Opinion ID: 1910615
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Chaney Homicides: July 19, 1985

Text: A few blocks from the Ford home in Shreveport, at 213 East 72nd Street, Vivian Chaney lived with her boyfriend, Billy Joe Harris. Also living in the house was Chaney's brother, Jerry Culbert, and her three daughters, Carlitha Culbert, Tomika Chaney and Marla Chaney. Vivian Chaney, Carlitha Culbert and Jerry Culbert were sight impaired. Tomika and Marla Chaney are mentally retarded. Some time between 11:30 p.m. on July 18, 1985, and 6:00 a.m. the next morning, the back door to the Chaney residence was forced open. Jerry Culbert, Billy Joe Harris, Carlitha Culbert and Vivian Chaney were murdered. Each victim was found in a separate room. The youngest girls, Tomika, then 10 years old, and Marla, then 7 years old, were uninjured. Twenty-nine year old Billy Joe Harris was killed in his front bedroom bed. He was shot twice in the left side of the head through a pillow. He was also shot twice in the chest. After being shot, he was still alive: his throat was cut. His hands were tied behind his back with shoelaces. His right wrist was tied tightly and a loop was made for the left wrist in a handcuff ligature. His ankles were also tied together with shoelaces. A telephone cord was used to tie his hands to his ankles. He was fully clothed. Twenty-five year old Jerry Culbert was fatally shot once at close range in the left side of his head. He was found in his bed, still in his bedclothes, in the back bedroom of the house. There was no sign of a struggle; he was apparently killed while he slept. There were no ligatures on this victim. Fifteen year old Carlitha Culbert was found in the living room. She was lying on her stomach with her hands tied behind her with an electrical cord cut from an iron found in the house. The cord was wrapped tightly around her left wrist and then looped around her right wrist in the handcuff ligature. The electrical cord was loosely wrapped around her left ankle, as if there had been an attempt to hog-tie her. There was an untied piece of shoestring draped over her left leg. She had been gagged with silver duct tape. The shorts she was wearing were inside out. Her throat was cut. Her body was then moved slightly. While still alive, she was almost decapitated. Two large pools of blood were found by her body. One area of blood near her left knee contained a blotted semicircle. A second pool of blood was found by her neck, where she finally bled to death. Thirty-seven year old Vivian Chaney was found slumped over the bathtub. Her hands were tied behind her with a telephone cord. The cord came around the front of her waist and then down between her legs to tie her ankles. The bonds would have allowed her a hobbling walk. There was evidence that another ligature had been used around her neck to control her and to lead her around. The back of Vivian's dress had a large amount of Carlitha's blood over the buttocks area and the lower hem, indicating that Vivian sat in the pool of blood caused by the initial cutting of her daughter's neck. There was evidence of both manual and ligature strangulation. She had been beaten violently about the head. She died from a combination of manual strangulation and bathtub drowning. The bodies were discovered at 6:00 a.m. on July 19, 1985, by Shirley Culbert, the sister of Vivian Chaney and Jerry Culbert. She had just arrived from out of town and hoped to surprise the family. There was no answer to her knock at the front door, but she heard the stereo playing. She walked around to the back door, which opened when she knocked, and entered the house. She found Tomika and Marla asleep in a bed. It was very difficult to wake them. When she succeeded, the girls were hysterical. She took them out of the house and called the police. Relatives later discovered several items missing from the house, including Jerry Culbert's wallet, a jar of loose change, food stamps, a food stamp identification card, pictures of the girls and a striped tote bag. No money was found in the house, although Vivian Chaney had cashed a check for over $100 the day before. Despite the number and viciousness of the murders, Dr. McCormick testified that the crimes were the work of one person. In his opinion, the crimes were committed by a serial killer working alone. Serial killers not only kill repetitively, but their crimes escalate. McCormick thought that this crime was an escalation of the Deborah Ford murder committed by the same person. The serial killer probably lived in the neighborhood and would be among the crowd gathered at the scene. The scene indicated a logical progression as the sole murderer moved among the victims. The teenager, Carlitha, and a gun were used to control the adults. McCormick theorized that the killer threatened Carlitha's life to immobilize Vivian Chaney and Billy Joe Harris. Vivian Chaney was tied so she could walk; Carlitha's hands were tied. After binding Billy Joe Harris, the killer shot him through a pillow to prevent disturbing the sleeping Jerry Culbert. Jerry Culbert was shot while he slept. The murderer next cut Carlitha's throat but did not kill her. He made Vivian Chaney sit down in her daughter's blood before taking Vivian to the bathroom and killing her by strangling and drowning. When the killer returned to the living room, Carlitha had either moved or the murderer moved her. He finished killing Carlitha by trying to decapitate her. At some point, the killer returned to Billy Joe Harris and stabbed him in the neck. Investigative officers found pieces of duct tape consistent with the type used to gag Carlitha Chaney in the alley behind the Chaney house. Processing of the crime scene revealed three latent left palm prints on the bathtub over which Vivian Chaney's body was draped. McCormick theorized that the right-handed killer had used his dominant hand to hold her head under water while he steadied himself with his left hand. Testimony established that the fresh prints had been left after the tub had last been cleaned. The palm prints were later matched with Nathaniel Code's left palm print. Oscar Washington, a National Guard member, was jogging that morning at approximately 2:15 a.m. in the area where Henderson Street intersects with 72nd and 73rd Streets. As Washington jogged south on Henderson, he saw Nathaniel Code, whom he knew from the neighborhood. The men spoke for a few minutes, Code telling Washington that he was going to tend to some business. Washington noticed Code had a little brown paper bag rolled up under his arm. Washington continued his run. Code headed north on Henderson, towards East 72nd Street. About forty-five minutes later, Washington had turned around and was jogging north on Henderson. He again saw Code, this time between 73rd and 74th Street. Code, covered with blood, was heading south on Henderson. When Washington asked what had happened, Code stated he and someone had got into it and that he had come out on top and had gotten even. Code now carried a peppermint striped bag. Code tried to sell Washington various things in the bag, including a knife Washington described as a dagger with a seven to eight inch blade, a hand gun, credit cards, food stamps and some marijuana. Washington noted the food stamps were smeared with blood. Several days later, Washington again ran into Code. Code asked him, What did you see me do? When Washington told Code he did not know what Code was talking about, Code gritted his teeth and balled his fists. Washington testified Code made the same gesture when Code saw Washington sworn in as a witness. Although Washington heard about the Chaney homicides after they occurred, he did not know the details and did not immediately connect seeing Code that evening. A neighbor, Ernest Demming, saw Code standing on the corner of Henderson and 72nd Street and staring at the Chaney house at 5:30 a.m. on July 19, 1985, before the bodies were discovered. Code had been employed by a plumber from March 12 through the first week of July in 1985. A series of witnesses established that Code had never rented the residence at 213 East 72nd Street and had never done plumbing work in the house. Duct tape found in the alley behind the Chaney residence and the duct tape used to gag Carlitha Culbert were found to be chemically identical to duct tape later found at Code's house. The pieces of tape either originated from exactly the same roll or from separate rolls made by the same company. It was professional grade tape used by plumbers and other professionals, unavailable at retail stores. The two survivors of the murders did not testify. Both Marla and Tomika were examined by doctors prior to trial and found to be mildly mentally retarded. Tomika was interviewed several times by the police and by doctors. Sodium pentothal was administered in an effort to retrieve information about what she may have witnessed. She gave conflicting stories. The majority of the time she stated one killer broke in the back door carrying a knife with holes in it and a rope. Tomika's drawing of the knife matched the description of a knife missing from Deborah Ford's house. She also gave other statements about the killer and ladies breaking in that night and putting flies and spiders on the face of Billy Joe Harris. Officers arriving on the scene found flies on Billy Joe Harris; the coroner found evidence of post-mortem roach bites on his face. Marla was generally withdrawn. By joint stipulation, the state and defense agreed not to call the girls as witnesses. Testimony regarding Tomika's differing statements and a videotape of Tomika's interview were admitted in evidence.