The Brutal Murder of Genore Guillory

As Monday morning slipped into Monday afternoon, a small crowd gathered at Genore's house.� Several friends from work had come from Baton Rouge and members of Genore's family had driven in from Opelousas, La.� Her neighbors Phillip and Amy Skipper� were also there.�

Phillip Skipper

Phillip was 23.� He and his wife, Amy, had a baby boy.� They also had custody of a 15-year-old named John Baillio.� Baillio had lived with the Skippers for about two years.

The four of them lived in a trailer across the road from Genore.�

The Skippers were dirt-poor.� Genore had practically adopted the young couple and their baby.� She hired Phillip and John Baillio to help her take care of her dogs and her horses and to mow the grass on her property.� She paid Amy to clean her house.� Genore even picked up the tab for a birthday party at a local pizza joint for the Skippers' son.

Because the Skippers didn't have a telephone, Genore gave Amy a key to her house so they could use her phone whenever they needed.

It was an unusual relationship, a middle-aged black woman and a young white couple in a parish where a statue of a Confederate soldier still stands guard in front of the courthouse, but it seemed to work well.�

Genore's family asked Phillip and Amy Skipper if they would do their best to clean up her house.

The Skippers agreed.