The Brutal Murder of Genore Guillory

After a 14-month investigation, Detective Don McKey had four suspects in custody.  Johnny Hoyt, Phillip Skipper, and 16-year-old John Baillio were indicted for first-degree murder, aggravated burglary, and aggravated rape.

Phillip Skipper was also charged with the repeated aggravated rape of John Baillio, who had been in his custody for three years. 

A grand jury also indicted Lisa Hoyt for first-degree murder.

Lisa's involvement in the brutal murder of Genore Guillory surprised even hardened investigators at first, but later, after he learned more about her, Sheriff Talmadge Bunch changed his mind about Lisa.  "That's an evil, evil girl," the sheriff said.  "She comes from an evil family."

East Feliciana Sheriff patch

McKey kept digging.  He soon uncovered even more gruesome details about the four killers.

Less than two weeks after Genore Guillory's murder, a dope dealer in St. Helena Parish, a guy with a habit of flashing wads of cash, had been shot in the head on a gravel road.  Someone then set the dope dealer and his pickup truck on fire.

Just after the murder, Lisa Hoyt told friends that she was the one who shot the dealer in the head.  Her husband had just helped to burn the body.

Baillio said Hoyt told him about the murder before it happened.  He mentioned it when he came to pick up a gun from Phillip Skipper's trailer.

The four of them also dabbled in grave-robbing.

They broke into coffins and stole jewelry, watches, and gold teeth from the bodies of the dead.  It was dirty work.  Baillio remembers prying open the lid of one coffin and spotting a nice ring.  "When I pulled the ring off, the finger came off with it," he said.

Lisa bragged to a friend that the antique watch she wore came from a grave.

Sheriff Bunch has nothing but contempt for the whole group.  "They were taking people's teeth and making necklaces out of them," he said.