Weekends, holidays and the summer are times for students to take a break from school and relax. But over the past year, these times have led to an increase in awareness and fear.
With the murder of a University student, the University has taken steps to increase safety around campus. It also has tried to increase awareness within the University community through seminars and the Stay Safe campaign, especially with Spring Break near.
In August, police linked the murders of Gina Wilson Green, Charlotte Murray Pace and Pam Kinamore to one serial killer. Since that time police also have linked the murders of Dene Colomb and Carrie Lynn Yoder.
Green was found murdered Sept. 24, 2001, in her Stanford Avenue home, after she did not report to work Monday morning. She was murdered during the weekend.
Pace also was found murdered in her Sharlo home May 31, 2002. At this time people were leaving the area for summer vacation.
During the summer, Kinamore also was murdered. She was abducted from her Briarwood Estates home July 12, 2002, and her body was found July 16 in a secluded area off the I-10 Whiskey Bay exit.
The Thanksgiving break was the time Colomb was murdered in Lafayette. Colomb’s body was found Nov. 24, 2002, in a wooded area in Scott, La. Police connected her as the fourth serial killer victim Dec. 23.
The fifth serial killing was during the Mardi Gras break. Yoder, a biological sciences graduate student, was abducted from her home March 3. Police found her body in Whiskey Bay March 13 and connected her as the fifth victim March 18.
Lee Stanton, Yoder’s boyfriend, and Bill Platt, Yoder’s mentor and adviser, have been advising friends and co-workers to take steps to maintain safety when alone.
Stanton said the offender takes a risk each time he abducts a victim, but the risk is much lower at times when no one is around, such as Mardi Gras.
“People may leave town or stay with a friend, but if anyone is alone, the risks are lowered and that is when he reacts,” Stanton said. “We are vulnerable at some time.”
Platt and Stanton said they could account for 90 percent of Yoder’s time before her abduction, but when she was alone she was vulnerable.
Police have reported there has not been a forced entry into any of the victims’ homes; therefore Stanton and Platt said it is important not to open the door to anyone.
They propose people build a circle of friends who they know and trust and would let into their homes.
“They need to analyze who they consider trustworthy,” Platt said. “This is not to be done at the front door but ahead of time.”
Platt said he asked students in his lab to narrow the range of people to whom they would open the door, such as a person in a uniform, acquaintances and people who arrive at an abnormal time.
Stanton said the most important thing someone can do is not to put themselves in a place to be observed when alone.
“Not opening the door and having a dead bolt lock are your best defenses,” Stanton said.
They both believe there are two issues surrounding safety: University safety and personal safety.
Though the University is implementing new lighting and camera systems, Platt said personal safety is the most immediate issue.
Stanton encourages everyone to get a peep hole and to keep all doors locked.
He also said people cannot just depend on their roommates for safety because they still are vulnerable at some point.
“It doesn’t matter if you are with someone most of the time because he is watching you enough to know when you are vulnerable,” Stanton said. “You can’t keep them from watching you, but you can make sure he doesn’t get in the door.”
As students prepare for Spring Break, the Multi-Agency Homicide Task Force encourages students to stay in touch with friends and family while in town and while on vacation.
“We encourage people to be accountable to someone else,” said Baton Rouge Police Department Cpl. Mary Ann Godawa, task force spokeswoman.
She also asked that people leave an itinerary with someone not just when leaving town, but when jogging or going to the store. The itinerary should include when the person is leaving and returning and where they are going.
“If they are going out of town, it is important they call friends and family to tell them they have arrived safely,” Godawa said.