Serial Killings A Capital Case
The man accused of murdering five women in southern Louisiana made his first court appearance Thursday via closed-circuit television, and learned that he would remain in jail until his trial.
In the brief hearing, which was closed to the public, Judicial Commissioner Rachel Pitcher Morgan advised Derrick Todd Lee Lee that state law does not allow bond in a death penalty case, the judge's office said.
The public defender's office said Thursday it was appointed to defend Lee, but a specific attorney had not been assigned. Task force members questioned Lee for hours Wednesday before he was booked, but officials wouldn't give details or say if Lee had an attorney present.
East Baton Rouge Parish District Attorney Doug Moreau said Wednesday that prosecutors would seek the death penalty. He said he expected evidence would be presented to a grand jury within a few weeks.
Lee, 34, was arrested Tuesday outside an Atlanta tire store and was booked into the East Baton Rouge Parish prison Wednesday night on charges of first-degree murder, aggravated rape, second-degree kidnapping and aggravated burglary in the death of Pam Kinamore.
He also faces three counts each of first-degree murder and aggravated rape in the deaths of three more Baton Rouge women — Carrie Yoder, Gina Wilson Green and Charlotte Murray Pace. The fifth victim, Trineisha Dene Colomb, was slain in November 2002 in another parish; a warrant was issued in that case.
He has also been linked to another murder and the disappearance of another woman. In fact, it was those cases that pointed police to Lee.
The separate probe of the two cases in nearby Zachary, a suburb of Baton Rouge, led an investigator not connected to the serial killings task force to seek a DNA sample from Lee and eventually link him to the five known slayings by the serial killer.
Lee has not been charged in the two cases in Zachary — the 1998 disappearance of Randi Mebruer, 28, and the 1992 slaying of Connie Warner, 41 — but Zachary police said they suspect he is responsible.
Even as they expressed relief at Lee's capture, some residents and victims' relatives asked why investigators didn't find him sooner.
Lee's long arrest record for stalking, attempted murder and peeking into homes should have made him an obvious suspect, said Geri Teasley, who has organized monthly rallies in Baton Rouge to remember the victims.
"This guy has been right under their nose for the last 11 years," Teasley said. "He'd been a peeping Tom. He was arrested for breaking and entering. He was just doing all kinds of stuff that made him kind of a prime suspect for this type of thing."
Lynne Marino, Kinamore's mother, said Lee's criminal record should have made police check his DNA years ago.
"Just think how many lives we could have saved if somebody had put these pieces together and gotten this monster years ago," Marino said. "That's my child. Do you think I'm going to be a good sport about how many mistakes they made?"
During the investigation, the task force cast a huge DNA dragnet, taking genetic samples from more than 1,000 men. It also fished for tips by releasing details about a white truck, the killer's shoeprints and items apparently taken from the victims. Investigators sent dogs sniffing through neighborhoods and went door to door, looking for leads.
Marino said she believes police relied too heavily on an FBI profile that said the serial killer was probably white and had trouble interacting with women. Lee is a black man described as charming with women.
The task force held a congratulatory news conference Wednesday.
Wiping away tears, Baton Rouge Police Chief Pat Englade, who heads the task force, said he was proud of the work by the team of local, state and federal law enforcement officials. He refused to respond to specific criticisms by the victims' families.
Lee also was accused in a St. Martin Parish warrant Tuesday with attempted murder and attempted rape in an incident in July, before three of the serial killer's victims were slain.
The police chief has said the task force was not contacted by St. Martin Parish about the attack there until April. The task force had told investigators working other cases to let them know about evidence that seemed to point to the serial killer, he said.
New Orleans' Times-Picayune newspaper reported that Atlanta Police Chief Richard Pennington intends to reopen the probe of several murders of Atlanta prostitutes in 1993 to see if Lee's DNA matches samples taken in those cases.