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BR killer strikes in Lafayette
DNA confirms woman, 23, newest victim
By KEVIN BLANCHARD
kblanchard@theadvocate.com
Acadiana bureau
Associated Press photo
Authorities say Trineisha Den? Colomb, whose body was found in November near Scott, was slain by a man who also killed three Baton Rouge women.
LAFAYETTE -- A 23-year-old woman found beaten to death in November in Scott was killed by the man who killed at least three women in Baton Rouge, Lafayette Parish Sheriff Mike Neustrom said Monday.
DNA evidence indicates that the same person who killed Trineisha Den? Colomb of Lafayette also killed Gina Wilson Green, Charlotte Murray Pace and Pam Kinamore. Colomb is the first black victim and the first victim outside Baton Rouge linked to the serial killer.
Authorities have said all three had been sexually assaulted.
Authorities say Colomb died from blunt trauma to the head. They did not say whether she had been sexually assaulted.
Evidence matched genetic evidence from the other killings, Lt. Craig Stansbury said. The DNA results were finalized by the Acadiana Crime Lab on Monday morning.
Green, 41, was found strangled in her Stanford Avenue home Sept. 24, 2001. Pace, 22, was found stabbed to death in her Sharlo Avenue town house May 31. Kinamore, 44, was abducted from her Briarwood Place home July 12. Her throat was slit and her body was dumped near the Whiskey Bay exit from Interstate 10.
The Baton Rouge Area Homicide Task Force is investigating the serial killings and FBI profilers have said they believe the serial killer is a white male. More than 600 men, most of them white men, in the Baton Rouge area have been swabbed for samples to see if their DNA matches the killer's DNA.
After getting the news Monday, investigators with the Lafayette Parish Sheriff's Office immediately packed up their case files and drove to Baton Rouge, where they met with the task force, Detective Sgt. Allen Venable said.
Colomb's father, Sterling Colomb, also got the news Monday from investigators. Shortly afterward, Ann Pace, the mother of Charlotte Murray Pace, called Colomb to offer her condolences and support.
"He was nice, and I just wanted him to know that all of us were out there and support each other and contact each other regularly," Ann Pace said.
"I'm just so sorry because if they'd caught him anywhere along the way, everybody else would be alive," Pace said. "And I know they're doing their best and you can't do anything with information you don't have."
It's been a difficult year for the Colombs. The victim's mother died seven months ago.
Trineisha Colomb was last heard from about noon Nov. 21. The next day her family began to worry and called police.
A resident near Grand Coteau, in St. Landry Parish, noticed Colomb's car parked on Robbie Road on Nov. 21, a Thursday.
When the car was still there the next day, the man called authorities.
Inside Colomb's car were her keys, coin purse and license. Her family thought she had gone to the area to visit her mother's grave. The St. Landry Parish Sheriff's Office began a search where the car was found, Venable said.
But it wasn't until Nov. 24, a Sunday, that a rabbit hunter in Scott found Colomb's body in a wooded area off Renaud Drive, 20 miles from her car.
Two weeks after Colomb's disappearance and murder, a witness told investigators he had seen a white pickup parked behind Colomb's car on Robbie Drive on Nov. 21, Venable said.
Investigators had already contacted the task force in Baton Rouge about Colomb's murder because of its similarities to some of the Baton Rouge murders, Venable said.
The white pickup would seem to be another similarity. Venable said the pickup was described as an early 1990s model Chevrolet step-side truck, Venable said.
Task force officials have said they are looking for a late 1980s General Motors single cab pickup with bad paint and bad window tinting, a fishlike symbol on the tailgate and a partial license plate that included J, T, 3, 4, and 1.
Detectives hope someone else may have seen the truck in St. Landry Parish, or in the Scott area where Colomb was found.
Please call, "no matter how insignificant you think the information may be," Venable said.
The numbers to call are the Baton Rouge Area Homicide Task Force 866-389-3310 or 225-389-3310; the Lafayette Parish Sheriff's Office 337-232-9211; and the Lafayette Crime Stoppers 337-232-TIPS.
Venable and U.S. Attorney Donald Washington said there's no evidence to suggest the serial killer is from the Acadiana area, or for that matter, from Baton Rouge either.
Venable pointed out that Lafayette is at the intersection of two interstates, I-10 and I-49, and less than an hour away from Baton Rouge, Lake Charles, Alexandria and Morgan City.
"He could be from here. He could be from there, I guess. The possibilities are endless," Venable said.
Colomb's family had told investigators she had been meeting people on the Internet. Venable said detectives have ruled out some of the "Internet leads" but still have others to pursue.
Washington said the killer appears to be "highly mobile." He warned people to be wary of casual acquaintances.
The lack of apparent use of force in entering the Baton Rouge victims' residences indicates the serial killer "has the ability to gain the confidence and the trust of people," Washington said.
Since the investigation began, the sales of guns, pepper spray and home alarm systems have all soared in the Baton Rouge area. Residents also have filled self-defense and gun safety courses offered by the police and others over the weeks.
Even joggers now run in groups outside instead of alone or exercise inside because of the killer.
The slayings of more than three dozen women in and around Baton Rouge remain unsolved.
Kinamore's family has offered a $100,000 reward for the clues leading to the arrest and conviction of the killer, in addition to organizing monthly rallies for victims' families at the State Capitol.
Colomb was known by her family and friends by her middle name, Den?.
"She got sassy when I called her 'Trineisha,'" said her cousin, Deondra Narcisse.
Colomb was in the U.S. Army for about two years and planned to join the U.S. Marine Corps in February, her cousin said.
She even tried out for the reality television show "Survivor."
"She wrestled a live pig in the mud to send to the show," Narcisse said.
"When she put her mind to something, she'd just go for it. That's what I admired about her."
Sterling Colomb said he'd be interested in talking to the families of the other victims. He has been fielding several calls from reporters since the news broke about his daughter's death.
"I understand it, but I'm not in the mood for it. I've got to get myself together," Colomb said.
With his wife's death earlier this year and now his daughter's slaying, "It's no merry Christmas," Colomb said.
DNA confirms woman, 23, newest victim
By KEVIN BLANCHARD
kblanchard@theadvocate.com
Acadiana bureau
Associated Press photo
Authorities say Trineisha Den? Colomb, whose body was found in November near Scott, was slain by a man who also killed three Baton Rouge women.
LAFAYETTE -- A 23-year-old woman found beaten to death in November in Scott was killed by the man who killed at least three women in Baton Rouge, Lafayette Parish Sheriff Mike Neustrom said Monday.
DNA evidence indicates that the same person who killed Trineisha Den? Colomb of Lafayette also killed Gina Wilson Green, Charlotte Murray Pace and Pam Kinamore. Colomb is the first black victim and the first victim outside Baton Rouge linked to the serial killer.
Authorities have said all three had been sexually assaulted.
Authorities say Colomb died from blunt trauma to the head. They did not say whether she had been sexually assaulted.
Evidence matched genetic evidence from the other killings, Lt. Craig Stansbury said. The DNA results were finalized by the Acadiana Crime Lab on Monday morning.
Green, 41, was found strangled in her Stanford Avenue home Sept. 24, 2001. Pace, 22, was found stabbed to death in her Sharlo Avenue town house May 31. Kinamore, 44, was abducted from her Briarwood Place home July 12. Her throat was slit and her body was dumped near the Whiskey Bay exit from Interstate 10.
The Baton Rouge Area Homicide Task Force is investigating the serial killings and FBI profilers have said they believe the serial killer is a white male. More than 600 men, most of them white men, in the Baton Rouge area have been swabbed for samples to see if their DNA matches the killer's DNA.
After getting the news Monday, investigators with the Lafayette Parish Sheriff's Office immediately packed up their case files and drove to Baton Rouge, where they met with the task force, Detective Sgt. Allen Venable said.
Colomb's father, Sterling Colomb, also got the news Monday from investigators. Shortly afterward, Ann Pace, the mother of Charlotte Murray Pace, called Colomb to offer her condolences and support.
"He was nice, and I just wanted him to know that all of us were out there and support each other and contact each other regularly," Ann Pace said.
"I'm just so sorry because if they'd caught him anywhere along the way, everybody else would be alive," Pace said. "And I know they're doing their best and you can't do anything with information you don't have."
It's been a difficult year for the Colombs. The victim's mother died seven months ago.
Trineisha Colomb was last heard from about noon Nov. 21. The next day her family began to worry and called police.
A resident near Grand Coteau, in St. Landry Parish, noticed Colomb's car parked on Robbie Road on Nov. 21, a Thursday.
When the car was still there the next day, the man called authorities.
Inside Colomb's car were her keys, coin purse and license. Her family thought she had gone to the area to visit her mother's grave. The St. Landry Parish Sheriff's Office began a search where the car was found, Venable said.
But it wasn't until Nov. 24, a Sunday, that a rabbit hunter in Scott found Colomb's body in a wooded area off Renaud Drive, 20 miles from her car.
Two weeks after Colomb's disappearance and murder, a witness told investigators he had seen a white pickup parked behind Colomb's car on Robbie Drive on Nov. 21, Venable said.
Investigators had already contacted the task force in Baton Rouge about Colomb's murder because of its similarities to some of the Baton Rouge murders, Venable said.
The white pickup would seem to be another similarity. Venable said the pickup was described as an early 1990s model Chevrolet step-side truck, Venable said.
Task force officials have said they are looking for a late 1980s General Motors single cab pickup with bad paint and bad window tinting, a fishlike symbol on the tailgate and a partial license plate that included J, T, 3, 4, and 1.
Detectives hope someone else may have seen the truck in St. Landry Parish, or in the Scott area where Colomb was found.
Please call, "no matter how insignificant you think the information may be," Venable said.
The numbers to call are the Baton Rouge Area Homicide Task Force 866-389-3310 or 225-389-3310; the Lafayette Parish Sheriff's Office 337-232-9211; and the Lafayette Crime Stoppers 337-232-TIPS.
Venable and U.S. Attorney Donald Washington said there's no evidence to suggest the serial killer is from the Acadiana area, or for that matter, from Baton Rouge either.
Venable pointed out that Lafayette is at the intersection of two interstates, I-10 and I-49, and less than an hour away from Baton Rouge, Lake Charles, Alexandria and Morgan City.
"He could be from here. He could be from there, I guess. The possibilities are endless," Venable said.
Colomb's family had told investigators she had been meeting people on the Internet. Venable said detectives have ruled out some of the "Internet leads" but still have others to pursue.
Washington said the killer appears to be "highly mobile." He warned people to be wary of casual acquaintances.
The lack of apparent use of force in entering the Baton Rouge victims' residences indicates the serial killer "has the ability to gain the confidence and the trust of people," Washington said.
Since the investigation began, the sales of guns, pepper spray and home alarm systems have all soared in the Baton Rouge area. Residents also have filled self-defense and gun safety courses offered by the police and others over the weeks.
Even joggers now run in groups outside instead of alone or exercise inside because of the killer.
The slayings of more than three dozen women in and around Baton Rouge remain unsolved.
Kinamore's family has offered a $100,000 reward for the clues leading to the arrest and conviction of the killer, in addition to organizing monthly rallies for victims' families at the State Capitol.
Colomb was known by her family and friends by her middle name, Den?.
"She got sassy when I called her 'Trineisha,'" said her cousin, Deondra Narcisse.
Colomb was in the U.S. Army for about two years and planned to join the U.S. Marine Corps in February, her cousin said.
She even tried out for the reality television show "Survivor."
"She wrestled a live pig in the mud to send to the show," Narcisse said.
"When she put her mind to something, she'd just go for it. That's what I admired about her."
Sterling Colomb said he'd be interested in talking to the families of the other victims. He has been fielding several calls from reporters since the news broke about his daughter's death.
"I understand it, but I'm not in the mood for it. I've got to get myself together," Colomb said.
With his wife's death earlier this year and now his daughter's slaying, "It's no merry Christmas," Colomb said.
