The Bayou Butcher
Baton Rouge, Louisiana, lies just 120 miles upriver from New Orleans. In the early sixties, the capital city had expanded to a population of over 200,000 but still held on to its sleepy Creole roots. The banks of the mighty Mississippi River were lined with cotton and sugarcane waiting to be loaded onto barges destined for larger cities.
In those days, the tight-knit neighborhoods looked out for one another, and children played freely until dusk before being called for supper. The streetcars that once cut through the downtown still clung to their tracks as remnants of a bygone era.
In June 1962, Yvonne and Norman Gillis welcomed their son, Sean, into the world. However, before the boy’s first birthday, Norman, who struggled with alcoholism and depression, had a mental breakdown. He walked up to Yvonne and baby Sean, put the revolver to his own temple, and threatened to pull the trigger. Terrified that her husband would kill himself in front of their infant son, she tried her best to talk him out of it.
With his finger on the trigger, Norman rambled incoherently, unable to control himself. After several agonizing minutes, Yvonne calmed him down, and he realized that his current mental state posed a danger to the family. He knew that his wife and son would never be safe if he remained within the home. That same day, Norman checked himself into a mental institution. It was the last they saw of him for many years, and Sean would grow up without ever really knowing his father.
* * *
Sean Gillis and his mother moved in with his grandmother until Yvonne saved enough to buy a small ranch-style home in a quiet middle-class neighborhood in 1971. However, Sean didn’t fit in with the local kids in his new neighborhood. His social awkwardness and offbeat hobbies, like collecting action figures, set him apart from the other children. By his early teens, Sean had started acting out due to his bitter jealousy of the other kids. He often wandered the neighborhood late at night and vandalized property.
In 1979, Sean was briefly reunited with his father at his grandfather’s funeral. It was the first time he had seen his father since he was a baby, but when he discovered his father was gay and living with another man, Sean wanted nothing to do with him.
In 1980, Sean graduated high school with almost no friends and no clear direction in life. He continued living with his mother and worked part-time at the local convenience store, but he found the mundane job unfulfilling. Embracing his nocturnal nature, he continued wandering the streets late at night. This ultimately led to his arrest on trespassing charges.
In the early 1980s, Sean enrolled in the local community college and completed a certificate program in computer science. He later held brief positions as a computer programmer, but like his other jobs, they never seemed to last long.
* * *
In 1992, Yvonne was offered a job 500 miles away in Atlanta. Although she had always lived in Baton Rouge, the offer was too good to pass up. Sean, now thirty years old, was devastated. He had lived with his mother for his entire life and begged her to stay. Yvonne tried to convince him to come with her, telling him it would be a fresh start for both of them. However, Sean didn’t want a fresh start—he had no intention of going with her. Baton Rouge was the only home he had ever known.
Sean grew angry and resentful. His mother was determined to move, and he felt that she was abandoning him. As the date of her move grew closer, Sean withdrew emotionally from his mother and avoided speaking to her or spending time with her.
The night before his mother left for Atlanta, Sean pretended everything was fine. After Yvonne went to bed, however, he smashed dishes and punched holes in the walls to release his anger.
In the months after his mother left, Sean neglected his job and his hygiene. He became more erratic, often talking to himself and having angry outbursts.
* * *
In 1994, Sean Gillis was without a job when he crossed paths with Terri Lemoine. A mutual friend introduced Sean to Terri, who was employed at a nearby convenience store. Discovering shared interests, the two hit it off and began dating.
Terri helped Sean land a job shortly after they began dating. However, Sean, lacking any enthusiasm for the job, decided to quit after just a few weeks.
* * *
On March 21, 1994, eighty-one-year-old Anne Bryan unlocked her door as she waited for her visiting nurse to arrive at her home in a retirement village.
Just days earlier, Anne had smiled at the nice young man working at the convenience store across the street. On this day, however, that same man, Sean Gillis, crept toward Anne's door, his boyish, freckled face masked with dark intent. She cried out in confusion and fear as Sean grabbed her and tore at her clothes in a frenzy.
Anne struggled against the sudden attack, screaming for help. Sean clamped his hand over her mouth, but the terrified woman continued fighting back. In a panic, Sean grabbed a kitchen knife and slit Anne's throat in one swift motion, killing her instantly.
Still surging with adrenaline, Sean stabbed her forty-seven times, warm blood drenching them both. He quickly fled the scene. Police were baffled and believed the murder was likely a random attack by an unknown predator, but Sean Gillis was just getting started.
* * *
Terri Lemoine breathed a sigh of relief when she first met Sean Gillis. After years of tumultuous relationships with controlling and violent men, the awkward-but-gentle Sean seemed like a safe harbor. He was shy and diminutive, hardly posing a physical threat. His freckled face and slight stature made him appear much younger, almost childlike.
Although he was a bit peculiar, Sean doted on Terri constantly. He brought her small gifts and remembered everything she liked, from her favorite snacks to the collectible Star Trek memorabilia she adored. Within a year of their meeting, Terri and Sean had moved in together.
From that point on, Sean didn’t work, but Terri didn’t seem to mind. Instead, he wandered the streets at night while she worked the graveyard shift. Although Terri saw Sean as a caring and sweet man, she had no idea what was going on in his twisted head.
* * *
Night after night, Sean dropped Terri off at the convenience store for her overnight shift. He'd give her a quick kiss before she disappeared into the harsh fluorescent lights. Then, Sean was alone with the shadows.
He began to wander the dark, seedy parts of town, pulled in by his sinister curiosities. Sean finally found what he was looking for on a cold January night in 1999.
Twenty-nine-year-old Katherine Ann Hall shivered on the corner, looking for the next man to hire her for an hour. Ravaged by years of drugs and selling her fragile body, Katherine perked up when she saw a gray van slowing down.
Sean spotted Katherine, pulled his van up to the curb, and the two negotiated a price. Katherine nervously got in, hoping she could make some quick cash to chase away her demons for one more day.
Sean drove to a dark, secluded spot and parked. As Katherine turned toward him, Sean suddenly wrapped a zip tie around her neck, cinching it tight. Katherine screamed and fought against the attack. She managed to break free from the van and ran into the night.
Gillis, however, quickly overpowered her small, weakened frame, tackling Katherine to the cold ground. His knife plunged in again and again as she cried out.
Katherine's blood pooled around her tattered body. Sean then stripped off her clothes and sexually assaulted her lifeless body.
By sunrise, he had showered, washed his clothes, and picked Terri up from work. Several days later, Katherine’s body was found beneath a “Dead End” sign in a Baton Rouge suburb.
* * *
It was an early Sunday morning in late May when fifty-two-year-old Hardee Schmidt set out on her usual weekend jog through the manicured streets of Pollard Estates. Well-liked by neighbors, Hardee was devoted to her fitness routine and community volunteer work. Unfortunately, she had no way of knowing a twisted predator now had her in his sights.
Sean Gillis had first spotted Hardee jogging three weeks earlier, fixating on her good looks and athletic figure. He began carefully tracking her routine until he knew it by heart—the route, days, and time she followed religiously. Sean was patient, biding his time before making his move.
On the morning of May 30, 1999, Hardee stretched on her porch, laced up her shoes, and set out on her familiar path. She didn't notice the white Chevy Cavalier idling just down the block. Sean sat inside, patiently watching. As Hardee jogged by the seemingly harmless vehicle, he suddenly revved forward, striking her down.
Sean quickly stopped the car as a dazed Hardee lay injured in the roadside ditch. He raced from the driver's seat and frantically wrapped a zip tie around her neck before she could cry out. Hardee clawed desperately at the restraint, but it was impossibly tight. Unable to breathe, she soon crumpled to the ground as darkness closed in.
Gillis hastily shoved her limp body into the back of the Cavalier and sped off. He drove several miles to a secluded park and raped the defenseless, unconscious woman. Afterward, he ratcheted the zip tie snug around her neck and pulled until he was sure he had extinguished her life.
For two days, Sean drove Terri to and from work with Hardee’s nude corpse in the trunk. His girlfriend noticed the horrid stench from the car, but Sean claimed he had hit a dog while driving around at night.
By the time her body was found in a murky bayou off of Highway 61 in St. James Parish several days later, Sean Gillis was already hunting for his next victim.
* * *
In November of that year, Gillis picked up thirty-six-year-old Joyce Williams in Scotlandville as she walked the streets to make ends meet. She eagerly climbed into his car, hoping to make some quick cash, with no idea the mild-mannered man behind the wheel had no intention of letting her out of the car alive.
He drove her across the Mississippi River to a secluded area in Port Allen. Once parked and hidden from prying eyes, he attacked her, quickly wrapping a nylon zip tie around Joyce’s neck and cinching it tight to cut off her air supply. She struggled against him, but without the ability to breathe, she quickly succumbed to unconsciousness. Gillis continued pulling the zip tie tighter and tighter until her heart eventually stopped.
With Joyce’s dead body stuffed in the trunk of his Cavalier, Gillis drove back across the river to Baton Rouge. Under the cover of night, he pulled into his garage, opened the trunk, and carried her body into the kitchen. Laying her body on the kitchen floor, he methodically dismembered her, keeping pieces for himself as trophies. For the first time, Gillis ate pieces of his victim’s flesh.
Sean Gillis put the pieces of Joyce’s body into plastic bags, drove to a remote and wooded area near the Mississippi River in Iberville Parish, and threw her away like trash.
The following day was Terri’s birthday, and she was delighted to find that Sean had cleaned the kitchen. It was spotless and smelled like bleach. She had no idea what horrors had taken place the night before.
* * *
Over the next few years, Gillis murdered several other women in a similar manner. In January 2000, he picked up fifty-two-year-old Lillian Robinson. He strangled her with a zip tie, took her body to the Atchafalaya Basin, and disposed of it. On February 10, her body was found by a group of fishermen in the basin near Interstate 10.
In October of the same year, Gillis picked up Marilyn Nevils, who was selling sex on the street. Again, he drove her to a secluded area and began strangling her with a zip tie. Marilyn, however, managed to fight back, leap out of the car, and run down the street. Sadly, Gillis caught up to her and beat her to death with a metal rod. He then put her body in the trunk of his car, drove home, and showered with her corpse. Before sunrise, he had wrapped her in plastic and dumped her along a highway levee. Her nude body was found the following month, but it took police several more months to identify her.
* * *
Baton Rouge police had no doubt there was a serial killer in their midst, and in May 2003, they finally made an arrest—but it wasn’t Gillis. Derrick Todd Lee had murdered at least seven women in the Baton Rouge area since 1992, and investigators initially believed he was responsible for Gillis’ murders as well.
However, when they discovered that Lee’s victim types were different, his methods were different, and the DNA found on Katherine Hall didn’t match Lee’s, they came to the shocking realization that there were two serial killers in Baton Rouge. Right away, police set up a second Serial Killer Task Force.
* * *
Gillis continued his reign of terror in October 2003, when he murdered forty-five-year-old Johnnie Mae Williams, a friend he had hired to clean his house and had smoked marijuana with in the past. Once again, he drove her to a secluded area and beat her to death. He then stabbed her pubic area repeatedly and cut off both her hands before dumping her body in East Baton Rouge.
Four months later, he picked up forty-three-year-old Donna Bennett Johnston, a mother of five who had fallen on hard times with substance abuse.
As they drove, Donna gazed out at the nighttime streets, unaware of the dark plans formulating in Gillis' mind. In a flash, he suddenly wrapped the stiff, nylon zip tie around her neck and pulled it brutally tight. Donna flailed desperately against his grip and managed to break free from the car. She stumbled onto the road, but the cord around her neck muted her screams.
She ran for her life down the shadowy street, heart pounding, gagging for breath. However, the road led to a tall fence—nowhere left to run. Gillis caught up to her and tightened the zip tie viciously around her throat once more as she thrashed weakly beneath him. Gillis stared down at her as the last sparks of life drained from her eyes.
Gillis callously stuffed her body in the trunk of his car and drove to a secluded drainage canal, where he sadistically mutilated her by slashing her breasts, cutting off her left nipple, and gouging a distinctive tattoo from her thigh. He then hacked off her left arm just below the elbow. All the while, he photographed the horrific scene. When he was done, he threw Donna’s nude body carelessly into the drainage canal, where it was found by a couple walking their dog the next morning.
* * *
The Baton Rouge Serial Killer Task Force continued analyzing the evidence left at each of the murder scenes that they knew weren’t the work of Derrick Todd Lee.
With Lee behind bars, the Serial Killer Task Force meticulously re-examined each crime scene, searching for traces of the killer who continued to stalk the city.
Investigators knew that both Donna Johnston and Katherine Hall had fought against their attacker. Both women had dug their fingernails into the killer's flesh as he overtook them. The killer’s skin remained trapped beneath their broken nails. On one of Johnnie Mae Williams’ severed wrists, investigators found a human hair that wasn’t her own. The DNA from all three victims matched. Although the remaining five crime scenes provided no DNA evidence, investigators knew they were looking for the same man.
Another vital clue emerged at Donna Johnston’s crime scene—faint tire tracks etched in the mud near the body dump site.
Detectives carefully preserved the tread patterns and rushed them to analysts. After poring over tire databases, they pinpointed an extremely rare match—a specialty model made for only a few years. Luckily for investigators, only a few hundred of the tires were sold in the Baton Rouge area.
Detectives compiled a list of local owners, knowing the killer surely must be among them. As they set out, knocking on doors, one man gave them pause: Sean Gillis.
Detectives approached Gillis at his home in April 2004, and instead of admitting that they had been in pursuit of a serial killer, they informed him they were conducting routine inquiries in regard to some break-ins in the neighborhood. After just a few minutes of chatting with Gillis, detectives had their suspicions about him and asked him to come to the police station to answer some additional questions. He replied, “Okay, let’s get this shit over with.”
As he was escorted to the squad car, Gillis knew his fate. He turned to Terri and told her that if he wasn’t home by dark, to come to the police station and check on him.
When questioned, Gillis admitted that he had driven near the dump site where the tire tracks were found. He also told detectives that he knew Johnnie Mae Williams, she had been to his house, and she’d even ridden in his car.
Although investigators had their suspicions, there wasn’t enough evidence to arrest Gillis, and they were forced to let him leave. Before he left the station, however, they asked for a DNA sample, which he voluntarily supplied. As Gillis left the building, analysts raced to compare it with traces from Donna Johnston’s crime scene. The results came back a definitive match, sealing the fate of Baton Rouge's elusive murderer at long last.
Late that same night, a SWAT team smashed in the front door of his home, took Gillis into custody, and charged him with murder. Terri had no idea what was happening when investigators armed with a search warrant rifled through the house, gathering evidence. They took his computer, knives, hacksaw blades, and photos found throughout the house.
Inside the home, they found a belt that had belonged to Donna Johnston, while in the trunk of his Chevy Cavalier, they found an earring belonging to another victim. The trunk of the vehicle was splattered with blood evidence. Hidden in the home, investigators found body parts of his victims that he had kept as trophies. He had also collected various newspaper clippings of the killings, and his bookshelves were lined with books about serial killers. On his computer, investigators discovered graphic and violent pornography as well as digital photos Gillis had taken of victims' bodies, including pictures of Donna Johnston lying in the trunk of his car. Luminol tests revealed large bloodstains on the kitchen floor, where Gillis had dismembered Joyce Williams.
During his interrogation, Sean Gillis initially denied everything, but after almost twenty-four hours of questioning and being confronted with the massive amount of evidence against him, he confessed not only to the three murders he was accused of but also to all eight murders dating back to March 1994. He provided step-by-step details of each murder, including intimate knowledge of how each woman died and the condition of their bodies when found.
He explained how he had eaten parts of his victim’s bodies, kept some body parts as trophies, and had sex with some of his victims after death. He drew diagrams mapping the locations of where he left each body. Gillis admitted that he had stalked some of his victims for weeks before finally attacking and killing them. He seemed proud to take credit for the murders.
* * *
In July 2008, Sean Gillis went on trial for the murders of Katherine Hall, Johnnie Mae Williams, and Donna Johnston—the three victims who were directly tied to him through undisputable DNA evidence. After two weeks of testimony, prosecutors played tapes of Gillis’ chilling confession, where he recounted his atrocities. His defense attempted to discredit the DNA analysis, but they were grasping at straws. Gillis was found guilty of three counts of first-degree murder.
In the penalty phase, however, jurors were deadlocked on whether Gillis should be put to death for his crimes. Without a unanimous decision, he was automatically sentenced to three life sentences without the possibility of parole.
Although Gillis confessed to five additional killings, investigators lacked the physical evidence to devote resources toward prosecuting the weaker cases. Numerous investigators, however, believe Gillis was responsible for many more murders.
