Mind of a Serial Killer - SERIAL KILLER: "The Baton Rouge Killer" Pt. 1
Episode Date: April 7, 2025In the late 1990s and early 2000s, serial killer Derrick Todd Lee stalked women throughout southern Louisiana. At first, he liked to watch them through their windows. But it wasn't long before his des...ires became more violent... and he turned to murder. Killer Minds is a Crime House Original. Follow us on social media, @crimehouse for more true crime content. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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This is Crime House.
From a young age, we're taught to not be afraid of the dark, to overcome our primal fears
of what might be lurking in the shadows, just out of view.
Most of the time, this advice makes sense.
There's nothing inherently evil about darkness.
Just because the sun is down, it doesn't mean we're suddenly in danger.
But sometimes it's okay to be scared.
Because there are people out there like Derek Todd Lee, who lurk in the night, watching, waiting, biding their time until the perfect moment, and then they strike.
The human mind is fascinating. It controls how we think, how we feel, how we love, and how we hate.
And sometimes the mind drives us to do something truly unspeakable.
This is Killer Minds, formerly known as Mind of a Serial Killer, a Crime House original.
Every Monday and Thursday, we'll be taking deep dives into the minds of
history's most notorious serial killers and murderers. The show is still the same,
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access to both at once, plus exciting Crime House bonus content. I'm Vanessa
Richardson. And I'm Dr. Tristan Engels. As Vanessa takes you through our subject's stories, I'll be helping her dive into these
killer's minds as we try to understand how someone can do such horrible things.
Before we get into the story, you should know it contains depictions of stalking, sexual
assault and murder.
Listener discretion is advised.
This is the first of two episodes on Derek Todd Lee,
otherwise known as the Baton Rouge serial killer.
From 1998 to 2003, Todd stalked women throughout Louisiana,
obsessively lurking outside their homes.
And once their guard was down, he attacked.
Today, we'll examine the early signs of Todd's hypersexuality
and stress-induced violence. We'll track the escalation of his behavior and his transformation
into a murderer.
And along the way, I'll be talking about things like the risk factors that existed during
his developmental years, Todd's obsession with spying on women,
and the hyper-fixations that led him to commit murder.
Next time, we'll talk about how Todd's unstoppable urges
drove him to an all-out murder spree,
along with his desperate attempt to escape
once investigators finally caught up to him.
And as always, we'll be asking the question,
what makes a killer?
Derek Todd Lee, or Todd for short, was born on November 5th, 1968. He grew up in a town called
St. Francisville, Louisiana, about 30 miles outside of Baton Rouge.
Todd, who was black, didn't have it easy growing up. He was born in a time and place where
segregation had yet to be fully eradicated and racism was prevalent. On top of those societal
challenges, his mom, Florence, was only 17 when she had him, and she wasn't sure if
her boyfriend of two years, Samuel Ruth, was the kind of man she wanted to raise a family
with.
Samuel was in his late 20s and already had a history of violent and erratic behavior.
Even though he was Todd's father, Florence didn't even bother to write his name on the
birth certificate.
But it seems like she tried to make it work, because they stayed together after Todd was
born.
They even had another child, a daughter named Tarsha, about a year later.
Apparently the added responsibility made Samuel realize that family life wasn't for him.
At least, not this family.
Shortly after Tarsha was born, Samuel told Florence he was leaving them to get back together
with his ex-wife.
There's a lot here to consider when it comes to Todd's early developmental years.
So let's start with the age of his mother, Florence.
She was still a teenager when she became a mother, and so her frontal
lobe isn't fully developed. An underdeveloped frontal lobe affects decision-making, problem-solving,
impulse control, and emotional regulation. Not to mention, there are higher incidences
of postpartum depression with young mothers. This can put children at an increased risk
of negative developmental outcomes like poor cognitive abilities,
lower academic achievement, and increased social and emotional difficulties.
There's also a high correlation between young mothers in poor child development
largely due to socioeconomic limitations.
So for example, financial hardships add undue stress on the mother, and in Florence's
case, she's not only a young mother of two children, but she's now a single young
mother because of paternal abandonment.
Also, children with paternal abandonment are at an increased risk of substance abuse, mental
health deficits, and behavioral issues.
We have to talk about his biological father, Samuel.
He has a history of violent and erratic behavior, and this could be an indication of a genetic
predisposition to mental illness or criminality.
There's a lot of factors here that could negatively affect Todd's development, and
his environment will greatly determine how he can navigate this.
Would a child this young even be able to process
or even understand what's happening,
and can he adjust appropriately?
Todd is likely between, let's say,
one and a half to two years old
when his father left to return to his ex-wife.
So he does not possess the cognitive skills at this point
to fully understand the concept
or the
damages of parental abandonment, but at that age children are aware to some
degree of parental dependence, which is why some children at this age begin to
exhibit separation anxiety when a parent leaves the room, let alone the home. So
parental abandonment is a trauma that can have long-term impacts, and that will vary in each case.
But there certainly are ways to improve a child's ability to adapt to that trauma appropriately,
such as having a support system like their existing caregiver, for example, which would be Florence in this case.
Having a stable environment, even a therapist. All of those are critical. But we also have to
remember, and we would be remiss if we don't touch on this, that this is the late 1960s
and as Mother Florence is providing for two small children. She's likely having to work
more than one job, which will take a lot of her time and her attention, but she's also
a young black mother. So she will be dealing with systemic racism,
lack of access to important resources,
social stigma, and economic hardships,
especially if she has no familial support.
This can all impact how Todd can or cannot adapt
to this loss in healthy ways.
Thankfully, it wasn't long before
Todd got more stability in his life.
When he was still young, it's't long before Todd got more stability in his life.
When he was still young, it's not exactly clear when.
His mom met a guy named Coleman Barrow.
Coleman opened up a whole new world for Todd and Tarsha.
He treated them like his own kids, bringing them to church on Sundays and even buying
them a horse to share.
Soon, the new family moved just outside of St. Francisville to a modest,
peaceful neighborhood known to locals as Lee's Quarters. Todd loved it there. Between being
so close to the Gulf and right on the Mississippi River, St. Francisville was lush and full
of wildlife. Todd developed a love of bird watching, sitting quietly in trees for hours.
of bird watching, sitting quietly in trees for hours. But soon, someone discovered there was something else Todd liked to watch in secret.
Todd's cousin Ray was about a year older than him and also lived in Lee's quarters.
They spent a lot of time together, playing sports and running around the neighborhood.
But when Ray was 10 years old, he heard a rumor about his cousin. Apparently, people in their neighborhood had caught 9-year-old Todd peering into girls'
bedroom windows while they undressed.
Some people said they even saw him watching his own cousins.
So Todd is at an age where children begin to learn about boundaries and privacy.
He's also at an age where we can expect
to see sexual curiosity, especially when it comes
to the bodies of others.
It's always important to tease out normal
or curious behavior versus abnormal behavior.
And with Todd, which you're describing, Vanessa,
is abnormal and possibly transgressive behavior
because he appears to understand privacy
but is choosing
to violate it anyway, and he's not only doing it with family, he's doing it with strangers
in the community, in his own neighborhood.
This would warrant immediate intervention, as it's an early sign of voyeurism, and that's
a paraphilia disorder that involves intense sexual arousal from watching an unsuspecting
and non-consenting person
who is engaging in private activities, such as using the restroom or fitting room,
or in varying states of undress, or while sexually active.
This condition, though, cannot be diagnosed until someone is 18,
but it typically begins to present itself around adolescents, and he's nearing that age. But not all who have voyeuristic tendencies in their youth
will meet criteria for this condition as adults.
However, this behavior is predatory in nature,
given the lengths that he's going to in order to do it,
and it stems from a need for power or control.
And at this age, that says a lot about what may or may not
be going on inside the home
or even at school.
What can happen if this type of behavior goes unchecked?
If this behavior continues without any intervention, he is at an increased risk of more sexually
deviant behavior or even sexual violence.
Because there is a correlation, not a causation, but a correlation between paraphilia disorders and sexual violence. And in particular, approximately 20% of
voyeurs have gone on to commit sexual assault or rape. The act of voyeurism
alone is a crime in the United States because, as I mentioned, it violates a
person's privacy. So individuals who engage in this are also at a risk of acquiring more anti-social behaviors
as a result.
We don't know who Ray heard this from, or if he told Todd's parents, but we do know
that these rumors kept swirling around Todd for years.
This might be why girls at school stayed away from Todd, except for a
classmate named Jackie Sims. Whether or not she knew about the allegations
against Todd, it wasn't enough to keep her from him. The pair met in 1981 when
they were 13 and quickly started dating. So that may sound alarming giving their
age, but statistically it's actually normal for children to start exploring
dating around this age. Though of, those dates are more innocent and often done in group
settings with friends. Well, she must have liked Todd's big smile and how kind he was to her.
And Todd probably liked that Jackie was smart, but didn't judge him for being less intelligent
than her. But although he was nice to Jackie, he didn't extend that same kindness to everyone.
In 1984, three years after he met Jackie, Todd got into a fight with another boy his
age.
During the altercation, Todd pulled out a knife.
Fortunately, the other boy was able to defend himself, but the police were called and they
took the matter very seriously.
They charged 16-year-old Todd with attempted second-degree murder.
So we're already getting some confirmation that Todd may have some academic or cognitive difficulties
because he's less intelligent.
But also what we're seeing here is the criteria for conduct disorder,
which is a pervasive pattern of aggressive, rule-violating behaviors in children and teenagers, and this is a precursor
to antisocial personality disorder.
It's not clear why, but there was never a hearing
for that case, which meant Todd was off the hook.
So instead of using the opportunity
to turn his life around, his behavior only got worse.
About a year after the fight,
one of Todd's neighbors caught him looking into his house.
The man had caught Todd spying on his daughters
multiple times before, and now he was fed up.
He contacted the police.
But again, Todd didn't face any serious consequences.
After that, his deviant behavior
did seem to slow down for a few years.
But that didn't mean he was adjusting to society any better.
He was never the brightest student, and school was apparently too much for him.
When he was in 11th grade, he dropped out.
You need to pause because this makes me wonder what kind of parenting was occurring inside
of the home.
It sounds like it may have been permissive or even neglectful.
And if so, that can lead to poor outcomes,
such as dropping out of school and academic deficiencies,
poor self-control, juvenile delinquency,
which we've already seen, substance abuse,
and obviously behavioral issues.
Now, Todd had to figure out another path.
We don't know what he did for the next few years,
but by 1987,
19-year-old Todd was working in construction. It was tough work that required long hours,
but it seemed like all the hard labor was helping Todd build some character, and it
convinced Jackie to stay by his side.
The following year, she graduated high school, and Jackie and Todd got married.
Four years after that, in 1992, they had a daughter.
From the outside, it looked like Todd was following in his stepfather's footsteps,
working hard and taking care of his loved ones.
But the truth was, he wasn't a reliable family man.
At all.
He drank a lot and liked to stay out late at the local bars.
And it wasn't just alcohol he enjoyed.
Todd was known to flirt with women
and reportedly had multiple affairs.
So at this point, Todd has developed
nearly all of the risk factors I outlined earlier.
And those included, as I mentioned,
academic impairment, developmental or cognitive impairment, behavioral issues, substance abuse, and hypersexuality.
He also appears to have possibly met criteria for conduct disorder as a juvenile, but now
that he's over the age of 18, he's exhibiting symptoms of antisocial personality disorder
with narcissistic traits.
He continues to show a disregard for the rules and norms of society, he
lacks empathy, and he's violating the boundaries of others consistently. His
unfaithfulness and disregard for his family really showcases the narcissistic
traits there and why he's able to be unfaithful without any regard for the
consequences or the impact that this has on his family, one that he should understand.
He also has a pattern of criminal behavior, impulsivity, sexual deviance, and now the substance
abuse is really playing a role. What are the risks of Todd's substance abuse and continued
hypersexuality? Yeah, research has shown that substance abuse elevates the risk of violence and sexual misconduct,
particularly when there are already existing mental health conditions.
And to recap yet again, there's voyeurism, conduct disorder and as youth, and now antisocial
personality disorder, and the continued misuse of alcohol or other drugs will elevate that
risk of violence toward others.
His behavior was definitely a turnoff.
By 1993, Todd's wife, Jackie, had all but given up on their relationship.
But for their daughter's sake, she tried to make the best of it and stayed with Todd.
However, Todd's womanizing wasn't the only problem.
The 25-year-old kept finding himself on the wrong side of the law and was in and out of jail
on various burglary and peeping charges.
When he wasn't behind bars,
Todd took whatever construction work he could get.
Whether it was pipe fitting or driving cement trucks,
his jobs took him all over the area.
He learned the layouts of many neighborhoods
and paid special
attention to where the prettiest women lived. One of those neighborhoods was Oak Shadows in the town
of Zachary about 15 miles north of Baton Rouge. At some point in the early 1990s, Todd started
going there regularly. He would park his truck on the side of Highway 964 near the entrance to Azalea Rest Cemetery,
which sat right up against oak shadows.
True to the neighborhood's name, tall oak trees lined the cemetery and dotted the streets.
In other words, it was easy for Todd to conceal himself.
He peered into women's living room windows while they watched TV at night.
He looked into their bedrooms while they undressed, all the while keeping as still as he did when
he went birdwatching as a child.
He didn't always get away with it.
On at least one occasion, a patrol officer responded to a call about a peeping Tom and
apprehended Todd on foot. But even though Todd was arrested a few times,
he was never kept off the streets for long.
Perhaps authorities should have tried harder
to keep him behind bars because in April of 1993,
25-year-old Todd's stalking turned to outright violence.
Todd's stalking turned to outright violence. In 1993, 25-year-old Derek Todd Lee was bouncing between jobs by day and spying on women by
night.
He'd been caught a few times and faced short prison sentences, but he was never behind
bars for long. And every time he got out, he went right back to his obsessive peeping.
One night that April, Todd drove to his usual parking spot at the entrance of Azalea Rest
Cemetery off Highway 964, right next to the Oak Shadows subdivision.
He liked to lurk there because the oak trees in the cemetery helped
conceal him from view. And on this night, some heavy rainfall provided him with extra cover.
As Todd made his way into the neighborhood, he noticed a car under the trees, behind the
curtains of rain. There were two people kissing inside. Something about this set Todd off.
Maybe it was the fact that these people might also see him.
Or maybe it was because they were enjoying a romantic night and he was alone.
Either way, anger swelled in Todd's chest.
He must have gone back to his truck because soon he returned with an axe in his hand.
He made his way to the car and opened the door.
He brought his weapon down on the two teenagers,
cutting into the girl's leg and lacerating the boy's head.
Thankfully, he was interrupted when a pair of headlights appeared in the distance.
Todd booked it back to his truck and sped off.
Moments later, the oncoming car pulled up
to where the teenagers were parked.
It was a police officer.
Fortunately, he was able to get them help in time.
The girl gave a detailed description of the attacker,
but there wasn't any forensic evidence to go along with it,
which meant Todd was free
to keep compulsively spying on women.
So let's discuss this very extreme response.
You would think that someone who enjoys watching people undress or engage in sexual acts
would be happy to stumble upon two unsuspecting teenagers kissing in their car.
But instead, he was clearly enraged. So why?
Over the last 16 years of his life
since the onset of the voyeurism,
he has become more criminally versatile.
He began casing out neighborhoods,
which allowed him to find a location
that provided him access to women
with the least amount of risk.
And that led him here to Oak Shadows.
That has become his hunting ground.
So Todd is territorial of it. This
is likely why when he found this teenage couple kissing, rather than using it as an opportunity
to watch them engaging in sexual activities, he became enraged. They are in his territory
and obstructing him from his routine and from his access to the women he has already been
watching.
Given what we previously discussed about Todd's personality, why would his anger be so visceral
and hard for him to deal with?
Why can't he control himself here?
Well, Todd needs to be in control.
He needs to be the one in control.
And in Todd's eyes, this poor young couple interfered with his controlled environment.
So he needed to regain that control.
And because he is prone to violence,
because he has poor impulse control,
this was his depraved way of regaining that control.
It was an impulsive rage reaction
that was likely also fueled by alcohol abuse.
For the next two years,
Todd continued to lurk around neighborhoods like Oak Shadows.
He was addicted to the gratification he got from peeping, but he felt like there was something
missing from his life.
And in 1996, Todd realized that thing was money.
Sometime that year, his father-in-law died tragically in an accident at the plant where
he worked. Todd's wife, Jackie, received a quarter million dollars in a settlement.
But as the head of the family, Todd was in charge of the money. He spent a lot of it
on designer clothes and fancy cars. He loved the way people looked at him, just walking
into a room turned heads.
Yeah, this speaks to his grandiosityiosity because he wants to present as overtly
flashy at the expense of his family.
But also he likely knows that appearances will help lower the defenses of
unsuspecting victims and even law enforcement.
And so he's preying on those biases.
Well, the money didn't do anything to change his bad work ethic.
In April 1998, two years after Jackie won the settlement
money, Todd was laid off from his most recent job
at a cement mixing company.
The incident left him feeling bruised and resentful.
And a couple of days later, his simmering rage boiled over
again.
On April 18th, Todd and his longtime mistress, a woman named Consandra Green, got into an
argument while they were hanging out at a local bar.
Apparently, Todd and Consandra fought a lot.
But this one was explosive.
Todd was drinking heavily, and at 10.30 p.m.,
ConSandra got fed up and stormed out of the bar.
Todd finished his beer, then left and got into his truck.
But instead of going home,
he went to the Oak Shadows neighborhood,
specifically to the home of a woman
he'd been watching for a while named Randy Mabrewer.
Randy was a 28-year-old health care worker and single mother. been watching for a while, named Randy Mabrewer.
Randy was a 28-year-old health care worker and single mother.
At 10 p.m. on the 18th, Randy had just put her 3-year-old son to bed and was watching
TV.
At some point after that, Todd knocked on her door and convinced Randy to let him in.
The specifics aren't clear, but based on the evidence, he didn't enter forcefully.
And going by Todd's later MO, he likely used a combination of charm and innocence to get
Randy to let him in, possibly by pretending that his car had broken down.
Yeah, individuals with antisocial personality disorder and who have traits of psychopathy
are highly charming, manipulative, and glib.
They often use those traits to con and deceive others for personal gain.
These traits can be used to disarm unsuspecting victims and gain their trust.
They also, as I mentioned, know that their presentation plays a significant role in their
effectiveness in these efforts. I mean, research shows us that a person's appearance significantly impacts
how trustworthy others perceive them to be.
So designer clothing, fancy cars,
all of that is correlated with wealth and high social status.
And because of this, Todd is more likely to be perceived
as reliable and less threatening.
And not to mention, he is targeting a single mother
at a time when that was highly stigmatized
and who is already likely emotionally
and financially vulnerable, something he himself
experienced with his own mother for a period of time.
He has experience in understanding the vulnerabilities
of this population, and it really
speaks to just how cunning and predatory he is.
This kind of reminds me of Ted Bundy, who liked to wear casts and slings to make himself seem less dangerous.
Yes, we did an episode on Ted Bundy. Yeah, if he is telling her, for example, that his car is broken down
and he's got a luxury car that he purchased with his wife's money that she got from inheritance from the loss of her father,
then he's using that to gain access to Randy that is very reminiscent of Ted Bundy because he's
presenting himself as vulnerable, almost like the wounded Gazelle, only he's not pretending to be
injured specifically, but he's allowing her to feel as though she's the savior in this situation,
which can be very disarming, because that switches her mindset.
It's making her feel like she's in control of the situation
because he needs something from her.
So in essence, he's preying on her nurturing and empathetic side,
much like Ted Bundy did.
Well, tragically, Todd's act worked.
Randy let her guard down and invited him in.
Once the door was shut behind them, he attacked.
He bludgeoned her, dragged her through the house by her hair, and sexually assaulted
her.
Fortunately, Randy's son never left his room.
Todd didn't even know the little boy was there.
By the time Todd's rage subsided, Randy was dead.
He found the keys to her car and put her body in the back seat. Then he dropped her remains at an
unknown location. He brought the car back to her house before vanishing, still under cover of night.
The next morning, Randy's son woke up and couldn't find his mother anywhere.
He grabbed a neighbor who called the police the second she stepped inside their house.
David McDavid, a detective with the Zachary Police Department, was put on the case.
As soon as McDavid, who went by Mac, heard what happened in Oak Shadows, he knew in his
gut that Derek Todd Lee was responsible.
Todd had been on Mack's radar for years.
He was well aware of Todd's history with peeping.
In fact, he'd arrested Todd in Oak Shadows at least once before.
Mack believed Todd was responsible for the 1992 murder of a single mother named Connie Warner, who had
also lived in Oak Shadows, as well as the 1993 attack on the two teenagers in the car.
And when Max saw the scene at Randy's house, he became even more convinced.
The aftermath of Connie Warner's murder had looked remarkably similar, bloody drag marks
throughout the house and clumps of the victim's murder had looked remarkably similar, bloody drag marks throughout the
house and clumps of the victim's hair left behind.
The main difference between the two cases was that Connie's body was found in an empty
lot behind an old warehouse.
Unfortunately, there'd been a hurricane the night she died, which washed away any potential
DNA evidence. Investigators were never able
to pin anyone for her murder.
But Randy's body was still missing, and Mack didn't want to hit the same dead end. On April
20, 1998, two days after Randy was killed, he went to Todd's home and questioned him
about his whereabouts on the 18th.
Todd said he was out drinking with his mistress, ConSandra, but they got into a fight, so he left and went to another bar.
So obviously Todd is giving Mack an alibi here. He did not, in fact, go back to another bar.
But we should talk about the way in which he behaved after he did kill Randy.
He was casually driving her car back to her house after disposing of her body.
It just really shows how calloused he is and how little empathy he has.
And considering that Randy's brutal slaying occurred after a heated argument with ConSandra,
his mistress, he seemingly was displacing that humiliation
from that argument and the rage that resulted from it
onto Randy because statistically,
serial sexual murderers rarely target people that they know.
Now that he has relieved himself of that tension
and regained control in his mind,
it wouldn't surprise me if after all of that,
he did actually return to a bar,
because now he's in a state of relaxation for him,
and that involves drinking.
Even though this is an alibi, I wouldn't be surprised
if part of it was true, if after killing Randy,
he did return to a bar.
NARRATOR 2.
Detective McDavid certainly thought Todd's behavior
was suspicious.
And as it turned out, Randy Mabrewer's house
was right between the two bars Todd claimed
to have gone to.
Now Mack knew Todd was the guy he was after.
The problem was, they still couldn't find Randy's body.
Days went by, then weeks, then months.
Without any concrete forensic evidence, it would be hard to pin her murder
on Todd.
Mack didn't even have meaningful witness testimony.
We don't know if he spoke to Todd's wife, Jackie, but since Jackie was aware of Todd's
other relationships, including Consandra, it probably didn't strike her as odd whenever
he didn't come home at night.
So without anything else connecting him to Randy's murder,
Todd remained a free man.
But he was already thinking about his next target.
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In April of 1998, 29-year-old Derek Todd Lee murdered Randy Mabrouer and disposed of her body.
Investigators had their eye on Todd, although they weren't able to connect him to the crime.
It's not clear if Todd knew they were onto him, but he avoided legal trouble for a while.
However, it wasn't long before another wave of stress pummeled him, and he needed another
terrifying release.
Todd had blown through all of his wife Jackie's settlement money on clothes, shoes, and cars.
There was nothing left to keep their family afloat. Things only got worse when
Kansandra got pregnant. In the months leading up to the baby's birth in July 1999, Todd
couldn't handle the pressure of having a child with another woman, especially when
he already had two with Jackie. So he distracted himself with his latest fixation, 36-year-old Collette Walker.
Collette lived in downtown St. Francisville, about 30 miles north of Baton Rouge.
Todd liked to hang out at the bars there, and at some point, he spotted Collette around town.
Eventually, he started following her back to her apartment complex and tracking her
movements.
He learned her schedule, including when her teenage daughter was gone and Colette was
home alone.
So stalking is a crime of power and control, much like sexual violence as well as serial
murder.
There are different kinds of stalkers and different kinds of stalking behaviors.
And when it comes to Todd's pattern of stalking here, he would be categorized as a predatory
stalker who's using surveillance stalking behavior. So that means that as a predatory
stalker, he is seeking power and sexual gratification, which obviously tracks with his pattern of
behavior since the age of nine. But predatory stalkers are obsessed with deviant sexual desires. And regarding his stalking
behavior, he uses surveillance behaviors to watch his victims from a distance while gathering
information, information that he needs in order to plan his attack later. They may even
engage in repeated and unwanted contact with their
victim and individuals who use surveillance stalking behaviors often
include technology in that task. So they monitor them online, they use photos or
video, even planting tracking devices.
What can trigger someone's hyper fixation on another person? And what
might cause someone to transfer their fixation
from one person to another like that?
So hyper-fixation occurs, especially with stalking.
When a stalker finds a target
that fits their specific sexual desire or fantasy,
then they get fixated.
Predatory stalkers also tend to be serial stalkers.
And so they often transfer their fixation
after they've completed their attack cycle.
But in instances where there are too many obstacles
that prevent them from completing their attack cycle,
they can still transfer that fixation to a target
that is more available or vulnerable
because of the inability to fulfill that desire
with the current target.
Over the next few months, Todd was fixated on Collette.
And on June 21, 1999, he finally made his move.
That day, 30-year-old Todd waited in broad daylight in the parking lot outside Collette's
ground floor apartment.
When Collette stepped out to run some errands, Todd quietly walked up behind her.
He made some casual conversation, then asked Colette if she wanted to grab a beer.
She told him no, and when he kept pressing the issue, she quickly got into her car and drove off.
But when Colette returned from her errands a little while later, Todd was still there.
As she turned the key to her apartment,
Todd came out from around the corner and tried asking her out again. She said no,
then hurried inside and locked the door. Collette probably hoped this was a one-off incident,
but two days later, Todd came back. On June 23rd, Collette was entering
her apartment when Todd came around the corner
and stepped past her right through the door. By the time she realized what had happened,
Todd was already sitting on the couch in her living room. Colette told him he had to leave,
and to her surprise, he obliged. But first, he wrote down his phone number and hugged
her.
Then he was out the door.
So in hearing this, I would want to determine if Todd is suffering from erotomania delusion,
which is a delusional belief that a person, in this case Colette, is in love with him,
despite all the evidence to the contrary.
Although this is a rare mental health condition, it is actually
common among stalkers. And it makes sense to see this behavior pattern occurring after the birth
of his child with Consandra, because Consandra's attention and her affection has now been taken
from Todd and centered on their new infant. So the fact that he chose not to hurt Colette,
even though he could have, supports the suspicion
that he may be having a delusion of erotomania with Colette.
If this is indeed what is occurring,
then to him, her rejection is not rejection at all.
He would be interpreting everything she does
or does not do as confirmation of her love for him.
Even her act of asking him to leave would be interpreted by someone with delusions of
erotomania as quote, proof that she wants him around.
He will continually misinterpret the littlest things as signs of her love for him.
And I've actually encountered this in my career as a forensic psychologist, and it becomes
very tricky to navigate because part of my work, a lot of it actually, revolves me asking
personal questions.
And so someone who has erotomania will quickly and very easily misinterpret those questions
as romantic interest.
And unfortunately, the best way for me to establish boundaries in my career in these instances
and to ensure safety and also obtain accurate information
is to reassign that case to someone who matches
the gender of the patient.
So removing me entirely from the equation.
And unfortunately, for women like Colette,
that's not possible.
That being said, this could explain why he did not harm Colette while also justifying
his continued efforts, because he doesn't see it as stalking if he's believing that
she's in love with him and instead believes she wants him to show up at her home.
So for now, it's possible that he truly believes that they're in a relationship.
Even though Todd hadn't tried to hurt Colette,
he still wasn't done with her.
The very next night at 11.30 p.m.,
he was lurking outside her apartment once again.
This time, her daughter was home.
At one point, the teenage girl stepped outside
to grab something from her car.
Colette kept an eye on her from the doorway,
and that's when she saw Todd step out from behind a tree.
At that moment, Colette realized something.
All along, she thought Todd had been running into her by chance as she passed through the
apartment complex, but in reality, he'd been spying on her.
Todd spotted Colette in the doorway and tried to talk to her. Colette
ignored him, then rushed her daughter inside and closed the door.
Even though Colette realized Todd had been watching her, she didn't call the police.
But a few days later, she ran into a neighbor who said that she'd seen Todd looking through
Colette's window multiple times.
Once she heard this, Colette finally contacted the authorities.
So I know a lot of people listening are probably wondering why it took her so long to contact
the authorities.
So let's break that down because there's a number of possible reasons why that is, especially
given that she didn't do it when he forced his way into her apartment.
So beginning with the fact that it sounds like initially she thought that he lived in
her complex and was running into him by chance.
Now individuals often dismiss or minimize
the actions of their neighbors for fear of escalating the situation or creating a hostile
living environment or becoming the victim of retaliation. It's your home. It's supposed
to be your safe space. So you want to protect it. Now, this may be why she chose to dismiss
or rationalize his inappropriate actions, but also, stalking laws need reform.
There are far too many instances where
victims of stalking report it to police,
and the police aren't able to do anything.
And it just escalates the situation even more.
If the individual stalking them is not threatening them
directly, then police don't have a crime to arrest them for.
They also aren't trespassing if they
willingly leave when they're asked. So there's an extremely high burden of proof on the victim,
unfairly so, when it comes to stalking or harassment. And the reality is, when police
feel that they can intervene, it's already too late. A crime's been committed and usually that
crime is violence or homicide. She needs to know who he is if she's to call law
enforcement so they know who to make contact with. They can, you know, maybe
stay outside and see if he shows up, but if they don't have a name then they don't
know who to go to. And let's say she did. Let's say she called the police. They
made contact with Todd. She'd likely fear his reaction
to that and fear that it would just escalate him further. It's hard to feel protected truly in
situations like this when they know where you live. So this is the reality for most victims of
stalking or intimate partner violence. Regardless of what action or inaction Collette took, she is
the victim. She's not to blame for Todd's actions,
nor is she to be shamed for that.
And overall, we need to start really actively addressing
the systemic issues that cause victims
to fear reporting in the first place.
Thankfully, it didn't take long
for the St. Francisville Assistant Chief of Police
to respond to Collette's call.
He already knew about Todd's history,
and at a hunch, he was the intruder. He examined the area around Collette's call. He already knew about Todd's history, and at a hunch, he was the intruder.
He examined the area around Collette's apartment and found a shoe print under her bedroom window.
That was enough for him to bring Todd in for questioning, and he confessed to stalking
Collette.
And five months later, in December of 1999, the 31-year-old was sentenced to six months in
prison.
But for unknown reasons, the sentence was suspended and Todd only had to serve two years
of probation.
And this is another example of why a lot of women don't report.
Because all of that, for him to be released so quickly, he's got six months that he spent
in prison probably thinking about her, obsessing over her,
and who's going to protect her once he's released.
However, in February of 2000, Todd blew his shot.
One winter night, Todd and his girlfriend,
Consandra, got into another explosive argument
while out at a bar.
Todd flew into a rage and hit Consandra in the face multiple times.
Someone called the police and Todd tried to flee.
An officer was approaching as Todd got into his truck and Todd tried to run him over.
In the end, Todd spent a year in prison for the incident.
But although he'd been in jail before, this latest stint seemed to affect him in a different
way, and not a good one.
By September 2001, Todd began stalking a neighborhood near Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge.
A lot of young women lived in the little bungalows, many of which had glassed-in porches, which
were perfect for Todd to look into while he often hid in the bushes outside.
Thirty-two-year-old Todd quickly became fixated on an LSU student named Geno Wilson-Green,
and on September 24th, he got tired of just looking.
That night, when Todd knew Gina was alone,
he entered her home and attacked.
He sexually assaulted her,
then strangled her until she died.
Then Todd picked up Gina's body,
carried her into the bedroom,
and placed her in bed with a blanket over her.
So this is a bit of a deviation from his past methods.
But with most serial killers,
their initial murders are more inexperienced
and less contained.
And over time, they become more sophisticated
in their methods.
It's not uncommon to see a serial murderer
go from bludgeoning to strangulation
or even using a firearm.
They learn with each experience how to reduce the risks
and become more efficient in their next murder.
His decision to strangle Gina may be due to the need
for a more silent method of killing,
given that she lived near a college
and maybe even had roommates.
Todd knew this because he had been watching her.
He knew her routine, and he specifically waited until she was alone.
And given that it's near campus and a highly active area where students are likely walking
around at different hours, he could be overheard by someone outside if he stuck to his usual
method.
Why would he leave Gina in bed when he had disposed of Randy's body and, ostensibly,
Connie Warner's.
Todd is very atypical.
Initially, I was thinking there was possibly something
symbolic about this.
Randy and Connie were single mothers, and Colette too,
in fact.
Todd's mother was a single mother at one point.
But Gina was not a mother.
I contemplated the idea that maybe he
removed the bodies of Randy and Connie to protect their children from
discovering them. And I know when we were going through Randy's story, it was
mentioned that Todd didn't know her son was there, but I disagree. He's been
stalking her, he's been watching her, he knows her routine, he knows she's a mother,
he knew the child was there. My initial thought was that he was preventing the children
or protecting the children from discovering their bodies
because he himself could identify with childhood trauma,
especially parental loss.
Some psychopaths, specifically sociopaths actually,
have some varying degrees of empathy.
So it's not entirely impossible.
But as we go through this story, and as you take us there,
Vanessa, this theory gets challenged later on.
Then once again, we have to consider
the role of Gina's environment.
It would be very risky for him to remove a body without being
seen in a neighborhood like this.
This isn't oak shadows.
It's a college area.
So it would make sense why he would leave her body in bed
and then cover her with a blanket.
I think the blanket is the symbol of the disposal
of the body in a sense.
And it's definitely also a symbol of detachment,
that she has no personal significance to him.
Todd's MO wasn't the only thing changing.
Before he left Gina's house, he did something else surprising.
He snagged her cell
phone and wallet. The next morning, Gina didn't show up for work, and no one could reach her.
One of her co-workers called Baton Rouge PD to notify them. Investigators didn't find any signs
of forced entry. They also weren't able to gather any DNA evidence from her body or the scene.
They also weren't able to gather any DNA evidence from her body or the scene. But they did notice one crucial thing.
Gina's missing phone and wallet.
They started tracking her cell signal, and on September 27th, three days after Gina's
murder, investigators got a hit.
It was coming from a tower near the Mississippi River Bridge, just a couple of miles north
of LSU's campus.
From there, a data security agent was able to pinpoint the exact location of Gina's
phone.
The agent followed the signal about three more miles north to the warehouse district.
Once there, he walked behind an abandoned building and found himself in an empty lot. After a few minutes, he spotted
Gina's cell phone, wallet, and ID cards. But he didn't find anything that might point investigators
in the direction of Gina's killer. At least, not that he could see.
After the agent turned the items over to Baton Rouge detectives, they realized something.
They knew that lot.
They'd been there before, when they found Connie Warner's body back in 1992.
Baton Rouge PD knew that Detective Mack McDavid over in Zachary thought Todd had killed Connie
and Randy Mabrower.
And now Mack thought that Todd also killed Gina Wilson-Green.
But even though Mac was on to him, there still wasn't any proof.
And Todd's life as a serial killer was just beginning. Thanks so much for listening.
We'll be back next time as we discuss Derek Todd Lee's string of violent murders and
how investigators connected the dots to find him.
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