Create a free profile to get unlimited access to exclusive videos, breaking news, sweepstakes, and more!
What To Know About The ‘Bayou Strangler’ Before ‘Mark Of A Serial Killer” Returns
Before watching "Mark Of A Serial Killer," learn how a task force tracked Louisiana's “most gruesome serial killer,” a person strangling homeless men to death.
In 1997, dead men began turning up in remote sugarcane fields and ditches in seven parishes outside New Orleans. That marked the beginning of Ronald Joseph Dominique’s nine-year killing spree.
By the time it was over, the “Bayous Strangler,” as he notoriously became known, had left his deadly signature on nearly two dozen victims, reported cbsnews.com.
In “Mark Of A Serial Killer,” returning for new episodes on Oxygen on Saturday, April 2 at 8/7c, investigators take a deep dive into the case and others like it. In advance of the show’s return, here’s what you need to know about the infamous Bayou Strangler.
Who was the killer?
Born in 1964 in the small town of Houma, Louisiana, Dominique grew up an outsider. He’d lived with his sister in a trailer park before moving into a shelter, the Seattle Times reported in 2006.
By appearance’s sake Dominique was unassuming. He lived under the radar for years, working as a pizza deliveryman and meter reader, according to the book “The Bayou Strangler: Louisiana's Most Gruesome Serial Killer.” Despite his quiet demeanor, Dominique had a fair share of minor scrapes with the law including traffic violations and busts for disturbing the peace.
His crimes escalated in August 1996, when he was charged with forcible rape. The case didn’t go to trial because the victim couldn’t be found. Being briefly behind bars left him determined never to go back there, authorities said.
What was Dominique’s telltale mark?
Dominique targeted men, many of them homeless, between the ages of 16 and 45, according to various reports.
Dominique apparently was able to charm his victims into accompanying him, according to the director of investigations for the state attorney general’s office, the Seattle Times reported in 2006. Dominique is believed to have raped his victims before killing them, the article added.
“All were found bound and had been killed in similar fashion,” reported cbsnews.com in 2006.
Dominique confessed to strangling or suffocating 23 men. He provided details that the killer would have known.
What happened to him?
Find out how Dominique was caught, how he avoided being put to death, and where he is today in “Mark of a Serial Killer,” which returns to Oxygen on Saturday, April 2 at 8/7c.
