Death at the hands of nine

Monday morning October 24, 1994. Sybil awoke and began her day with prayer as usual. She made herself a cup of coffee and prepared to read the morning paper before going to Church for 8 a.m. mass. This was a ritual for Sybil. Every morning she arose, prayed, had coffee and went to St. John's Church for mass. Nothing kept her from this routine unless she was seriously ill.

Sybil's brother, Leo, had just died a couple of months earlier and his wife of 49+ years had just begun her own routine of going to St. John's Church for morning mass. Sybil and Louise, Leo's widow, always were very close to one another but with the passing of Leo they grew much closer. As Louise sat and prayed before mass began, she didn't see Sybil and she began wondering if she might be ill. Sybil was, after all, going to be 83 years old the very next week. When mass ended several parishioners questioned Louise as to where Sybil was. Was she ill? Did she have car trouble? Louise assured them that if Sybil had car trouble she would have walked to church to keep from missing mass. She had walked to church many times when the weather was nice, even though it was about a mile walk for her.

After mass, Louise had a feeling that something was amiss at Sybil's house. She drove straight there and knocked on the door at the driveway side of the house. There was no answer! Louise started to knock again when she noticed that the door was opened slightly. She stepped inside the house and called out for Sybil. There was no answer. Sybil's tiny poodle (Petite) did not make a sound. "Uh Oh, there is definitely something wrong here", Louise thought. Why didn't that pesky little dog coming running and barking as he always does?

Once Louise took the time to look around the room (a small den/sewing room) she noticed things strewn across the floor. The sewing basket was knocked over and scissors, thread, needles, etc. were scattered about. Louise reached for the phone and called her daughter.
"Ann, I'm at Aunt Sybil's house. She wasn't at mass and I came over to check on her. There is something just not right here. Can you come over and meet me"? Louise questioned!
"Surely, mom, I'll be there in just a minute", replied Ann.

Ann was playing with her baby granddaughter and since her mom's phone call was so strange and urgent she immediately threw on some clothes and sped off to Aunt Sybil's. Ann's husband, James, had just left for an out of town business trip so she had her daughter, Nicole, call her son Jim to meet her at Aunt Sybil's home it was urgent. Ann told Nicole to call her dad and tell him to turn around and meet her at Aunt Sybil's home.
When Nicole reached Jim, he got up and left immediately. Knowing that Aunt Sybil's neighborhood had declined in recent years and the neighbors were not people of goodwill, Jim brought along his protective canine companion, "Rock", a Large Rottweiler.

Louise met Ann and Jim in the driveway. She was bewildered and visibly shaken. When Ann asked her mom what was wrong she said: "Come inside". As they entered the house, Rock began to pull away from Jim. The leash was stretched tight. Immediately, after entering the house, they all noticed that the sewing basket was dumped in the floor. It always sat very neatly on top of the sewing machine. All of the scissors were in the wide open position. Other items from the basket were littered about the floor. This was not Aunt Sybil! Her home was always clean and tidy. She had a place for everything and everything was always in its place.

The next very obvious and very strange site was a Chest of Drawers in her bedroom had been moved from the place it always sat and was now positioned in front of the closet door, jamming the door shut. Rock went crazy when entering this room. He pulled and tugged and tried to get loose so he could get to that closet door. Jim reprimanded Rock and told him to stay. He and Rock searched the rest of the house. When they reached the bedroom in the front part of the house, Rock sniffed and nudged the closet door until he got it opened. Jim looked inside and there sat Sybil's tiny poodle, Petite. She was terrified and shaking severely. Jim picked up Petite and brought him to Ann. She held Petite and tried to comfort the beloved pet that was Sybil's only companion.
When there was no sign of Sybil, Ann picked up the telephone and called the local Police Department. She inquired if there had been any emergency calls from Sybil's phone in the last few hours. When the dispatcher told her no, she asked for a patrol car to come out to the house. Ann told the dispatcher that Sybil was missing and her car was in the garage and some things in the house were out of place and things were in disarray.

A single patrolman, Sgt. Bellamy, came to the house. We met him outside and told him how things were moved about and there was no sign of Sybil. We entered the house with Sgt. Bellamy. At this time, Jim and Rock showed Sgt. Bellamy around the house. Rock was increasingly agitated that he could not get to the closet that was blocked.
Knowing that the Chest of Drawers had been moved and the location of it now, subconsciously, everyone knew that when that closet door was opened the mystery of Sybil's whereabouts would be solved. No one wanted to even think about that and for some reason, even with the feelings they all had none of them ever tried to move the Chest of Drawers and open the door.

By this time, Ann's two daughters, Michelle and Nicole, and their babies arrived at Sybil's house, thinking that they could help in the search for Sybil. They commented on the items strewn on the floor about the room. The television was on and was playing loudly. Ann muted the television to relieve the tension that was building.

Sgt. Bellamy and Jim had a talk in Sybil's bedroom and then came into the room the female family members were in (the room with the sewing machine and television). They told the women that they would have to step outside the house for a while. Louise, Ann, Michelle, Nicole and the babies went outside as they were told. Sgt. Bellamy requested that Rock be taken out of the house so Jim tied him to the fence.
Once back inside the house, Sgt. Bellamy and Jim moved the Chest of Drawers from in front of the closet and Sgt. Bellamy told Jim: "We are going to move the Chest away from the door. I will open the door, you be ready"! Jim did as Sgt. Bellamy requested. They moved the heavy chest away from the closet door. Sgt. Bellamy opened the door and shined his flashlight into the closet. At this point, Jim was overcome. He saw his Great-Aunt Sybil lying in a fetal position in a large pool of blood. Jim explained that he instantly saw a very bright light surrounding his Aunt Sybil's body. The light was very intense and caused him to instantaneously black out for a second or two. Jim was shaken and sickened by the sight of his beloved Aunt drawn and lying in her own blood.

Sgt. Bellamy called for backup and requested the crime scene investigators to be dispatched. As they all began arriving at Sybil's house, the female family members were asked to leave. Since Louise lived just about six blocks away the ladies were told to go to her house and someone would come and talk with them as soon as possible. Ann's husband, James, was just driving up to Sybil's house at this very minute. James told Ann that he would come to her mother's as soon as he could.

What took place next was unbelievable. James was outside the house talking with Jim and consoling him at what he had just faced. The detective came up to Jim and asked him why he had his Rottweiler there. Jim explained that he brought his dog because he was told that Aunt Sybil seemed to be missing. He felt that Rock could help track her and also Rock was there for protection. They kept asking Jim to let them look at the soles of his shoes and asking what size shoe he wore. This was beginning to be annoying. It was as if they were considering him a suspect.

The police detectives had everyone that had been at the house to go to the police station to be fingerprinted. When they all arrived, they were taken one by one to be interviewed and then fingerprinted. They were being treated like suspects in the murder of their beloved relative. Some of the questions they were asked repeatedly were:
When was the last time you saw Sybil alive? Did you have a close relationship with her? Did Sybil keep cash in her home? Did her Social Security checks come to her house or directly to the bank?
Ann and Louise could answer the questions about the Social Security checks and cash in the house because they knew that Sybil had direct deposit and was afraid to keep cash in her home.
The Crime Scene investigators took a couple of days to gather evidence and to OK the family to go back into the house. When given the OK to go back, the men in the family went to clean up the blood and mess. They saw blood in the dining room on the walls. It looked like a spray pattern; as if someone stabbed her and blood sprayed from the wound onto the wall. There was also a bloody footprint on the wood flooring. This section of flooring was cutout and taken for evidence. Her kitchen trash can that she kept in the cabinet under the sink was in the middle of the floor. The police had found latex glove and a knife in this trash can. There was blood in the bathroom sink; a sign that someone tried to clean up. A broken weed eater shaft was found inside the house too.

The family had no idea who committed this crime, the police had no clues or leads either. The family was given few details of Sybil's injuries. They were told that she had been beaten and stabbed. All the rest of the details remained a mystery to all of the family until the time of the first trial.

In December of 1994 some arrest were finally made in this case. Four teenage black males were arrested and charged with varying degrees of murder. In the days, weeks, months, and years that followed these four arrest, one of the four decided to talk and implicated five more black males that were present inside Sybil's home when the murder took place. These five were arrested and booked into the parish jail.

It took years for the first trial to begin. Ann swore that she would sit in the court room and be there for her Aunt Sybil.
As the first trial began, all of the family witnesses were sequestered. They weren't allowed into the courtroom until they had testified. After their testimony, they could sit in the courtroom and hear/see what was happening. Everyone that is, except for Ann and Jim. In the event the defendant was convicted, Ann and Jim were going to have to give "Victim Impact Statements" during the sentencing phase of the trial. They were heartbroken that they could not be present with the rest of the family in the courtroom. They didn't miss a single day of the trial that lasted 10 days. They went to the courthouse every day and sat in the District Attorney's break room waiting and hoping that they would be allowed in the courtroom.

During this first trial, the evidence was displayed. The coroner gave her report of the cause of death and the number of fatal wounds inflicted on Sybil. She had been beaten in the head and all over her body. She had been kicked, and slapped. She was stabbed with a knife from her own kitchen. Her hair had been pulled out by the hands full. There were many photographs shown during the trial that depicted her wounds. She was unrecognizable. She had endured much pain and suffering at the hands of these nine teenage boys.
Finally, the State rest its case and the defense tried their best to salvage the defendant’s life. After the jury was sent off to deliberate the case, Ann and Jim got to reunite with the rest of the family and wait for the verdict to come in. No one would leave the courtroom. It seemed not to matter how long the jury might take to decide guilt or innocence, this family was going nowhere.

Within two hours the jury had sent a message to the judge that they had a verdict. Everyone, including Ann and Jim were back seated in the courtroom as the jury came back in. The judge asked the defendant to stand for the verdict. He was reluctant but finally his attorneys got him to his feet. The judge told the spectators in the courtroom to keep silent and if anyone made any emotional outburst or outcries they would be immediately removed and held in contempt. The jury Foreman rose and began to read the verdict.... "In the case of The State of Louisiana versus ____________. We the jury find the defendant (pause...) GUILTY AS CHARGED!!!!!!!!!!!

Oh, what a relief! Justice has been served. The sentencing was set for the next day.
Now, it was Jim and Ann's turn to address the judge and jury. It was up to them to help the jury see what had been taken from them and how horrible it had been for them and their family to lose their beloved Aunt Sybil in this horrific way. Jim addressed the court first. He told of how he felt when he saw his great-aunt lying drawn up in a pool of her own blood in her closet. He told of how he saw that bright light surrounding her lifeless body and how he had problems dealing with his emotions and feelings. He told of having to be counseled and treated by a therapist to get back on track with his life.

Ann told her story next. She told how she used to visit her Aunt often and how she would ride her bicycle to Aunt Sybil's house. She told how Aunt Sybil taught her to bake cookies and cakes when she was a child. She told how her life had been destroyed because of the actions of the defendant. Ann told how her daughter, Nicole, could not sleep at night and could not be left alone because of the fears she had due to the murder of her great-aunt. She told how she had to get counseling to help her through all of the uncertainty and grief she had experienced.

After the "Victim Impact Statements" the jury was instructed by the judge to go out and deliberate a sentence. As the jury rose to leave the courtroom for deliberation, the defendant shouted out that he wanted death. After forty-five minutes the jury was back in the courtroom with their decision.
The judge asked: “Mister Foreman have you reached a decision". The jury Foreman replied: "Yes your honor, we have".
"How say you", the judge asked? "We the jury find that the defendant shall be sentenced to the Death for the crime he has committed".

The courtroom was quiet........ The family was at peace. The truth had been told and the verdict and sentence had been handed down. The family breathed a collaborative sigh of relief. This was one trial down but there would be several more to come.