Crime fiction author tackles Louisiana true crime

I met crime fiction author James Patterson at a California writer’s conference over ten years ago. He told me how he studied true crime to stay grounded in his work, and ten years later, he dropped me a note, commending me on a column. He said the case I wrote about would haunt him. He wished he could do more to help but wasn’t sure how.

He has since found a way.

In a television mini-series debuting this week on the Fox network, the author hosts “Unsolved with James Patterson,” delving into three unsolved cases: Elizabeth Salgado’s murder in Utah, Brian Egg’s killing during a California camping trip, and the brutal murder of Nanette Krentel in St. Tammany Parish.

Wednesday morning, September 14, 2017, the St. Tammany Parish Coroner Dr. Charles Preston ruled Nanette Krentel’s death a homicide. The next day, St. Tammany Parish Sheriff Randy Smith said his office had cleared her husband, District 12 Fire Chief Steve Krentel, of any wrongdoing.

Weeks earlier, Preston told reporters he found no soot in the victim’s airway, even microscopic, leading to the “strong argument” that Nanette died before the fire started. Following that announcement, Sheriff Smith said in an emailed press release that his office did not “necessarily support” the coroner’s conclusion.

First Responders found Nanette Krentel, 49, dead on July 14, her body lying face-up on the master bedroom floor, burned beyond recognition in a fire the Louisiana State Fire Marshal says someone intentionally set in multiple locations.

Weeks later, on the day of her memorial service, the coroner disclosed that DNA tests confirmed Nanette’s identity, and her autopsy proved she died when a small-caliber bullet entered her skull above the right temple without exiting.

This time, Preston backed his homicide confirmation with two autopsies conducted by his pathologists, a subsequent private autopsy performed by a pathologist hired by Nanette Krentel’s family, and reconstruction work of the victim’s skull done by the Forensic Anthropology and Computer Enhancement Services Lab at Louisiana State University.

Speaking after Preston at the news conference, Sheriff Smith insisted his office had always investigated Nanette’s death as a homicide case. However, he said, her husband cooperated fully with investigators from day one and had been quickly ruled out as the murderer.

According to Smith, Steve Krentel admitted to an affair before his wife’s death. Still, he provided a solid alibi and passed a polygraph test. After discovering the affair, Nanette’s family and friends said she wanted to end the marriage. Still, Steve Krentel claimed the couple had worked through their problems and that he had left the other woman.

Television’s “People Magazine Investigates” probed the case the following November. After speaking with Sheriff Smith, their team accepted Krentel’s alibi and searched elsewhere for a suspect.

They first turned their attention to Steve Krentel’s son, Justin.

Family members reported issues between Justin and his stepmother. However, according to the St. Tammany Parish Sheriff’s Office, Justin also had an alibi. Police say Justin left the state shortly before Nanette’s killer visited her home.

The television documentary next considered Steve Krentel’s brother, Bryan Krentel. According to Nanette’s family, Bryan had a lengthy criminal record. He believed Nanette was responsible for him going to jail on a drug count in 2015.

On the television program, Steve Krentel said, “Bryan was somebody I worried about because Bryan had a strong contempt for Nanette.”

Steve Krentel described his wife as being proficient with firearms, saying she owned four or five guns and never went anywhere without one. Police found three handguns near her body and nearly three dozen other weapons in the ruins of the fire.

A relative of Nanette’s said Nan learned to shoot because she felt deathly afraid of Bryan Krentel. She told the relative he was the reason she carried a gun and had security cameras installed in the home. Nanette also said Bryan Krentel had threatened to burn the Krentel home with her inside.

However, like the other Krentels, the St. Tammany Parish Sheriff’s Office also cleared Bryan.

During the fire, the 25th Judicial District Court had Bryan Krentel under electronic monitoring. However, investigators discovered that someone accidentally deactivated the GPS signal from Bryan Krentel’s ankle bracelet sometime before Nanette’s murder.

Additionally, ironically, coincidentally, and unbelievably, Steve Krentel reported that someone deactivated the surveillance system at his residence the night before the murder.

Regardless, the television documentary suggested that the person responsible for Nanette Krentel’s death used gasoline to ensure that the fire destroyed the surveillance equipment anyway. That may indicate the murderer and arsonist did not know the cameras had been disabled.

Someone shot Nanette in the head and burned her home before her husband’s fire district could put out the blaze. And the sheriff’s office insists that all potential suspects have ironclad alibis.

That leaves two possibilities: (1) the murderer was a stranger who happened by the rural 100-acre residence and coincidentally knew a great deal about setting fast-burning fires, or (2) perhaps someone with an alibi contracted Nanette Krentel’s killing.

I’m anxious to see if “Unsolved with James Patterson” reveals more in this month’s documentary series.