Murder in the Bayou

This is a sad and compelling story more about corruption in a small southern town than a murder mystery. Almost completely comprised of interviews with locals and mothers of the victims who repeat the same things again and again it just gets old after awhile.

This would have been more powerful presented in a two hour film rather than a five hour series.

I loved this series. True crime is my jam, and I'm a bit of a snob when it comes to it. Everyone thinks they have a story, and sadly most stories are a Dateline Exclusive at best. This story had me hooked from the first episode and after a bit of additional research seems to have told all angles adequately. I'm not sure who is responsible for the death of the 8 women, but that's not the point. The point is some shady stuff went down and no one is investigating it. I will definitely continue to follow this story. You won't be disappointed for investing 5 hours of your life on this series, but you'll definitely be irritated by the lack of energy spent looking for the killer(s). Shady, y'all

This "Showtime" doc series based on a real life case and from a best selling book this series "Murder in the Bayou" takes a raw and haunting look which is revealing and painful at the 8 unsolved murders in small rural Jennings, Louisiana that all spanned during early to mid 2000's. In fact many thought the "HBO" series "True Detective" was based on this real life case. However watching the real life cases shown is interesting, and compelling as interviews with family members of the victims and reporters covering the case sheds light on a haunting and painful case of sorrow and injustice. Also shown and highlighted is interviews and revealing info on possible suspects and it looks into police corruption and cover up as connections may be linked to the women's death, even though all lived high risk lives of drugs and sex. The news footage and clips of finding their bodies on back rural roads that have swamps and canals is very scary and telling that evil lurks in a small town. Overall well done engrossing series that seeks justice and sheds life on memory of victims all while showing how evil and corruption is tied together.

This was a Showtime network presentation, I found it available as a 5-part series on a set of DVDs from my public library.

I grew up not far from Jennings, as college students we drove through Jennings on weekends to get to the night spots in Lake Arthur. Four of us even spent part of a night in the Jennings jail for mischief in 1965. So I have a natural curiosity for these yet unsolved murders over a 4-year time period 40 years later in the Jennings area. The area seems to have seriously gone downhill over the past 40+ years.

While the subject is always interesting 4.5 hours is a long time to spend watching more and more of what is basically the same result. So I watched the first and the last episodes completely. The gist is the Jennings locals, particularly family and friends of the eight victims, are frustrated by what they judge is lack of interest and lack of effort by law enforcement, including the FBI. Conversely law enforcement think they are doing everything they can to solve the crimes.

There definitely is a "power of the pen" at work here, the way the journalist put together the material for his book and ultimately the documentary. While he can't declare this without facing libel, he strongly suggests that more than one person in law enforcement are responsible for the murders, after each victim came to know too much and put the men in danger. The victims in general were young street ladies who were involved in the local drug and prostitution activities, and certain statements indicate certain law enforcement men were in on the action.

Overall a very interesting, if perhaps a bit too long, presentation of a yet unsolved crime spree. If nothing else it puts a face of reality on how difficult it is to investigate and solve crimes like these, it seldom works out quickly and neatly as we see on fictional movie and TV murder cases in small communities.

To the person who says he will avoid Jennings when traveling by highway east or west, I say don't worry, I-10 only passes on the extreme north boundary of Jennings, you'll not really see Jennings unless you head south on highway 26.

What a tragic story - 8 unsolved murders whose investigation was epically bungled by this small town's stereotypical hillbilly police department. The families of these women have had to live with not knowing the truth about how and why their loved ones died. The level of sheer incompetence of law enforcement in this town would be amusing if there weren't real people suffering because of it. Bring in some outside investigators, the homegrown yahoo cops aren't capable of getting the job done.