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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. He was
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a monster. Lee, a seemingly ordinary man with a disarming smile,
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led a double life that would unravel in a series
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of murders in the capital city of Baton Rouge and
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the surrounding areas. As the first reports of disappearances and
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murders 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 Dereck 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 dtl with Jerald Desoto's murder,
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freshened the minds of family and friends. They continued to
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believe that their beautiful sissy had met her demise at
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the hands of her husband. While you, the listener, know
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this to be untrue, back in two thousand and two,
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you wouldn't have been able to convince the family otherwise.
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Darren knew he didn't do it, yet he continued to
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feel the pressure of the eyes still on him. Some
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months would pass and Darren would need a break from life.
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He and friends made plans to go and enjoy the
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day out on the Chafuncta River. The best part was
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this was going to be a poker run. For those
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of you who haven't grown up in the river and
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done the river rat lifestyle, let me teach you real quick.
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One of my favorite t shirts says, baton Rouge a
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drinking town with a football problem. If that doesn't describe
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South Louisiana, then I don't know what does. We love
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a good excuse to party. From Marty Grass to Bark,
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we can flat out have a good time. A bar
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crawl and a poker run are similar, where you basically
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enjoy a boat ride down the river while stopping at
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multiple bars along the way and participating in whatever shenanigans
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have been planned. Oftentimes these are charity events or fundraisers,
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and when you stop at the designated bars. They may
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have trivia games or something special happening at that bar,
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which you complete as you stop. It's not a race,
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but in a poker run there is a winner. You
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get a playing card at each bar stop, and at
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the end everyone compares hands and the best hand wins.
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It's just a good time for all and it helps
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charity and business no matter what. Well, even in this
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poker run, Darren was consumed with pleading his innocence. Matter
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of fact, at one bar, he struck up a conversation
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with a fellow poker runner and they openly discussed his
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wife's murder. Darren explained he was innocent and he needed
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her murder solved. He even explained that police thought he
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did it, but it wasn't him. Well, guess what. The
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man he was speaking with just so happened to be
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an FBI agent. What are the chances of that? The agent, however,
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listened intently with never saying what he did for a living.
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After the poker run, he immediately detailed it all in
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a report and forwarded it to the local FBI office
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for adding to the case file. The thing was, Darren
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never admitted to doing anything wrong. He was maintaining his
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innocence and one of the real killer found the case. However,
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it was no closer to being solved. The only thing
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found was DNA under Jarlynd's nails, and Darren was found
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to not be the major contributor of the DNA under
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his dead wife's fingernails. Darren's DNA was expected to be
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there because they lived together the unknown persons, well, his
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was not. The thing is this, You can have all
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of the DNA in the world, but if you don't
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have a person to compare it to, you just have
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a DNA pro file. Four letters to be specific, a
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d T and g addening, thimine, cytosine and guindine. Those
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things all add up on a report and they detailed
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the complete and specific creation of one monstrous killer, but
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no name attached. And as you can see, the frustration
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was real. The search for an unknown killer continued. May
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of two thousand and two would roll around and back
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across the river. In Baton Rouge, twenty three year old
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Christine Moore was leveling up in life. She had already
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graduated from Melishue, but she was now a graduate student
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working towards her master's degree in social work. If ever
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there were a degree that was needed more across the US,
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it would be this one. Social workers are the unsung
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heroes of society, and this was the field Christine chose
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to devote her life to. In a nutshell, social workers
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just help others. This is done in a variety of ways,
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from domestic violence crisis intervention to f fly services for
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fractured homes, as well as geriatric care and support for
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the elderly who may be struggling. But Christine she had
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a love for children. Considering she came from a family
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full of them, that was a good thing. Christine was
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the oldest of seven children born to the loving Anthony
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and Louise Moore. Christine hit the jackpot as far as
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family was concerned. Her parents were everything a child could
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ever hope for. Her daddy a Vietnam veteran who understood
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the role of duty and service to others, and her mama,
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a loving and caring woman who wanted her children to
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be cultured, well read, and God loving young people. Those siblings, now,
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they were a bunch, but Christine was up for the challenge.
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The age difference alone giving her more of a maternal
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feel at the time than just being a big sis. Michelle, Anthony, Stephen, Veronica,
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and Claire all loved their big sister. She sparked joy
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in them and sometimes in a theatrical way. For an example,
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Christmas was always a huge event in their home. Dad
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went crazy decorating and gifts abounded. Love was everywhere and
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you could feel the excitement in the air. Christine would
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always direct the family play each year, giving her siblings
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a starring role in which she would direct, and this
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became an annual event that everyone would attend each year,
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even the cousins would come. The sisters were really lucky
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to have Christine and she could do so many things
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for them. Christine was an amazing hairstylist. She would take
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that old school hot comb and have her sisters looking
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just right before they left the house, and she worked
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hard to teach them all lessons about life through even
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the smallest of things. For example, she would assign chores
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to her siblings, but she would also pay them for
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doing them. She wanted them to have the same principles
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instilled in them that were instilled in her. You work
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hard and you earn the things you want. Hard work
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and consistency will always equal reward in some way, and
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Christine didn't just talk the talk y'all, she also walked it.
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She had receipts, as the kids would say, for all
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of her accomplishments, everything from advanced musicality to her academics.
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She had grown up in New Orleans, graduating from Xavier
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Preparatory School. But Sis didn't just graduate, she was a
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whole valedictorian. Not only that, she was also named the
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recipient of the Coveted Mother Catherine Drexel Award. Christine was
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a devout Catholic and she took her religious life seriously.
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The requirements for this award will vary depending on the organization,
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but in general, the winner is recognized for living a
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life of deep religious and moral conviction, supporting culture and
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social equality, and a focus on helping the poor. If
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ever a person should ever become a social worker, I
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would hope that they would hold these values. Miss Christine,
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she was quite simply a diamond in the rough and
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ready for the challenge. After graduation, she continued to mentor
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and participate in Catholic youth organizations while also beaming with
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pride to learn that after recruitment week she had been
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accepted as a new member of the Delta Sigma Theta Sorority.
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This sorority organization wants college educated women who are committed
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to the constructive development of its members public service, and
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they want a primary focus on the Black community. And
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that was right up Christine's alley. She had found her
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people and she had found her place to boot. She
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had also joined the LSU Gospel Choir, where she could
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proudly raise her voice with others while singing praises to God.
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Singing wasn't her only musical talent, though she was an
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accomplished musician. She was actually the drum major of her
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high school band, and she could play multiple instruments, saxophone, piano,
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you name it. She could master whatever she tried. She
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was just a natural and thus far it's easy to
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see that Christine Moore was a force of nature. Everywhere
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she went, she brought improvement, basically, always leaving things better
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than she found them. It was May twenty fourth, two
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thousand and two, and Christine's family was back home in
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New Orleans, while she had a normal plan for the
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day on campus in Baton Rouge. It was a Friday
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and a well deserved weekend was just on the horizon.
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Christine had been employed recently at a large call center
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named Convergys, but after about a month or so, it
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just wasn't working out and she resigned to fully focus
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on her master's program. Now, fitness was something that Christine
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believed in, and jogging was something she really enjoyed. The
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LSU Lakes are a common running ground for college students,
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but there are also other popular areas as well, including
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the Mississippi River Levee. Today, the levee path is roughly
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thirteen miles long and it runs right alongside the Mississippi River.
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And the path is wide fifteen feet to be exact,
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so it isn't uncommon to see joggers, cyclists, and people
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just walking and taking in the sites. There's plenty of
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room for everyone and no one has to be uncomfortably
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close to anyone else. This path starts at the Riverfront
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promen in downtown Baton Rouge, past the LSU campus and
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ending at Laberge casino and hotel. But back in two
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thousand and two that wasn't quite the case. The levee
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was in constant discussion in terms of needing updates and
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making it more accessible. Part of that discussion included more lighting,
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but that wouldn't happen for many, many years. The biggest
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argument for the moment was cows. Yeah, big old moo
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cows that grazed the levee and may get in the way.
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So improvements were still on the table at the time
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and yet to be completed. When Christine set out to exercise.
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None of these issues were on Christine's mind that day.
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She could run, just find down the levee and even
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pass the cow if necessary. So when Christine took off
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for her job that day, it was alarming when she
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didn't return. Later, she had a boyfriend who had no
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clue where she was. She wasn't at home, she wasn't
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answering the phone, nor was she at any of her
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normally frequented places. After some time, police were notified and
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had the unfre fortunate task of alerting Christine's family of
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her missing status. When the phone rang back at the
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home in New Orleans, they had no idea their world
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was about to be turned upside down forever. Her mother
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would take the call, and as the words were spoken
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and her mother processed what she was being told, she
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immediately collapsed to the floor, yelling, oh my God, help
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me help her. Screams were such that all of the
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children came running, and they dropped down to the floor
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to comfort their mother, Not even sure of what had happened.
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Their mother was so filled with grief that she literally
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began to crawl on the floor, pawing at the tile,
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unable to stand, but trying to get somewhere, anywhere but
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where she was in this moment? How can my daughter
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be missing? Where was she? How do you know she's
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even gone? Her thoughts then went to the darkest places,
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the ones no mother ever wants to visit in her
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own mind. What if she's dead? Her mom couldn't process
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the level of grief she was, so she just lay
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on the floor of the home, sobbing, as her remaining
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children tried unsuccessfully to soothe their mother. As words spread,
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the family became more desperate. The instinct to go find
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her was overwhelming. But where did they go? Where do
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they even start? So many questions with no answers. All
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they could do for now was wait, wait for the
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phone to ring, and then instantly dread what information the
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caller may have. This was the cycle, over and over
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and over again, until eventually police did call with some information.
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Christine's car had been found on River Road, not too
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far from elishu's campus. Specifically, Christine would commonly park her
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car at far Park Horse Activity Center just south of
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bright Side Lane, and that's exactly where her car was found.
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There was no foul play as far as they could tell,
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and Christine was old enough to disappear if she wanted to.
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Because of this fact, police needed to have permission to
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open her trunk. Now off the top, that sounds like
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a no brainer, but to a mother, all she likely
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heard was we want to see if your daughter is
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dead inside of her own trunk. Through crying eyes, her
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mother gave permission, and the police opened the trunk. They
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cracked the back, lifted the top, and luckily Christine was
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not inside. But was this good news or was this
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bad news? At the time, it was hard to tell,
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since the vehicle wasn't deemed to be part of a
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crime scene, it wasn't preserved or processed at that time
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for evidence. Christine was just missing and not dead. There's
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a big difference. If she lawfully parked the car there
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and then walked away. The police had no right to
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go through it without permission, but at least her car
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was found. Finding her would have been better. Police continued
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to investigate her disappearance with little to no leads. Days
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turned to weeks, still nothing. Ask yourself, how do you
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get in bed at night not knowing where your daughter is.
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It's unnatural. Your instincts want to run somewhere, and you
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want to go fast to save her. But where do