Morbid - Episode 539: Ronald Dominique: The Bayou Strangler (Part 3)

Episode Date: February 19, 2024

(Part 3) In the spring of 2005, law enforcement officials in southern Louisiana had a growing number of murder victims they had begun to suspect were connected to an unidentified serial killer operating in the area. The victims were all men, mostly in their twenties and thirties, many had histories of drug and alcohol abuse or were known to police as sex-workers, and all had been strangled and dumped in secondary locations.Over the course of a decade, Ronald Dominique developed into one of the worst and most prolific serial killers in American history; yet his story and those of his victims remains largely unknown and ignored by the mainstream media. Thank you to the Incredible Dave White of Bring Me the Axe & 99 Cent Renal Podcasts for research!ReferencesAlford, Jeremy. 2005. New information coming soon in local murders. August 24. Accessed March 29, 2023. https://www.houmatoday.com/story/news/2005/08/24/new-information-coming-soon-in-local-murders/27020266007/.Armstrong, Shell. 2007. Dominique pleads not guilty to 9 murders. January 17. Accessed March 29, 2023. https://www.houmatimes.com/news/dominique-pleads-not-guilty-to-9-murders/.Associated Press. 2005. "Man found in Lafource Parish was from Houma area." Abberville Meridional, May 3: 2.—. 2005. "Deaths od five south Lousiana men may be linked, police say." Shreveport Times, April 25: 12.—. 1999. "La. deaths may be work of serial killer." Shreveport Times, June 23: 5B.—. 2006. "Police look for links between serial suspect, priest's death." Shreveport Times, December 9: 22.—. 2006. "Arrest made in serial-killer investigation." Town Talk, December 2: 17.—. 2006. "Serial murder suspect was average Joe, says shelter residents." Town Talk, December 3: 8.DeSantis, John. 2006. Accused lived on the fringe of two worlds. December 4. Accessed March 26, 2023. https://web.archive.org/web/20210128012212/https://www.houmatoday.com/article/DA/20061204/News/608089983/HC.Hunter, Michelle. 2006. "Serial-killer suspect confesses; Trysts led to rapes, strangling, cops told." Times-Picatune, December 6.L'observateur. 1999. Beaten teen’s body discovered in Kenner. October 26. Accessed March 27, 2023. https://www.lobservateur.com/1998/10/26/beaten-teens-body-discovered-in-kenner/.—. 1999. Two deaths reclassified as murders in St. Charles Parish. Fdebruary 6. Accessed March 27, 2023. https://www.lobservateur.com/1999/02/06/two-deaths-reclassified-as-murders-in-st-charles-parish/.Morris, Robert. 2006. Mother protests dead son’s link to serial killer. June 19. Accessed March 26, 2023. https://web.archive.org/web/20210131004921/https://www.houmatoday.com/article/DA/20060619/News/608089995/HC.Ramage, James. 2005. "Serial killer theory floats around cases." Shreveport Times, May 15: 1.Rosen, Fred. 2017. The Bayou Strangler. New York, NY: Open Road Media.—. 2018. Uncovering the Truth Behind One of the Bayou Strangler’s Victims. April 10. Accessed March 27, 2023. https://the-line-up.com/uncovering-the-truth-behind-one-of-the-bayou-stranglers-victims.St. Charles Heral-Guide. 2006. Mother’s tears for son killed by serial madman Dominique. 12 06. Accessed March 27, 2023. https://www.heraldguide.com/tragedy/mothers-tears-for-son-killed-by-serial-madman-dominique/.The Daily Review. 2002. "Houma man's body found." Daily Review, October 17: 6.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Wondery Plus subscribers can listen to Morbid early and ad-free. Join Wondery Plus in the Wondery app or on Apple podcasts. You're listening to a Morbid Network podcast. This episode is sponsored by the Audible Original Series, Exposed, the Ashley Madison hack. In the early 2000s, millions of people joined AshleyMadison.com, a dating site for married people to have affairs. But the promise of discretion was shattered in the summer of 2015 when anonymous hackers published millions of cheating spouses' information into a searchable database. Presented by award-winning Canadian actress Sophie Nalise, this new audible original explores

the aftermath of the Ashley Madison hack. Dive into this real-world scandal to find out what happens when private affairs become public domain. As you follow along the stories of those caught up in the hack, unearth societal concerns around privacy in the digital age. Join Sophie Nelisse for Exposed, the Ashley Madison hack. Listen now on Audible. Many put their hope in Dr. Serhat. His company was worth half a billion dollars. His research promised groundbreaking treatments

for HIV and cancer, but the brilliant doctor was hiding a secret. You can listen to Dr. Death Bad Magic ad free by subscribing to Wendry Plus in the Wendry app or on Apple podcasts. Hey, weirdos, I'm Alaina. I'm Ash. And this is Morbid.

["Wendry Plus"] Woohoo! Woohoo! I don't know why I with hood just felt raw. You're in a good mood because we realize we're painting the walls in the pod lab. It's called mama. We're not just painting the walls. Yeah, we're overhauling the pod lab and we're pretty excited about it. Yeah.

The pod lab got like a little dorm room. Yeah. We just, we, we were in a state and we were like, yeah, it's fine. Now I feel like we're both, I'm like elevating my style game. And I feel like I see the same in you. Oh, thank you. Yeah, not that your, your style game needed elevating, but. But it's, it just feels, you know, it's chaotic.

It's out of control. Uh-huh. So we decided last week, we're like, fuck that. Let's make this our tranquil, beautiful. Tranqful, full of tranquil. Full of tranquil. I don't know, I'm tired. I didn't sleep all night, but tranquil, just like,

you know, like viby room that we can just face all the bullshit head on. But yeah, we're excited. So I think we're like a little like, eee, exciting. Yeah, a little punchy. I know I'm hyper fixated on this until it's done. So, but the other thing, and I know you guys have like, because we record these like, um, stupidly ahead of time. Six billion years in advance.

Um, like way ahead of time. So sometimes we can't be like us on top of things, you know, that happen in the world. As much as we wish we could. We could, but we can't. Uh, and so I posted, I don't remember even what it was within a couple of weeks ago that I did this. Yeah, I was on vacay, so it was like two weeks ago. It was like two weeks ago I posted a TikTok

where I watched Saltburn finally. I took Ash's- I'm so happy. Because I really didn't think I was gonna get a chance to do it and I was like, eh, it's not really high on the priority list. Like, I don't know if I really even want to watch it. Well, it's hard when you have kids

because your kids literally your children cannot walk into the room while you're watching that movie. We can't watch movies unless it's at night. Like when the kids are asleep, that's the only time John and I can watch a movie. And that is a long one to sign on to. And it's long. So one night, I don't know what it was.

Oh, it was John wanted to watch a certain football game. And you said, ooh, no thanks. He was like, you know what? I'm gonna go in the other room and watch this football game so that I think I was like stressed out about something. And he was like, you know what? You watch something, watch your New York housewives or watch something like a horror movie and just like zone out.

I'm gonna watch football in there and he was putting something together. So I was like, you know what? I'm gonna try salt burn. And I just like put it on. So now is the time. This is the hour. And I filmed a reaction video.

I was dying at it. I loved it. That's the thing. I loved it. I think I like it. I loved it. I still am like, like, I don't dislike it. And I think I might love it, but it's one of those movies where you're like, how did I feel about it, I don't dislike it and I think I might love it,

but it's one of those movies where you're like, how did I feel about that? I will say, so there's obviously there's the scenes that everybody knows about. The scenes, I was like, all right, like they were shocking, some of them, but like at the end of it, I was like, wow, I loved that movie.

And I did not see this coming. Like I am so glad that you brought it up to me and I'm glad that finally I decided to listen. I was like pretty positive that you were really gonna like it and like see it for what it was. It's one of those movies where I don't think I've ever seen another movie like that. No, it gave me, weirdly it's a mishmash

of so many different movies for me and I can't pinpoint them all. I saw guys like, I think of cruel intentions in there. The guy on TikTok said that. It gave me that for sure. I had that, it also gave me like a little bit of the skull's energy. I haven't seen that.

It brought back an era of movies for me that I was like, ooh, like I'm into this. I liked the whole thing. I was in beginning to end. No, I think I've decided that I really, really liked it. I felt bad for Oliver in the beginning. Oh yeah, you do. I was shocked by Oliver at one point.

Like I'm not like, I'm not one of the girlies who's like, and boys who's like, and Oliver. Thirsty over Oliver, no. I respect it, I get it. And I'll tell you, I got it in one scene, when he's in the suit, the tux, and he looks at the mom, and he's like, you look fucking beautiful. And he has a drink in his hand, I'm like, I get it girls.

That's exact, it's so funny that that's the scene for you, because that's the scene where you can see that he's a pure psychopath. Yep, that was the scene, I was like, I get it. The rest of it, I was like, I'm good. I love that, that's when you were like, yeah, I'm into it. Yeah, and then by the end, you're kind of like, wow, okay, go after what you want, I guess.

Yeah, you know, manifest. You know, manifest. I was like, shit, that's a, that's on another level. I had to update you guys, because I saw everybody being like, I just want to hear you talk about it now, and I was like, I gotta tell you, I loved it. Now I want to see like the pretty ones or something like that.

Emma Stone isn't it? I do not want to see that. No. I've heard that that is, again, you want to watch it by all means. You're like, fuck you. I don't want to like disparage people from watching movies because like it might not be for me. Like I'm not one of those people.

I don't know anything about it. I've just heard a lot of people talking about it. There's the, the idea behind that movie is a little distressing to me. Oh, is it? Yeah, it's not, it's not my cup of tea. Okay, we'll talk later. But like, I'm curious to see how everybody else

thought about it, cause maybe I'm, you know, it's the idea didn't appeal to me, but maybe somebody else will like it. A lot of people have been recommending it to me. Yeah. See, I've had people tell me not to see really cuz they said it was really like disturbing. Oh The the idea, okay, all right. I'll look it up later, and then we'll yeah, we'll discuss from there Yeah, it's strange. There's a lot of strange movies coming out right now. Yeah, but you know well, there's this apparently there

I don't know apparently apparently I don't know like a lot about it But I want to look more into it But there's energy like that just like like with the like planets and everything that we've never experienced before like in This entire Span of the earth I believe it. Yeah, I'm feeling some type away right now Yeah, I don't know if it's a good thing or a bad thing. It doesn't feel bad to me. It feels like fresh. Like it feels like I'm like, oh, clean it all out,

clean it all out and I'm, I'm let's go. I'm so happy about that for you. I have the worst end of the world anxiety that I've ever had in my entire life. No, I'm like, let's go until the asteroid hits us. Because yeah, there's been plenty of times that you, I mean, just go online and you'll be like, wow, asteroid coming at us. Well, it's just that there's plenty of times where no, I don't, there's plenty of times when John has been like, we deserve the asteroid.

Yeah, we definitely do. We deserve it. But that makes my anxiety worse if I think about that too hard. That's why you gotta just like, make it, make it, make it. Make it your coffee and sliv. Make your pod love the way you want to be. You know, all that shit. But you know, we are in part three of a case right now.

Yes, let's get to it. And we've had, we've, we've chitty chatted. When now, we have to get into. But the good news is we are in part three. And he gets apprehended. He's gonna get got. Fuck yeah. We're fine, we're gonna get to the point where he gets got.

I love it. And when we last left you, I was talking about how they needed a fucking task force for this, like, and people were screaming for it. I mean, even investigators were trying to get it done and it just wasn't getting done. Right. Finally, they got a task force. Good. So as state officials work to get it done, and it just wasn't getting done. Right. Finally, they got a task force.

Good. So as state officials worked to assemble their team, Ronald Dominique, he was back out on the streets. This guy would not stop. Even when they were breathing down his neck, he wouldn't stop. That's scary. On April 28th, 2005, less than two weeks

after the discovery of August Watkins, a farmer discovered the partially clothed, decomposing body of a 23-year-old man. My God. His name was Kurt Cunningham, and he was found in a drainage ditch about 50 yards from the side of Highway 307. Now, according to the investigators,

it seemed like his body had been lying face down in the muddy water in this ditch for about five days. Wow. And this made it very difficult to determine a cause of death. Yeah. And a time of death. It was, it really messed with stuff. And as a result of the time lapse and decomposition, the coroner could only kind of speculate about the cause of death. And they thought it was asphyxiation, which fits right into the pattern. But he couldn't be completely certain and he felt that it had likely happened within the previous couple of weeks. But otherwise, like all the other scenes, there really wasn't any other apparent trauma to the

body. Like it was very rare that there would be another trauma to the body that was obvious upon first glance. They didn't find any bullet wounds, no punctures, which again, not likely in the other ones either. So like Ronald Dominique's other victims, Kirk Cunningham kind of bounced around is how it was described. He bounced around from home to home. That's sad.

He'd been arrested a few times, you know, just for like, you know, pretty minor offenses, like nothing crazy, disturbing the peace kind of thing. You know what I mean? Like just things like whatever. And at the time of his death, he was living in Tibidot, the small town where Ronald Dominic had been born and raised actually. Okay. Now in the press, Kurt Cunningham was yet more proof that a serial killer was preying on men in the Homa area. They hadn't at this time really put together like the larger picture that there were actually

more victims than they even knew at this point. Which is wild. Cause they are all killed the same way. Yes, and there's so many. There's so many. Now in mid-May, the front page of the Shreveport Times featured mug shots of Lorette, Cunningham, Woods, Barnett, Watkins, and Jones. And they were above a headline that said, Serial Killer Theory Floats Around Case.

The article described the similarities between the cases, all noting, of course, that the victims all led what they described as high risk lifestyles and quote, hung out on the streets. And you know how we feel about that. They made sure to include quote, on average they were involved with drugs in some way and they generally were known to trade sexual favors for food, shelter, rides, alcohol or other drugs. They also all had circulatory systems and brains

and souls and people who love them. But yeah, we should- Much of all the other stuff. Let's focus on the shit that doesn't matter in this situation because they were killed. Exactly. Like that's what drives me crazy. It's like whether they were in the wrong place

at the wrong time doing whatever they were doing. Yup. Doesn't matter. They were killed. They don't deserve to be killed. And it's like- I don't care what they were doing. They're not even publicizing it in a way of like, if are involved in this kind of scene like look out like like they're not

You're doing it in a shameful way exact. It's basically to be like Like it's just like I guess that's what happens and it's like no it like you said if they had said it like here's what they had Been doing but they are people. They have people who love them. They in no way deserve this or asked for this to happen to them, but we are sharing this in case you happen to be in a similar situation. Right. Or you run with similar crowds.

Look out. Please just be more aware of who you're interacting with. Exactly. Because we care that everybody stays alive. Like that's, there's a way to do that. There is. Old school banking just is not working anymore. They ding you with ridiculous fees.

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Go to current.com slash morbid or download the app. That's current.com, C-U-R-R-E-N-T dot com slash morbid. Terms apply. Current is a financial technology company, not a bank. Banking services provided by Choice Financial Group member FDIC and Cross River Bank member FDIC and cross river bank member FDIC. For full terms and conditions visit current.com or call 888-851-1172 for more information. My weekends are my me time because the week is just like really, really busy. It's super go, go, go.

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So despite the not-so-subtle inference of victim blaming there, the article did also luckily attempt to emphasize the more human costs of what was happening here. Well, that's good. Kurt Cunningham's father Richard Cunning, shared photographs of his son with the reporter. And he acknowledged his son's mistakes, which makes me sad that he even had to. Yeah. It's not about that.

It's not. It's not about any mistakes he made in his life. What he said was, quote, Kurt was on a path and was too young to wake up, but he was a victim, not a criminal. He didn't try to put his problems off on nobody and wouldn't ask for help unless he was really bad off. And it's like, don't worry.

Like, don't worry about that. Like, you know, nobody who is a decent person should give a shit about that. And it's like, I hate that you had to say that. Like, thank you for saying that, but I hate that you had to say that. Right. It should just be like, this is the kind of person he was.

Yeah, this was my son. And this could be yours. And this the kind of person he was. Yeah, this was my son. And this could be yours. And this is what he meant to us. Yeah, but a quote from, and this one's gonna, I mean, when I tell you the rage when you hear this. Oh no. A quote from a local Homa resident easily summed up the public sentiment

around the murders at the time and their effect on feelings of safety in the area. They said, with so much audacity, this resident who is not named, quote, I don't see any panic here. Whoever it is attacking men who are involved in drugs and prostitution, it's almost like somebody's trying

to get the trash off the street. That's weird, because they didn't come and get you, so. I am, exactly. Fuck. I'm without words. Can you imagine? That's the most callous shit I have ever heard in my life. Like, you should be so fucking ashamed of yourself. That's crass, callous, cold.

Somebody's trying to take the trash out, essentially, by killing innocent people. They're giving me chills and like a, that just like chilled my blood. Like, I'm sorry, are you a fucking murderer? Like, Jesus Christ. Like it's not like there's a guy on the side of the street who's like a... so basically just just pissed me off. No I don't blame you the same. So the public sentiment around the murders of marginalized men may have been

casual and dismissive at best. Yeah. But behind the scenes at this moment, detectives on the interagency task force were really going nose to the grindstone for this case. They were behind the scenes really working on it. That's good. According to Detective Dennis Thronton, I believe it is, the idea was that every time there was a killing,

the evidence would go to the same lab, take the same path, and we do the same core investigative work. So they were really trying to make sure nothing got fucked up here. Still, they didn't have a lot to work with. There was not a lot left at these scenes. There was really nothing they could go on.

Which is really crazy. When you think about how many people he's murdered at this point, he's been able to stay. And how personal the manner is in which he kills these people. Like he's, I hate to say this, but like right up on them, like squeezing life out of them. Yeah. And he's one of the most personal things you can do. Yeah.

Where you can do it. Fingerprint. Like a... It's not like this is like the 1800s. Yeah. We're not up at like, we're in the early 2000s right now. Yeah, at this point we've got the DNA. I mean, it's still in its infancy, infancy really.

But still. You would think there's something. But I'll wait. Yeah, I'll wait, don't worry. Unfortunately, that didn't change much when the next victim was discovered less than two months later. No. On July 2nd, 2005, the fully clothed body of 28-year-old Alonzo Hogan was discovered

in a cane field off Highway 306 in St. Charles Parish. According to the coroner, he had been raped and strangled, but there was no additional evidence on the body or at the scene to conclusively link Hogan to any of the other bodies either. That was one of the other issues they were working with. Not only was there nothing to connect these bodies to a killer, there wasn't anything to connect these bodies to each other. Interesting.

To say that like these were killed by this, these people were killed by the same person. Other than the strangulation. Other than that strangulation, there was no physical evidence to say this was the same person or this was, you know, and they were in so many different places that it was hard to connect them. Because they were probably sitting there like, how can this guy be everywhere? Exactly.

So this was putting detectives absolutely no closer to catching this killer. And in the absence of evidence leading to the killer's identity, detectives continued working to connect those victims. They were like, if we can't find him right now, we gotta connect them and maybe it'll lead to him because there's got to be something here. But that work was interrupted by yet another murder. He's just two months after the discovery of Alonzo Hogan's body,

this time in Terrebonne, Paris. I hope I said that right. I looked up the pronunciation, but hopefully I said it right. You did. It's like, Terrebonne. Terrebonne. Oh, I know exactly where you learned the pronunciation. Of bet you did. But hopefully I said it right. It's like Terry Bone. Terry Bone. Oh, you, I know exactly where you learned the pronunciation. Of course you do. Of course you do. My guy. Yep. I get to know. No, I love that guy.

So on August 16th, the body, and this one is so young, the body of 17-year-old. Oh, no. Jesus. Wayne Smith was discovered in a drainage ditch off Bayou Grand Cayou. Like Kurt Cunningham, Wayne Smith had been in the water for several days. Oh, no. This made his identity and the cause of death a big challenge for investigators

and technicians with the coroner's office. It kind of seems like this was on purpose, and Dominique was trying to fuck with the investigators in the corner. It seems like this wasn't an accident that he was doing this. Right. He was doing it intentionally. That makes sense. Eventually, detectives were able to luckily with the investigators in the corner. Like it seems like this wasn't an accident that he was doing this, he was doing it intentionally.

That makes sense. Eventually detectives were able to luckily use dental records and an image of Wayne Smith's tattoo to confirm his identity. But the cause of death, which they did believe was strangulation was officially listed as undetermined because they just couldn't confirm it. Detectives interviewed friends and neighbors,

all of whom were absolutely baffled that this happened to Wayne. 17, you're your whole life ahead of you. And they were baffled as to what could have possibly led Wayne to maybe join the company of what would end up being his killer. And none had seen or heard anything that would lead to an answer.

They're like, this doesn't make sense that he would just go with someone like this. Right. Now, at the time of his death, Wayne Smith was a senior at Elendor Memorial High School. And despite having a little bit of a history of behavioral issues at one point, he had begun taking his future much more seriously as of late. So again, everybody makes mistakes. Yeah.

He had made his little mistakes. He's in high school. And he had done it when he was young. And he was already in a senior year already taking steps on the right path. Really? That's a pretty big thing. Smith's mother told reporters, quote, he was taking welding and had totally changed his life over. I didn't even get to see the body before Wayne's burial because of what that man did to his body. And then she said, I buried a box. Oh my God.

That's unthinkably horrific. That cuts so deep. I feel so horrible. You're 17 year old child. And whoever wakes up one day and thinks that that's gonna happen to him, like that's gonna be your news at the end of the day. You couldn't fathom that.

And just the fact that like she didn't get to say goodbye. Yeah. And then buried a box. Oh my God. Like that makes me wanna cry. Now, despite the lack of physical evidence, detectives working on the task force had started finally making connections

between some of the victims. And this was starting to finally create a larger picture about how this serial killer was operating. Several of the victims were picked up what they found, they ended up finding out that several of them were picked up at the Sugar Bowl Motel, which is a place known to police for several reasons. Okay.

And this slide, we all know like places like that. Yeah, of course. And this led to investigators to theorize that their killer was likely offering something to lure their victims into the vehicle. They were thinking either drugs or money or something else. Right. That's what the investigators were thinking. They started making what felt like real progress at this point in the summer of 2005. But then remember, this timeline is the summer of 2005. So everything got sidelined very unexpectedly by Hurricane Katrina on August 29th.

One of the worst natural disasters to ever hit the Gulf Coast. So remember, this was still happening and Ronald Dominique was still terrorizing Louisiana while residents were dealing with the trauma and devastation of Katrina. It's like, how did he even manage to get around? Like he's, his entire community is dealing with one of the worst things you could ever deal with, just devastation. Yeah.

And he is traumatizing them even further. Like it's just, wow. It's beyond. It's beyond. Unbelievable. So as law enforcement and other state and federal organizations across Louisiana worked to clean up the physical, social,

and psychological damage of Katrina, Ronald Dominique used the chaos to his advantage. He quickly ended up picking up another victim. He killed 40-year-old homa resident, Christaville. To investigators, Christaville was just one more name on a seemingly endless list of missing people in the wake of Katrina, because that's the other thing. A lot of people were missing.

So many people ended up going missing, and he used this because you don't know where they went. Right. You're blaming it on Hurricane Katrina when it's actually this guy. Ronald Dominique. But that's not the only reason that he wasn't, Christaville wasn't immediately recognized

as one of Dominique's victims. He also didn't really fit the pattern as much as the other people did. He didn't have any criminal history to speak of. He had stable employment. He had very close and maintained very close relationships with all his family and friends, which a lot of the other victims had close relationships with friends and family.

But some of them, there was like a little bit of a pattern where it was like an in and out kind of thing. You know, like all the pickups and whatnot. This one just seemed a little more stable and that's in that part of his life. Yeah, he's also a little bit older than... He was a little older too. Yeah, he's also a little bit older than he was a little older. But still, Christaville was one of Dominique's victims. His storm-ravaged remains were found in

mid-October when a farmer in Napoleonville spotted his skull in a field off Highway 1. The rest of his body was discovered a short time later in a drainage ditch because he had been through the storm. Like he had killed him and left his body to be ravaged by hurricanes. It's incredible that he was ever even found. Yeah, it really is. Like, wow. Now, like the more recent victims,

the state of the remains made it impossible for investigators to determine the cause of Christaville's death. But the best the coroner could say was that he died sometime in September. Now, according to family members, Deville was last seen at his mother's house in early September when he'd stopped by to help clean out her refrigerator after Katrina.

But he hadn't been seen since he left her house that afternoon. Oh my God. Now, as the body count continued to rise at this point, investigators on the task force were reaching a point of frustrated exhaustion, because every time they take a step forward, it's like 15 steps back.

Right. And every time they take a step forward, he kills someone else. And it just adds another layer to it. And it was made worse by those higher up on the command chain demanding closure of this case. So they're feeling pressure now. Yeah, sometimes that's not gonna help.

No, and they were fairly certain they knew how the killer was getting his victims to go with them for the most part. And so many of them showed signs of having been bound, but there was no other evidence of a struggle, which is what was a little confusing to them at first. Because they're not struggling. Seems like they're going willingly.

Why they bound? Yeah. Like what's going on? Like where does that come into play? Like if there's, and so they started begging the question, like if there was a possibility that they were being willingly tied up, why were so many people willingly agreeing to be tied up by this person? Like what was he doing to get them in that position?

Yeah. It just seems a little out of the ordinary. No, it does. willingly agreeing to be tied up by this person. Like what was he doing to get them in that position? It just seems a little out of the ordinary. No, it does. So as detectives pondered how the killer seemed to subdue his victims with such ease. Is it just because he's like a really big guy? No, he has a way of doing it. Okay.

As this was happening, recent parolee, John Banning, was relaying an incredibly strange story to his parole officer. His parole officer was John Banning, was relaying an incredibly strange story to his parole officer. His parole officer was Tom Lambert, who also happened to be part of the serial killer task force. Oh wow. Now, according to Banning, he had been walking down the highway when he said a white guy

in a pickup truck pulled to the side of the road and waved him over the driver's side window. Creepy. The guy offered to give Banning a ride and even offered a beer. But the weirdest part was when he pulled out a picture of a partially nude woman and asked, how'd you like to fuck this attractive white girl? What the fuck? Banting said, and this is all according to Banting, by the way.

Yeah. Banting said, sure, but as soon as they got back to the guy's trailer, he said, everything felt wrong. And I believe this, like I believe Banting's story. Yeah. He said, everything felt wrong. And I believe this, like I believe banning story. Yeah. Um, he said everything felt wrong immediately. Okay. And he said there were old clothes and Christmas decorations everywhere, even though Christmas was several months away. What the fuck? And when the guy said he was going to need to tie banning up before the woman arrived, he was like, um, I don't know about this. And he was like, nah, I'm out. And he ran out of the trailer cause he was like, I don't know,

like not happening with me. So he said he ran towards the highway where he hitched a ride back home completely unaware. He had just escaped one of the worst serial killers in American history. Holy shit. So what Ronald Dominique seems to be doing according to Bannering, and it does fit.

Why some of these men, that's the other thing. Not all. Because there are some of these men who have family members, mothers, other family members who have come out and said, and I want to respect that, that they've said there's no way, like they either had a significant other or there was no way they would have agreed to this proposition. So I want to be clear about that, that this seems like it could have been a way that some of these happened. But not all.

But this is not a blanket over everybody. Like I'm sure he had different ways of doing this with each victim to make it work for him. But this seems like it could have been true for banning. I think that is, he had no reason to lie about this. He was just like, this happened to me. Like you just said, it does account for some of the cases. And again, he has no reason to lie about it.

Right. Like why would he make this up? And why would it fit so well? And not every victim was bound. Not every victim was bound, but most of them were bound. A law, okay. Now after Banning relayed the story to his parole officer, he offered to show Lambert where the man lived in Bayou Blue.

Okay. And that's the other thing. He doesn't just say this story, he brings the receipts. So, and eventually what we find out is, yes, Ronald Dominique did use this technique sometimes. Really? Not always, once again, but sometimes he did. Now, a few weeks later,

Lambert called Dennis Thornton and told him the story about the man in the trailer, which prompted Detective Thornton and Don Bergeron to take a trip out to the property. When they'd arrived, Bergeron popped open the mailbox and flipped through the mail. The letters all seemed to be addressed to a woman, but then she reached an envelope

addressed to Ronald J. Dominique. Now, a few days later, detectives brought Ronald Dominique in for questioning. We're getting up. This is the closest we've gotten here. Yeah. They'd explained they received a complaint from Banning, but Dominique brushed it off, telling Bergeron and Thornton, quote, I'm gay. Tying up John was just part of a sex game, nothing more than that. Okay. To further demonstrate his innocence, Ronald willingly agreed to allow technicians to take us cheek swab for DNA.

Oh. Once they'd finished questioning Dominique, the detectives gave him a ride home and thanked him for his cooperation. Later that afternoon, it occurred to Dennis Thornton that while they had checked and rechecked the sex offender registry several times at this point, they'd only checked for individuals who'd been convicted of sex crimes. And Thornton checked it again. I know where we're going. And if you remember way back, I think it was part one, this time he looked at arrests for which there were no conviction. Mm-hmm. And he found exactly what he was looking for. Ronald Dominique's arrest for sexual assault in the 90s.

He had several. If you're listening to this podcast, then chances are good, you are a fan of the strange dark and mysterious. And if that's true, then you're listening to this podcast, then chances are good, you are a fan of the Strange Dark and Mysterious. And if that's true, then you're in luck. Because once again, Mr. Ball and Podcast, Strange Dark and Mysterious Stories, is available everywhere you get your podcasts. Each week on the Mr. Ball and Podcast, you'll hear new stories about inexplicable encounters, shocking disappearances, true crime cases, and everything in between.

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Follow Academy on the Wondery app or wherever you get your podcasts. You can binge all episodes of Academy early and ad-free right now by joining Wondery Plus. Now, investigators on the task force were fairly certain this was their guy. They were like, this is it. They just felt it. But if they were gonna get a conviction, they needed more than a few suspicious coincidences and a complaint of a near miss sexual assault

from a man on parole at this point, to be honest. Unfortunately, that's just the way it is. It just wasn't gonna hold up in court, to be quite honest. And they set about digging into his background and trying to build a bigger case. But although they were working on behalf of an interagency task force, they were still working across the lines of several different jurisdictions, which made it way slower and more daunting than it probably should have been. That's so complicated.

Now while Thornton and Bergeron tried to find connections between Dominique and the victims, Ronald Dominique was back out on the streets. So he knows that there- This man got brought in for questioning and did a cheek swab. He knows they're onto him. Wild. And he still went back out. He was confident that he was many steps ahead of the investigators and there wasn't any danger. And just like, he's like an animal.

He's so fucking bold that way. Like he is an animal, you're right. He's like uncontrollable. Yeah, he's unhinged. That's really scary. On November 5th, 2005, Ronald was out reading meters around, because remember he still has a job.

Of course. He's a meter reader. He was reading meters. So he was out reading meters around LeForge Parish when he ran into 21 year old Nick Peligren. That afternoon Peligren was in need of money and had signed up for some day labor, which is what had brought him to this house

that Ronald Dominique was reading a meter for in the first place. Confident in his approach, Dominique offered money in exchange for sex to which, according to him, Pelligran agreed. But first, he said he needed to finish up his day of work. The two men made arrangements for Dominique to return later that afternoon, and he did and returned several hours later, and he drove Nick Pelligran back to the trailer on Dominique's

sister's property that he was staying on. The fact that he's also staying on his sister's property. And doing these things on his property. Like what? Four days later, a truck driver discovered Nick Peligrin's fully closed body in a remote wooded area in La Forge Parish just south of Tibidot. Like all the others before him,

Peligrin had been raped and strangled and there was no additional evidence left at the scene. Wow. The discovery was a serious blow to Thornton and Bergeron because they had hoped their careful strategic interview of Dominique would be enough to at least put something in his head to make him stop looking for his next victim. Right.

They were hoping they had planted in his head, like, we're onto you, buddy. Like, don't make any stupid moves. So they felt a little like, they felt like guilt. They were like, we're onto you, buddy. Like don't make any stupid moves. So they felt a little like, they felt like guilt. They were like, we wanted to stop him before he could do this. Which of course it's not their fault. Like they can only do so much.

They need a strong case. Now Thornton called the lab to find out at this point, cause he's so mad and he's like, fuck, like somebody else just lost their life. Like what the fuck? So Detective Thornton called the lab and was like, where are you in the process of analyzing that DNA that was taken from Dominique? Because even though he gave it willingly, people are hubris as a thing. And maybe he did it thinking he's indestructible.

Yeah. So after demanding a rush on the analysis, the DNA sample came back as a match to the hairs found on Oliver LeBanks' body. Okay. Seven years earlier. I knew there had to be a hair. I knew it. But. But. It was a mitochondrial match.

Okay. Meaning it could easily have been explained away as being from a relative of Dominique's. Mitochondrial DNA, we've talked about this before, but I think it's been a long time since we talked about it. Yeah, it's ringing a bell, but... Midecondrial DNA is inherited from your maternal side, so any person whose direct maternal

line intersects with your own could be a match to Midecondrial DNA. Okay, okay. So it involves a lot of people. Yeah. Thornton and Bergeron knew this wouldn't be enough for conviction. They knew in their heart, this is the guy. Of course. And this is proving it.

But they need even more. But legally, this isn't gonna hold up. But it was enough to convince the higher ups to commit more resources to the investigation. Okay. Because they were getting more leads. They're getting hotter on the trail. Now soon after, Ronald Dominique was being monitored 24 seven.

Nice. And investigators were determined to catch him before he could kill again. The press immediately latched onto the murder of Nick Pellegrine, correctly assuming him to be yet another victim of the serial killer that was stalking the bayou. Pellegrine's mother, on the other hand, was steadfast in her belief that her son had not been killed by the serial killer, but had in fact been murdered by some of his friends, quote-unquote, to whom he owed money for drugs.

Oh, no. His mother Veronica said, quote, they were all on drugs. They all did drugs together. They did everything in the book together. Oh. She was very angry with investigators for not believing her when she said it was these friends who did it. And if she really believed that,

then I get why she was frustrated. She was like, you're going the wrong way. Again, there was also a lot in this investigation being held close to the chest. So she also didn't have all the information to work with on her side that we have right now with the benefit of hindsight. So just like remember that.

And she had obvious reason to believe otherwise. She knew more about Nick Pellegrine than we did. Yeah. She knew more about her son and less about the investigation than we know. Right. So it's like, you know, you can see why she got frustrated. Absolutely. Now, it's unclear how aware Ronald Dominique was of the police,

like intense police surveillance and scrutiny that he was under at this moment. But it's very likely he had some idea because he suddenly stopped all illegal activities for almost a year. Wow, a whole fucking year. A whole year. Detectives on the task force used this time to increase the speed with which the evidence was being processed and analyzed.

Thank goodness. Because they were like, finally we get a minute to actually focus on the evidence and like get it going. Right. And they were running because they were like, finally we get a minute to actually focus on the evidence and like get it going. Right. And they were running because they were like, we don't know when he's going to suddenly crack and do it again.

So we got to get the shit in. Yeah. In that time, another mitochondrial DNA match was made this time to the semen collected from Angel Mejia's body in 1999. Okay. Boom. That's something right there.

Now that we have two mitochondrial DNA matches, it's like that's at least something. Mm-hmm. So Dominique's resistance to the urges driving him to kill finally did fail him. On October 15th, 2006, he picked up 27-year-old Christopher Sutterfield on the side of the road in Houma. And where are the police?

Not sure how this happened. Not sure. Everything was the same. Sutterfield had been discovered fully closed. He had ligature marks on his wrists and neck, and he'd been raped and strangled before being dumped in a drainage ditch up Highway 69 in southern Iberville Parish. I don't know if they had eased up on the surveillance because they were trying to like focus on the evidence

and he had gone a year without doing anything. So maybe they were easing back thinking he knows we're on to him. So like, I don't know. I can't for sure say how this occurred. But it's awful. That it occurred. That was the only difference was that obviously

Dominique was becoming more conscious of the risks because he had driven in this case more than two hours northwest to Iberville parish in order to dump Christopher's body. What the fuck? So he was obviously, he knew what was going on. Otherwise, despite the considerable distance, investigators immediately handed the case

over to the task force. That's good. Who made the difficult decision that they were going to arrest Dominique rather than wait for a nuclear DNA match that might never turn up. Yeah, and then how many more people have to die before you get that?

That's the thing. And they were like, we can either wait for that nuclear DNA to like really nail them or we can arrest them now and like hope for the best and hope that we'll get a confession out of them. And it's like, we gotta stop them. You gotta weigh your options. Luckily they went with arrest

because they were like, we can't let them keep killing people. Like this is, it's getting out of hand. So many people were up to like over 20. God, it's unbelievable. Now while Thornton and Bergeron worked to get an arrest warrant for Ronald Dominique, he was actually having a falling out with his sister, who'd grown tired of the police surveillance and asked him to leave her property.

Without anywhere else to park his trailers and nowhere else to stay, Ronald found a room in a single room occupancy in Homa. This place was somewhere typically relied on by oil rig workers and other short-term renters. It was just somewhere you need to stay on the way somewhere else. It was Ronald's sister who actually directed Detective Thornton and Bergeron to her brother's new address

when they knocked on her door to serve the warrant. And she was like, no, you can go find him here. Yeah, and having to deal with that, like, and obviously not knowing exactly what was going on. Now further complicating matters, someone had leaked the information about the arrest to the press

who were already at Ronald's sister's house when the detectives arrived and followed them to the place where he was actually staying. Now fortunately, Ronald went willingly and quietly with Detective Thornton and Bergeron, who marched him out of the building in front of a horde of reporters, all shouting questions and snapping photos as they put him in the back of a car. Now, in the interview room, Dominique appeared calm and confident at first as Thornton and Bergeron began the interrogation process. he thinks he's a hundred steps ahead. Oh yeah, just the fact that he gave that cheek swab, the woman tells you that.

They had arrested him on warrants for the murders of Oliver LeBanks and Manuel Reed. So Thornton's plan was to keep the conversation to those murders only, and hope that in discussing those that Dominique would reveal other information about other victims like accidentally. Mm-hmm. So, Ronald told detectives that he'd met Oliver LeBanks at a French Quarter gay bar and said LeBanks had, quote, wanted to fool around. Now, remember, this is coming from Ronald Dominique. Yeah.

So we doubt it. He was a first-class monster. And probably a liar. Of the highest order in a piece of shit. Yep. So whatever comes out of his mouth, take it with a big old grain of salt. The largest grain you could possibly find. Now, so Dominique is claiming that Oliver LeBanks

approached him. I doubt that. I know. No, no, no, no. For almost a fact. It didn't happen. Dominique claimed it was entirely common for this to happen in the quarter.

You know, offers of sex happened often. There's these like everyone like, don't worry about it. Like he's acting like, I don't know why you're, don't be scandalized. And wanting to keep him talking, neither detective was gonna challenge that. So they were just like, yes, absolutely. Cool, keep going.

So Ronald's claimed after the two had finished, you know, fooling around in the back seat of his car, LeBanks, he claimed, had pulled a knife on him, indicating that he was planning to rape Ronald if he didn't hand over all his money. Supposedly, acting in self-defense, Ronald claimed he grabbed the tire iron from the floor and swung it at LeBanks' head. According to Dominique, things escalated and he wrapped the seatbelts around LeBanx's neck and began choking him. When he realized he'd killed Oliver LeBanx, Ronald told detectives he drove around for hours until he found the dark overpass where he dumped LeBanx's body

then returned home. I just want to be clear, he's a lying sack of shit. 100%. And that's not how that happened. No, of course it's not. I'm sure some of those injuries are how Oliver LeBanks was injured. Right. But no, I don't believe it. Well, look at Oliver's build and look at-

Ronald Dominique's build. I don't think he was that threatened by, in my opinion. And I just don't. I don't believe any of it. I don't believe it. No. And neither should you. No. So Thor believe it. No, but I don't believe it. No. And neither should you. No.

So Thornton and Bergeron could see that Dominique was definitely like, they were like, okay, so we can see exactly what he's going to do from here on out. He's going to do the self-defense angle. Right. He's going to claim that all of these men just attacked him. That's crazy. They, people just attack and you left and right. So they were careful about how they asked their questions because they were like, we, I will give it to them.

They were like, we have him, we cannot lose him. We gotta be really strategic about this. We can't fuck this up. Now, moving on to manual read, Dominique claimed he'd also met Reed in a bar and manual read had approached him with an offer. Same thing. I want you guys to look up Ronald Dominic

and tell me that these men are approaching him. The answer is a big old no. I don't know about that. Maybe in his own mind, that's what was happening, but it wasn't. And again, manual Reed walked up to him and asked if he would like to fool around. So the exact same story as Oliver, well, Banks,

isn't that wild? That was crazy. Isn't that such a weird coincidence? It's worth noting Ronald demonstrated a certain degree of discomfort when discussing sex with the detectives. He would bounce back and forth between like childish euphemisms almost, like very juvenile euphemisms. And then oddly clinical language. Like really? Like there was no in between, it was very strange, they said.

It was like uncomfortable, they said. It was like uncomfortable how he was because he seemed uncomfortable at times and then he would seem very like clinical about it. And then like too comfortable? Yeah, they just couldn't get comfortable with how he was talking about it. Weird. It's clear that he's obviously paying men, like some of these men for sex, where he claims that they solicited him every single time. That is just out to you. Which he repeatedly refers to as fooling around. Like he uses the term fooling around all the time. Again, just showing how uncomfortable he is

even in this space. Now Dominique's description of the murder of manual Reed is very similar to that of Oliver LeBanks. He claims they went back to the car and began having sex. This is according to Ronald Dominique, but Reed began quote unquote, sexually assaulting him at a certain point. No.

That doesn't even make sense. So he said he grabbed the tire around from the floor and hit the man in the head. Once he'd incapacitated manual Reed, Dominique claims he tried to tie the man's hands, so quote, he wouldn't hurt me no more. I'm sorry. What?

Like, come on. According to Dominique, Reed came to a few minutes later and managed to get his hands free of the ropes, which is when Ronald Dominique wrapped the rope around his neck and began choking him. Thornton made note of these details as particularly significant, because I don't know if anybody else has picked up on this big gaping hole in all of his stories. Regardless of the self-defense framing

that he thinks is like airtight here, if he brought the rope and tire iron knowing he could use them, that says premeditation. Why do you bring rope? Exactly. Why you got a tire iron just lying on your floor at all times, but why is the rope there? Is it real?

And why can you just grab it? Why is it so close to you that you know where it is? And the tire iron, it's like you would think that if, which obviously it's not the case, but if you had gone through that traumatic experience with Oliver and you killed him with that tire iron, you still have that? That's the thing.

Like you still have the tire iron. You wouldn't get rid of that? And again, it's like you went through that traumatic situation and you're just like right back out doing the same thing. Yeah, I don't think so. Not worried about it at all. Also, if you're in a car, you don't need to tie anybody's hands up

or do anything like that or choke them with seat belts. You kick them out of your car and you drive the fuck out of there. And none of this happened. The fact that he brought rope and a tire, and with him tells you everything you need to know that he was planning to bind someone. Of course. You don't just have rope hanging around.

It's willy-nilly. Now, with manual read dead, Ronald again drove around for a while until he found a dumpster where he left manual reads body. Awful. And then he just returned home. So it's like, you're already fucked up. Like no one believes you. And you already fucked up when you said

these men approached you, no one believed you there. And then second, to say it's self-defense when you brought weapons with you. Sorry, I don't believe it. Now, Ronald Dominique had essentially admitted to killing two men at this point. Like he had admitted to it in self-defense was the caveat. But Thornton felt that he'd built a pretty good rapport with him at this point.

And he was like, you know what, I'm being the good cop. I feel like he's buying it. So he's like, I think I could get him to confess to more here. Like he's pretty easily giving us these two. He's lying, but he's about why, but like he admitted. Eventually we'll get to the truth. So he returned back to the interrogation room, and the two detectives sat down with Dominique again and decided to take a chance that he might be willing to keep going. So Detective Thornton said, quote, I know you're suffering, but I think you'll agree there are others.

Am I right in saying that? And Ronald paused for a minute, what seemed to the detectives to be an attempt to stall, they said, before replying, most probably. I just don't remember. Most probably. So they were like, hmm. And so they proceeded gently here. And Detective Thornton and Bergeron tried to get Dominique to confess, but after having alluded to his guilt, he seemed preoccupied suddenly with what his sister would think of him. All of a sudden, he was like, I mean, he started begging the detectives to apologize to her on his behalf. Wow.

So he suddenly just switched gears and wouldn't focus on what they were trying to do anymore. Right. So they were like, okay, we're not going to push. Now, while this is happening, while Thornton and Bergeron are interviewing Dominique, they're letting him have his moment of like worrying about his sister because they don't want to push him out of this mindset. A team of crime scene technicians were conducting a thorough search of the two trailers on his sister's property in Houma.

Oh, his poor fucking sister, dude. To have to have your, like, to be watching this on your property. They knew it was common for serial killers to keep quote unquote trophies. But the technicians were unable to find anything belonging to Dominique's victims. Interesting. So Thornton asked Ronald Dominique about this because they were connected with him.

And he said, just maybe, so like the way he asked this was, he said to him, just maybe they left any articles of clothing or jewelry around. Like, you know, like you've admitted that you knew these people. Like, did they leave anything around? Like, just not making it a big deal. Like, we're not trying to look for evidence. We just want to know.

Want to know. Did they leave shit at your place? Like, is that something? And the detectives were hoping they could find more physical evidence than what they, that could use, that they could use, excuse me, to connect him to these victims outside of his words. Right. Right.

But Dominique was adamant that he'd always thrown everything away. Then Detective Thornton tried another direct approach. And this was, I really think this was a good idea because remember there were a couple of men, at least one or two, who were on a bicycle. Yes. Yeah. And so he just said, what about a bicycle? You ever throw a bicycle away? Like just pulled that one right out because he was like, I know there's a bicycle. Yes. Yeah. And so he just said, what about a bicycle?

You ever throw a bicycle away? Like just pulled that one right out because he was like, I know there's a bicycle. Yeah. And Ronald thought for a minute and then said, maybe once or twice. So fuck dude, this, can you imagine sitting across the table from him?

And he's just like, I don't know, I don't remember. But the thing was Detective Thornton, it was working. Yeah. How he was talking, it was working. Yeah. How he was talking to him was working. Like casual. It seemed to be working because suddenly Ronald Dominique seemed almost eager to tell him more. Really?

He continued to avoid outright confessions of murder, but his responses to the detective's questions unquestionably implicated him in more deaths. Okay. He was not gonna confess right away, but he was implicated himself. Maybe I threw a bicycle away once or twice and neither two victim that we just talked about

had one threw everything away. There were references at one point to the storage shed in which he'd left Michael Barnett's body. Oh my God. The bike he dumped alongside Detrell Woods's body. Yup. And the unique and other unique aspects of all the other murders he was able to pull out of his ass.

Now, knowing they'd finally gotten him to somewhat crack, Detective Thornton and Bergeron pulled out the file of photographs and went through all 23 victims with Ronald Dominique. And they were like, you tell me who this person is and you tell me where they, where you put them, you tell me everything.

Over the course of their six hour conversation, the detectives went through the photos one by one with Dominique providing details of each murder, including the vehicle he was driving at the time, where he was living, what he'd done to each victim. In some cases, he'd recognize them as sex workers or referred to them as addicts in need of money. Instead, he'd lure them into the vehicle with a promise of money, or money in exchange for sex. In other cases, like if the victim was not a sex worker and presumed to be what he said presumed to be straight, Ronald would show them a picture of a nude or mostly nude

woman and ask if they would be interested in having sex with her. But once the victims were in the car, it always unfolded the same way. Ronald would tie them up, rape them, strangle them, and then leave their body in a convenient location nearby. Jesus. And he just cracked. strangle them and then leave their body in a convenient location nearby. Jesus. And he just cracked. How scary is it that like a couple hours before he's like, I don't remember. No, I don't remember anything.

And then he remembers everything down to the vehicle he was driving at the time. Every detail where he was working, what he was doing. So scary. And he just cracked. Like that shows you how persistent those detectives were. Oh, yeah, absolutely. They sat and drew this out of him. Six hours. Slowly.

Wow. Yeah. The following day, December 2nd, news of the arrest hit the Louisiana Papers. And although law enforcement was very careful not to reveal that Dominique was a serial killer, the press had no reservations about comparing him to other recently captured serial killers like Derek Todd Lee and Sean Vincent Gillis.

The usual shock followed a few days later with everyone remarking that Ronald Dominique didn't seem like the kind of guy who would do something like this. Shelter manager Raymond Borg told reporters, quote, "'You wouldn't suppose this dude could do what they say. He looks like somebody from a church." And I was like, I don't know,

people who go to church can be dickheads too. Yeah, I get it though. Dickheads everywhere. I get that you're like, he looks like he's just like someone you don't got. Some regular dude, yeah. Other residents at the shelter where Dominique was staying were as surprised. One resident said, he didn't look scary. If they hadn't arrested him, he could have stayed here 20 years and nobody would have thought anything about him. That's crazy. Which is horrifying. Now, within a few days of his arrest, Terry Bone, Parrish, direct district attorney Joseph Waits had announced that he intended to seek the death penalty for the murders committed

in at least his district. And it was likely that the other district attorneys would do the same. They would all follow. I would think. That fact gave law enforcement leverage in the form of a plea deal. Okay. If Dominique would take them to all 23 dump sites and confess to at least eight murders, eight of the ones that they felt like they had the most for, then the DA would take the death penalty off the table.

Okay. Now, Ronald jumped at the opportunity and on the morning of December 2nd, 2006, a caravan of like half dozen police cars drove from one end of the state to the other. As Ronald Dominique showed them precisely where he'd left each of the bodies. Now, everyone on the task force and in the state attorney's office knew they were never gonna be able to convict Dominique

on all 23 counts. It's just, it's on the record. That's a lot. Faced with a very difficult decision to risk going to court or forfeiting some of the charges, States Attorney Mark Rhodes made the decision to charge Dominique with the eight strongest cases that just in order to get a serial killer off the streets.

Yeah. And the plan had the added benefit of sparing a lot of family members, the pain of a long drawn-out trial, appeals, all this shit. That's a lot. But first they did get the approval from the families of each victim, which they all gave without hesitation. That's awesome that they actually did that, like went to each family. I love that that was part of it. And like kudos to those family members that were like Nail them on these eight. Yeah, we know I know he did it like I can you know

I mean like kudos to them for being able to like think that way yeah this Because it would be hard absolutely one of the cases that is not one of the eight you want justice You're gonna feel like you didn't get the full you know you or you could feel that way and it's right It's it's nice that they were, they were seeing the forest through the trees here. It takes a big person to- By the way, if you're hearing little like bonks every now and then sorry, John's throwing a tennis ball at the wall

outside with the dogs. And I think he forgets that the wall is right here. Love you so much. Love you all. But I just think that like good for them, like these family members have been through the fucking mill. Yeah. And they're badass.

They really are. As the task force worked to confirm the details provided by Ronald Dominique, district attorneys in the various parishes raced to get their cases together to prosecute the killer. Terriban DA Joe Waits said, we'll have to get together to see who can do it the fastest. As tends to happen in serial killer cases,

police and sheriff's departments also looked at other unsolved cases they thought could maybe be connected to Ronald Dominique. Police in Tibido, for example, thought Ronald might have been responsible for the 1992 murder of Hunter Horgan, a 47-year-old Episcopalian priest whose body was discovered a few yards from the flower shop

where Dominique was working at the time. Wow, police chief. Who's a priest, right? Police chief Craig Meloncon told reporters, quote, I think it's responsible for us to go look and see if we can connect Mr. Dominique to that killing. Yeah. Now as investigators and others in law enforcement

prepared their cases against Dominique, the families of the victims struggled with the news of this arrest. Nicholas Pellegrine's mother, Veronica, found little comfort in this arrest. She's the mother who thought that it was his friends. She told reporters, he took my kid's life from me and I'll never forgive this man.

Others just, and it's like, you know, that's the thing, he took my kid's life from me and I'll never forgive this man. Others just, and it's like, you know, that's the thing, he took my kid's life from me, nothing's gonna make me feel better. No, like this isn't- How do you move on from that? Closure isn't the word, justice isn't the word. We've talked to victims, family members that say like, you don't really get closure.

This really no word to make me feel better. I don't have my child anymore. I don't think closure is really a thing when it comes to murder specifically. Exactly. And there was some people who were unfortunately disturbed by the gay aspects of the case. And they refused to believe that Dominique

was the one who killed their loved ones because they didn't want to believe the aspect of he could possibly be bringing them in by offering sex. And obviously I'm not going to say who, which, you know, like just some people were disturbed by that part, which also shows you like how big of a role that played in this case as well. Because even on this end of things, there was stuff going on there. So it's like that was a big thing with how this was reported

and how this was looked at in all angles, truly. The families of Christaville and Anoka Jones, both of whom were married with children, told reporters neither would have submitted to bondage sex with a man or a woman. Like they just wouldn't have, like not another person other than their significant other.

Yeah. And you get it. Like that's like, they know their family member, you know? Like, and that's why I said to put a blanket thing on all these cases and say this was the way he did this across the board. Right. I don't believe that.

No, I don't think so either. I think he did have different ways of getting these people in there. You know, like some of these men could have been lured in by like, hey, I have a job and it will pay this much money. I just like, I have this job at this house. You know, like it could be something as innocuous as that. Of course.

And I almost think it's kind of like Ronald Dominique painting it the other way a lot of the time. I think so. It's another way for him to like shame them. Exactly. Almost, you know. Exactly. And it's like, so when you look at this case know that like he's a bullshitter and he's an asshole

Yeah, and there we don't know how these men were lured No, he's saying that they were yeah, and he's claiming like some of these were self-defense when yeah It's very crystal clear that not a single one of these murders was self-defense So just like when you look at this case know that though like you know like he's the one saying this and he is not a single one of these murders was self-defense. So just like when you look at this case, know that, that like, you know, like he's the one saying this and he is not a reliable motherfucker. So it's like, you have to look at the family members, they know their family member, if they're saying that they never would have gone

with this person, then they won't laugh. I believe them over him. Yep, same. And we won't know, that's the thing. Unfortunately only he and the victim knows what happened in each scenario and he's a reliable one here and he's the only one left. Yeah. So, sad. On September 24th, 2008, Ronald

Dominique stood before a judge in district court, and pleaded guilty to the murders of Kenneth Randolph, Michael Barnett, Leon Loret, August Watkins, Kurt Cunningham, Alonzo Hogan, Krista Ville, Wayne Smith, and Nicholas Pelligran. Dominique never took his eyes off the floor like a little bitch that he is. Just gonna say a little bitch. As Judge Randy Betancourt read the charges, State's Attorney Mark Rhodes told the judge, quote,

"'The lives of eight young men were taken from these families by the actions of the defendant. He knew nothing about them or their families, and he callously killed the victims and left a lifetime of pain as their legacy. When Rhodes finished his closing statement, Judge Betancourt sentenced Dominique to eight life sentences without the possibility of parole. Nice. And he is in Angola State Prison, a penitentiary. Still alive? Yep, he is still alive. He was brought right into it. It's Louisiana State Prison, but it's called Angola because

it's in Angola. Oh, okay. He remains there today and he will stay there until he dies. Wow. And let me tell you that prison is one of the most dangerous prisons in the entire world, definitely in the country. You know what? As far as it's concerned in his case, good. Maximum, maximum prison and it is. Woo. Wow.

What a absolutely gut-wrenching case. It's a horrific case. What an important one to tell though, because the fact that I had never heard of that, like maybe rumblings here or there, but I don't know, like I never knew any of the details of that case. Because the victims aren't cowards.

Yeah. You know, they're not like, you know, and it's unfortunate, but it's the truth. But it's just like, it's the, that's the way it is. It's like they were treated like somehow they had invited their own murders. They were treated less than. And it's like, no, that is not the case. And you know, like that it, because I, again, I didn't really know about this case before like we started researching it.

And I was like, damn. And then just some of the things set along the way. Oh my God. The fact that these people couldn't even rest after being murdered. Like they weren't even treated like humans after they were murdered. That's so gross. That's called trash after they were vish, after they were raped and strangled and their bodies dumped on the side of the road. They were still being called trash.

That's heartbreaking. Like that just, that really blows my mind. It really does. How you can have that little humanity. Like I'm sorry. Like it's just so gross. If you can say that about anybody that was murdered, you don't have a single drop of empathy within your bones.

But it's so nice to know that that motherfucker- Rotting. Has eight life sentences that he's gotta serve with no possibility of parole. He's not getting out. In the most dangerous, one of the most dangerous prisons. Good. I'm telling you guys, maybe we'll talk about it some more,

but like look up that prison. Yeah, I don't know much about it. There's been some like news, you know, programs that have gone into it and the stuff like there's, there's a lot of information about it and it's, there's a lot. That's a, that's a scary place. Well, because I don't believe somebody like Ronald could ever be Reformed. No. I don't think so at all. No, 20. I mean that we know of 23 times. And still

under surveillance doing it. Yes. Like that is on another fucking level dude. Fearless in that aspect with that like he just Wow. Thought he was ahead of everybody. Well, this is that I think, I mean, so many cases stay with us, but this one's really gonna stay with me. Yeah, there's a lot of victims in this case. And they were victims in several ways. In the end, you know what I mean? They were treated really shitty. Yeah, damn.

Well, hopefully we can do something like haunted after this yeah You know we love to palette cleanse. Yeah a while after a crazy one, but we have some some wilds cases coming up So yeah, you know it's called morbid. It is. We're not gonna get away from that exactly well with that being said We hope you keep listening and we hope you keep it Weeared but not so weird as any of this because I believe in you so much more than that. I, Amazon Music, or wherever you get your podcasts. You can listen to episodes early and add free by joining Wondery Plus and the Wondery app, Amazon Music, or wherever you get your podcasts. You can listen to episodes early and add free by joining Wondery Plus and the Wondery app or on Apple Podcasts.

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