WHO MURDERED ROSE BORN?

Brad Goins Thursday, March 3, 2016 Comments Off on WHO MURDERED ROSE BORN?
WHO MURDERED ROSE BORN?

A Cold Case Being Investigated By The LCPD

Story By Brad Goins • Photos of Rose Courtesy of The Born Family

rb7 copy On July 8, 1998, Rose Born began her workday at the exact time the day began — midnight. Born made the donuts for the Paradise Donut shop at 529 W. 18th St., and just like the proverbial donut maker, she worked hard during long hours of darkness to get the donuts ready in time for the morning rush.

In her usual routine, by some point between 4 and 5 am, Born had made enough donuts to fill the shop’s display case. When the donuts were ready, she’d start letting in early customers, as well as delivery men or others who needed to transact business.

On that July morning in 1998, a customer showed up around 6 am only to discover the door of Paradise Donuts was still locked. When he looked inside, he saw Born lying on the floor behind the display case; from his vantage point, all that was visible was her head. He feared she might have been struck by a seizure or heart attack or some other debilitating medical event.

rb5 copy He walked to the fire station just a few dozen yards from the shop. Members of the fire department were concerned enough that they went to the shop, where one of them forced the back door open.

The fireman found Rose Born lying on her side in a pool of blood; much of her clothing was soaked in blood. There was a great deal of blood distributed around the shop.

The fireman ascertained that Born had no pulse.

The call came into the Lake Charles Police Dept. at 6:35 am.

When detectives arrived, they found Born had been stabbed multiple times. Severe defensive wounds on her hands showed there’d been a violent struggle between herself and her assailant. She’d gone to extraordinary measures to defend herself.

The notion that the motive behind the attack had been robbery was put on the back burner when detectives found that a substantial amount of money had been left behind in places where a thief could easily and quickly find it.

When detectives realized that Born’s vehicle wasn’t at the scene, they put out a BOLO (“be on the lookout for”) the vehicle — a maroon 1993 Toyota 4-runner. At 7:52 am (about an hour after the call to the LCPD), officers found the Toyota parked on the street in front of at 2440 rb3 copy Anita Drive. The keys had been removed from the ignition and were no longer in the car.

The Investigation

The murder was investigated by the Violent Crimes Task Force, which operated through the D.A.’s office at the time. The task force included members of each police agency in the parish and some state law enforcement agencies. Lead detective for the case was Vic Salvador, who is now the commander of the Civil Division of the Calcasieu Parish Sheriff’s Office.

While LCPD officers are absolutely dedicated to solving all murder cases, this case “struck a chord with a lot of officers,” says Deputy Chief Mark Kraus. The likely reason was the extreme violence and gruesomeness of the murder.

It was “the most violent homicide I’ve ever seen,” says Kraus. “I’ve worked a lot of bad scenes. None I’ve seen has been worse than this … She was brutally, viciously and violently murdered.” Capt. Eric Darling of the criminal intelligence division, who’s leading the investigation into the cold case, concurs, saying the crime scene was “what you see in the movies.”
rb10 copy As for the motive for the attack and, in particular, the extreme brutality of it, “There are still some unanswered questions,” says Kraus. LCPD Det. Dustin Gaudet, who’s assisting Capt. Darling in the cold case, elaborates: “We’re exploring the motive. We’re following up on a number of theories.”

One thing that isn’t puzzling police is the matter of why a criminal stole a vehicle; drove it for a short period; then parked at a nearby location. “It could be strictly utility — trying to get away from the scene,” says Gaudet.

The Victim’s Background

Before her death, Born had been doing the demanding donut maker gig for a decade. And she didn’t begin as a novice. Her family owned the Tasty Donuts shop that used to be located on Ryan Street.

rb4 copy LCPD officers knew that Born worked alone through the long night hours, and they kept tabs on her. As they drove down 18th Street in their patrol cars, they shined their “pop alley lights” — the bright searchlights with which police cruisers are equipped — into Born’s shop. Det. Darling remembers doing this himself on a regular basis as he drove past the shop at 2 or 3 in the morning. When Born saw an alley light, she waved to let officers know she was OK.

Today, five sisters and one brother of Born survive her.

The Current Cold Case Investigation

Until recently, the LCPD handled cold cases by assigning each case to a single detective who would investigate the case at his leisure. But this approach, says Kraus, just “didn’t work.”

In the new system, the LCPD will work more than one case at a time. But one case in particular will be worked “aggressively,” to use Kraus’ term. In this new set-up, for the one case that’s being worked aggressively, as many as 30 detectives will be given assignments. Detectives using this new approach “have done an absolutely great job so far,” says Kraus.

rb6 copy The Born case is the one that’s presently being worked in the aggressive manner. LCPD staff showed me the large room being used as the headquarters for the investigation. Rows of seats are aligned behind a number of large tables that are covered with dozens of photographs and reports that relate to the case. Large dry erase boards are covered with diagrams, lists and notes about the case.

One key aspect of the aggressive investigation is that the cold case team members will be using improvements in technology that were unavailable to police in 1998.

“Everything will be tested with DNA,” says Kraus. New serology tests and other tests that didn’t exist 18 years ago will also be used. Much of the testing will take place in the Southwest Louisiana Criminalistics Laboratory located right here in Lake Charles.

As with all the cold cases, the LCPD hopes that someone who is reminded of the case by this rb1 copy copy story will react with guilt, regret, remorse. The person with pertinent information may have acquired strong religious beliefs since the commission of the crime and may now wish to provide information as a result. For someone, the motivating factor might be the prospect of impending death. Someone who knows something might feel bad about going to his grave with information that could put a killer behind bars. It could be that this story will provide the last bit of motivation the person needs to muster the courage to come forward with the information.

Crime Stoppers is offering a reward for information leading to the capture of the perpetrator in this case. If you have any information that you feel might have a bearing on the case, contact the Lake Charles Police Dept.

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The Cold Case Series is the result of an ongoing collaborative effort between the Lake Charles Police Dept. and Lagniappe Magazine.

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