Nobody has been charged with killing Eugenie Boisfontaine. The question of who killed Eugenie Boisfontaine has sat open since 1997, when the 34-year-old LSU graduate student vanished from Baton Rouge and turned up dead two months later in a bayou fifteen miles south. Investigators have looked seriously at two of the serial killers operating in the area at the time, at her ex-husband, and at a man she had been dating. None has been publicly identified as a suspect, and the case remains open with the Iberville Parish Sheriff’s Office.1WAFB. Iberville Parish Sheriff’s Office Reopens 20-Year-Old Cold Case
What Happened to Eugenie Boisfontaine
Boisfontaine was last seen on June 13, 1997. She lived at 2009 Stanford Avenue, near the LSU campus, and often walked around the University lakes. The day after she disappeared, a jogger found her driver’s license and credit cards near the lakes. Her keys were recovered in the same area three days later. One account describes the credit cards as arranged in a circle rather than scattered, suggesting the scene was staged, though investigators have never publicly said what they made of it.2The Reveille. Cold Case Reopened
Roughly two months later, her body was found in Bayou Manchac in Iberville Parish. The remains were severely decomposed and had to be identified through dental records. A forensic examination determined she died from blunt force trauma to the head and had suffered a skull fracture.3WBRZ. Sheriff’s Office Opens Cold Case in Discovery Channel Series Because the body was recovered in Iberville Parish, that sheriff’s office took jurisdiction.
Derrick Todd Lee and Sean Vincent Gillis
Two serial killers were active in the Baton Rouge area in the years around Boisfontaine’s death. Derrick Todd Lee murdered at least seven women around Baton Rouge and Lafayette between 1998 and 2003.4Wikipedia. Derrick Todd Lee Sean Vincent Gillis killed multiple women in the area over a similar stretch. Investigators asked early on whether Boisfontaine’s 1997 murder belonged to either man.5WBRZ. National Attention, but No New Suspects in 1997 Cold Case Murder
The Lee theory had an unsettling geography behind it. Boisfontaine lived at 2009 Stanford Avenue. Gina Wilson Green, a 41-year-old nurse confirmed as a Lee victim, was found strangled in her home at 2151 Stanford Avenue in September 2001. Charlotte Murray Pace, a 22-year-old MBA graduate also confirmed as a Lee victim, had lived at 2107 Stanford Avenue before moving two days before her murder in May 2002. Pace had lived three doors down from Green. Three women connected to the same short stretch of street, killed within a few years of each other.2The Reveille. Cold Case Reopened
Even so, DNA never linked Lee to Boisfontaine, and he denied involvement. His earliest confirmed killing dates to 1998, a year after she disappeared, though some investigators have speculated his activity began earlier. Gillis was likewise never formally connected to her death.5WBRZ. National Attention, but No New Suspects in 1997 Cold Case Murder
Her Ex-Husband, Michael Schmidt
Boisfontaine’s ex-husband, Michael Schmidt, drew sustained attention from investigators. Their divorce was finalized around the time she disappeared. When police tried to collect DNA samples from people connected to the case, most cooperated. Schmidt did not. He refused to give a sample and hired multiple criminal defense attorneys, including a former United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Louisiana. The lead detective on the case, Rodie Sanchez, found that refusal suspicious.6Justia Law. Schmidt v Stassi et al, No. 2:2016cv15902 – Document 30
Declining a voluntary DNA request is legal, and it is not evidence of guilt. In a case with few solid leads, though, that refusal became a focal point and resurfaced years later when the investigation was revisited on television. Schmidt has not been charged with any crime related to Boisfontaine’s death.
The Man She Was Dating
Investigators also identified a man named Robert whom Boisfontaine was reportedly dating in the weeks before she vanished. Public details about him are limited, and the file does not say where the investigation into him led.
Why the Case Has Not Been Solved
Forensic conditions worked against investigators from the start. DNA technology in 1997 was far less capable than it is now, and freshwater degrades DNA quickly through hydrolysis. Boisfontaine’s remains had spent weeks in a Louisiana bayou through the summer. Recovering a clean genetic profile from the crime scene was difficult from the beginning.
In 2002, the Iberville Parish Sheriff’s Office sent evidence to the State Police Crime Lab for more advanced DNA analysis. No definitive links to other murders were established.2The Reveille. Cold Case Reopened Later rounds of testing used different evidence samples and still came back inconclusive.
In 2016, the Discovery Channel series “Killing Fields” followed Sanchez, who came out of retirement, and active detective Aubrey St. Angelo as they reopened the case on camera.7NOLA.com. That’s a Wrap for ‘Killing Fields’ in Louisiana Boisfontaine’s brother said the renewed attention produced “quite a few inquiries and possible new leads.”8PEOPLE. Killing Fields: Brother of Eugenie Boisfontaine Hopeful About Cold Case None has resulted in charges.
Where to Report Information
Anyone with information about Boisfontaine’s death can contact the Iberville Parish Sheriff’s Office at 225-687-5100.1WAFB. Iberville Parish Sheriff’s Office Reopens 20-Year-Old Cold Case The case is still open.