Biloxi Confidential

On September 22, eight days after the murder, the Sherry children were finally allowed back into the home. The crime scene investigation was wrapping up and it was felt that maybe Lynne and the others could add a few details that might help.

The scene that greeted the Sherry offspring was as gruesome as it must have been on the night of the murders, minus the bodies. Blood stains were everywhere. Accompanied by investigators as they toured the house, Lynne noticed her mother's pill case, one with separate compartments for each day of the week. Margaret had been taking medicine for her thyroid and high blood pressure. The compartment for Sunday was empty but the compartment for Monday had two pills left in it. "They were dead Monday night by ten o'clock," Lynne announced.

To skeptical investigators who had, thus far, not been able to establish a time frame for the murder, Lynne explained that Margaret took her pills in the morning, then again just before bedtime after the 10:00 news. Her habits were so regular like clockwork that it would have been very unlike her to have missed a scheduled dosage.

Investigators began piecing other bits of evidence together. Margaret's phone conversation with her friend Dianne Harenski at 7:00 narrowed down the time frame to a three-hour window between 7:00 and 10:00 p.m. on Monday, September 14. With this established, the sighting of the yellow Ford Fairmont took on greater significance. It was seen outside the Sherry home by Robertson during that exact window of time.

During the Sherry children's walk-through, room by room searches were conducted for clues. Recorded phone messages were played and scrutinized for any possible leads. Vince's papers were closely examined and, despite references to known gangsters and criminals who were his clients, there was nothing of any substance that aided the investigation. A few small leads were followed but led nowhere.

The police, meanwhile, continued to regard Eric as their prime suspect. His explanation of his whereabouts on the day of the murder didn't appear to jibe with reports placing him in Biloxi right around that time. Investigators wanted him to submit to a lie detector test, but Lynne persuaded him not to do so, fearing that the shock and trauma of their parents' violent deaths could result in falsely incriminating results.

Finally, however, after continued insistence by authorities, Lynne backed down. She said that all four of the Sherry children would take the lie detector test on one condition: that Blessey submit to it also. Broussard personally carried the request to Blessey's office and was reportedly told, flat out, by the mayor, "I will not be considered a suspect. Now get the hell out of my office!"

Several days later Broussard was ordered off the case. Blessey told the Sheriff's Office's Chief Deputy he wanted Broussard removed from the task force investigating the murder, and the order was carried out. By this time, Broussard was the only one Lynne felt she could trust. Worse yet, another investigator who was working closely with Broussard, Buddy Wills, was also taken off the case and was replaced by Ric Kirk, the very Biloxi detective whom Robertson had allegedly seen in the yellow Fairmont on the night of the Sherrys' murder. The investigation was now looking suspiciously like a cover-up.