Grand jury finds no true bill in jockey murder case
A Jefferson Parish grand jury, looking into the slaying of a young jockey in 1974, concluded their investigation in 1982 without indicting the two men police charged with the slaying of 19-year-old James Sibille. New Orleans Assistant District Attorney William Hall, who presented testimony about the case, said the grand jury hoped to continue the matter in two weeks, but no further prosecution took place, and in 2021, the case officially remains unsolved.
DA’s Cold Case Unit to revisit Sibille case, others
Last week, we recapped the unsolved 1974 murder of a 19-year-old Jefferson Downs thoroughbred jockey named James Robert Sibille. This is one of the many cold case files Bayou Justice has revisited from the New Orleans area, and this week, we share more related to Sibille’s death. However, I want to first take a moment to suggest that New Orleans District Attorney Jason Williams may have taken notice of our efforts. Wednesday, a news release from his office announced the formation of a new Cold Case Unit to “get murderers off the streets and bring healing to families.”
Jefferson Downs jockey murder still a mystery
Two nights before his death, Jimmy Sibille of Sunset, Louisiana, riding a horse called Joe Top, became the last jockey to win a night race at the Jefferson Downs track. Kleindorf found Jimmy on his back in bed, his head covered in blood with a .22-caliber revolver laying across his chest. “My God,” Kleindorf said to LeBlanc and the girls as he backed out the door, “He’s shot himself.”
Steel Magnolias murder featured in new book
Hollywood filmed the movie Steel Magnolias, in Natchitoches, Louisiana in 1989. The owner of the house confessed to raping and strangling her when she arrived at his door, selling candy for school. The police never found her body, and today, officially, 12-year-old Averie Evans remains a missing person. Although I have never reviewed the grisly crime in this newspaper column, I feature an exhaustive look at Averie’s disappearance and alleged murder prominently in my new book, More Bayou Justice: South Louisiana Cold Case Files, released to book stores this week from Bogart Books.