Bayou Justice columnist bids farewell
As we ring the New Year in 2025, I began my tenth year writing the Bayou Justice column. Looking back at the decade of work, I have revisited over six hundred crimes, most murders hopelessly unsolved.
If you saw my national television debut as a crime reporter on A&E’s Cold Case Crimes, the episode “The Devil in Hammond,” you know I am most proud of helping put Selonia Reed’s murderer behind bars after thirty years. What you may not realize, however, is that the year the monster brutally murdered his wife, 1987, marked my tenth year as a newspaper reporter.
Since launching Bayou Justice, I’ve published four true crime books, and I have two yet to finish. If I’m to do so before I die, I must focus on that work; therefore, after four decades as a newspaperman, I’ve decided to retire this column.
This week’s entry marks my last and hopefully serves as a thank you to all who have supported me all these years, but before I go, please allow me to recap some of the cases that still haunt my dreams today.
Many of these crimes I have secretly solved but not resolved, meaning I discovered the guilty too late, and they today face a judge beyond this realm. Still, it saddens me how many covered for butchers and allowed them to escape our earthly courts.
Louisiana is a breeding ground for unusual crimes. From voodoo priests to swamp cults, spurned lovers, mobsters, and everyday folks gone wrong, we’ve got it all. As the author of the Bayou Justice column, I’ve had a front-row seat to the darkness that can lurk beneath the surface of our vibrant communities.
I want to dedicate all that I’ve done these ten years to the victims and their families, and all touched by the tragedies I’ve chronicled. I fought to shed light on these cold cases, keep the victims’ memories alive, and maybe, just maybe, help bring some closure to those left behind. I am hopeful that I was at least somewhat successful.
Over the years, Bayou Justice has covered a wide range of cases, many of them unsolved. Some of those cases include:
● The Marvin Faller Assassination (1962): Someone shot the 48-year-old Executive Secretary of the Louisiana Marketing Commission while he was driving home from Baton Rouge to Ponchatoula. Authorities determined that as Marvin Faller’s car approached another vehicle passing him, someone inside fired a shot that lodged in the frame above the driver’s door. A second shot fired from the passing vehicle shattered Faller’s driver’s side window, entered his left temple, and killed him instantly.
● The Hi-Ho Murder (1978): The body of John George Trathen, a party barge captain, was found in a briar patch. Investigators charged four suspects, then set them free, leaving the case shrouded in mystery, with likely connections to the New Orleans mob.
● Huey Pierce Courtney (1983): The Livingston Parish Sheriff’s Office responded to a 911 call and found Huey Courtney shot to death in his home, along with Larry Van Hoose of Albany. While the official ruling was a murder-suicide, neighbors reported vehicles leaving the residence after the gunshots, casting doubt on the official narrative.
● Lynn Nunez (1984): Lynn, a court reporter, was shot in the head in what appeared to be a professional hit. The case is entangled with allegations of corruption in the 22nd Judicial District, with Lynn allegedly pressured to lie to a grand jury before her murder.
● Melinda Ann Stafford Schubert (1986): Melinda disappeared, and police found her car abandoned in Hammond. Her father believed a serial killer was at work. Melinda’s case remains unsolved.
● Selonia Reed (1987): The brutal stabbing of a young bank teller remained unsolved for 32 years. Thanks in part to the attention brought to the case by this column, authorities finally indicted two men for her murder. Karma killed one, and the other will die in prison.
● Willie Jones (1987): Found murdered just a week after Selonia Reed, Willie Jones was a Hammond State School employee. His roommate confessed to the murder, but rumors of a connection to the Reed case and a possible conspiracy persist.
● Margaret Ann Coon (1988): The murder of this attorney who fought against sex trafficking remains a chilling reminder of the dangers that can lurk in seemingly safe places.
● Becky Gary (1988): Becky, a waitress, vanished from her apartment near the Louisiana State Capitol. Her belongings were untouched, and she seemingly disappeared without a trace. Adding another layer to the mystery, a man later confessed to killing Becky at the behest of former Governor Edwin Edwards.
● Donna Lynn Bahm (1988): St. Helena Parish deputies found the body of a 31-year-old attorney from Amite City under a bridge on Louisiana Highway 1045 near Hillsdale. Someone had tied her to a tire rim with a logging chain and dropped her in the Tickfaw River. An autopsy revealed that Bahm had been struck twice in the head with a tire iron, fracturing her skull, and shot twice in the chest with a .22 caliber handgun.
In 1988, Tangipahoa Parish Sheriff J. Edward Layrisson charged Alvin “Bubba” Daniels with extortion after he attempted to sell the identity of Bahm’s murderer to her father for $50,000. The five-agency task force investigating the murder disbanded after Daniels’ arrest, leaving the case unsolved.
● Charles Lee Reppond (1989): A tow truck driver was shot and burned to death in his truck in 1989. Firefighters discovered his body after putting out the fire. The state fire marshal ruled the fire an arson, and the coroner ruled his death a homicide. Charles filed a lawsuit against the city of Denham Springs and a competitor in the wrecker service business. His competitor, Charles Roman “Sonny” Dugas, was the head of the auxiliary force for the Livingston Parish Sheriff’s Office at the time of Charles Warren’s death. Dugas died of a heart attack eight days before someone killed Charles Lee Reppond, and Charles Lee Reppond’s family said Dugas’ son blamed Reppond for their father’s death.
● Jerry C. Monus (1991): Jerry was a convenience store clerk kidnapped during a robbery. Investigators found her body later in the Bogue Chitto River. The theft occurred at the Jr. Food Mart, where Jerry worked the overnight shift. The authorities suspected that Jerry was forced to open the safe and then murdered to prevent her identification of the robbers.
● David Bell (2001): David Bell, a contractor, was found shot to death in his home office on December 17, 2001. His wife, Gretchen, claimed she discovered his body after visiting her sister. David’s family suspected Gretchen’s involvement in a life insurance scam, alleging she feared losing her source of income as she was a full-time college student without a job. David’s family hired private investigators, but their findings were deemed inadmissible in court. Gretchen collected on David’s life insurance policies despite suspicions.
● The Jennings Eight (2005-2009): The deaths of eight women in Jefferson Davis Parish, their bodies dumped in bayous and canals, sparked a media frenzy and a five-part Showtime documentary. The primary suspect approached me to help him expose corrupt law enforcement officials and a notorious drug cartel before dying of “natural causes” in Livingston Parish.
● Barbara Blount (2008): Barbara Blount, a Sunday school teacher, vanished from her home on May 2, 2008. Neighbors found her car abandoned near her home with the keys on the ground. Two eyewitnesses reported seeing Barbara talking to a man in a silver Ford pickup truck near the car’s location. However, the Livingston Parish Sheriff’s Office failed to identify the suspect.
● Nanette Krentel (2017): The death of this woman in a house fire, ruled a suicide, raised numerous questions, especially concerning the rapid spread of the fire. The chief suspect today is the local fire chief and the victim’s husband.
This list of summarized cases barely touches the list of over six hundred, so forgive me if I didn’t mention a case involving your loved ones.
Unsolved crimes can cast a long shadow over a community, creating an atmosphere of fear and uncertainty. It’s a reminder that even in the most idyllic settings, darkness can lurk, and evil can strike without warning. These cases represent a fraction of the unsolved mysteries still plaguing our region. Each is a puzzle with missing pieces, a story with an unfinished ending.
The pain of losing a loved one to a violent crime is unimaginable. But that pain is compounded when the case remains unsolved, leaving families in a perpetual state of limbo, searching for answers that may never come.
When crimes go unpunished, they can erode the public’s trust in law enforcement and the justice system. It can lead to a sense of helplessness and a belief that some crimes are simply beyond the reach of the law.
As I retire from journalism, I’m filled with a sense of gratitude for the opportunity to have served my community, told the stories that mattered, and made a difference in the lives of others.
The Bayou Justice column may end, but pursuing justice never truly stops. There are countless unsolved cases in Louisiana. I hope others will continue to shed light on these cases, fight for the victims, and never let their stories be forgotten.
I hope, in some small way, Bayou Justice has served as a voice for the victims, a beacon of hope for their families, and a reminder that even in the darkest corners of the bayou, the pursuit of truth and justice must never cease.
Thank you to all those who read these stories and shared their stories with me, those who have helped me uncover the truth, and those who have read and supported Bayou Justice over the years.
It has been an honor and a privilege to serve you.
Bayou Justice was a weekly true crime column featuring notable South Louisiana crime-related stories, most still unsolved. If you have information that may help solve the case, contact Crime Stoppers or your local police agency.