Derrick Todd Lee

Serial Killer

Derrick Todd Lee: The Baton Rouge Serial Killer

Background

Derrick Todd Lee was an American serial killer whose crimes terrorized southern Louisiana during the late 1990s and early 2000s. Known as the Baton Rouge Serial Killer, Lee was linked through DNA evidence to the deaths or disappearances of seven women. He was ultimately convicted of murdering two of them: Geralyn DeSoto and Charlotte Murray Pace. Investigators also considered him a suspect in other attacks and unsolved killings, although those cases were never proven in court. Lee was born on November 5, 1968, in St. Francisville, Louisiana. Long before he was identified as a murderer, he accumulated a criminal record involving burglary, unauthorized entry, stalking, voyeurism and violence. Women in communities where he lived reported seeing him peering through windows or entering private property. These incidents demonstrated a pattern of secretly watching women and violating their homes that later appeared in several of the murder investigations.

The Crimes Linked to Derrick Todd Lee

Lee generally targeted women in or near their homes. Several victims were attacked during daylight hours in residential neighborhoods, suggesting that he was willing to take considerable risks. Some homes showed no obvious signs of forced entry, leading investigators to believe that Lee sometimes approached victims with an innocent explanation or entered through an unlocked door. The attacks frequently involved severe beatings, strangulation, stabbing or sexual assault.

• Randi Mebruer Disappeared April 18, 1998, Zachary, Louisiana: Twenty-eight-year-old Randi Mebruer vanished from her home while her young son was inside. Investigators found a large amount of blood in the residence, indicating that she had been violently attacked. Her body has never been recovered, so an exact date of death has not been officially established. Biological evidence found in the home was linked to Derrick Todd Lee, and authorities treated her disappearance as a homicide connected to his series of crimes.
• Gina Wilson Green September 24, 2001, Baton Rouge, Louisiana: Gina Wilson Green, approximately 40 years old, was found dead inside her home on Stanford Avenue near Louisiana State University. She had been sexually assaulted and strangled. Evidence indicated that a struggle had moved through portions of the residence. Her purse, shorts and cellular telephone were missing, but some of the property was later recovered behind a Baton Rouge warehouse. DNA collected from the crime scene was eventually matched to Lee.
• Geralyn Barr DeSoto January 14, 2002, Addis, Louisiana: Twenty-one-year-old Geralyn DeSoto was discovered by her husband inside their home in West Baton Rouge Parish. She had been beaten and stabbed, and evidence showed that she fought fiercely against her attacker. Her husband was initially investigated, but the case changed direction after forensic evidence connected Lee to the killing. Lee's DNA was recovered from material beneath DeSoto's fingernails, indicating that she had scratched him while defending herself. Bloody footwear impressions also became important evidence during his trial.
• Charlotte Murray Pace May 31, 2002, Baton Rouge, Louisiana: Twenty-two-year-old Charlotte Murray Pace was killed in the townhouse she shared with a roommate on Sharlo Avenue. Pace had recently earned a master's degree in business administration from Louisiana State University and was preparing to begin a professional career in Atlanta. Her roommate returned home and found her body in the bedroom. Pace had been sexually assaulted, beaten and stabbed numerous times. She also suffered severe injuries to her head and neck. DNA evidence linked Lee to the attack, and this murder later resulted in his first-degree murder conviction and death sentence.
• Pamela Piglia Kinamore July 12, 2002, Baton Rouge and Whiskey Bay, Louisiana: Forty-four-year-old Pamela "Pam" Kinamore disappeared from her home in Baton Rouge. Her husband returned to find blood on a bedroom rug, disturbed furniture and a bathtub filled with water. There was no clear evidence of forced entry. On July 16, a survey crew found Kinamore's body near Interstate 10, south of the Whiskey Bay exit. She had been beaten and sexually assaulted, and her throat had been cut. Defensive wounds showed that she attempted to resist her attacker. DNA evidence connected her murder to Lee and to several other victims.
• Trineisha Dene Colomb November 21, 2002, Lafayette and Scott, Louisiana: Twenty-three-year-old Trineisha Colomb disappeared after visiting her mother's grave near Grand Coteau. Her vehicle, purse and keys were discovered near the cemetery. On November 24, a hunter found her body in a wooded area near Scott, Louisiana. Colomb had died from severe blunt-force injuries to her head and had been sexually assaulted. DNA recovered during the investigation matched the profile associated with Lee. Colomb was the first Black victim publicly connected through DNA to the series and one of the first linked victims outside the immediate Baton Rouge area.
• Carrie Lynn Yoder March 3, 2003, Baton Rouge and Whiskey Bay, Louisiana: Twenty-six-year-old Carrie Lynn Yoder, a Louisiana State University graduate student in biological sciences, disappeared from her Baton Rouge residence on March 3. Her body was found on March 13 near Whiskey Bay, close to the location where Pamela Kinamore had been discovered. Investigators believed Yoder's body had been thrown from a bridge. She had been beaten, sexually assaulted and strangled. DNA evidence obtained during her autopsy matched Lee and provided authorities with a direct basis for obtaining a murder warrant.

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Confirmed Victims: (7)

Randi Mebruer Age: (28), Date of Death: April 18, 1998

Suspected Victims:

Connie Warner Age: (42), Date of Death: August 1992

Survivors:

Dianne Alexander , Date of Attack: July 9, 2002

Derrick Todd Lee - Wikipedia