March 15, 2026

DTL -The Interviews: Warden Cathy Fontenot

DTL -The Interviews: Warden Cathy Fontenot
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Season 9

In this episode of DTL, Cathy Fontenot, former Assistant Warden at Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola and current Warden of the East Baton Rouge Parish Prison sits down with Kelly Jennings for an exclusive interview on her personal recollections of the serial killer.

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

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. Dereck 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 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.

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This is DTL.

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Once Derek Todd Lee was convicted, he was off to

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spend the rest of his life behind the wire in

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the world's largest maximum security prison, Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola.

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When prison officials are dealing with high profile inmates such

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as Derek Todd Lee, there is a process. This process

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is designed not only to ensure the safety of the public,

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but like it or not, the safety of Derek Todd

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Lee as well. This responsibility falls directly into the hands

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of the staff at Louisiana State Penitentiary to see it through.

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Joining with me today is former assistant warden at Louisiana

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State Penitentiary at Angola, Kathy Fontna. She's going to help

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me paint a picture of life inside the prison for

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the now notorious Dereck Todd Lee, starting with his arrival.

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Once they are given their sentence, that's the bifurcated trial.

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You know, he's been found guilty in one trial and

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they wait twenty four hours and then they'll start another trial,

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which is for the life or death sentence. Baton Rouge

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is one of the They handled that case relatively fast,

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faster than a lot of other parishes do. And in

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this case, you know, he got death. He's by himself.

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He's not gonna be loaded up in a bus. It

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was usually a fifteen passenger van that he would be

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loaded in and definitely lots of security, sometimes probably three

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and then you're gonna have a lead car outside of

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that van to make sure that he's nothing is happening

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along the way. You know, because this is a serial killer,

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lots of people were lives were forever changed, and so

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he would have been transported, and he was transported from

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the courthouse downtown Baton Rouge all the way to Angola.

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You know, it's about an hour drive. When they hit

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that get off Highway sixty one, you're pretty much there,

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thirty mile road. They'll be looking at houses here and there,

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trees far away. It's kind of a winding, hilly road.

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It's a lot different from a lot of the Louisiana

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flatland that we have. It's kind of buttoned up against

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state line Mississippi, so it's a different terrain and you

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got to be thinking in your head, you know, this

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is the last time that I'll be looking at that.

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And what was really weird about him. He was from Westflechianna,

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so he's seen this part of the world before, but

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again never.

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You know, and go a literally.

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Dead ends at the end of this road. And remember

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that he came late in the afternoon. Possibly the night.

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I remember it was getting dark darkish when they did this,

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and so he came immediately. They drove him to the back.

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At the time, death Row was actually located at our

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RC center, which is the first building right inside the gate,

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so he was he was driven into the front gate,

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went around into the back of the RC building which

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is where the death Row inmates were housed. And I

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remember that when they got him out, no one was

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to say anything. He was just they basically just sort

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of led him in. There were officers all around him

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just walking him in the door. It was really quick

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and you know, there was no stopping. It was just

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getting him in there and getting him out full restraints.

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What we normally do is also with what's called the

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black box, which is over the handcuff so that they

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cannot manipulate the cuff. It's typically used in a high

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when you have a high profile, high risk case like that.

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All death penalty cases are treated like their high risk.

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The head warden at the time of Derek Todd Lee's

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arrival at Angola was none other than Warden Burle Kane.

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Warden Kane, at this time had been in corrections for

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nearly thirty years having become warden at Angola eight years

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prior to Lee's conviction, and Warden Kane well, he had

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a reputation as a no nonsense warden who was tough

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but also fair. Dtl's incarceration was very high profile, and

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with that, Warden Kane instituted specific policies that went beyond

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that of the typical inmate arriving at the prison.

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Wardon Kane always would talk and put his input into

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how he wanted things handled. I remember that he was

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told I don't know whether media was out. I think

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media was outside the gate. They were not let in

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the prison, but they were outside the gate, and there

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was like you should not talk or say anything or

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anything like that. And so it was just that he

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wasn't going to give the opportunity to give a statement

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for se or make like a purp walk. That would

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be you know that that would all would have been

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handled at the courthouse. But when it gets to Angola,

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it's it's strictly our establishment of Hey, this is what

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it's going to be like for you. It's going to

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be very regulated your movement. You're not going to be

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free to walk around, You're not going to be selling

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or a rodeo or anything like that. You're going to

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be escorted by people. You're not going to be having

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interactions when you don't need to have interactions just because

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you're and they marched them.

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Right up to that, to the to the cell.

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While DTL was very high profile, the process still remain

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the same as it relates to the intake process inside

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of the prison. No steps would be skipped, though due

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to his status as a death row inmate, it would

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be a shorter process than that of the typical inmate.

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The classification intake process normally is a little bit His

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was would have been shorter than somebody else because he's

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gone to death row. The classification process is to see

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where you're gonna go With lifers, you know, you have

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to consider, you know, who your enemies are and things

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like this. In this case, he's a death row inmate.

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Everybody is kind of considered an enemy. You're not going

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to be with them at that time. Now they do

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actually let death row inmates, they open up the gates

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and they live sort of like in general population. With that,

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at this time, they did not some of the questions

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that a normal typical intake would take on a life

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or inmate or somebody with fifty years or so.

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Are not done with a death row inmate.

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It's basically getting information, who's your next to ken, who's

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your emergency contact. Medical is a big part, a huge part,

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you know, and we knew in his case he had

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a heart condition, so that was something too that medical

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had to check him out.

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Lynn Marino, the mother of Pam Kennimore, became aware that

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Lee had a heart condition just prior to Lynn's death

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in twenty fifteen. She learned that Lee was being considered

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for a pacemaker, and the outspoken mother of Pam didn't

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hold back her opinion on this very subject. From the

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perspective of prison officials and even outside of any personal

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beliefs they may have shared with the heartbroken mother, they

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had a responsibility.

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That was a big issue with Miss Marino. She felt

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a certain way about, you know, why are we keeping

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them alive? And people would do that? You know, you

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remember from tours yourself, Well, why do you care if

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they hang themselves when they're here? Well, because we are

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in forces of the law, and the law says that

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you were going to be executed this way. It's a

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very you know, we have rules about this happens, and

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this happens, and this happens. We don't just go in

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there and execute anybody the way that we want right

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and the same thing for any of the inmates of

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your sense to fifty year. My job is to make

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sure you spend that fifty years there. Now, you could

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die before that, but it's not going to be because

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I don't try to save you if you try to.

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Take yourself out.

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I've said this before in an interview. When inmates commit suicide,

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it's really like an escape. It's an escape from custody.

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They're decided that when they're gonna they're decided what time

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they're going to serve, and so it's you know, as

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a correction. Professional things that we do don't make sense

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to the general public a lot, but they make sense

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to us because we realize that there's you know, in

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addition to we're supposed to be transforming help transform someone's behavior,

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we're also enforcers of the law. And so with a

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death penalty, you've got to be really, really careful because

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number one, you can't take it back once you do it.

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Number Two, you've got a lot of resources that have

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went into this You've got a lot of victims that

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are depending on you. You've got the public safety is dependent

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on you.

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We can't have the.

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Most deadly people that we have that have been convicted

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of not only never returning to society, but we're going

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to one day, you know, put you in the ground

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according to how the law says. So that's a very

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serious thing and we take it very serious. You don't

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want to have somebody on that team, es Gordnerman, this

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real gung ho about it. You also don't want to

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have somebody that doesn't want.

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To do it.

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You have to have people that are pretty focused on

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what it is they're doing and know the intention of

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what they're doing. It's a professional thing and not many

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people get to do because it's such a small portion

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of the thousands of inmates that you have.

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Routine is everything inside of a prison, especially as it

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relates to death Row, and Derek Todd Lee, well, he

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would have to come to terms with that as well.

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Freedom in the life of this serial killer it would

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now become nonexistent.

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Living on death Row at that time was basically they

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were in the older building. It was pretty isolated. Only

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certain staff were working in that area. It was a

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really limited classication and social work staff, mostly officers who

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were pretty experienced officers. We didn't have new officers who

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had just started their careers assigned to there, so they

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were pretty you know, officers who sort of knew what

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they were dealing with the population. I think it's important

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to know that in ninety six when I got there,

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there was forty eight inmates there and we went as

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high before the new facility was built to one hundred

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and one. We only had one hundred and one sells

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at RC, So that's what really in addition to the

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fact that we had a breakout, we had to build

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a new facility in two thousand and seven. So at

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that time, though on the old death Row, they had

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old phones, you know, on the wall, and they would

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do it. It was pretty much twenty three hours a day

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in a cell. They got to walk outside of the tier.

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It was sort of a darker sort of a darker environment,

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lots of concrete floors, concrete bed that it would have

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a small thin mattress on it that we made the

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prisoners made at the main prison in the mattress shop

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they have. It was about a six by eight cell.

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It was longer than it was wide, and they had

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a TVs and fans, so it was really loud for

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you to They got accustomed to hearing the TV over

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the fan, but to me when I would walk down,

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which was sort of a weird, eerie feeling because you'd

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walked down this long tier and you were looking at them,

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and then the way back up you realize they're looking

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at you, and it's sort of like this, you know.

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Really kind of quiet, quiet area.

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It was never really loud except for the fans and

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the TV that you'd hear, you know. Ever, occasionally a

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toilet flushing. I remember talking to inmates and they could

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tell who was brushing their teeth because they got so

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for me, with the way somebody sounded, they could know that,

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you know. They used to do things like with their

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meals too, where they'd pass the tray with their hands

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outside of the cell down like if somebody liked more

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bread than the other one, they would do that. So

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they had this really weird way of connecting with each

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other because they spent so much time together, but they

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were not physically together until someone was allowed outside of

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the tier, and they would maybe play chess outside, like

238
00:12:20.399 --> 00:12:22.360
one would be out on the tier. We actually bought

239
00:12:22.399 --> 00:12:24.600
them dominoes, which was not a good idea because that's

240
00:12:24.639 --> 00:12:28.000
what they used to break out during the January escape

241
00:12:28.000 --> 00:12:30.080
in nineteen ninety nine. Nineteen ninety nine was not a

242
00:12:30.120 --> 00:12:33.519
good year for US. We had three high profile things

243
00:12:33.519 --> 00:12:35.519
that happened, two big escapes, and then our captain was

244
00:12:35.600 --> 00:12:37.720
killed during a hassa situation that year. It was not

245
00:12:37.720 --> 00:12:40.360
a good year nineteen ninety nine. But that's one thing

246
00:12:40.399 --> 00:12:42.480
they used. They had painted the dominoes because we let

247
00:12:42.480 --> 00:12:45.639
them have art. You know, so much of watching inmates

248
00:12:45.639 --> 00:12:48.480
as controlling behavior and if they behave you've give them things,

249
00:12:48.679 --> 00:12:52.759
which ironically, after nine to eleven, the terrorists we found

250
00:12:52.759 --> 00:12:56.440
a manuscript. The FBI was talking about this. They found

251
00:12:56.559 --> 00:12:59.320
a manuscript and they said, do whatever they say to do,

252
00:12:59.360 --> 00:13:02.120
and they'll give you the tools that he'll need to escape.

253
00:13:02.200 --> 00:13:04.799
And that's what they do, and it's like the But

254
00:13:04.879 --> 00:13:06.919
what they did was with the they had cut the

255
00:13:06.960 --> 00:13:09.759
hacksawed through the cell bars because they realized that the

256
00:13:09.799 --> 00:13:13.080
wells were hollow and that was not supposed to be.

257
00:13:13.799 --> 00:13:16.360
There had been something in the eighties had gone wrong

258
00:13:16.440 --> 00:13:20.200
there and they apparently didn't check and these bars were vulnerable,

259
00:13:20.360 --> 00:13:22.320
and so they got hacksaws and they cut It took

260
00:13:22.399 --> 00:13:23.399
like sixteen hours.

261
00:13:23.559 --> 00:13:23.799
I think.

262
00:13:23.879 --> 00:13:26.240
Dale Craig told us that after the escape, when we

263
00:13:26.279 --> 00:13:29.559
apprehended them, they cut through the wells and what they

264
00:13:29.559 --> 00:13:33.279
did to keep the bars from falling was they painted

265
00:13:33.679 --> 00:13:37.320
the dominoes and stuck them together and had that sitting

266
00:13:37.399 --> 00:13:39.960
on the bar. So he actually gave a tour right

267
00:13:40.000 --> 00:13:42.720
before that escape, like a couple of days before, I

268
00:13:42.759 --> 00:13:45.000
would imagine, and I walked by and it was weird

269
00:13:45.039 --> 00:13:48.720
because dale Craig never it was always in his bed,

270
00:13:48.879 --> 00:13:50.799
he never got up to look at the tours, but

271
00:13:50.840 --> 00:13:53.320
he was standing there like this holding the bars and

272
00:13:53.679 --> 00:13:56.120
you know, looking back and like the sucker was holding

273
00:13:56.120 --> 00:13:58.799
those bars in place. And because I thought it was

274
00:13:58.840 --> 00:14:01.039
weird that he was up there. And that's something else.

275
00:14:01.559 --> 00:14:05.039
You start, not really a paranoid, but you notice things

276
00:14:05.080 --> 00:14:08.440
and it might not occur to you obviously why you

277
00:14:08.480 --> 00:14:11.279
notice them, but you do notice the differences of things,

278
00:14:11.320 --> 00:14:13.360
and they do too, and they're much better at it

279
00:14:13.399 --> 00:14:15.679
than we are, because if we would be, that thing

280
00:14:15.879 --> 00:14:17.360
would not be very healthy for us.

281
00:14:17.480 --> 00:14:20.399
Now, life in prison, for the staff, it can be dangerous,

282
00:14:20.840 --> 00:14:24.519
the inmates watch, they observe, and they take note of everything.

283
00:14:24.960 --> 00:14:27.080
If you style your hair a different way, if you

284
00:14:27.120 --> 00:14:30.720
appear depressed, even if you feel happier than usual, the

285
00:14:30.759 --> 00:14:32.960
inmates are gonna pick up on that, and they may

286
00:14:32.960 --> 00:14:34.519
even try to take advantage of it.

287
00:14:34.600 --> 00:14:37.519
When you have such a large residential area next to

288
00:14:37.559 --> 00:14:39.720
this big thing, they're gonna see. They're gonna see people

289
00:14:39.759 --> 00:14:43.440
break up, they're gonna see people get together. They're gonna

290
00:14:43.480 --> 00:14:46.240
they're gonna see that. They're always watching because their life

291
00:14:46.240 --> 00:14:48.799
depends on the ability for you to do your job

292
00:14:48.879 --> 00:14:51.480
professionally correctly. It does, and you're gonna have an interest

293
00:14:51.519 --> 00:14:56.080
in that. So yeah, that's one of the things that

294
00:14:56.200 --> 00:14:57.840
you know, when I was going through my divorce, they

295
00:14:57.840 --> 00:14:59.879
would be like, you know, miss hey, miss Kathy, how

296
00:15:00.159 --> 00:15:02.639
doing you know? I'm fine? You know, oh, your hair

297
00:15:02.679 --> 00:15:04.679
is really looking good today. You know what, I don't

298
00:15:04.720 --> 00:15:06.159
tell you that. I don't need you to tell me

299
00:15:06.200 --> 00:15:08.200
that my hair is looking good, or hey, I need

300
00:15:08.600 --> 00:15:11.039
you know. They come up to, oh I need a favor. Well,

301
00:15:11.080 --> 00:15:12.840
I don't do favors, but what can I do to

302
00:15:12.879 --> 00:15:16.879
help you? Always redirecting back to I'm here to help

303
00:15:16.919 --> 00:15:19.039
you and you need to respect me. And you know,

304
00:15:19.120 --> 00:15:21.360
even though you might see me sad or whatever, because

305
00:15:21.399 --> 00:15:23.279
I'm a human being, I see that in you too,

306
00:15:23.440 --> 00:15:26.600
and so you know, it's not a lot of magical science.

307
00:15:26.639 --> 00:15:29.200
It's not difficult work, but it's very important work. It's

308
00:15:29.240 --> 00:15:31.960
basic human you know, interactions that should keep you safe.

309
00:15:32.000 --> 00:15:34.000
I had a lot of respect from the inmates. Of course,

310
00:15:34.039 --> 00:15:36.159
my job was one that was programming, so it was

311
00:15:36.200 --> 00:15:38.480
something they look forward to doing right, and so they

312
00:15:38.600 --> 00:15:41.840
liked me because of that. But I was also honest,

313
00:15:42.279 --> 00:15:43.639
and you know, when I didn't know an answer, I

314
00:15:43.679 --> 00:15:46.000
would find it. I didn't lie to them. That's something

315
00:15:46.039 --> 00:15:48.879
that Worton Kane always stress. Do not lie to them,

316
00:15:49.200 --> 00:15:50.960
you know, tell them the truth when you know it.

317
00:15:50.960 --> 00:15:53.600
If you don't know, find out, be patient, you know,

318
00:15:53.720 --> 00:15:55.879
be askable, you know, let them come up and ask

319
00:15:55.919 --> 00:15:58.360
you something. I remember one time I was walking down

320
00:15:58.399 --> 00:15:59.879
the main prison and they're there.

321
00:16:00.039 --> 00:16:01.080
There was an inmate who.

322
00:16:00.960 --> 00:16:03.480
Was running on the yard up to we were sort

323
00:16:03.519 --> 00:16:06.840
of elevating on that walk, and I heard him yelling

324
00:16:07.000 --> 00:16:09.480
my name, you know, weren't find it, weren't find to stop,

325
00:16:09.559 --> 00:16:11.720
and I stopped. I always stopped, you know, and I stopped.

326
00:16:11.720 --> 00:16:13.240
I was inside the gate and he was on the

327
00:16:13.279 --> 00:16:16.519
side and when he got to the gate, almost out

328
00:16:16.519 --> 00:16:18.480
of breath, he said, he said, oh, I just wanted

329
00:16:18.480 --> 00:16:21.360
to look at you. Well, there was an inmate trustee

330
00:16:21.440 --> 00:16:25.799
who was doing yard work and he overheard that inmate

331
00:16:25.919 --> 00:16:28.039
say that to me, and of course I was gonna

332
00:16:28.039 --> 00:16:28.440
handle it.

333
00:16:28.480 --> 00:16:29.240
And that inmate.

334
00:16:29.399 --> 00:16:35.519
I I caught him coming forward to that inmate and

335
00:16:35.559 --> 00:16:37.200
I was like, I was like, oh, wait, wait ho.

336
00:16:37.440 --> 00:16:39.720
I said, uh, you know, don't worry about it. And

337
00:16:39.799 --> 00:16:41.320
I looked at the other inmate and I'm like, well,

338
00:16:41.360 --> 00:16:43.840
next time you are you yell for me. You have

339
00:16:43.879 --> 00:16:45.759
a problem that I can help you with. And the

340
00:16:45.799 --> 00:16:48.600
other inmate said, and I said, don't do anything, because

341
00:16:48.600 --> 00:16:51.279
I could tell he was like really angry, and he's

342
00:16:51.320 --> 00:16:52.840
like and he looked at the guy and he said,

343
00:16:52.879 --> 00:16:55.360
that's the warden that does good things for us, and

344
00:16:55.399 --> 00:16:57.600
he said, don't mess with her like that. And he

345
00:16:57.679 --> 00:17:00.320
was just like showing me. So there is you know,

346
00:17:00.360 --> 00:17:03.279
we are in the South. There are more there are

347
00:17:03.320 --> 00:17:07.640
more people who want to treat women better in there.

348
00:17:07.720 --> 00:17:10.240
They've been raised by women, they've been raised by grandmothers.

349
00:17:10.240 --> 00:17:12.599
And I've heard inmates before say you know that could

350
00:17:12.640 --> 00:17:14.279
be your sister or whatever. So they do that, but

351
00:17:14.319 --> 00:17:17.200
there are inmates that they're there for not treating women

352
00:17:17.279 --> 00:17:20.279
well at all. And so you've got this combination, and

353
00:17:20.319 --> 00:17:23.160
you've got more females at that time coming into the

354
00:17:23.200 --> 00:17:26.759
profession working with them on the dormitories, and so you

355
00:17:26.799 --> 00:17:29.759
really have to you really have to make sure that

356
00:17:29.799 --> 00:17:33.599
the environment is safe for everyone involved.

357
00:17:33.599 --> 00:17:37.160
Fear wasn't something Kathy Foteau would often feel, even behind

358
00:17:37.160 --> 00:17:40.880
the wire walking amongst Louisiana's most dangerous inmates. Over her

359
00:17:40.920 --> 00:17:43.720
many years and corrections, she can only recall a few

360
00:17:43.799 --> 00:17:47.759
instances where an overwhelming sense of fear would surface while

361
00:17:47.759 --> 00:17:50.920
interacting with the inmates, and one of those inmates would

362
00:17:50.920 --> 00:17:52.920
be none other than Derek Todd Lee.

363
00:17:53.160 --> 00:17:56.160
There is only three or four inmates in my career

364
00:17:56.279 --> 00:18:02.720
in thirty years that I've walked by felt fear, like

365
00:18:02.920 --> 00:18:07.000
just just natural fear to stay away. He's definitely one

366
00:18:07.039 --> 00:18:10.920
of them. His eyes were black. It's sort of just

367
00:18:11.200 --> 00:18:13.160
when you walked by him, you could feel that he

368
00:18:13.359 --> 00:18:16.039
just had no respect for you. You can feel that

369
00:18:16.119 --> 00:18:18.920
after a while, especially in a place where everybody you've

370
00:18:18.920 --> 00:18:20.599
earned the respect, and you can tell, I mean they're

371
00:18:20.680 --> 00:18:23.960
like good morning, right. Well, he never never would speak,

372
00:18:24.079 --> 00:18:27.559
never would look at you. He looked at you more

373
00:18:27.720 --> 00:18:31.200
like something that he did despised or it was it

374
00:18:31.240 --> 00:18:33.599
was like a despise. You could feel it coming off

375
00:18:33.599 --> 00:18:36.680
of him. He was not somebody that you know, for

376
00:18:36.880 --> 00:18:39.039
I've seen reports of him, you know, and he got

377
00:18:39.079 --> 00:18:40.680
in the houses because of his charm and all that.

378
00:18:40.720 --> 00:18:43.240
I never saw that in him. I can tell you

379
00:18:43.279 --> 00:18:47.920
that Warden Kane's wife was also She was an employee

380
00:18:47.960 --> 00:18:50.759
for the Corrections and sometimes she worked with me with

381
00:18:50.839 --> 00:18:53.440
like accreditation issues and standards, and she was with me

382
00:18:53.480 --> 00:18:56.000
one time as well. And you know, he just he

383
00:18:56.039 --> 00:18:58.599
did not like women. He didn't like women. Women were

384
00:18:58.640 --> 00:19:01.200
classification officers and they actually had a female warden over

385
00:19:01.240 --> 00:19:03.160
death throw for a while, and he just did not

386
00:19:03.920 --> 00:19:06.079
pay us the time of day. But you could also

387
00:19:06.119 --> 00:19:09.119
see he didn't really like that we had interest in

388
00:19:09.160 --> 00:19:11.960
him or looked at him. It's really eerie. But when

389
00:19:12.039 --> 00:19:15.240
you're around men and it's not even knowing what each

390
00:19:15.240 --> 00:19:17.599
of them done, you've just got that natural instinct, you know,

391
00:19:17.640 --> 00:19:19.559
when you're out in public and you walk around, there's

392
00:19:19.640 --> 00:19:22.960
some people that I don't rub you the wrong way

393
00:19:22.960 --> 00:19:25.279
in a way, but you know, to be hesitant or

394
00:19:25.279 --> 00:19:28.240
fearful of them, and that's exactly what he would what

395
00:19:28.319 --> 00:19:28.759
he was.

396
00:19:29.279 --> 00:19:33.720
It seemed that once behind bars in prison, Derek Todley struggled,

397
00:19:33.720 --> 00:19:36.279
to put it mildly, he struggled to connect with the

398
00:19:36.319 --> 00:19:39.200
staff of the prison. But this struggle to connect would

399
00:19:39.240 --> 00:19:42.799
even expand to other inmates inside Angola because they were

400
00:19:42.839 --> 00:19:45.359
equally not a fan of the serial killer.

401
00:19:45.559 --> 00:19:48.480
Not well liked by any of the inmates. We had

402
00:19:48.519 --> 00:19:52.039
to it was quite a challenge to find the right

403
00:19:52.119 --> 00:19:54.519
tier for him to be on because several of.

404
00:19:54.440 --> 00:19:56.799
The inmates did not like him at all.

405
00:19:57.319 --> 00:20:00.480
He had an error about him or on the other

406
00:20:00.519 --> 00:20:02.799
male inmates too. And of course you know male inmates,

407
00:20:02.839 --> 00:20:04.359
they're the only one that comes to see you is

408
00:20:04.400 --> 00:20:07.680
your mama. So if you have done something to women,

409
00:20:08.440 --> 00:20:10.160
the majority of inmates out there.

410
00:20:12.200 --> 00:20:14.640
Did not care for you too much.

411
00:20:15.000 --> 00:20:18.160
As DTL spent time in prison, interactions with him that

412
00:20:18.200 --> 00:20:21.480
didn't end in murder would surface. Due to the proximity

413
00:20:21.559 --> 00:20:24.000
of where Derek Tudley grew up, being so close to

414
00:20:24.039 --> 00:20:26.960
the prison, many of the staff working at Angola would

415
00:20:26.960 --> 00:20:29.559
recall interactions with him in the free world and would

416
00:20:29.599 --> 00:20:33.400
consider themselves fortunate to still be alive, even an interaction

417
00:20:33.480 --> 00:20:35.079
with Warden Fonteau herself.

418
00:20:36.119 --> 00:20:38.480
A lot of employees are from that area and it

419
00:20:38.599 --> 00:20:42.359
was quite a surprise to them that and they had

420
00:20:42.480 --> 00:20:45.400
encounters with him, weird encounters that they remember now having

421
00:20:45.440 --> 00:20:48.400
with him. He was at that truck stop and one

422
00:20:48.400 --> 00:20:50.880
of our employees told me that she had actually driven

423
00:20:50.920 --> 00:20:55.240
him down the road and he had known her daughter

424
00:20:55.359 --> 00:20:57.200
or something like that, and it was like she was

425
00:20:57.200 --> 00:20:59.559
really scared after she realized that she had this person.

426
00:20:59.599 --> 00:21:01.440
You know, he's looking for someone else, and then there

427
00:21:01.480 --> 00:21:03.079
he is. I think he knocked on my door in

428
00:21:03.119 --> 00:21:05.319
Baton Rouge's I mean, I'm not just saying that. I

429
00:21:05.359 --> 00:21:07.720
lived pretty near the bus station at the time, and

430
00:21:07.759 --> 00:21:09.359
we had a lot of people that would come through.

431
00:21:09.799 --> 00:21:13.519
And I remember I was I had just had my

432
00:21:13.640 --> 00:21:15.599
son and I was there at home and I had

433
00:21:15.599 --> 00:21:17.440
a knock on the door and it was a guy

434
00:21:17.720 --> 00:21:21.839
fitting that description. My husband had bought me some mace.

435
00:21:22.000 --> 00:21:23.960
Everybody had mace at that time, you know, bat Ridge

436
00:21:23.960 --> 00:21:28.839
police spy. And I remember he was there and my

437
00:21:28.920 --> 00:21:32.160
husband was home and he said, can I have some money?

438
00:21:32.160 --> 00:21:34.119
I'm trying to get on the bus to get to

439
00:21:34.160 --> 00:21:34.519
my mother.

440
00:21:34.640 --> 00:21:39.200
She's sick, really weird, heard hurriedly, and and you know,

441
00:21:39.279 --> 00:21:41.519
I'm off on the weekend, right, I'm a warden, but

442
00:21:41.599 --> 00:21:44.000
I'm off on the weekend, right, and I'm not My

443
00:21:44.119 --> 00:21:47.400
guard's not up. And I was like, because you want

444
00:21:47.400 --> 00:21:50.000
to help. We were raised to want to help, especially

445
00:21:50.079 --> 00:21:52.640
somebody in need, right, And what he said seemed, you know.

446
00:21:53.039 --> 00:21:55.400
And the door was locked, I remember, but I had

447
00:21:55.440 --> 00:21:57.480
a we had a we had a camera by the

448
00:21:57.920 --> 00:22:02.839
by the window, and and we had talked about this.

449
00:22:03.079 --> 00:22:05.000
I don't know why, but you know, like I said,

450
00:22:05.920 --> 00:22:08.839
and the baby was getting some sign and I remember

451
00:22:09.039 --> 00:22:12.319
he was sort of like in the door and I said,

452
00:22:13.599 --> 00:22:17.200
I said something like no. And when I was gonna

453
00:22:17.200 --> 00:22:19.319
it occurred to me to snap a picture of him.

454
00:22:19.400 --> 00:22:22.200
And I remember shutting the door, and it was literally

455
00:22:22.279 --> 00:22:24.240
like picking up a camera and going like this, and

456
00:22:24.279 --> 00:22:25.359
he had jumped.

457
00:22:25.039 --> 00:22:26.559
Over the thing and ran away.

458
00:22:27.400 --> 00:22:31.839
Victim offender dialogue is a voluntary, victim centered and confidential

459
00:22:31.880 --> 00:22:35.720
process where victims of serious or violent crimes meet face

460
00:22:35.759 --> 00:22:38.559
to face with their offenders in a secure setting. This

461
00:22:38.680 --> 00:22:41.759
process is something that occurs often in prisons throughout the country.

462
00:22:42.160 --> 00:22:44.440
But what about in the cases of Derek Todd Lee.

463
00:22:44.960 --> 00:22:48.559
Would this dialogue take place and if not, why.

464
00:22:48.599 --> 00:22:51.480
Victim offender dialogues only happen for people that we knew

465
00:22:51.519 --> 00:22:55.240
we could make the situation safe. So we would never

466
00:22:55.279 --> 00:22:57.599
do a victim defender dialogue when there was a domestic

467
00:22:57.680 --> 00:23:01.480
violence type of incident or to sexual crimes, rapes and

468
00:23:01.519 --> 00:23:03.759
things like that, because there was an improper balance of

469
00:23:03.799 --> 00:23:06.880
power and we never never would gain that information to know.

470
00:23:07.240 --> 00:23:09.960
Now we could help victims in other ways. Sometimes victims

471
00:23:10.000 --> 00:23:14.759
just wanted to tour Angola and see where their you know,

472
00:23:14.920 --> 00:23:17.920
the person that a victimized was living. They wanted to

473
00:23:17.960 --> 00:23:20.240
know more about what happened after you know, what was

474
00:23:20.319 --> 00:23:22.720
his life like, you know, how did they spend the day,

475
00:23:22.759 --> 00:23:26.880
what happened. We have a victim empowerment approach the Department

476
00:23:26.920 --> 00:23:30.839
of Corrections had and hopefully they still have, where victims

477
00:23:30.839 --> 00:23:33.240
would approach us. We would never call a victim and say, hey,

478
00:23:33.519 --> 00:23:35.039
come on and see what's going on.

479
00:23:35.119 --> 00:23:36.720
They would call us if they needed to.

480
00:23:37.480 --> 00:23:40.160
I did have the I think it was an honor

481
00:23:40.440 --> 00:23:43.960
because in the back of our you know, we are

482
00:23:44.039 --> 00:23:46.839
there with the inmates, but we're there protecting a public

483
00:23:46.880 --> 00:23:49.039
that needs us there, and that's why it's so important

484
00:23:49.079 --> 00:23:51.359
for people who care about this field and think seriously

485
00:23:51.400 --> 00:23:57.759
about it to do it. But yeah, Charlotte Murray Pace's

486
00:23:57.880 --> 00:24:01.960
mother and sister came to see. I think they were

487
00:24:01.960 --> 00:24:04.759
with John Singlefield at the time, who I also worked

488
00:24:04.759 --> 00:24:07.000
with at the Attorney General's Office and is a wonderful,

489
00:24:07.079 --> 00:24:11.960
wonderful public servant, really deeply cared about victims and did

490
00:24:12.000 --> 00:24:17.480
a great job. So she came because she was preparing

491
00:24:17.519 --> 00:24:20.319
for the victim impact statement the next day, which is

492
00:24:20.319 --> 00:24:22.759
a very very important time because it's the time where

493
00:24:22.960 --> 00:24:26.799
I think victims have the opportunity and survivors if they

494
00:24:26.839 --> 00:24:28.960
want to be called that, where they have the opportunity

495
00:24:29.039 --> 00:24:31.920
to take control of the situation and talk about how

496
00:24:32.039 --> 00:24:34.599
it's affected them. And that's a real thing. It's not

497
00:24:34.680 --> 00:24:37.359
about a violation of some law that we all know

498
00:24:37.519 --> 00:24:41.440
should be followed. It's not about him necessarily, It's about

499
00:24:41.480 --> 00:24:43.519
the loss of this person that meant so much. She

500
00:24:43.559 --> 00:24:46.000
was an incredible She was an incredible woman. She was,

501
00:24:46.359 --> 00:24:48.759
you know, the youngest woman at the time to get

502
00:24:48.799 --> 00:24:51.920
an MBA at that age, and she was just wonderful, bright,

503
00:24:52.079 --> 00:24:55.599
shining woman who in a dash had all these plans

504
00:24:55.640 --> 00:24:59.000
taken away from her by somebody that you know, just

505
00:24:59.559 --> 00:25:02.799
took her old families, you know, in her life on

506
00:25:02.880 --> 00:25:05.960
this trajectory that no one had planned for and didn't

507
00:25:05.960 --> 00:25:09.880
see coming. So it's not fair and there's nothing that

508
00:25:10.079 --> 00:25:12.480
can ever be done to get justice for that. In

509
00:25:12.480 --> 00:25:15.119
my opinion, and from what I've seen from victims, it

510
00:25:15.240 --> 00:25:17.799
should be we should listen to them, and we should

511
00:25:17.799 --> 00:25:19.599
listen to the words that they use, and we should

512
00:25:19.599 --> 00:25:22.519
have a justice system that supports what they want when

513
00:25:22.559 --> 00:25:25.119
they want it, even if that changes. In my opinion,

514
00:25:25.519 --> 00:25:30.119
victims have the hardest. It's tragic. You can't grieve because

515
00:25:30.160 --> 00:25:33.200
you've got to do all these other things and you

516
00:25:33.279 --> 00:25:35.440
are grieving, but you got to work when you grief

517
00:25:35.519 --> 00:25:38.359
is work, and you've got your own stuff. Then this

518
00:25:38.680 --> 00:25:41.559
that you didn't plan for, You go in all these

519
00:25:41.599 --> 00:25:45.240
places based on other people's timeline, and it really takes

520
00:25:45.240 --> 00:25:47.519
away from all of that. It's traumatic. Victims are the

521
00:25:47.519 --> 00:25:50.119
strongest people that I know, and that's why I feel

522
00:25:50.160 --> 00:25:52.119
like anytime a victim would come up to us or

523
00:25:52.160 --> 00:25:54.119
ask something, and even today and the work that I

524
00:25:54.160 --> 00:25:56.680
do now, they come first, what they want come first.

525
00:25:56.799 --> 00:25:58.319
Is this my job to figure out how I'm going

526
00:25:58.400 --> 00:26:00.359
to do that. I'm going to say yes. More know,

527
00:26:01.160 --> 00:26:03.400
I'm always going to say yes to victims. But it's

528
00:26:03.480 --> 00:26:05.799
just something that that is a privilege that we get

529
00:26:05.839 --> 00:26:08.400
to do and we don't ever get. That's why we

530
00:26:08.440 --> 00:26:10.480
do the things that we need to do that most

531
00:26:10.519 --> 00:26:13.119
people don't understand for the inmate, because there's an actual

532
00:26:13.160 --> 00:26:14.920
victim out there that does dependent on how we do

533
00:26:14.960 --> 00:26:18.000
our career. The other thing is if I beat an inmate,

534
00:26:18.079 --> 00:26:19.640
if I do all this stuff, if I do all

535
00:26:19.640 --> 00:26:22.480
these things that break the law, that inmate now has

536
00:26:23.119 --> 00:26:25.960
support to get out, and that is not what I'm

537
00:26:26.039 --> 00:26:28.920
there to do. I'm there to make sure that further

538
00:26:29.039 --> 00:26:32.400
violence doesn't happen and that inmate, believe it or not,

539
00:26:33.079 --> 00:26:35.319
can be a big impact to other people that are

540
00:26:35.359 --> 00:26:38.119
still out there. So if I can turn him around

541
00:26:38.160 --> 00:26:41.200
where he's not violating or she's not violating things and

542
00:26:41.240 --> 00:26:44.680
not spread that into the community by their family and

543
00:26:44.720 --> 00:26:47.799
things like that, that's my job, you know. And also,

544
00:26:47.920 --> 00:26:50.240
like I said, nothing can bring back the person that

545
00:26:50.279 --> 00:26:53.599
you've lost. That's what I've learned, and I've also having

546
00:26:53.680 --> 00:27:01.079
witnessed executions and being around that that environment. No one

547
00:27:01.200 --> 00:27:04.480
leaves that room happy. No one leaves that room happy.

548
00:27:04.640 --> 00:27:07.880
And it's again, everything is about the inmate. What did

549
00:27:07.880 --> 00:27:10.559
they eat, what did they say? You know, how did

550
00:27:10.559 --> 00:27:13.680
they feel, how do they look? You know who was

551
00:27:13.720 --> 00:27:18.200
there to support them? And the victim really doesn't get

552
00:27:18.240 --> 00:27:21.680
mentioned a whole lot as a person. It's some name

553
00:27:21.720 --> 00:27:22.319
that you don't know.

554
00:27:22.960 --> 00:27:25.559
One thing that survivors often have to come to terms

555
00:27:25.599 --> 00:27:28.160
with is the treatment in prison may not be as

556
00:27:28.240 --> 00:27:32.039
harsh as they may would like. It's hard, very hard

557
00:27:32.039 --> 00:27:34.519
when you're seeing serial killers such as Derek Todd Lee

558
00:27:34.559 --> 00:27:37.240
be allowed three meals a day and the ability to

559
00:27:37.279 --> 00:27:41.480
breathe oxygen, when your sister or mother or friend was

560
00:27:41.599 --> 00:27:44.599
not afforded the same luxury of life at the hands

561
00:27:44.640 --> 00:27:47.400
of a murderer. But what does the other side of

562
00:27:47.400 --> 00:27:50.240
this look like from the perspective of the leadership inside

563
00:27:50.240 --> 00:27:54.319
of our criminal justice system? Warden Fonto explains.

564
00:27:54.200 --> 00:27:57.599
Our system a criminal justice is based upon people are

565
00:27:57.640 --> 00:28:00.880
innocent until proven guilty, and you've got rights that are

566
00:28:00.920 --> 00:28:05.279
never sacrificed by your imprisonment, such as medical care. We

567
00:28:05.359 --> 00:28:07.160
have to give medical care if they're sick, they have

568
00:28:07.200 --> 00:28:08.720
to do it. Plus we have to make sure that

569
00:28:08.759 --> 00:28:12.240
they live to the point that they're supposed to. They're

570
00:28:12.319 --> 00:28:14.319
serving a sense if it's a sense of death in

571
00:28:14.359 --> 00:28:18.960
our state, you have to be executed by lethal injection

572
00:28:19.720 --> 00:28:24.440
or whatever method is in you know, approved by the legislature,

573
00:28:24.480 --> 00:28:26.319
and you have to it has to be between these

574
00:28:26.359 --> 00:28:29.720
hours and it can't be after this hour. Particular is it's.

575
00:28:29.599 --> 00:28:31.480
A lawful killing.

576
00:28:32.279 --> 00:28:36.039
It's not something that we just make up at Angola.

577
00:28:36.079 --> 00:28:39.759
This is what the people of our state have voted

578
00:28:39.799 --> 00:28:44.119
on to be the method by which we perform these things.

579
00:28:44.160 --> 00:28:47.720
And so you know, I can't let them commit suicide.

580
00:28:47.759 --> 00:28:50.400
To me, that's like an escape they decide, that's like

581
00:28:50.440 --> 00:28:52.839
them taking you know, their life because they don't want

582
00:28:52.839 --> 00:28:53.319
to serve.

583
00:28:53.160 --> 00:28:55.160
The time that they've been given.

584
00:28:55.559 --> 00:28:58.400
It's the constitutional right that every one of us have

585
00:28:58.519 --> 00:29:00.920
if we find ourselves in prison, we have got their

586
00:29:01.039 --> 00:29:04.079
right to you know, medical care, just like we do

587
00:29:04.839 --> 00:29:08.519
access to the courts, just like we do to practice religion.

588
00:29:09.279 --> 00:29:13.960
There are things that security is considered. For example, with religion,

589
00:29:14.039 --> 00:29:18.519
if you want to drink blood, as far as you

590
00:29:18.559 --> 00:29:20.960
we're not allow you to do that because it's unsanitary

591
00:29:21.000 --> 00:29:23.160
and dangerous, but we are going to allow you to

592
00:29:23.160 --> 00:29:26.079
be a Satanist. If you want to be, you're gonna

593
00:29:26.079 --> 00:29:28.839
be pretty lonely because most people in prison want to

594
00:29:28.880 --> 00:29:31.319
go back to their roots of finding some faith in

595
00:29:31.920 --> 00:29:33.759
the other world and not this one, because they're not

596
00:29:33.799 --> 00:29:36.319
a part of our normal society. So friigion is a

597
00:29:36.400 --> 00:29:41.559
huge thing and it's often manipulated and we as that's

598
00:29:41.599 --> 00:29:45.440
another one of correction employees. They make sure we're not

599
00:29:46.160 --> 00:29:49.599
allowing things in that can be manipulated and used against us.

600
00:29:50.240 --> 00:29:52.960
Under that access to religion.

601
00:29:52.759 --> 00:29:56.559
Media and sadly, fans of the serial killer Derek Todd

602
00:29:56.599 --> 00:30:00.359
Lee was something Angola was prepared for. Ted Bundy became

603
00:30:00.440 --> 00:30:02.799
infamous for a long list of fans that would do

604
00:30:02.920 --> 00:30:05.640
just about anything to meet or get a letter from

605
00:30:05.680 --> 00:30:09.319
the killer. In addition to this, inmates themselves will at

606
00:30:09.400 --> 00:30:12.839
times attempt to profit off of their killings. How Louisiana

607
00:30:12.920 --> 00:30:17.359
State Penitentiary at Angola would control this would become a priority.

608
00:30:16.839 --> 00:30:21.160
In terms of control and protecting not only the Department

609
00:30:21.200 --> 00:30:27.319
of Corrections regulations, but also not offending victims. You cannot

610
00:30:27.319 --> 00:30:30.640
make a celebrity out of an inmate, and so while

611
00:30:30.640 --> 00:30:33.079
we can have them talk about a certain topic or subject,

612
00:30:33.119 --> 00:30:35.759
it was never to talk about the crimes. Who were

613
00:30:35.839 --> 00:30:40.079
very careful under warden Kine to not do that. However,

614
00:30:40.480 --> 00:30:45.000
there is such a great interest in these people that

615
00:30:45.079 --> 00:30:49.039
we had things like murder Bulia sites coming up where

616
00:30:49.079 --> 00:30:51.720
just the letter or his signature people would pay big

617
00:30:51.759 --> 00:30:54.559
money for. Like I said, he's a serial killer and

618
00:30:54.640 --> 00:30:57.319
so many people are intrigued by this that you have

619
00:30:57.359 --> 00:30:59.640
to be more careful. We watch their mail, We make

620
00:30:59.680 --> 00:31:02.680
sure that they're not running some sort of scheme where

621
00:31:02.680 --> 00:31:05.039
they're either cheating him or he or in his.

622
00:31:05.440 --> 00:31:06.920
Supporter, cheating the public.

623
00:31:07.039 --> 00:31:10.359
So it's just a really kind of common sense, like,

624
00:31:10.599 --> 00:31:13.200
you know, is this something that's a criminal? You know,

625
00:31:13.240 --> 00:31:15.319
it could be that we have a statute here where

626
00:31:15.359 --> 00:31:18.759
inmates are not supposed to benefit from their crimes, and

627
00:31:18.839 --> 00:31:20.759
so we had to make sure he can't write a

628
00:31:20.759 --> 00:31:23.039
book about the stuff and sell it and gain the

629
00:31:23.079 --> 00:31:25.200
profits from it. In other words, because we have some

630
00:31:25.279 --> 00:31:30.400
sick fascination sometimes about these things, right, and so, but

631
00:31:30.680 --> 00:31:33.759
as time went on, more and more of the stuff's

632
00:31:33.799 --> 00:31:35.920
coming out. I mean, he passed away before it really

633
00:31:36.000 --> 00:31:38.640
reached its peak, in my opinion, but he if he

634
00:31:38.759 --> 00:31:41.359
was still around today, I'm sure he'd be trying to

635
00:31:41.359 --> 00:31:42.559
find a loophole to do that.

636
00:31:43.000 --> 00:31:45.240
Well, I want to thank you so much for number

637
00:31:45.279 --> 00:31:47.759
one being here today, for continuing to be my hero,

638
00:31:47.920 --> 00:31:51.119
and for making all of the changes and positive improvements.

639
00:31:51.160 --> 00:31:53.839
You are right now in Baton Rouge and in the jail,

640
00:31:53.920 --> 00:31:56.559
and I know that the inmates that come in, whether

641
00:31:57.680 --> 00:31:59.839
they make a positive change or not, they're better for

642
00:32:00.240 --> 00:32:04.200
having been under your your stead, I guess, and for

643
00:32:04.279 --> 00:32:06.640
the influence that you have over all of these people.

644
00:32:06.640 --> 00:32:08.319
I believe in you, and I want you to know

645
00:32:08.359 --> 00:32:10.599
that I'm a nobody, but I believe in you, and

646
00:32:10.720 --> 00:32:13.480
I appreciate the hard work and dedication you know that

647
00:32:13.519 --> 00:32:14.200
you put into this.

648
00:32:14.519 --> 00:32:18.240
Yeah, well, everybody's somebody, and I think that any of

649
00:32:18.240 --> 00:32:20.680
your listeners that want to come see what jail is

650
00:32:20.680 --> 00:32:23.279
about are more than happy and welcome to do it.

651
00:32:23.359 --> 00:32:26.400
We really like to have people's opinions about how we

652
00:32:26.480 --> 00:32:30.279
serve and you know, I'll invite you. You can come,

653
00:32:30.359 --> 00:32:31.640
and I promise to let you leave.

654
00:32:31.839 --> 00:32:32.240
Awesome.

655
00:32:32.359 --> 00:32:35.160
That sounds good. Well, and thank you so much, And

656
00:32:35.240 --> 00:32:36.839
until next time, I'll catch all on the flip