Derrick Todd Lee (born November 5, 1968 in St. Francisville, Louisiana, USA) is a convicted serial killer, nicknamed the Baton Rouge Serial Killer.[1]
He was linked by DNA to the deaths of seven women in the Baton Rouge and Lafayette areas in Louisiana, and in 2004 was convicted of the murders of Geralyn DeSoto and Charlotte Murray Pace. Newspapers have suggested Lee can be linked to other unsolved murders in the area, but the police lack DNA evidence to prove these connections. After Lee’s arrest, it was discovered that another serial killer, Sean Vincent Gillis, was also operating in the Baton Rouge area during the same time as Lee.
Lee’s methods varied with nearly each murder. Similarities between the crimes included the removal of cell phones from the victim’s belongings, and a lack of any visible signs of forced entry into the location where the victim was attacked. Most of the murders were committed in the area around Louisiana State University (LSU). Two of the victims’ bodies were discovered at the Whiskey Bay boat launch, approximately 30 miles west of Baton Rouge, just off of Interstate 10.

Geralyn DeSoto
ReliaGene Technologies Inc. in June linked Lee to the January 2002 slaying of Geralyn Barr DeSoto. ReliaGene analyzed DNA evidence under the fingernails of DeSoto and said the results of its testing linked Lee to the 21-year-old Addis woman’s death. ReliaGene used a relatively new DNA test that focuses on the different DNA markers on the Y chromosome(Y-STR)to link Lee to DeSoto’s murder,
Once Lee was identified (using DNA evidence) as the primary suspect in these crimes, law enforcement located and captured him in Atlanta, Georgia. Lee waived extradition and was returned to Baton Rouge, where he was tried in August 2004 for the murder of Geralyn DeSoto. Desoto had been found dead in her home in Addis, Louisiana, and she had been stabbed numerous times. DeSoto’s husband had initially been the primary suspect in her murder, but as the investigation progressed, DNA evidence linking Lee to the crime had been discovered. Although Lee was eligible for first degree murder charges, the District Attorney elected to try Lee for murder in the second degree, because DeSoto had not been sexually assaulted and thus a first-degree murder conviction would be harder to obtain. Lee was convicted by jury and sentenced to life imprisonment without parole.