S1: E19 – The Brotherhood, Part 2

Summary

American Homicide: "The Brotherhood, Part 2" – A Detailed Summary

Podcast Information:

• Title: American Homicide
• Host/Author: iHeartPodcasts and Glass Podcasts
• Description: American Homicide delves into mysterious and iconic murder cases across America, exploring how each crime is intertwined with its setting. Led by journalist Sloane Glass, the series features interviews with victims' families and investigators.
• Episode: S1: E19 – The Brotherhood, Part 2
• Release Date: February 27, 2025

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Introduction to the Case

Timestamp [02:44] The episode opens in Clinton, Louisiana, revisiting the brutal murder of Jenora Guillory, a 42-year-old single career woman, whose lifeless body was discovered in her farmhouse in the summer of 2000. The case immediately baffled detectives due to the severity of the violence and the lack of clear suspects.

Key Quote:

Detective Don McKee [02:44]: "You know, you have a woman who really had never done anything to anybody."

The Crime Scene and Initial Investigation

Timestamp [02:47] – [05:10] Detective Don McKee describes Jenora as a beloved member of her community. Despite the police identifying a handful of suspects, including a Baton Rouge police officer allegedly stalking Jenora, concrete evidence was scarce. The case seemed poised to go cold until a pivotal tip in 2001 redirected the investigation toward Jenora’s neighbors, the Skipper family.

Key Quote:

Detective Don McKee [03:07]: "No one really had any idea who did it. And there were some suspects."

The Skipper Family as Suspects

Timestamp [05:10] – [07:01] John Balio, Philip Skipper, his wife Lisa, and Johnny Hoyt, associated with a self-styled gang called the Brotherhood, emerged as primary suspects. The Grand Jury indicted them based on motives tied to financial gain from Jenora’s life insurance policy and underlying racial tensions.

Key Quote:

Chuck Hussmeyer [06:45]: "I think that it was an easy target for him right across the road. I hate to say it, because she was a black lady. I really believe this was a fine example and just a hate crime."

The Death Penalty Trials and DNA Challenges

Timestamp [07:46] – [11:24] Prosecutors sought the death penalty against all four suspects, but the lack of physical evidence, such as fingerprints or DNA linking them to the crime, complicated the trials. A crucial piece of DNA evidence found under Jenora’s fingernails did not match any of the suspects, weakening the prosecution's case significantly.

Key Quote:

Detective Don McKee [11:14]: "East Feliciana District Attorney Sam Daquilla says DNA gathered from one of the fingernails of murder victim Jinora Guillory does not match any of the suspects in the case."

Political Intervention and Reindictment

Timestamp [09:10] – [12:00] The case struck a nerve in the local community, leading to political repercussions. District Attorney Charles Shropshire faced backlash for his handling of the case, prompting his defeat in the subsequent election by Sam Daquilla, who vowed to bring justice. Under Daquilla’s leadership, the Grand Jury reindicted the suspects, reigniting the legal battle despite the DNA setbacks.

Key Quote:

Elbert Guillory [09:57]: "Sam DeQuilla was elected and just. He was everything that we could have prayed for."

The Trials and Convictions

Timestamp [17:46] – [24:29] Philip Skipper's trial unfolded in the historic Clinton courthouse, where John Balio’s testimony became pivotal. Balio recounted the brutal murder in vivid detail, implicating his friends in the heinous act. Despite defense attempts to redirect blame to the initial Baton Rouge officer, the jury convicted Philip Skipper and, subsequently, Johnny Hoyt based on the compelling, albeit singular, eyewitness account.

Key Quote:

John Balio [20:16]: "Philip Skipper, Johnny Hoyt, John Balliol and Lisa Skipper Hoyt were all sitting around the trailer getting stoned about 2:30 in the morning. Johnny Hoyt asked Balliol. Hey, do you want to go kill Genoa Guillory? That's how you'll get your tattoo."

Sentencing and Aftermath

Timestamp [24:09] – [34:54] The convictions led to life sentences for Philip Skipper and Johnny Hoyt, while Lisa Hoyt accepted a plea deal for manslaughter, receiving a 25-year sentence. John Balio, granted leniency for his cooperation, served only four and a half years. The Guillory family faced further tragedy with Jenora’s father passing away shortly after the trials, exacerbating their grief.

Key Quote:

Elbert Guillory [30:21]: "I don't believe that their attack on Genora was as much racial as it was financial, although I recognize that there are certainly some serious racial implications in this."

Continuing Struggles and Reflections

Timestamp [34:08] – [35:12] Post-trial, the community grappled with the repercussions. Johnny Hoyt attempted an escape in 2008 but was thwarted, leading to solitary confinement. Lisa Hoyt was released after serving her sentence, while John Balio continued to struggle with legal issues. The episode highlights the complex interplay between justice, community, and personal vendettas.

Key Quote:

Detective Don McKee [34:47]: "The DA really had a choice. Let all these killers go or get three of them. And he chose to get three of them, and, you know, he had to make a deal with the fourth."

Conclusion: The Cost of Justice

Timestamp [14:18] – [34:13] The episode concludes by examining the financial and emotional toll of high-profile murder trials in small communities. From the exorbitant costs of capital trials to the personal losses endured by the Guillory family, "The Brotherhood, Part 2" underscores the profound impact of unresolved justice on all stakeholders involved.

Key Quote:

Detective Don McKee [14:38]: "There were some budget constraints with first degree murder trials."

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Final Reflections

Sloane Glass masterfully weaves a narrative that not only chronicles a tragic murder case but also delves into the systemic challenges of the criminal justice system. Through interviews and detailed storytelling, the episode paints a comprehensive picture of the pursuit of justice in Clinton, Louisiana, highlighting themes of race, loyalty, and the high stakes of legal battles.

Notable Takeaway: The episode serves as a poignant reminder of the complexities inherent in solving and prosecuting violent crimes, especially in small communities where personal relationships and biases can profoundly influence outcomes.

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For More Information: Listeners interested in exploring further can reach out to the American Homicide team via email at [e-mail].

Transcript

[Sloan Glass]

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[Sloan Glass]

The vicious murder of a Louisiana woman left detectives puzzled.

[Chuck Hussmeyer]

She'd been shot five times, stabbed deeply five times, and vigorously beaten with an aluminum baseball bat.

[Sloan Glass]

The police had a handful of suspects, but there was a problem.

[Detective Don McKee]

They just couldn't find enough evidence to really convict them. You can't charge anybody without evidence. They will just drop the case rather than press forward on what they consider a weak case. So that just terrified everybody.

[Sloan Glass]

Today we're in Clinton, Louisiana, for the conclusion of the Brotherhood. I'm Sloan Glass, and this is American Homicide and a warning to our audience. This episode contains graphic descriptions of racial violence. Please take care while listening. In an early summer morning in 2000, police found Jenora Guillory stabbed, shot and beaten to death in the bedroom of her Clinton, Louisiana farmhouse.

[Detective Don McKee]

You know, you have a woman who really had never done anything to anybody.

[Sloan Glass]

Chuck Hussmeier is a former federal agent turned journalist who wrote about the murder.

[Detective Don McKee]

She was just the nicest person by all accounts. I mean, nobody Ever said anything bad about her. And to have somebody brutally murdered in her own bedroom. And no suspects. I mean, right there you got kind of the setup for a really bizarre case.

[Sloan Glass]

The 42 year old was a single career woman. She lived alone in rural Clinton, Louisiana.

[Detective Don McKee]

No one really had any idea who did it. And there were some suspects.

[Sloan Glass]

One of those suspects was a Baton Rouge police officer. He and Jinora were old friends who had reconnected and dated, but he kept hounding her to the point where her colleague said he was stalking her.

[Detective Don McKee]

I mean, he was the best candidate they could find. And, you know, that's who they went after. They even polygraphed him.

[Sloan Glass]

After he failed his polygraph test. The police got a search warrant, but they couldn't find anything that linked the officer to the murder.

[Detective Don McKee]

The case sort of went cold after they exhausted all their time on this particular police officer. But the detectives kept working on it.

[Sloan Glass]

It was a real struggle to find anything that would link a suspect to the crime, and it dragged on for months. About a year after the murder, detectives got a tip that led them to the house across the street from Genora where her good friends and neighbors, the Skippers, lived. Those were the only two homes on that dead end street.

[Detective Don McKee]

It's down at the end of this gravel road. It's an isolated area and there are no street lights. And the property directly across the street is where the Skippers lived in their trailer.

[Sloan Glass]

The Skippers were the first people detectives had questioned because they noticed some scratches on Philip and his steps on John Balio's arms. The two passed a polygraph and were cleared. But a year later, they re emerged as suspects.

[Detective Don McKee]

I don't believe they looked at the Skippers as suspects for a long time. I mean, they were out at the crime scene. In fact, once the crime scene, the sheriff's office released the crime scene. It's really up to the family to clean up the house. They actually hired the Skippers and John Balio to clean up the crime scene. So any evidence that might have still been there, anything the police may have overlooked, got swept away.

[Sloan Glass]

Well, this is a first for me. Potential suspects in the death of Genoara were paid to clean up the crime scene. In the last episode, we learned how John Balliol told detectives Philip Skipper and his brother in law, Johnny Hoyt, belonged to a gang.

[Detective Don McKee]

They had this sort of half assed gang they had formed called the Brotherhood. And they all had tattoos, and the only way to earn it was to kill somebody.

[Sloan Glass]

John Balio said his initiation into that gang involved Watching Genora's murder.

[Chuck Hussmeyer]

Genora and the Skippers had had a good relationship for a while. I mean, they had the ups and downs.

[Sloan Glass]

Detective Don McKee learned one of those downs happened a few weeks before Jinora's death. That's when the two sides had an argument over a dog getting loose and, and attacking the Skipper's goat.

[Chuck Hussmeyer]

They had had a falling out. Jeannora told them to quit coming over to her place, return the house keys, stay off her land, she was going to stay on hers and there wouldn't be no more contact.

[Sloan Glass]

We covered this previously, but with the new information given by John Balio, this falling out holds a different weight. On top of that, the Skippers were beneficiaries of one of Genora's life insurance policies. Prosecutors believe that money was part of their motive. And so did a grand jury. In 2001, that grand jury indicted John Balio and Philip Skipper, along with Lisa and Johnny Hoyt for the murder of Jinora Guillory.

[Chuck Hussmeyer]

I think that it was an easy target for him right across the road. I hate to say it, because she was a black lady. I really believe this was a fine example and just a hate crime. I mean, they, they wanted to kill a black person.

[Sloan Glass]

Jinora was black, the suspects were white. And all of that played into what journalist Chuck Hussmeyer learned.

[Detective Don McKee]

Philip Skipper and Lisa and Johnny Hoyt hated black people, absolutely hated them. That they were raised in this sort of post Klan culture and they hated black people. So you have all these white skinhead type guys, they befriend their next door neighbor who's this black lady who's just ridiculously generous to them, and then they turn around and kill her, you know, and they don't just kill her. I mean, they slaughter her. And part of the reason that I think they found it so easy to kill Genoa Guillory was that she was black.

[Sloan Glass]

The crime was absolutely shocking. And prosecutors were seeking the death penalty against all four suspects. But with no fingerprints, no murder weapon, no DNA, really nothing that connected the suspects to the murder, the district attorney got nervous.

[Detective Don McKee]

The district attorney, he initially charged Johnny, Philip, Lisa and John Ballio with first degree murder. But I don't think he thought he could win the case, you know, and as a cop and all the cops I know, you know, you always want them to just bring it to the jury, let the jury decide, you know, but most DAs don't do that.

[Sloan Glass]

Prosecutors asked the judge to break the cases into four separate trials, one for each suspect. The judge granted this request in the weeks leading up to the first trial, DA Charles Shropshire asked the judge for more time to collect evidence, but got denied.

[Detective Don McKee]

He just didn't feel like he had enough, I guess. So he dropped the charges against all of them.

[Sloan Glass]

And despite what the grand jury decided, without the proverbial smoking gun, the district attorney refused to move forward.

[Detective Don McKee]

In my experience in law enforcement, most prosecutors are extremely risk averse. They will just drop the case rather than press forward on what they consider a weak case.

[Sloan Glass]

The decision left the people of Clinton on edge. Four suspected murderers were suddenly back on the streets. As for the Guillory family, devastated, Jeannora's brother in law, Elbert, couldn't believe it.

[Elbert Guillory]

My daughter said, daddy do something. So that kept me pestering the law enforcement officers, the deputies to see what was going on and how it was proceeding.

[Sloan Glass]

That's when things got political. The Guillory case became a talking point when the District attorney, Charles Shropshire ran for re election. His challenger, a man named Sam Daquilla, made a campaign promise to bring justice to Genora.

[Elbert Guillory]

Fortunately, the voters recognized that they had a gutless district attorney and they threw him out. And a real district attorney came in.

[Sloan Glass]

In 2002, Sam D'Quilla beat incumbent Tarl Shropshire by nearly 20 percentage points.

[Elbert Guillory]

Sam DeQuilla was elected and just. He was everything that we could have prayed for.

[Sloan Glass]

Sam D'Quilla delivered on his promise and got a grand jury to again indict Philip Skipper, Johnny and Lisa Hoyt and John Balio. All were charged with first degree murder and faced the death penalty.

[Elbert Guillory]

We were very happy. There was a lot of relief on the part of the family.

[Sloan Glass]

That relief would be short lived. You may remember from the last episode that trace amounts of DNA were found under Jinora's fingernails. That DNA was sent off to a forensic lab. And since it was the early days of DNA testing, it took forever to compare to the DNA of the four suspects. When the results finally came back, prosecutors took another gut punch.

[Detective Don McKee]

East Feliciana District Attorney Sam Daquilla says DNA gathered from one of the fingernails of murder victim Jinor Guillory does not match any of the suspects in the case.

[Sloan Glass]

Without a positive match, the case against all four suspects got exponentially weaker.

[Detective Don McKee]

Nonetheless, prosecutors say right now they're proceeding with a capital murder trial sometime in June.

[Sloan Glass]

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[Sloan Glass]

When you think about murder trials, especially trials involving the death penalty, you probably don't ever think about the cost involved. But for the small town of Clinton, Louisiana, the price tag for trying four defendants with capital murder was astronomical.

[Detective Don McKee]

There were some budget constraints with first degree murder trials.

[Sloan Glass]

Former federal agent and journalist Chuck Hussmeyer covered the Genora Guillory murder trials.

[Detective Don McKee]

It involves a lot of extra steps. You have to bring in a psychologist. You gotta make sure to examine the defendants. There's just a lot of expense to a first degree murder case.

[Sloan Glass]

Here's something fascinating. Capital punishment cases in Louisiana require the defense to put together a mitigation team, usually composed of a psychiatrist, a psychologist, and a social worker, who analyze the defendant before, during, and after a crime. If a defendant can't afford that mitigation team, the state has to pay for it. There are also the costs involved with jurors. Louisiana state law requires jurors to be sequestered for the duration of the trial. That means 12 hotel rooms, three meals a day, and around the clock security. And when you're dealing with four separate trials, you have to multiply that by four. When it's all said and done, these cases would cost the state of Louisiana hundreds of millions of dollars. All of that played into why District Attorney Sam Tuquilla lowered the charges against all four defendants.

[Detective Don McKee]

They were all charged with second degree murder. It's an easier and less expensive series of trials he would have to go through, and it wouldn't bankrupt the parish. I mean, I know it seems silly to talk about that, but I guess budget constraints are a real problem.

[Sloan Glass]

So instead of the death penalty, each defendant now faced life in prison. But the DA wasn't done wheeling and dealing. His next move would be one of the most controversial.

[Detective Don McKee]

You make a deal with one of them, and in this case, the weak link was John Balio. He did seem as though he may have been one of the least culpable of the four. So that seemed like a good place to start. You're, you know, trying to make a deal. And that's exactly what the new district attorney did.

[Sloan Glass]

I don't blame the da. He was relying on the DNA under Genora's fingertips to be his smoking gun. Cutting a deal with one of the four suspects was one of DA Sam dequilla's final moves. If he was going to bring justice for the Guillorys. With the blessing of Genora's family, the DA made a deal that came at a cost. In exchange for his testimony against the other three suspects, the DA offered to charge John Balio as a juvenile, meaning he'd only be incarcerated until his 21st birthday. It was a gutsy decision that could backfire if the DA failed to secure convictions of the other three defendants.

[Detective Don McKee]

But I understand why the district attorney did it. Because without John Balio's testimony, there's just no evidence. So, you know, he had to make a deal with the devil to get some justice for Gennoir.

[Sloan Glass]

The first to go on trial was Philip Skipper. His trial took place in historic downtown Clinton.

[Detective Don McKee]

Clinton's kind of centered on a square, the town square.

[Sloan Glass]

Clinton's courthouse sits in the middle of that square. And the whole area looks like it's frozen in time.

[Detective Don McKee]

I think the courthouse is the oldest still functioning courthouse in America.

[Sloan Glass]

Built before the Civil War in 1840, the large white brick building with floor to ceiling columns takes up a city block and looks like something you'd find in Athens, Greece.

[Detective Don McKee]

Last time I was there, they didn't have an elevator. There was a lady with a handicap and she couldn't go up the stairs. So somebody had to literally carry her up and down the old flight of wooden steps. So it's sort of like stepping back in time when you go into Clinton.

[Sloan Glass]

That's why the town is so popular with Hollywood. Its downtown looks like an old movie set. The vampire drama True Blood as well as the Dukes of Hazzard are just two projects that were filmed there. And Hollywood also played a role in these cases at the time. And even today, having the most advanced forensics was something many jurors came to expect in trials because of what they saw on TV shows like csi. They call it the CSI effect. As Philip Skipper's trial grew closer, prosecutors were still falling short.

[Detective Don McKee]

They weren't able to really find any evidence that linked Philip Skipper to the murder.

[Sloan Glass]

Maybe because the Skippers were paid to clean up the crime scene. Prosecutors lacked DNA, so they had to rely on what they did have. That $25,000 payout from Genora's life insurance policy.

[Detective Don McKee]

And in 2000, it wasn't an enormous amount of money, but you're talking about two people who had to bum money from their neighbor just to buy diapers for their baby and were living in an old mobile home. So to them, it was quite a windfall profit.

[Sloan Glass]

The prosecution also had video evidence of the crime scene that detectives took after discovering her body. The footage contained no sound, but the gory images spoke volumes.

[Detective Don McKee]

It was so horrendous, and I was just stunned really, at how violent these people were.

[Sloan Glass]

Most importantly, prosecutors had the testimony of John Balio. His eyewitness account was crucial for securing a conviction. John began by showing the jury the tattoo located on his back that made him part of the brotherhood. Then, in graphic detail, he explained how he earned that tattoo. It was testimony that Chuck Hussmeier will never forget. And neither did I. After listening, this is very hard to hear.

[Detective Don McKee]

Philip Skipper, Johnny Hoyt, John Balliol and Lisa Skipper Hoyt were all sitting around the trailer getting stoned about 2:30 in the morning. Johnny Hoyt asked Balliol. Hey, do you want to go kill Genoa Guillory? That's how you'll get your tattoo. They walked across the street, mostly barefoot. They didn't want to leave shoe impressions.

[Sloan Glass]

Johnny Hoyt's wife Lisa knocked on Genora's door while the men hit off to the side.

[Detective Don McKee]

Genora came to the door in her nightgown. She had been sound asleep. And Lisa asked her for some money to buy the baby, meaning Amy and Philip's baby diapers. And true to her nature, Genor turned around to go get them some money, and that's when they pounced on her. And John Balio said that she didn't go down easily. I mean, she was really fighting him. And it's four on one, you know, three men and a woman. Johnny Hort punched her in the face first. She turned and ran to the phone. There's blood on the phone. She tried to pick it up to use it. She couldn't. She didn't have time. They hit her again. She reached in a drawer to get some kind of a knife. They kept attacking her. I mean, they're like rabid dogs, all right? They're attacking her. She's running. She went back into the house farther. She got into her bedroom, tried to lock the door. Naturally, they forced it open. One of them picked up a pretty heavy lamp off of a nightstand and just cracked it across her head. And that's what killed her.

[Sloan Glass]

It's almost unbelievable to think her neighbors and good friends, her employees, carried out these violent acts. Over the course of John Balio's testimony, he only admitted to tying up Jinora's dog, Cleo.

[Detective Don McKee]

I've heard a good bit of confessions. I've never heard one like that that was that brutal. I mean, that's one of the most brutal crimes I've ever covered in my post law enforcement career as a journalist.

[Sloan Glass]

But Philip Skipper's defense attorney promised the jury that he would unmask the real killer and pointed the blame at the original suspect, the Baton Rouge police officer named Steve. Remember him? Officer Steve was one of the original suspects who was said to be stalking Jinora. Steve took the stand and immediately denied stalking her. He said he stopped cooperating in the investigation because he felt like he was being framed. He claimed his polygraph was administered improperly and that's why he failed. In a bizarre moment during closing arguments, Philip Skipper's lawyer suggested a riddle that pointed to Jenora Guillory's real killer. There's no way to say this that doesn't sound ridiculous. He said Genora took five shots, five blows and five stab wounds. Five, five, five. He then casually added that Steve was born in May of 1955. In other words, 5. 5, 5.

[Detective Don McKee]

So that's a bit odd. Yeah, you don't see that every day.

[Sloan Glass]

It was a ridiculous argument and the jury knew it. They deliberated for less than an hour and found Philip Skipper guilty of second degree murder.

[Detective Don McKee]

Philip Skipper got life in prison.

[Sloan Glass]

The judge called Genora's murder brutal, senseless and gruesome. He sentenced Philip to life in prison and said he wished he could give him even more than that. At the time Johnny Hoyt stood trial, Louisiana law required only 10 of 12 jurors to find the defendant given guilty to secure a conviction. That law, by the way, has since been eliminated. But at the time, prosecutors played the odds. And once again, John Balio's testimony was central to their case.

[Detective Don McKee]

According to John Balio, Johnny Hoyt came into town the night that they killed Genoir and was instrumental in participating in the murder.

[Sloan Glass]

But Johnny Hoyt's lawyer worked to pin the blame back on John Balio. He argued that years of abuse from Philip Skipper turned John into a murderer.

[Detective Don McKee]

Philip Skipper sexually abused him for years. You know, he burned the kid a lot with cigarettes and, you know, beat him. Sexually abused him.

[Sloan Glass]

Johnny Oitz lawyer called John Balliot's testimony a rotten worm infested apple. He told the jurors that you don't eat around the rotten part, you throw it all away. Well, the jurors threw that argument away. They needed about two hours to find Johnny Hoyt guilty of second degree murder. What's interesting about that is only 10 jurors voted for guilty, but it was enough to convict and have Johnny Hoyt spend the rest of his life in prison. That meant Johnny's wife, Lisa Hoyt, would be next to go on trial. But after seeing her husband and brother get put away for life, she decided not to test her luck.

[Detective Don McKee]

She never went to trial on this case. She pled guilty to a manslaughter count and she got the 25 year max for manslaughter.

[Sloan Glass]

She should feel lucky that's all she got. All these people are evil. But there is something about a woman using a baby to trick another woman that feels really evil.

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[Sloan Glass]

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[Sloan Glass]

Shortly after all of Jenora Guillory's killers were sentenced, tragedy struck the Guillory family once again.

[Elbert Guillory]

Jenora's dad, just a few weeks after the last trial, died really of a broken heart.

[Sloan Glass]

Jenora's father was 70 years old. He passed away in July 2005.

[Elbert Guillory]

He loved this child, he loved his family and so it had a very negative effect on him.

[Sloan Glass]

Jenora's dad was buried next to her in their hometown of Eunice, Louisiana. In a nod to Genora's love of animals, her tombstone features a drawing of a dog and a horse. If Jinora was still alive today, her brother in law imagines those animals would still be a big part of her life.

[Elbert Guillory]

She'd still be living in Clinton, would probably have had to buy more land to house the dogs and horses and other assorted animals that she would ever come across.

[Sloan Glass]

Another wrinkle in this whole story is that long before the Skippers were suspects, they reached out to Elbert for help collecting Jinora's life insurance policy.

[Elbert Guillory]

Within a couple of days of her death, the Skippers contacted me with the policy and I assisted them in getting it paid.

[Sloan Glass]

Albert never found it unusual because he was aware of the policy.

[Elbert Guillory]

Actually, Jeannora had told the family that in case Anything happened, what would happen to her, the Skippers would be provided for.

[Sloan Glass]

And so helping the Skippers collect that money didn't raise any red flags.

[Elbert Guillory]

It did not seem out of the ordinary at all. They were in necessitous circumstances. It was purely her love for that family, her concern for that family's well being and her insistence on participating in their future in a positive way.

[Sloan Glass]

No one, including Albert, saw the Skippers as anything but helpful and friendly neighbors.

[Elbert Guillory]

Skipper family was right there with us. They behaved just as one would expect close friends to behave.

[Sloan Glass]

Obviously, Albert's feelings about Philip and the skippers have done a 180.

[Elbert Guillory]

I would not sit here and tell you that I did not consider a number of ways that I could have gotten some time with Philip Skipper or reached out and touched him in some way. And when I say reached out and touched him, I didn't mean a gentle pat on his back. But the court system, the criminal justice system is something that I've chosen to live by and so I live by it.

[Sloan Glass]

Some, including one of the detectives who worked this case, have labeled the murder of Jenora Guillory a hate crime. But Elbert disagrees.

[Elbert Guillory]

I've never related this to Louisiana or conditions in Louisiana. The skinheads exist in America and that's just a part of life. I don't believe that their attack on Gennoro was as much racial as it was financial, although I recognize that there are certainly some serious racial implications in this. Philip's cohorts had to be really upset and angry at the fact that in this world Genora could be so successful while they were so unsuccessful. And so I'm sure that that inflamed their racial passions.

[Sloan Glass]

In 2012, Philip Skipper underwent surgery in prison and died. There's no indication of what happened, but given that he was just 34 years old, perhaps some prison justice was done. Philip was survived by his wife, Amy Skipper, who is one person we haven't talked much about. Amy Skipper was never charged in the case. She was pregnant at the time of Jenora's murder and testified that she was asleep when the others carried out the crime.

[Detective Don McKee]

And as far as I know, she hasn't been charged with anything. She wasn't really involved in it.

[Sloan Glass]

Chuck Hussmeier has his opinions on this.

[Detective Don McKee]

Philip Skipper and Johnny Hoyt, they're from Livingston Parish. When I was young and even when I was first in law enforcement, Livingston Parish was like known as the home of the Klan. My first partner at the DA's office was a black investigator. And we had to go over there to serve a warrant or a subpoena or something. And he's like, I ain't gonna be over here after dark. I'm like, why? He goes, cause you just can't if you're black. That's the reputation Livingston Parish had. So not surprising that these guys grew up like that.

[Sloan Glass]

And that's how a man working in the DA's office felt. Imagine being a woman living in an unpopulated road. That was Jinora's reality every day. Still, she believed she had friends watching her back.

[Detective Don McKee]

There's no doubt that they were nice to her at the time. But that all turned out to be a, you know, a mask. John Ballio said they would always call her names behind her back and sort of belittle her and talk about how they had fooled her. I mean, I wish she had had a more skeptical bone in her body somewhere, because we wouldn't be having this conversation, and she'd be living out there with her dogs right now.

[Sloan Glass]

So then there's Johnny Hoyt. Today, Johnny Hoyt is serving out a life sentence. In 2008, Johnny was due in court on an unrelated murder charge. According to the warden, that's when he planned to escape using a makeshift handcuff key. Unfortunately for Johnny, prison officials caught wind of his plan. He was put into solitary confinement in 2010 and remained there for the next decade. Then in 2020, Johnny sued the prison, claiming his rights were violated. A judge dismissed the suit in 2023. As for Johnny's wife, Lisa Hoyt, she took a plea deal and served just over 20 years. Today, she is a free woman. That leaves us with John Balio, whose confession and cooperation helped to bring justice for Jenora Guillory.

[Detective Don McKee]

By the time this case was sort of solved and they charged Everybody, he was 19, maybe 20. So he was, you know, facing a possibility of juvenile life, which is not but like a year. You know, he's already almost 20 years old.

[Sloan Glass]

Including time served, John Balio ended up spending about four and a half years in jail.

[Detective Don McKee]

The DA really had a choice. Let all these killers go or get three of them. And he chose to get three of them, and, you know, he had to make a deal with the fourth. I think it's a total miscarriage of justice to have to cut a deal with a guy like John Balio and give him, you know, one year in jail for murdering somebody like Janoah Guillory. I mean, but I understand why the district attorney did it, because without John Ballio's testimony. He wouldn't have gotten convictions on the other three. I mean, he did what he could do to get himself the best deal possible.

[Sloan Glass]

John Ballio was released from prison on his 21st birthday, but he'd quickly find his way back.

[Detective Don McKee]

He's been in and out of jail since he was released on the Gennora Guillory case. You know, he's been arrested a few times. He's just part of that group of people. They're, you know, in and out of prison all the time.

[Sloan Glass]

Next time on American Homicide. A friend's night out ends up in murder and exposes a bizarre love triangle. I'm Sloan Glass. We'll head to Covington, Louisiana for the story of Thomas Talley. That's next time on American Homicide. You can contact the American Homicide team by emailing [e-mail] that's AmericanHomicidePodmail.com American Homicide is hosted and written by me, Sloan Glass and is a production of Glass Podcasts, a division of Glass Entertainment Group in partnership with iHeart Podcasts. The show is executive produced by Nancy Glass and Todd Ganz. The series is also written and produced by Todd Ganz with additional writing by Ben Federman and Andrea Gunning. Our associate producer is Kristin Melchuri. Our I Heart team is Ally Perry and Jessica Krynchak. Audio editing, mixing and mastering by Nico Aruka. American Homicide's theme song was composed by Oliver Baines of Noiser Music Library, provided by My Music. Follow American Homicide on Apple Podcasts and please rate and review American Homicide. Your five star review goes a long way towards helping others find this show. For more podcasts from iHeart, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. Everyone's talking about the weight loss benefits of GLP1 medications, but let's be honest, they can be hard to get and extremely expensive. That's where Henry Meds comes in. Whether you have insurance or not, Henry meds makes compounded GLP1 weight management treatments. Affordable and accessible for everyone that qualifies. You could save over $1,000 a month compared to brand name versions with no hidden fees or surprise costs. It's time to start your weight management journey with Henry Meds. Visit henrymeds.com today. Results may vary. Not all patients are eligible. Compounded medications are not FDA appro. Consult a healthcare provider to determine if treatment is right for you.

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