Investigators are re-examining evidence from the 1997 murder of a University student to see if there is a connection to accused serial killer Derrick Todd Lee.
Eugenie Boisfontaine, a 34-year-old graduate student, was found in Bayou Manchac — south of East Baton Rouge Parish — in Iberville Parish in August 1997.
Boisfontaine apparently had been kidnapped while walking or jogging around the University lakes. Her body was decomposed, and her skull was fractured.
Forensic scientists used dental records to identify Boisfontaine. Authorities have said they did not have the capabilities to identify Boisfontaine using DNA evidence in 1997.
The Iberville Parish Sheriff’s Office gave evidence to the State Police Crime Lab in 2002 for DNA analysis, but no links to other murders were found.
The sheriff’s office recently asked the state Attorney General’s office for help in prioritizing a second investigation.
State Police Crime Lab investigators again are analyzing DNA evidence, but it is not the same evidence they examined in 2002, said Iberville Parish Chief Criminal Deputy Stephen Engolio.
“The evidence we submitted [in 2002] was found in the home,” Engolio said. “What they’re [the Attorney’s General’s office] looking at is from the scene.”
Kris Wartelle, public information director for the Attorney General’s Office, said the State Police analysis probably will take six weeks.
“We’re assisting the Iberville Parish Sheriff’s Office because they need our manpower and expertise,” Wartelle said. “We’ve asked them [State Police] to put high priority on this case.”
Boisfontaine was last seen June 13, 1997 by an exterminator at her home. A jogger found her driver’s license and credit cards the next day near the University lakes.
Police searching the area found Boisfontaine’s keys in the same area three days later.
Boisfontaine, who resided at 2009 Stanford Ave. at the time of her death, lived in close proximity to two victims who have been linked through DNA to Lee, though each of the murders took place in different years.
Gina Wilson Green, a 41-year-old nurse, was found strangled in her home at 2151 Stanford Ave. on Sept. 24, 2001. She was the first victim linked to Lee.
Charlotte Murray Pace, a 22-year-old who had just completed her MBA at the University, was stabbed to death in her home at 1211 Sharlo Ave. on May 31, 2002. She had moved from 2107 Stanford Ave. two days earlier.
Pace lived three doors down from Green at the time of Green’s murder.
Lee is accused of murdering Green, Pace, Pam Kinamore, Carrie Lynn Yoder, Trineisha Dené Colomb, Geralyn DeSoto and Randi Mebruer.
He also is charged in the rape of Diane Alexander.