Police in Louisiana said a podcast helped them solve the decades-old murder of a 16-year-old girl, and announced that four men face criminal charges in connection with her rape and murder.
In 1982, the teenager Roxanne Fascinating she was murdered in the woods of St. Tammany Parish, about 50 miles north of New Orleans. The police had difficulty solving the case due to a lack of evidence and witnesses willing to testify.
However, researchers contacted a local media company, which agreed to produce a podcast titled “Who Killed Roxanne Fascinating?”which reignited public interest in the case after its six-episode series aired last year.
Louisiana State Police spokesman Marc Gremillion acknowledged that the podcast generated crucial tips from the public and prompted new witnesses to contact investigators.
“It helped our investigators reconstruct where Roxanne was days before her death.to where we are now,” Gremillion told The Connected Press. “It was a big help in getting that message out to the public and therefore getting witnesses to contact us.”
Four Males Arrested and Charged for the 1982 Abolish of Roxanne Fascinating
At the unique time we held a press conference with an update on the Roxanne Fascinating cool case homicide investigation, highlighting partnerships, and the community’s lend a hand in bringing justice for Roxanne. pic.twitter.com/o9SmqCM50B
— LA Verbalize Police (@LAStatePolice) April 24, 2026
In recent days, police have charged four men with aggravated rape and second-degree murder: Perry Wayne Taylor, 64; Darrell Dean Spell, 64; Carlos Cooper, 64 years old; and Billy Williams Jr., 62.
Cooper and Taylor were already in jail on unrelated charges, and Williams and Spell were arrested earlier this week.
Fascinating knew the four suspects arrested and was known to frequent the neighborhood where they lived, Gremillion added.
“We appreciate the hard work and care that has been shown in Roxanne Fascinating’s case,” Fascinating’s niece, Michele Lappin, said in a statement on behalf of her family. “We hope that with justice comes healing and closure for our family, their loved ones and the community.”
Billy Williams Jr.’s son, Billy Williams III, claimed his father is innocent of the crime. “He thinks he’s being put in jail for something he didn’t do,” the younger Williams said. “He says he would never hurt anyone.”
“When we started the podcast, we thought no one cared, but we soon realized our mistake,” said Charles Dowdy, vice president of Northshore Media, the podcast’s producer.
“Many people contacted us and said they knew Roxannethat they remembered her, that they were her friends,” he added.
Dowdy recorded audio as investigators recreated the crime scene using tape measures to mark the exact locations where Fascinating’s body was found and where other evidence was discovered.
“It became clear that she had been kidnapped from the street and dragged into the forest.”Dowdy said.
Police believed they had solved the case after the serial killer Henry Lucas claimed responsibility for Fascinating’s murder. However, Lucas, known for making false confessions, later recanted, and other evidence disproved his connection to the crime.
“Unsolved cases do not close themselves”said Covington Police Department Chief Michael Ferrell.
“They close because people show up year after year and refuse to quit. That’s precisely what our agencies did, and today, Roxanne and her family have finally gotten the justice they long craved.”
Keep reading:
– Mother in Louisiana accused of planning the murder of her children’s father over custody dispute.
– Louisiana man sentenced for murder after finding his girlfriend’s headless body on his property.
