Louisiana Man Who Confessed to Killing 23 Men Pleads Not Guilty

As his sister and family looked on, Ronald Dominique was rolled into court in a wheelchair on Tuesday. According to authorities, Dominique, 42, confessed to committing at least 23 murders between 1997 and 2005. The victims were mostly homeless men, many of whom led high-risk lifestyles of drug use and prostitution. Their bodies were found in remote locations such as sugar cane fields and ditches through southeastern Louisiana.

Police said that Dominique would entice his victims, all male, by offering them money for sex, or in some cases by offering them the services of "his wife" and then showing them a picture of an attractive woman. But he is not married. He would lead the men to his home, where he would ask if he could tie them up. In his statement to the police, he told them that if a man refused to be tied up, Dominique would let him leave unharmed. One of those men reported the incident to a task force that had been formed to investigate the murders in southern Louisiana, and that tip lead to Dominique’s arrest.

He was arrested at a homeless shelter in December. During his interrogation, Dominique, who has a heart condition, confessed to having murdered 23 people. He was booked and charged with raping and murdering nine of them in Terrebone Parish. The charges carry a possible death sentence. Dominique’s public defender, Anthony Champagne, would not speak to reporters about his client or his strategy for defending him.

In addition to the charges in Terrebone, Dominique has also been booked in connection with the discovery of two bodies found in Jefferson Parish, a suburb of New Orleans. Prosecutors are uncertain whether or not he will be prosecuted there because of a lack of evidence.

As each charge against him was read in court, Dominique mumbled "not guilty" in response, as the family members of some of his victims watched and listened. Angela Smith, the mother of one of his victims, grieved about the way in which her son was killed. "I couldn’t even see him," Smith told reporters. "That’s how bad a shape he was in when they sent him back to me. I just buried a box." After Dominique was arraigned, Smith said, "I wish I could have talked to him. I want to ask him, ‘Before you killed my child, what were his last words?’"