In the summer of 1987, the life of 73-year-old William T. Code came to a brutal and tragic end in his Shreveport, Louisiana home. On August 5th, he was found the victim of a vicious attack, having been beaten and stabbed thirteen times. His body was discovered bound with an electrical cord and gagged. The savagery of the crime was compounded by the discovery of two other victims in the residence: 12-year-old Joe Robinson Jr. and 8-year-old Eric Williams, who were grandsons of a friend.
Both boys had been bound, gagged, and strangled to death.
The investigation quickly centered on a suspect who was chillingly close to the elderly victim. William Code's own grandson, Nathaniel Robert Code Jr., was identified as the perpetrator. Evidence and witness accounts placed Nathaniel at his grandfather's home on the evening of the murders, a place he was reportedly not welcome. The brutality of the attack had initially led police to suspect the killer was someone known to William.
Nathaniel Code Jr., who was already a convicted felon, was arrested the day after the gruesome discovery. His connection to the crime was further solidified by DNA evidence which also linked him to a string of other murders in the Shreveport area, earning him the moniker 'The Cedar Grove Killer.' Although responsible for numerous deaths, he was tried for a separate quadruple homicide. For those crimes, a jury found him guilty, and he was subsequently sentenced to death for his horrific spree.
