John Peter Malveaux

Malveaux was born in 1964 in Opelousas, Louisiana. He was an altar boy as a child and later moved to a trailer park in Lafayette, where he married a woman and had six boys.^[1] According to neighbors and acquaintances, Malveaux was considered a friendly and respected man who was beloved by most people in his social circle, but was also known to have drinking problems and a strained relationship with the local Apostolic Church.^[1]

Malveaux's first suspected victim was Melissa Thomas, whom he allegedly strangled at the Little Zion Cemetery in the northern parts of Opelousas on January 31, 1996. Years later, Samuel Little confessed to her murder. On February 20, he sexually assaulted and strangled 38-year-old Diane Sam after she refused to have sex with him, and then dumped her partially unclothed body at an apartment complex in Opelousas, where it was found later that same day.^[2] At first, her death was erroneously attributed to natural causes, and was not linked to the murders until after Malveaux's arrest.^[3]

In July 1997, Malveaux raped and strangled two additional victims: 26-year-old Carolyn Breaux Nichols, a resident of Opelousas, and Tamika Blake Wilson, who was visiting from Baltimore, Maryland. Both women's bodies were later found abandoned near the St. Landry Parish Airport by a passer-by. On October 19, he met a woman at a nightclub in Opelousas and took her to a storage shed behind Lincoln Street, where he proceeded to rape and attempt to strangle her. Due to the overwhelming force she was being strangled with, the victim's eyes started bleeding and she lost consciousness, leading her attacker to believe that she was dead.^[4] Unbeknownst to Malveaux, she came to her senses a few hours later and ran to the nearest house to search for help, informing authorities that she had just been assaulted.^[4]

On October 29, Malveaux met 38-year-old Tammy Duplechin Smith at the Charcoal Lounge in Opelousas. He then drove to a rural spot in nearby Evangeline Parish, where he proceeded to rape and strangle her before leaving her body there, deciding to keep her Dodge Dynasty for himself.^[3]

Following Smith's disappearance, investigators started searching for any clues that help them find her, which included locating her car. On November 4, officers in Breaux Bridge found the car with Malveaux sleeping inside it, resulting in his immediate arrest.^[5] During subsequent interrogations, he was identified as a suspect in the murders of Thomas, Nichols, Wilson, and Smith, as well as the rape and assault on the surviving victim.^[6] The arrest came as a shock to his family and neighbors, most of whom claimed that while they knew he had problems, they had never thought he would be capable of murder.^[1]

Two days after his arrest, Malveaux confessed to killing Sam, revealing details about her death that only the killer could know.^[7] Due to this, authorities considered exhuming Sam's body in a bid to gather potential additional evidence against Malveaux.^[8] In the meantime, he was jailed at the Evangeline Parish Jail to await second-degree murder charges, with bond set at $1 million.^[9] Investigators from both parishes started coordinating with one another to make clear how the murders were carried out and what to do in future court proceedings.^[10] As a result of this, another woman came forward and accused Malveaux of raping her in 1995, but no charges were brought forward in this case.^[11]