 --> 00:33:36.400
media was provided with Derek's photo and information was readily

598
00:33:36.440 --> 00:33:40.279
blasted all over the television. If anyone saw this guy,

599
00:33:40.680 --> 00:33:44.319
please call it in, do not approach him. Consider him

600
00:33:44.440 --> 00:33:48.839
armed and extremely dangerous. The information went out and the

601
00:33:48.920 --> 00:33:52.039
FBI waited for the calls to start coming in. In

602
00:33:52.079 --> 00:33:55.519
the meantime, police for searching the old fashioned way of

603
00:33:55.559 --> 00:33:58.319
boots on the ground effort, talking to the locals and

604
00:33:58.359 --> 00:34:01.640
searching up and down the roadway. But the FBI would

605
00:34:01.680 --> 00:34:04.079
hit pey dirt when they received a tip that a

606
00:34:04.119 --> 00:34:07.119
man who looked very similar to Derrick Todd Lee was

607
00:34:07.359 --> 00:34:10.280
just seen near a local tire shop. It was around

608
00:34:10.360 --> 00:34:12.679
eight thirty pm when police made their way to the

609
00:34:12.719 --> 00:34:16.760
back of Green's tire shop in southwest Atlanta. As they

610
00:34:16.840 --> 00:34:20.920
rounded the corner, they noticed a blackmale engaged in conversation

611
00:34:21.239 --> 00:34:24.360
with a young woman. They quickly made their presence known

612
00:34:24.400 --> 00:34:26.880
and they approached him, asking him to show some form

613
00:34:26.920 --> 00:34:32.079
of ID. Without any pushback whatsoever, he did so, showing

614
00:34:32.079 --> 00:34:35.400
his license. It only took seconds for officers to pull

615
00:34:35.440 --> 00:34:38.400
out their cuffs and to take him into custody. They

616
00:34:38.400 --> 00:34:40.599
read him his rights, and they placed him in the

617
00:34:40.639 --> 00:34:44.000
back of a squad car. The hunt for a serial

618
00:34:44.079 --> 00:34:48.360
killer was now over. Dereck Todd Lee, the man who

619
00:34:48.480 --> 00:34:52.840
terrorized a state and slaughtered many innocent women, the serial

620
00:34:52.960 --> 00:34:58.360
killer of South Louisiana, was officially in police custody.

621
00:34:58.599 --> 00:35:01.760
But now they need him to talk back.

622
00:35:01.800 --> 00:35:05.639
At the police station Louisiana, investigators were ready and waiting.

623
00:35:06.400 --> 00:35:08.800
Once he was secured, they opened the door to the

624
00:35:08.840 --> 00:35:11.960
interrogation room and looked straight into the eyes of the

625
00:35:12.000 --> 00:35:15.480
man They had been chasing for nearly nine months, and

626
00:35:15.599 --> 00:35:22.360
now it was time to solidify the cases against him.