DTL - Part 6: Stanford Avenue

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. Derrick 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. It was now September of two thousand and one, and Derek Toddlee had just been in a fight with his wife, and this fight resulted in his arrest. But luckily for him, those charges would be dropped in the moment, though he was highly agitated. Women were just too damn hard to get along with, especially when they didn't do what he said and they didn't do what he wanted them to do, and he would need a way to work off some of this tension, and he knew exactly what he was going to do. Whether his wife or girlfriend ever sought medical attention after he beat them, that's up for speculation.

1:46 But if they did, Our Lady of the Lake Regional Medical Center on Essen Lane would have proved the best place to go for treatment. Our Lady the Lake serves as the largest private medical center in the state of Louisiana and provides care for basically every thing, from complex medical issues to the more common ones. They provide care for both pediatric and adult patients. The hospital is an interesting one in that it's a nonprofit and founded in Catholic health care ministry. The hospital is massive. Employing seventy five hundred employees with services provided by more than twenty nine hundred active physicians. Employees are often drawn to the facility as it's a primary teaching site for graduate medical education programs from serious traumas to cancer treatment.

2:31 This is the facility in the area, which is exactly why thirty nine year old Gina Green loved to work there. When Gina was just a young child, it was discovered that she had a unique kidney disorder that required continued medical care. She had numerous procedures and spent a great deal of time interacting with medical professionals who took amazing care of her. That experience left a profound and lasting impression on her that extended into adulthood. When she began chasing her dream of being a nurse, she wanted to help people, just as she had been helped during all of those treatment years of her own. She knew first hand how important a nurse's job is and that patients appreciate help from people you can tell love their job.

3:14 She felt it was her calling and would eventually choose the specialty of infusion nursing. In very basic terms, an infusion nurse administers ivy medicine and fluids, helping patients with varying conditions from dehydration all the way through cancer. Gina was built for it, too, Known for her sense of humor and upbeat personality, people were just drawn to her outgoing, vivacious, strong, opinionated. Full of life. Those are the very words used to describe her. Her personality must have been a combination of her parents. Dad, a military man having served in Vietnam, gave her that boldness and her mom, who loved to dance, teach Sunday school, and tend to her flower beds. She gave Gina that warmness that friends looked for in others. She could also communicate well, and I would attribute that life skill to having two sisters. She made friends easily. She was just a flat out likable person. But not everyone as happy all of the time.

4:16 Right. We all have our struggles, and she was no different. She had married her high school sweetheart, Mark some years ago, but as is common when young people marry, they mature and over time they change ONTs and goals begin to differ, and that was the case here. She and Mark had divorced and she was a single woman. This didn't mean that she and Mark hated one another, though they still maintained a very good relationship. They still spoke and interacted often because they were truly friends, just no longer lovers. While looks certainly are not everything, I can tell you this. Gina was a naturally beautiful woman, and she took care of herself. She was also very close with the women in her lif family, her mother, whom she spoke to by phone almost daily, and her sisters Amy and Scherie.

5:06 Considering how much she spoke with her family. More recently, Gina had spoken up about an uneasy feeling she was having at home. She couldn't put her finger on it necessarily, but she just felt that lingering alarm that someone was watching her. They talked it over and her mother reminded her to lock her doors and set her alarm, all the things that a loving mother would do. But she also reassured her daughter that everything would be okay. Be conscious of your surroundings and if you need me, I'm just a phone call away. And Gina knew this was true. Her mama was an absolute blessing in her life. The stress of the uneasiness was so much, though, that she also confided Interrex's husband Mark about her feelings.

5:51 She was genuinely worried about it. She may have had a reason to be also, see they had had some issues with a painter recently, and it resulted in a court case. When they went to court, that painter acted completely out of pocket and went as far as to make threats against them. Both people these days are crazy and you never truly know what they are capable of, do you. But Mark helped to ease her mind and they two discussed the safety measures she had in place. Mark thought honestly that her fear was a little bit overboard, but if she felt that way, she felt that way, and he wanted her to feel safe. That said, Gina was a vigilant woman. She was almost ocd about having her home alarm on at all times. She also had pepper spray in every window.

6:36 In late September, the weather was perfect for outdoor play and bike riding was something that Gina enjoyed. She would ride around the LSU Lakes, taking in the sites and the calm of the university on a sleepy Sunday, which was so refreshing. After her ride, she returned home and showered before calling her sister demanding to see her two year old niece. Obviously, I mean this playfully, but she she needed some quality time with that baby girl. Of course, that was no problem, so she and her sister made plans for dinner the restaurant of choice on the half shell, the name a nod to the delectable raw oyster. This dinner wasn't gonna be a big fuss though. Neither sister even feeled like doing their makeup nor getting all dressed up.

7:17 This was a casual dinner for girls to enjoy each other, not even worrying about what others may think. So dinner was delicious, and after paying the tab, the women drove back to Amy's house, chatting it up with full stomachs and smiles. Back at the house, they weren't done for the night. They wanted to watch a movie together. But first, little miss Mayham needed a bath, and Gina was more than happy to help her sister out. Complete with a warm towbel hug, she dried. Her hair and put on lotion that smelled like everything a baby girl should smell like. She tucked her into bed and told her how much she was loved, before turning out the light and gently shutting the door. Once asleep, the sisters settled in and they watched a movie together, which ended around eleven thirty.

8:02 It was late, but it was worth it. Gina was ready to head home, but her sister made sure to walk her out to her car. A quick wave and Gina's BMW backed out and then took off in the direction of her home. Gina's home was located in the heart of LSU campus. In terms of nearby housing, twenty one to fifty one Stanford Avenue, a three bedroom, one bath home is a house that many people pass on their way to Tiger Stadium on Saturday nights. Matter of fact, if you stood in Gina's front yard and you turn and looked left, you can actually see the Interstate from the grass. Gina's home was on the side heading inbound to campus. The home was a. Nice middle class home, yet while small, the location made it very valuable. Estimated at around two hundred and fifty thousand dollars, it was a cute home with a porch that wrapped around one side, and that porch had been updated glassed in, and while beautiful, it also made it easy.

8:58 To look inside. Of course, she had doors and walls, but the glass had bushes outside of it, and at night, someone could easily blend in and watch her. If they wanted to. Gina knew this, and so as she drove up to the house that night, she got out and made it inside. Quickly, she locked her doors, and she set her alarm. Everything she was supposed to do to be safe. But this begs the question, what exactly is safe? Locking your home doors is to keep honest men honest? In all reality, a door can be breached with enough power and an alarm. Sure it sounds loudly, but a loud noise doesn't always thwart someone with murder on their mind. Gina did all that she could to feel safe. Once inside the house, she had plans to turn in for the night. Cars passed by, and the lights would briefly shine in the windows until quickly fading.

9:54 She dropped her keys. And her purse on the counter and she made her way back to her bedroom. She had already bathed, so with a quick change into her PJS, she slipped into the bed for the night. The next day was going to be a really busy one for her. Gina's peaceful sleep wouldn't last long when at three forty seven am, her house alarm shattered to silence and the tranquility of the evening. Oh my god, her worst fears were coming true. She jumped out of bed, prepared to face whoever was trying to enter her home. The noise of the alarm continued as she moved through the house, flipping on lights, looking room to room as she was rushing, opening doors, and even checking the closets for anyone who may be there.

10:36 About that time, her phone rang and it was the alarm company calling to check on her. We have an alarm going off. Is everything okay? Gina was on edge, but able to punch in the code to silence the alarm. She wasn't sure what was going on. The operator was ready to send police units her way immediately, but once the house was lit up and she was able to see well, no. One was there. At first, startled and afraid, she was happy to have someone on the phone. She peered out of her windows and she looked out on the porch, but again nobody was there. Now talking with the operator and calming down a bit, she almost felt embarrassed that it was obviously a false alarm. It was probably thunder or something that rattled the door. She unlocked it and briefly peered outside, but again nothing was a miss. Now convinced that everything was okay, Gina declined help being sent to the house.

11:29 There was nothing for them to do. She was fine. Good lord, what an unsettling thing to just shake off. How was she going to just fall back to sleep after this? But everything, thankfully was fine. She gave her verbal code, proving always well to the operator, and the call ended, just another false alarm, like nearly half of the alarms turn out to be. What no one knew, though, was that a plan had just worked out perfectly, an impromptu one, but a plan. See when the lights are on inside your house and it's dark outside, you can't see out that well when you're looking into the darkness, can you. You can't see someone crouching down, eyes locked on yours as you peer outside your window. You also can't hear their breath, heavy with adrenaline as they continue to watch you like pray. The truth was that someone was out there, and they did try to come inside.

12:32 He just didn't expect that alarm, and he had scurried off into the dark at first sound. But he didn't leave entirely, because once the alarm was turned off and it remained quiet, no police cars rushing up, no lights, no nothing, the person in the shadows realized she thought this was a false alarm, and now with no responders arriving. He was moving in with a vengeance. As Gina hung up the phone, ending the only chance she had for a lifeline, her worst nightmare came barely. Through her door. The thing she had feared and had worked diligently to avoid was now rushing through her house after her, with only one mission in mind. When Gina realized she wasn't alone, shock instantly turned to horror, which then shifted into fight mode.

13:25 If this stranger wanted her, he was going to have to work for it because she was in straight survival mode. The fight took place in nearly every room of the house. He slung her around like a rag doll, but a doll that refused to give up. As Gina mustered every bit of strength inside of her and surely yelled out for help. Help was nearby, but tragically just unaware. Without question, every officer on the beat that night would have stormed the gates of hell to get to her, but they just didn't know. Derek grabbed her by the wrists, and she undoubtedly the way no let go. But no matter how hard. She pulled away, he was just too big, and as he slung her to the ground, help was parked and waiting for another assignment from dispatch, as Gina was on her back, struggling and kicking and pulling herself away, all the while her clothes being violently ripped from her body.

14:22 Help was watching the intermittent cars pass by in the night, looking and listening for danger on the streets, but the danger was behind closed doors. He had free rein to do whatever he wanted to Gina because he was inside her home. The officers just didn't know as Gina's throng underwear was literally torn from around her legs, the one item that we women wear that gives us comfort and privacy amongst anything else, the item that everyone knows is off limits in a civilized society. The uncivilized Derek Todd Lee couldn't cared less. He was getting what he wanted, and as he did, Help listened just a few blocks away to the quiet chatter on the radio as a stray dog in the distance caught his eye, searching for a scrap to eat. The night and the fight continued.

15:19 Pawing at Gina like a tiger who's caught their praise. Still alive, he wailed down punches on Gina as. He drug her through the hallway. Badly injured from fighting a man who greatly outweighed her and was stronger than she would ever be, Exhaustion began to set in. We all have our limits, Gina was realizing that she had reached hers. Brutally beaten, bleeding, and now utterly depleted of the surge of adrenaline, Gina became weaker and weaker, yet her attacker became stronger and stronger. Her arms felt like massive weights as she tried to swing back at him, she could barely lift them, and he ripped her hair from her head as he continued to drag her down the hallway towards her bedroom. But that hallway would just be the beginning of this sexual depravity that this monster was ramping up to engage in her vision blurry and her heart pounding, out of breath and struggling to breathe. But outside her bedroom, the crickets chirped their nightly song, and the cars passed by and help.

16:27 It was now radio to respond. To a call. The lights lit up, the siren flipped, and the police unit raced full speed ahead in the opposite direction of Gina's home. As the sun rose, the next morning, it was sure to be a beautiful day. Students on their way to classes blaring their music and sipping their ice lattes. Those driven to exercise now filled the busy street on Stanford, biking, walking, and gossiping too, but at the hostile spittle they usually prompt. Gina was late for work. No call, no show. No, that wasn't her. Something was amiss. Coworkers tried to call her, but there was no answer. They gave it some time, but Gina never called back, nor did she ever show up.

17:17 Nursing is a special job where people care about others. It's literally what they do. But this care, well, it extends past just the patience, and it's especially strong amongst coworkers as you can imagine the ups and downs of the job and saving people's lives, well, those experiences forge a bond between coworkers, almost like soldiers in war. The tragedies and hardships they create a brotherhood and a sisterhood in the shared trauma That said co workers were now pretty worried, and so Gina's boss decided to leave work and head to her house. Everyone knew where she lived and that she lived alone, and if she was in distress.

17:59 They certainly wanted to help. Maybe she got a flat tire and she forgot her cell phone. I mean, crazier things have happened. The world was just in a wild place altogether. Just thirteen days prior, two planes flew into the World Trade Center in New York. It's a scary world we live in. But that said Gina's boss, Greg LeBlanc, he never passed her on the side of the road. He never found her broken down or anything like that. Before reaching her home, pulling in, Gina's BMW was parked in her driveway, so she had to be home. As Greg approached the house, nothing seemed out of order, being an older home. The door had a cute little mail slot, which he pushed open and he yelled inside playfully, Gina, Gina, Hello, but there was no answer. He walked around the home, looking through the windows to see if he could see anything, but all he noticed was that her keys still hung in the door from the inside. He remembered that once she said she kept a spare key under a flower pot, but he couldn't find one. So he walked up and he turned the doorknob. Been a last ditch attempt and to his surprise, it opened instincts at this point told him something he didn't want to know. There was a problem, but he shook it off and slowly walked down the hall, yelling out to her, and as he turned into the bedroom there the answer was a sight no one wants to see, but one a medical professional.

19:23 Knows immediately and all too well death. Gina was clearly deceased and in her bed, her stiff arm off the side, hanging telling him everything all at once. The call was immediately made to nine one one and police arrived, but it wouldn't change anything. Gina was gone forever, and the scene, well, it told investigators that someone had it out for her. This was a level of violence only someone fueled by hate could inflict upon someone else, and a woman at that pushing emotions aside. Investigators combed the crime scene and they documented what they saw. They would be lying if they said they didn't for a moment think about their own wives and how scared.

20:10 They would be in scenes like this. Who does this to a woman? Obviously, Gina hadn't done this to herself, and the scene told a horror that no one should ever get used to police determined that the fight began in the kitchen of the house and it lasted all the way through the home, ending in her bedroom. Clothing had been ripped from her as she fought through this house. In the kitchen on a chair, police documented a blue striped shirt with blood around the collar and down the front of it. In the living room, a black thong lay in front of the TV, and it appeared to have been forcibly removed by the sofa. Black pantyhose. Also found was a chain belt on one end of the room, and then her black skirt on the opposite side. And I know what you're thinking, Wait, I thought she was in bed.

21:00 I held the same question, what exactly was miss Gina wearing during the fight? It seems so trivial, but to me it mattered. But my answer is this, I'm not exactly sure, but neither were police. So I'm giving you the information as police found it and documented it that day. Moving down the. Hall, it became clear that the most brutal portions of the attack took place there. A hallway is just a transport location, isn't it, to get from one end to the other. But this hallway was the beginning of the end for Gina Green. Police documented her earrings ripped from her ears, both hoops strewn apart. Her bracelet lay on the carpet too, alongside one lonely shoe, proof of the violence.

21:51 In that small area, police photographed a large clump of brown hair that had been forcibly ripped from her scalp. And if you're a woman, you just cringed at this. We've all had our hair pulled at one time or another for whatever reason, and it is so insulting not to mention having it pulled completely out of your head by the fistful. This wasn't just to insult, this was pure domination. The next detail I am giving, but with the expectation that it is to be regarded with the utmost respect, a testament to what miss Gina experienced, and her horror to be defended at all times. There was a large amount of staining on the carpet in that narrow passage. Testing would prove this a mix of blood and fecal matter, a likely result of the autopsy reports confirmation that Miss Gina had been vaginally and anally raped.

22:49 Although the trauma of the rape was evident on her body, no seaman was recovered in the rape testing kit. Her body, however, was not on the floor in the hallway, had been picked up and carried to her bed after death by her killer. As detectives looked over her body, it was obvious that she had been strangled, bruising and abrasions around her neck. Proof of this. Whoever was responsible for taking her life had done so manually, an average seven minutes of intense constant pressure required to do this to someone. It's never quick, it takes immense effort, and it's meant to be up close and personal. Next to Gina's body on the floor lay her black brawl and a night shirt.

23:37 The cordless phone, the one used. To call for help. It was found under her nightstand. Finding who was responsible for this was investigator's prime goal and the first person they had in mind, someone who may be angry with her her ex husband. While I'm sure this was stressful and possibly offensive, he had to be cleared as a suspect, and this was done quickly. Mark was just as devastated as the rest of Gina's family. His high school sweetheart murdered, regardless of the fact their marriage had ended. This was awful Meanwhile, Gina's family was gutted by the notification of her passing and left to wonder.

24:19 Why why her. She didn't have enemies, she was a good person, She helped people. She wasn't someone that should happen to. While they certainly couldn't know this, many other people would be grieving alongside them. Coworkers, friends, even her massage therapist who had just seen her days prior at an appointment, her neighbors, her patience, she showered with love under her care, and even the first responders who saw her in a condition no normal person. Could ever forget. Why would be answered with a sickeningly simple answer. Someone ended her beautiful life for sexual gratification. Can you even imagine it? Murder seems to just roll off the tongue these days, but it shouldn't, and it can't.

25:13 This isn't normal. Some monster is out there, and you can trust he's not gonna stop. He also took souvenirs from his conquest. Items were missing from Gina's home, her purse, her phone, and her wallet contents. Surely the phone would be turned off by now, but detectives don't work in what is obvious. Their job is to turn over every leaf. This included Gena's phone records, her last known whereabouts. Singular Wireless was her phone carrier, and when records were subpoenaed, it turned out the cell phone was still on and they could get a signal on its location. BINGO, let's go find this killer. The signal brought detectives to an area of downtown Baton Rouge Chalk Tall if you're local, but if not, this is a warehouse district, a rather visually boring street lined with commercial businesses, large metal buildings, and power lines.

26:12 Maybe this guy worked at one of these facilities, but too bad for him. He left the phone one But when police arrived, using a device known as a triggerfish, also sometimes referred to as a stingray, they were able to hone in on its exact location. Basically, in general terms, this device acts as a cell phone tower. If your cell phone is on, it's constantly connecting to towers nearby. The further you get away from a tower, the lower your signal gets until it's picked up by the next closest tower. Well. In this case, the. Triggerfish is a mobile piece of equipment that mimics a cell tower, and it can intercept a cell phone signal locating where it's coming from. In this case, the phone brought the detective to an old meat processing company, but finding the phone would prove more difficult because it was out on the property, not on a person. As he tried to locate the phone, he happened to look down and see a credit card on the ground. He picked it up, and when he flipped it over there was her name, Gina Green. Whoever had killed her had been right or the detective stood now. Eventually he was able to find not only her cell phone, but her wallet and a towel that had been removed from her home.

27:31 These were great pieces of evidence to find, but there was something not yet known or realized. Rather see this murder happened in East Baton Rouge Parish, but where these items were just found, while they were only three blocks from where nine years earlier, the body of Connie Warner had been discovered, but she she was from Zachary. The murder of Gina Green would jumpstart the massive search for a serial killer. But not immediately because no one. Realized it yet that these cases were connected the killer he had just broadened his hunting grounds. Also four years before Gina was murdered, Eugenet Woifontaine had been abducted, living just doors down from Gina, but her body it had been located in Iberville Parish. Multiple agencies were working multiple murders, but the connection was yet to be made. DNA would matter in due time, but DNA had to be found to link anything. Until then, a murderer was still in the loose, a murderer who four months before Gina's murder had found himself before a parole board. Remember when Derek was sentenced previously for beating his girlfriend, Well, the beating was serious. He had actually grabbed her by her hair and ripped her out of the car during that fight, something he loved to do when he brutalized women. He had stomped her face and stomped her head with his

29:02 cowboy boots against the concrete, before jumping back on top of her and punching her relentlessly until he was pulled off by some patrons at a nearby bar. She had run into the bar to get away from him, and he followed her with boldness. He wanted to hurt her and he didn't care who saw it, because he was on a mission. She had hidden behind the DJ booth and luckily he couldn't find her before police arrived, at which time he took off, running, able to jump in his vehicle, trying to run over the very police officer responding who was giving chase in the process. Well, for that incident, he was originally sentenced to four years in prison, but he was let out early on good time, meaning he only spent a year before his release from Dixon Correctional.

29:50 Once out, he was ordered to wear an ankle monitor until June, but he couldn't even do that. He was busted disconnecting it on multiple occasions, including in May, four months before Gina was murdered. His parole officer was pissed, and Derek's rude attitude it wasn't helping anything. All of that was why on May twenty third, the parole board found him in direct violation of his parole for disconnecting the device. He had three years left to serve on that original four year sentence. He should have gone straight back to prison. So why why was he out in September when Gina was murdered? The answer the parole board only reprimanded him, slapped him on the wrist and told him basically, hey, don't do that. They let him walk and by doing so day in essence, gave him the freedom to walk straight into Gina's house. When someone violates parole, they should go back to prison. What's the point of a parole board when consequences aren't given for misbehavior?

30:58 Parole is a gift with strings attached. You mess up, you go back and finish out your complete sentence. What a failure of accountability all around. But get this, Derek would again be in front of the parole board just days after murdering Gina, this time because of his charges for beating his wife. They had been placed against him. He would spend the month of October in jail for this. Actions have consequences, but unfortunately, so does inaction. His parole officer pushed for parole to be revoked due to his constant violations, but again the parole board simply reprimanded him. By December of two thousand and one, Derek Toddley walked out of jail a freeman and he was hired back on at Dow Chemical. This would bring him back over that Mississippi River bridge where he would travel down Louisiana Highway One to get to work, a highway that also passed right in front of another plant worker's home, a home that while the husband was gone to work all day, that meant that his wife must be home alone.

32:14 Coming up on the next episode of DTL. Dow Chemical was one of the largest employers in South Louisiana, with an annual payroll somewhere around three hundred and thirty five million. It's obvious that this is where a lot of people make. A living in the state Plaquamen. It just has that old time. Feel about it, and it was the perfect place for Jerrelyn de Soto to establish her home. On January fourteenth, two thousand and two, Darren de Soto left for work like every other day, and Jerlyn too. She had plans for that day. While anyone would hate to part with their hard earned money, Jerrolyn on this day was happy to go and pay her tuition for grad school. Derek Toddley was traveling Highway One on his way to pick up his final paycheck after being laid off. Now he was back boiling with anger.

33:25 She laid her close. Out on the bed and was just about to get changed when she heard an unexpected knock at the door. Jerlyn's eyes widened, but it was far too late, as that man came crashing through the front door full force, swiping and grabbing at her with every inch forward. She had been roughed up before in the past by a man, but this wasn't just male ego here. This was brutality and nothing like she had ever been up against before.

34:07 She turned towards the hallway, trying to run from this crazed attacker. But for every near silent footstep that she stumbled across the carpet, a steel toed boot shook the thin trailer floor behind her as he gave chase