In the summer of 1985, a horrific crime shattered the quiet of a Shreveport, Louisiana neighborhood, forever marking July 19th as a day of tragedy. On that day, 34-year-old Vivian Chaney was found murdered in her home, the victim of a brutal and senseless act of violence. Her life, along with the lives of three others in her home, was cut short in a manner that would leave the community reeling and investigators determined to find the person responsible.
The discovery was made by Chaney's sister, who had come for a surprise visit only to stumble upon a scene of unimaginable horror.
Inside the house, the extent of the depravity became sickeningly clear. Vivian Chaney was discovered in the bathroom, her body slumped over the bathtub. She had been bound with a telephone cord, beaten, and ultimately died from a combination of strangulation and drowning. Investigators noted that her dress was stained with the blood of her 15-year-old daughter, Carlitha Culbert, indicating she had been forced to witness her child's murder before her own. The scene was one of calculated cruelty, designed to inflict maximum suffering on its victims.
Also found murdered in the home were Chaney's boyfriend, 29-year-old Billy Joe Harris, and her brother, Jerry Culbert. Harris had been shot multiple times and had his throat cut, while Culbert was shot as he slept. The only survivors were Chaney's two younger daughters, ages seven and ten, who were found unharmed in their bed. The brutality of the crime sent shockwaves through Shreveport and launched an intensive investigation to bring the perpetrator to justice.
The investigation into the quadruple homicide led police to a man named Nathaniel Robert Code, Jr. A Caddo Parish grand jury indicted Code on five counts of first-degree murder, including the four Chaney homicides and a previous murder from 1984. Evidence presented at trial included palm prints found at the crime scene that matched Code's. An acquaintance of Code also testified to seeing him with blood on his arms on the night of the murders. In 1990, a jury found Nathaniel Code guilty of the first-degree murders of Vivian Chaney, Carlitha Culbert, Billy Joe Harris, and Jerry Culbert. The jury recommended the death sentence for his heinous crimes, and the judge sentenced him to death.
