Nathaniel Robert Code Jr.: The Cedar Grove Killer
Early Life and Criminal History
Nathaniel Robert Code Jr. was born on March 12, 1956, in Shreveport, Louisiana. Known to acquaintances as "Junior," Code spent much of his childhood in the Cedar Grove area of the city and was raised in part by his great-aunt and his grandfather, William T. Code. The same neighborhood where he grew up would later become the setting for a series of exceptionally violent murders that investigators eventually connected to him.
Code had a serious criminal record long before the murders began. In 1975, he was prosecuted after attacking a 20-year-old woman and ultimately pleaded guilty to attempted aggravated rape. He received a 15-year prison sentence but was released early for good behavior in January 1984. Within months of returning to Shreveport, the first homicide later strongly linked to him occurred.
The Murder of Deborah Ann Ford
During the early morning hours of August 31, 1984, 25-year-old Deborah Ann Ford was attacked inside her home at 315 East 74th Street in Shreveport's Cedar Grove neighborhood. Ford was a mother of two, but her daughters were spending the night with their grandmother and were not in the house when the intruder entered.
The killer entered through a bathroom window after pulling away its screen. Ford apparently fought her attacker before she was overpowered. An electrical cord cut from a fan inside the house was used to bind her hands behind her back in a distinctive handcuff-like arrangement, and clothing was used to gag her. Ford was stabbed nine times in the chest before her throat was cut repeatedly. Investigators determined that she was still alive when the wounds to her throat were inflicted. She died from massive blood loss.
The homicide initially went unsolved, but investigators recovered latent palm and thumb prints from the bathroom window and nearby surfaces. Those prints were eventually identified as Nathaniel Code's. The unusual bindings, the killer's control over the victim, and the use of materials taken from inside the victim's own home would later become important when investigators compared Ford's murder with subsequent killings.
The Cedar Grove Quadruple Murder
Less than eleven months later, another attack occurred only a few blocks away. During the night of July 18 and the early morning of July 19, 1985, someone forced open the rear door of a house at 213 East 72nd Street. Four people inside were murdered: 37-year-old Vivian Chaney, her 15-year-old daughter Carlitha Culbert, Vivian's 25-year-old brother Jerry Culbert, and Vivian's 29-year-old boyfriend Billy Joe Harris.
Each victim was found in a different part of the house. Harris was in a bedroom, where he had been shot twice in the head through a pillow and twice in the chest. Although critically wounded, he survived the initial gunshots long enough for his throat to be cut. His hands and ankles had been bound, and a telephone cord connected the restraints.
Jerry Culbert was found in another bedroom. Evidence indicated that he had apparently been asleep when he was shot once in the head at close range. Unlike several of the other victims, he had not been bound.
Carlitha Culbert was found in the living room. Her hands were tied behind her back with an electrical cord cut from an iron in the house, using a binding technique similar to the one observed in Deborah Ford's murder. Duct tape had been placed over her mouth. Her throat had been severely cut, and investigators concluded that she initially survived one wound before receiving a second, fatal attack.
Vivian Chaney was discovered slumped over the bathtub. Her hands, waist and ankles had been restrained with telephone cord, and investigators found evidence of both manual and ligature strangulation as well as severe blows to her head. Her death resulted from a combination of strangulation and drowning.
Two younger girls, ages 10 and 7, were inside the home but survived. The four bodies were discovered early on July 19 when Vivian and Jerry's sister arrived at the residence from out of town.
The crime scene produced one of the most important pieces of physical evidence in the investigation. Several fresh palm prints were discovered on the bathtub where Vivian's body was located. They were subsequently matched to Nathaniel Code. Investigators also found duct tape behind the house that was chemically consistent with professional-grade tape recovered from Code's residence.
A witness who knew Code also reported encountering him in the neighborhood in the early morning hours of July 19. The witness testified that he first saw Code heading toward East 72nd Street and later encountered him again covered with blood. According to the testimony, Code was carrying property that included a knife, handgun, credit cards and blood-smeared food stamps. The evidence helped prosecutors build the case that ultimately resulted in Code's convictions.
The Murder of William Code and Two Children
The final group of killings formally attributed to Code occurred approximately two years later. On August 5, 1987, 73-year-old William T. Code, Nathaniel Code's grandfather and one of the people who had helped raise him, was found murdered at his home at 641 West 66th Street in Shreveport. Two boys who had been spending the night at the residence, 12-year-old Joe Robinson and 8-year-old Eric Williams, were also killed.
Joe Robinson was found face down on the living-room couch. He had suffered a blow to the forehead before his hands and ankles were restrained with plastic cord. He had been gagged and was strangled with cord. Eric Williams was found between beds in another room. His hands and ankles had also been bound, and he had been gagged and strangled with electrical cord.
William Code was found in his bedroom. His hands and ankles had been bound with electrical cord, and a telephone cord was used as part of his gag. He had been violently beaten and stabbed repeatedly, suffering five stab wounds to the chest, seven to the back and another wound to his upper arm. Investigators believed the extreme violence directed specifically at William indicated that the killer had a strong emotional connection to him.
There was no evidence of forced entry, suggesting that someone inside had admitted the murderer. A neighbor reported seeing Nathaniel Code leaving his grandfather's residence after 8:00 p.m. on the night of the killings. Investigators also learned that William had recently refused to lend Code additional money.
Code initially approached police as they investigated the killings and identified himself as William's grandson. During questioning, however, detectives became suspicious of his statements. He acknowledged having been inside the house and specifically mentioned touching several appliances from which electrical cords had been removed and used to bind the victims. Investigators obtained his fingerprints and quickly matched his palm print to evidence from the 1985 quadruple homicide. He was arrested on August 6, 1987.
Victims for Whose Murders Code Was Convicted
- Vivian Chaney, 37 – July 19, 1985, 213 East 72nd Street, Shreveport, Louisiana. Chaney was restrained, beaten and strangled before being drowned in her bathtub.
- Billy Joe Harris, 29 – July 19, 1985, 213 East 72nd Street, Shreveport, Louisiana. Harris was bound, shot multiple times and suffered a fatal wound to his throat.
- Jerry Culbert, 25 – July 19, 1985, 213 East 72nd Street, Shreveport, Louisiana. Culbert was apparently attacked while sleeping and was killed by a close-range gunshot to the head.
- Carlitha Culbert, 15 – July 19, 1985, 213 East 72nd Street, Shreveport, Louisiana. Carlitha was bound with electrical cord, gagged with duct tape and killed by severe wounds to her throat.
Additional Murders Formally Charged or Strongly Linked to Code
- Deborah Ann Ford, 25 – August 31, 1984, 315 East 74th Street, Shreveport, Louisiana. Ford was bound, gagged, stabbed nine times and suffered multiple wounds to her throat. Code's palm and thumb prints were identified at the point where the killer entered her home. Code was indicted for Ford's murder, but the charge was severed from the trial that resulted in his four murder convictions.
- William T. Code, 73 – August 5, 1987, 641 West 66th Street, Shreveport, Louisiana. Code's grandfather was bound, beaten and stabbed repeatedly. Nathaniel Code was separately charged with his murder but was not ultimately tried for it.
- Joe Robinson, 12 – August 5, 1987, 641 West 66th Street, Shreveport, Louisiana. Robinson was bound, gagged and strangled while staying overnight at William Code's home. Nathaniel Code was charged with his murder.
- Eric Williams, 8 – August 5, 1987, 641 West 66th Street, Shreveport, Louisiana. Williams was similarly restrained, gagged and strangled inside William Code's residence. Nathaniel Code was charged with his murder.
Suspected Victims
After Code's arrest, Shreveport investigators examined other unsolved homicides for possible connections. Contemporary reporting indicated that police considered him a suspect or person of interest in as many as four additional murders. He was never prosecuted for these cases, and they should therefore be distinguished from the eight victims directly charged or strongly linked to him.
- Wes Burks, 48 – Burks was found dead on June 24, 1985, inside his St. Vincent Avenue home in Shreveport. He was discovered in the kitchen and had been stabbed multiple times. Code was later identified as a suspect but was never charged. The available reporting establishes June 24 as the date his body was discovered rather than providing a separately established time of death.
- Monica Renae Barnum, 20 – Barnum was found dead by her mother on July 18, 1985, in an Ashton Street apartment in Shreveport. She had been bound, stabbed and strangled with a wire coat hanger. Code was later considered a person of interest but was never charged. Her body was discovered only hours before the four members of the Chaney-Culbert household were murdered.
- Johnny B. Jenkins, 54 – Jenkins' body was discovered on February 21, 1986, in his trailer on Miles Street in Shreveport. He had suffered multiple stab wounds. Investigators estimated that he had already been dead for approximately two to three weeks, meaning February 21 was the discovery date rather than his exact date of death. Police later investigated Code as a suspect but filed no murder charge against him.
- Jake Mills, 60 – Mills was found dead on December 12, 1986, in his residence on Poland Avenue in Shreveport. He had been stabbed multiple times, and evidence suggested he may have known his killer. Code was subsequently considered a suspect, but he was never charged. Publicly available accounts identify December 12 as the date Mills was found and do not conclusively establish a separate exact time of death.
A Distinctive Criminal Signature
The investigation of Code became notable for the distinction experts drew between a killer's changing method of committing crimes and the more persistent behavioral features sometimes described as a criminal signature. The weapons varied among the murders: some victims were stabbed, others shot, strangled or drowned. The method of entering the houses also differed. What remained strikingly similar was the offender's effort to dominate and immobilize victims.
Electrical cords, telephone cords, shoelaces and other materials obtained inside the residences were repeatedly used as restraints. Several victims' wrists were tied in an unusual handcuff-like configuration. Victims were gagged, moved between rooms or forced into positions that gave the murderer extensive control over them. Caddo Parish Coroner Dr. George McCormick believed the Ford, Chaney and William Code crime scenes demonstrated the work of the same serial offender.
FBI criminal investigative analyst John Douglas also examined the cases. Although there were differences in weapons, entry methods and circumstances, he identified the unusual bindings and other repeated behavioral elements as evidence connecting the crimes. This analysis helped prosecutors argue that the Ford and William Code murders were relevant to establishing the identity of the person responsible for the Chaney household murders.
Arrest, Trial and Conviction
Code's arrest on August 6, 1987, brought an end to the series of killings attributed to him. A Caddo Parish grand jury indicted him for Deborah Ford's murder and the four murders committed on East 72nd Street. A separate indictment charged him with murdering William Code, Joe Robinson and Eric Williams.
The Ford case was severed from the prosecution involving the quadruple homicide, and authorities proceeded to trial on the murders of Vivian Chaney, Carlitha Culbert, Jerry Culbert and Billy Joe Harris. The prosecution presented extensive physical, forensic and eyewitness evidence, including Code's palm prints from the Chaney residence and testimony placing him near the crime scene during the critical hours.
In October 1990, the jury found Nathaniel Code guilty of four counts of first-degree murder. The jury unanimously recommended death sentences, and the trial judge imposed the death penalty. Although authorities had charged Code in connection with the other four killings, prosecutors elected not to conduct additional murder trials after securing four capital convictions.
Eight Attributed Victims and the Possibility of More
Nathaniel Robert Code Jr. is generally attributed at least eight murders committed in Shreveport between August 1984 and August 1987. Four resulted in convictions, while Deborah Ford and the three victims at William Code's residence were supported by criminal charges and evidence that prosecutors successfully introduced during Code's capital case. Police additionally investigated him in connection with the deaths of Wes Burks, Monica Barnum, Johnny Jenkins and Jake Mills, producing the frequently cited possibility that his victim count may have reached twelve.
The murders associated with Code were concentrated within Shreveport and often occurred inside victims' homes. More than the choice of weapon, investigators were struck by the repeated patterns of restraint, domination and the use of objects found within the residences themselves. Fingerprint evidence ultimately provided the physical connection investigators had lacked during the earliest killings and transformed several apparently separate homicide investigations into the case against one of Shreveport's most notorious serial murderers.
