People Aren't Always What They Seem
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Staring at a lifelong partner through a wall of glass is not where one expects to find themselves. Leaving a trail of mutilated copses in his wake, all Sean Gillis could do is nod at his sweetheart, Terri Lemoine, and say, “Sorry honey-bunny, but yeah.” It was a world ending revelation for grief stricken Lemoine.
Like everything, the city of Baton Rouge, La. had a good side and a bad one. Sean Gillis came from the bad; he masked a tormented soul with a friendly face. That is what Lemoine saw when she first met Gillis at the late-night convenience store where she worked as manager. Introduced by a mutual friend, her first impression was that Gillis was a nerdy little guy just out of college; he was someone she thought felt safe. Lemoine tested Gillis at every turn, with her final test being a slap in the face – literally. One night, she deliberately started a fight and hit him. Gillis said to her, no woman should hit a man and no man should hit a woman. After this, Lemoine felt she had secured a safe, long and happy life.
But you can never genuinely know someone. Sadly, Lemoine would soon realize this to be true.
Gillis was haunted by his past. Specifically, his father, who was a man with mental problems that could have caused Gillis and his mother physical harm. One day, Sean Gillis’ mother Avon had come home to her husband pointing a gun at her son’s head, threatening to kill him and her. Somehow, the family got through the incident alive… but for family patriarch Norman Gillis, that meant being committed to life in an insane asylum.
On March 19, 1994, the dark streak that ran in Gillis Sr. came out in Sean like never before. Sneaking into St. James Place, a retirement home for the elderly, Gillis walked into Ann Bryan’s home. Bryan’s door was unlocked, which was usual when she expected annual check-ups, so Gillis found no trouble slipping through an ajar door and making himself at home. Bryan was mutilated and badly beaten. The next day she was found by the retirement care takers. They would call the police but with no evidence or leads to follow on a woman so beloved, the case ran cold fast. Bryan was remembered as a sweet lady, loved by her family and friends, respected by all who knew her.
At 29 years old, Gillis’ mental troubles were known by the neighbours. In the night, they could hear him banging on trash cans and howling at the moon. This hysterical behaviour only began once Gillis’ mother moved away. He had an attachment so deep to his mother that he could not accept that she had to move on. Avon Gillis went in pursuit of a career and, after years of taking care of her son, Sean didn’t want to let her go.
On January 4, 1999, Gillis went out on a late-night drive in search of something to satisfy his disturbed desires. Along the road he found a lady of the night, prostitute Kathrine Hall. Hall was found the next day under a dead-end sign, covered in multiple stab wounds and ligature marks. It was clear Gillis’ prior crime had caused him to become more bold with the police, leaving the mutilated body out in the open for all to see.
Meanwhile at home, Lemoine and Gillis were in a bit of a turmoil. Lemoine discovered Gillis’ perversions. One time, Gillis even showed Lemoine a picture of a mutilated body he had found on a police website. While his fascination was clear, Lemoine was repulsed by the pictures.
When living with Gillis, Lemoine continued to work her night shifts at the convenience store. This did not give them much time to spend together, and Lemoine suspected Gillis of seeing other women. When she went to bed at 5 a.m., Gillis would just be returning home. When Lemoine woke up for her shift, Gillis would sometimes be gone. And compounding her fears was Gillis’ responses when pressed. He gave her vague answers as to his whereabouts.
Gillis’ life outside of his relationship with Lemoine revolved around a small group of friends he would fall in and out with constantly. One person in particular was Johnnie-Mae Williams. Together, the friends would enjoy each other’s company by getting high.
It came as a shock to her family when she didn’t come home one night in January of 2003.
Williams disappeared for nine months. One day, a boy had lost his dog and went looking for him, riding his bike through the woods. Instead, the little boy found Williams’ mutilated corpse. She had been exposed to the elements for a long time, but the police could still see the ligature marks on her neck suggesting strangulation. But unlike the last murders, Gillis had decided to take souvenirs – the police found both her hands had been severed at the wrists. Williams was mourned, remembered for being loved by her friends and neighbours and known for doing their hair and being a great cook.
Gillis’ murderous rampage for the past 12 years had not unsettled the town, though, until the murder of Donna Bennett Johnston. A wife and mother beloved by her family was found dumped in a drainage ditch, beaten to death with a passion that could only be fuelled by rage. Her right arm had been severed and a three by three-inch square had been cut from her thigh.
This shock resulted in panic, everyone locking their doors and windows before bed, women attending self-defence classes and the majority of people refusing to go out at night. The police had to act fast.
At the crime scene, the police had found DNA matching that which had been discovered on Hall and Williams’ bodies. When they discovered tire tracks, the police knew they were closing in on their perpetrator. They obtained a list of people who had purchased that particular brand of tires – and at the top of that list was Sean Gillis.
When questioned, all Gillis could say was, “She was not unloaded from my vehicle.” This did not deter the police. They took a sample of Gillis’ DNA and sent it to the lab to be tested. Gillis knew he had been caught, so when he returned home, he spent his last remaining hours with his partner Lemoine.
The cozy night soon was replaced with terror as the police came down on the house, breaking down the door and arresting Sean Gillis. It wouldn’t be long before Lemoine learned the true nature of her lifelong partner.
Gillis went into great detail during his interrogation about his weapon, dubbed The Objectifier – a nylon tie lock he used to strangle the women – “because it would turn them from a woman to the object [he] would then be dealing with.”
The manipulation of dead bodies was sexually stimulating for Sean and once he started, he couldn’t stop. He continued on, confessing to crimes to the police had no idea he was connected. Included in his confessions were the murders of Ann Bryan, Hardee Schmidt on May 30, 1999, Joyce Williams on November 12, 1999, Lillian Robinson in January 2000 and Marilyn Nevils in October 2000 – eight victims in total.
Gillis said that sometimes the lines between right and wrong “fuzz out” and it’s not that he didn’t know the difference between right and wrong… he simply no longer cared. He was discovered to have had a brain dysfunction that would make it hard for him to resist impulses. Even with this, the courts decided not to commit him to a hospital but sentenced him to life in prison without parole.
A possible mental condition inherited by his father? Maybe, but the man was still a product of his own making. Like father, like son.
Kitty Snapp
As a person who loves the arts, she especially loves the art of writing horror. Being able to make people jump with just the written word is the sign of a truly great writer. That's what she aspire to be.
