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Speaker 1: A talented New Orleans preacher got the job of a lifetime.

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Speaker 2: A week later, he was dead.

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Speaker 3: This case was one that immediately drew my attention because

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Speaker 3: it was not a typical murder case.

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Speaker 1: It happened in the Trine months following Hurricane Katrina.

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Speaker 3: Absent any eyewitness and given the circumstances and the resources

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Speaker 3: in the city, it simply just became a cold case.

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Speaker 1: But the killer would strike again.

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Speaker 4: Oh my god, another one.

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Speaker 1: One person had information that could stop the killer from

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Speaker 1: striking a third time.

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Speaker 3: He was sort of the last man standing who could

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Speaker 3: bring it to the authorities.

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Speaker 1: But could the police get to him before it was

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Speaker 1: too late.

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Speaker 4: This song is something you hear about on the TV

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Speaker 4: show you know, like you never think this was something

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Speaker 4: that would happen in real life.

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Speaker 1: Today, we're in New Orleans, Louisiana, for the tragic story

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Speaker 1: of an aspiring preacher named Ernest Smith. I'm Sloan Glass

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Speaker 1: and this is part one of Bodies on the Bayou

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Speaker 1: on American Homicide, And just a warning that this episode

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Speaker 1: contains some graphic content.

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Speaker 2: Please take care while listening.

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Speaker 1: I don't know if you've ever been to New Orleans,

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Speaker 1: but it's a very special place. The historic French Quarter

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Speaker 1: dates back to the seventeen hundreds. Today, the city's oldest

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Speaker 1: neighborhood is famous for its vibrant nightlife.

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Speaker 3: That is where you find Bourbon Street in many of

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Speaker 3: our most famous bars.

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Speaker 1: That's Laura Rodrigue, she worked with the New Orleans District

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Speaker 1: Attorney's Office.

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Speaker 2: We like to eat, we like to drink.

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Speaker 3: There are constantly events going on, or carnivals or parades.

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Speaker 2: We are a city that simply likes to party.

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Speaker 1: It's a city that lives by the motto let the

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Speaker 1: good times roll, and Bourbon Street plays host to many

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Speaker 1: of those parties.

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Speaker 3: Whether it's the cuisine or the arts. So many different

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Speaker 3: opportunities here to explore, so many different things.

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Speaker 1: Where else in the world can you walk down the

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Speaker 1: street eating a poe boy in one hand with a

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Speaker 1: cocktail in the other while a jazz player strikes up

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Speaker 1: a song on the corner.

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Speaker 3: Having been somebody who has traveled elsewhere, I can say

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Speaker 3: that there really is no place like New Orleans Today.

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Speaker 1: Well over a million people from all different walks of

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Speaker 1: life make their home in the Big Easy.

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Speaker 3: There is a certain sense of camaraderie among the community.

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Speaker 2: They rally together.

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Speaker 3: They support one another, and they take a lot of

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Speaker 3: pride in saying that they're from New Orleans.

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Speaker 1: Let's look back at the summer of two thousand and

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Speaker 1: five as a test of that camaraderie. That's when Hurricane

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Speaker 1: Katrina made landfall and left nearly eighty percent of New

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Speaker 1: Orleans underwater.

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Speaker 5: Katrina slams into the Gulf willed us up to one

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Speaker 5: hundred and twenty miles reptiles that could kill you, stop

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Speaker 5: go literally ripped.

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Speaker 6: Off the side repper part of the roof.

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Speaker 2: Covering the Superdome where some ten thousand people at saw Gass.

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Speaker 5: Station, which is basically where we've sought safety.

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Speaker 3: It is slowly being ripped apart.

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Speaker 1: Before our The city lost more than eight hundred and

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Speaker 1: fifty thousand homes, three hundred thousand vehicles, and eighteen hundred lives,

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Speaker 1: making Katrina one of the deadliest hurricanes to hit the US.

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Speaker 3: It truly did devastate the city of New Orleans to

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Speaker 3: a large extent.

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Speaker 1: At the time, over half of its population relocated to

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Speaker 1: other cities.

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Speaker 2: After Katrina.

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Speaker 3: There were simply problems for everyone in the city in

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Speaker 3: terms of getting back into their homes. What was left

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Speaker 3: of the neighborhoods, So you might be living in a

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Speaker 3: home and you might be the only person on your block,

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Speaker 3: and that's scary.

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Speaker 2: It was scary, especially when things went wrong.

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Speaker 3: It really made law enforcements job a lot more difficult.

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Speaker 3: It wasn't like patrolling the street normally and knowing that

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Speaker 3: there were people also looking out for each other. You know,

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Speaker 3: it's pitch black and some of these neighborhoods where power

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Speaker 3: hasn't been turned on to some of the homes, if

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Speaker 3: the people haven't returned.

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Speaker 1: Like all city services in New Orleans after Katrina, the

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Speaker 1: police department struggled to keep up.

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Speaker 2: In certain neighborhoods.

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Speaker 3: You didn't know how long it would take and whether

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Speaker 3: it was even worth it to get the police involved.

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Speaker 2: And that's when violent crime soared.

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Speaker 5: Hurricane Katrina chased away more than two hundred thousand people

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Speaker 5: in New Orleans, but criminals are coming back. Police department

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Speaker 5: figures show the number of murders has gone up every

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Speaker 5: month since the storm.

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Speaker 1: So now here is our story. In April of two

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Speaker 1: thousand and six, thirty eight year old Ernest Smith was

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Speaker 1: a preacher who had just moved back.

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Speaker 2: To his home in New Orleans.

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Speaker 1: Let's talk about Ernest's life before that move.

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Speaker 4: Ernest was always when never usaw he could walk into

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Speaker 4: a room and the first thing he has on his

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Speaker 4: face as a smile.

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Speaker 1: Caroline Jackson and her husband Apostle Jackson were ministers who

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Speaker 1: mentored Ernest.

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Speaker 7: Ernest was special. He was the real deal. Ministry was

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Speaker 7: his heartbeat. Ministry was what he was about.

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Speaker 4: It ain't loved to preach. I think he would woke

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Speaker 4: up with a value of a microphone, be born one.

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Speaker 7: He was truly a man of God.

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Speaker 1: Life was a tough climb for Ernest, who lost both

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Speaker 1: of his parents at a very young age. Although he

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Speaker 1: was later adopted, he was always plagued by that desire

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Speaker 1: to fit in and belong to us.

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Speaker 4: He was a son, and I think he felt like

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Speaker 4: we went on in parents he had.

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Speaker 1: The church became that place where Ernest felt like he belonged.

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Speaker 1: But the downside of being a preacher was it didn't

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Speaker 1: pay his bills, so Ernest supplemented his income by working

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Speaker 1: as a truck driver. The money was good, but he

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Speaker 1: was often on the road and away from his wife

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Speaker 1: and daughter. To no one's surprise, his marriage ended up

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Speaker 1: in a divorce. And not long after that, a single

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Speaker 1: mom named Emma walked into his life.

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Speaker 7: She met him by going to his ministry when he

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Speaker 7: was preaching that song, Well, a man loves a woman,

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Speaker 7: That's what's Ernest's song. He really loved it, this walkman.

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Speaker 1: Emma and Ernest married in nineteen ninety five.

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Speaker 7: Emma was a perfect pastor's wife. She did everything to

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Speaker 7: help the church. She did whatever was necessary to make

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Speaker 7: sure his ministry was functioned and running.

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Speaker 1: Emma was also busy outside of church. She prepared taxes,

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Speaker 1: dabbled in real estate. She even sold beauty supplies.

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Speaker 4: She so whigs and all of the other things that

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Speaker 4: make you look girly. Yes, she would say she was

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Speaker 4: a jack of all trades.

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Speaker 2: More than that, Emma was a go getter.

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Speaker 1: She grew up poor and always dreamed of living the

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Speaker 1: glamorous life.

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Speaker 4: She wanted to have nice things, so she went after

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Speaker 4: the business world.

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Speaker 2: She was busy and it paid off.

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Speaker 1: Every year or so, Ernest and Emma would upgrade homes

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Speaker 1: and move into a place that was a little bigger

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Speaker 1: and nicer. But when Hurricane Katrina struck New Orleans in

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Speaker 1: two thousand and five, it forced Ernest and Emma to

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Speaker 1: temporarily relocate to Arlington, Texas.

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Speaker 4: Emma came back to New Orleans. She came back because

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Speaker 4: she needed to get back to her business, so Ernest stayed.

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Speaker 4: After she moved back here, they didn't come back together.

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Speaker 2: Ernest liked Arlington.

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Speaker 1: He wanted to stay because he had plans to build

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Speaker 1: a church there.

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Speaker 4: She wanted him to come back, but he was saying

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Speaker 4: that he didn't want to come back.

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Speaker 1: The battle over where to live put a strain on

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Speaker 1: their marriage.

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Speaker 7: Call us up, anyone to talk to us about the marriage.

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Speaker 7: I think that's when we found out that someone was

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Speaker 7: really going on.

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Speaker 1: Apostle wondered whether there was more to the story, but

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Speaker 1: he did what any preacher would do.

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Speaker 7: I convinced him that he needed to get his marriage

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Speaker 7: another chance.

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Speaker 1: Ernest took that advice and he took Emma on a

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Speaker 1: cruise to help rekindle their relationship and put their marriage

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Speaker 1: back on track. And he started looking for a full

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Speaker 1: time pastor job so he could spend more time at home.

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Speaker 1: Then Kime a miracle and opening at a mega church

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Speaker 1: in Atlanta.

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Speaker 2: Ernest interviewed and landed the job.

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Speaker 7: Him and her was going to move to Atlanta. She

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Speaker 7: was going to be first lady and he was gonna

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Speaker 7: be pastor.

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Speaker 1: On the evening of April twelfth, two thousand and six,

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Speaker 1: Ernest called Apostle with the good news.

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Speaker 7: He was already excited, like he had found a treasure.

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Speaker 1: It was a much needed step forward for Ernest and

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Speaker 1: Emma's marriage and a huge boost for his career.

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Speaker 7: This would have been the first time in his ministry

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Speaker 7: that he'd have had a ready made family ready for him.

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Speaker 7: I mean, if you ever wanted a pastor, he would

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Speaker 7: have been the one. He was just that gifted.

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Speaker 1: So they have that conversation on April twelfth, and that night,

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Speaker 1: Ernest and Emma took a break from packing up for

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Speaker 1: their big move. Emma wasn't feeling well, so Ernest planned

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Speaker 1: to go out for a ride on his motorcycle.

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Speaker 7: I said, I'll be careful out there, said I hung up.

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Speaker 7: Then five hours later we get the news that he's dead.

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Speaker 7: We will sleep and we have a good phone call

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Speaker 7: from Emma and she tells me. She says, Ernest is gone.

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Speaker 7: It's gone where And she said he's dead. That told

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Speaker 7: my heart up.

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Speaker 1: Emma was a mess. In between crying, she explained that

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Speaker 1: Ernest took his motorcycle for a ride and returned around

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Speaker 1: eleven pm. That's when someone ambushed him.

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Speaker 4: She said, Well, I heard three bang bang bangs, she said,

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Speaker 4: but I thought it was a car bag fire.

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Speaker 1: Emma said she was in bed with a bad toothache

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Speaker 1: and had taken some pain medication to help her sleep.

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Speaker 1: She woke up to the sound of her husband's cries

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Speaker 1: from downstairs.

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Speaker 4: He woke her up out of her sleep. He said, Babe,

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Speaker 4: that I've been shot.

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Speaker 1: When Emma came downstairs, she found Ernest collapsed on the

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Speaker 1: front steps of their home. His red shirt was completely

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Speaker 1: covered in blood.

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Speaker 4: So she tells us, She says, well, somebody was trying

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Speaker 4: to rob Ernest still his motorcycle. Somebody was trying to

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Speaker 4: take his bike from him. She called the police, called

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Speaker 4: the amber. She said, well, y'all know we living in

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Speaker 4: the noise. You know how long they take to get here.

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Speaker 4: So by the time they got here, he was already gone.

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Speaker 1: Ernest Smith, the gifted preacher, who was just days away

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Speaker 1: from being installed at a church in Atlanta, was now

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Speaker 1: a casualty of the post Katrina crime wave in New Orleans.

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Speaker 3: At the time of Ernest Smith's death. The city was

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Speaker 3: still very much suffering after Hurricane Katrina.

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Speaker 1: Laura Roderig worked with the New Orleans District Attorney's office.

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Speaker 3: The place where they were living was largely abandoned. In fact,

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Speaker 3: they were the only people living in that apartment complex.

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Speaker 3: It was almost a scary place to live because you

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Speaker 3: had nobody around you. There weren't lights on anywhere.

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Speaker 1: Ernest was shot twice in the chest with a nine

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Speaker 1: millimeter weapon.

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Speaker 2: There were no witnesses and no known motive.

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Speaker 3: His motorcycle was right there on the scene next to him.

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Speaker 3: The keys to the motorcycle were found in the grass

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Speaker 3: right nearby. Absent any eyewitness and given the circumstances and

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Speaker 3: the resources in the city, it simply just became a

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Speaker 3: cold case.

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Speaker 1: It seemed like a senseless crime that would go unsolved.

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Speaker 1: Then five years later, another murder in a neighboring state.

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Speaker 2: Brought this case.

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Speaker 6: Back to life.

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Speaker 1: In two thousand and six, Ernest Smith was about to

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Speaker 1: begin his dream job as a pastor of an Atlanta church,

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Speaker 1: but a few days before he and his wife, Emma

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Speaker 1: moved there, he was gunned down in front of his

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Speaker 1: New Orleans home. His mentor Apostle Jackson performed his eulogy.

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Speaker 7: The funeral was wall the wall peoples. He was standing up.

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Speaker 1: At the request of his devastated widow. Apostle did something

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00:12:49,520 --> 00:12:52,840
Speaker 1: at the funeral he had never done before. He used

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Speaker 1: his eulogy to urge anyone who knew what happened to

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Speaker 1: Ernest to come forward.

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Speaker 7: I was trying to convince them that somebody need to

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Speaker 7: go to the police and try to find out what happened.

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Speaker 1: It was heartbreaking for everyone, including Emma, who struggled to

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Speaker 1: afford the proper funeral she felt her husband deserved.

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Speaker 7: She was grieving. She had to borrow the money from

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Speaker 7: me to bury him, and when she got the insurance money,

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Speaker 7: she did get me my money back.

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Speaker 1: Even with Apostles plea at Ernest's funeral, no new leads

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00:13:24,720 --> 00:13:30,760
Speaker 1: came in and his murder remained unsolved. A year later,

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Speaker 1: Emma started over. She moved to the tiny city of Poplarville, Mississippi,

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Speaker 1: which is about an hour north of New Orleans, and

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Speaker 1: built a home in the rural countryside.

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Speaker 7: That's one of the most beautiful houses I ever seen

257
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Speaker 7: in my life. I was a TV in every room.

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Speaker 7: I'm talking a big screen TV. In the bathroom. It

259
00:13:55,800 --> 00:13:56,719
Speaker 7: was just beautiful.

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Speaker 1: It is a lot less expensive to live in poplar

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Speaker 1: Ville than it is to live in New Orleans. But

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00:14:02,679 --> 00:14:06,120
Speaker 1: when Apostle and Carolyn visited Emma in her new home,

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Speaker 1: they were in awe.

264
00:14:08,800 --> 00:14:09,720
Speaker 2: The house had.

265
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Speaker 1: A swimming pool, a pond, and a boat, even a

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00:14:13,640 --> 00:14:17,480
Speaker 1: state of the art security system. It was the perfect

267
00:14:17,520 --> 00:14:21,160
Speaker 1: home on a street called Emma Lane. But even with

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00:14:21,240 --> 00:14:23,880
Speaker 1: the new house, they could still sense a lot of

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00:14:23,960 --> 00:14:27,760
Speaker 1: pain with Emma. Grief can do many things to a person.

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00:14:28,320 --> 00:14:32,320
Speaker 1: An Apostle's wife, Carolyn, was concerned with how thin Emma looked.

271
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Speaker 4: This is our first time seeing her at the been

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00:14:36,000 --> 00:14:38,800
Speaker 4: a while, and we look at us a wow. You know,

273
00:14:38,960 --> 00:14:40,840
Speaker 4: she had lost a lot, a lot away.

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Speaker 1: There was also something else different about her. Emma Smith

275
00:14:45,120 --> 00:14:49,640
Speaker 1: proudly announced she was now Emma Rain. A few months earlier,

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00:14:49,680 --> 00:14:53,520
Speaker 1: she had quietly married James Rain, a former military buddy

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00:14:53,680 --> 00:14:58,000
Speaker 1: of her late husband. Much like Ernest, James Rain was adopted,

278
00:14:58,400 --> 00:15:01,480
Speaker 1: drove a truck, and was a few years younger than Emma.

279
00:15:02,200 --> 00:15:04,720
Speaker 1: James said he looked up to Ernest almost like a

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Speaker 1: big brother, and with Ernest gone, James seemed like the

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00:15:08,800 --> 00:15:10,600
Speaker 1: perfect person for Emma.

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Speaker 4: She and I had an opportunity to just sit out

283
00:15:13,600 --> 00:15:15,360
Speaker 4: on the front porch, and I told her, I said, well,

284
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Speaker 4: this is it. This is what Ernest always dreamed of.

285
00:15:18,840 --> 00:15:21,520
Speaker 4: This is what he wanted. They had a boat, the house,

286
00:15:21,600 --> 00:15:24,560
Speaker 4: and the big pond. You had the big elaborates house

287
00:15:24,600 --> 00:15:28,760
Speaker 4: on the inside, you know, so you got everything. She said, Yeah,

288
00:15:29,640 --> 00:15:31,360
Speaker 4: she's telling me how she missed him. You know, she

289
00:15:31,400 --> 00:15:33,160
Speaker 4: wished that he was there to enjoy all of that.

290
00:15:33,240 --> 00:15:34,720
Speaker 4: I said, I wish he was here too.

291
00:15:35,080 --> 00:15:37,760
Speaker 1: Emma finally had the life she'd always hope to have

292
00:15:37,800 --> 00:15:40,880
Speaker 1: with Ernest, but it would only last a short time.

293
00:15:41,400 --> 00:15:45,440
Speaker 1: Five years later, in twenty eleven, Carolyn an Apostle turned

294
00:15:45,480 --> 00:15:48,479
Speaker 1: on the nightly news and were left speechless.

295
00:15:49,200 --> 00:15:50,520
Speaker 7: James had got killed.

296
00:15:51,840 --> 00:15:54,160
Speaker 4: I'm a call, she said. She was out of town

297
00:15:54,200 --> 00:15:56,640
Speaker 4: on the business trip, and then that's when they found

298
00:15:56,680 --> 00:16:01,280
Speaker 4: him deceased. I'm like, oh my god, you know, another one.

299
00:16:01,680 --> 00:16:05,400
Speaker 4: It's too much. It was just too much to deal with.

300
00:16:06,080 --> 00:16:10,840
Speaker 1: It was unbelievable. One week before James Rain's thirty eighth birthday,

301
00:16:11,480 --> 00:16:14,280
Speaker 1: someone broke in and shot him while he was in bed.

302
00:16:15,280 --> 00:16:17,640
Speaker 4: So this is like whoa, this is like way too

303
00:16:17,720 --> 00:16:21,000
Speaker 4: much and it's way crazy that all these husbands are dying.

304
00:16:21,400 --> 00:16:24,560
Speaker 1: How could someone lose their husband not just once, but

305
00:16:24,680 --> 00:16:27,800
Speaker 1: twice in such a cruel manner.

306
00:16:28,320 --> 00:16:32,160
Speaker 7: That's crazy, That's crazy. Laurad El Mercy.

307
00:16:32,280 --> 00:16:35,800
Speaker 1: Laura Rodriig worked for the New Orleans District Attorney's office.

308
00:16:36,960 --> 00:16:39,920
Speaker 1: The police come out and essentially start trying to piece

309
00:16:39,960 --> 00:16:43,880
Speaker 1: together what happened. They learned Demo was away on a

310
00:16:43,880 --> 00:16:47,000
Speaker 1: business trip in Arkansas and the last she heard from

311
00:16:47,000 --> 00:16:51,400
Speaker 1: her husband, James, was sometime around midnight. By eleven AM,

312
00:16:51,720 --> 00:16:52,480
Speaker 1: she was worried.

313
00:16:53,160 --> 00:16:58,040
Speaker 3: Emma Rain calls James's mother and says, I can't get

314
00:16:58,080 --> 00:17:01,000
Speaker 3: a hold of James. Can you go check on him?

315
00:17:01,360 --> 00:17:05,200
Speaker 3: So James's mother goes to the home. She goes upstairs,

316
00:17:05,440 --> 00:17:07,520
Speaker 3: finds him shot in the head and in the neck

317
00:17:07,680 --> 00:17:08,320
Speaker 3: in the bed.

318
00:17:08,520 --> 00:17:09,600
Speaker 2: She calls the police.

319
00:17:09,960 --> 00:17:13,359
Speaker 1: There was nothing missing from the house. It appeared to

320
00:17:13,400 --> 00:17:15,640
Speaker 1: be a targeted shooting, but.

321
00:17:15,800 --> 00:17:19,800
Speaker 3: Why it was a vacant area, There were no eyewitnesses

322
00:17:20,359 --> 00:17:21,080
Speaker 3: to the murder.

323
00:17:21,119 --> 00:17:23,119
Speaker 2: There wasn't a motive that was clear.

324
00:17:23,880 --> 00:17:27,679
Speaker 1: The police department in the quaint town of Poplarville Canvas

325
00:17:27,800 --> 00:17:29,160
Speaker 1: the neighborhood to find a lead.

326
00:17:29,800 --> 00:17:34,480
Speaker 3: Poplarville is sort of a small town where everybody kind

327
00:17:34,520 --> 00:17:38,320
Speaker 3: of knows everybody through a relative, a cousin, a friend,

328
00:17:38,480 --> 00:17:42,520
Speaker 3: somebody you work with. They were getting a lot of statements,

329
00:17:43,200 --> 00:17:46,800
Speaker 3: trying to navigate and piece together what could have happened here.

330
00:17:47,160 --> 00:17:50,119
Speaker 1: If there's one thing about small towns, it's that people

331
00:17:50,200 --> 00:17:54,760
Speaker 1: usually know everyone else's business, and the people of Pomplarville

332
00:17:54,880 --> 00:17:56,600
Speaker 1: knew some dirt about James Rain.

333
00:17:57,520 --> 00:18:01,160
Speaker 3: The detectives learned that there had been issues of infidelity

334
00:18:01,440 --> 00:18:04,480
Speaker 3: with James Rain. The two of them had engaged in

335
00:18:04,480 --> 00:18:09,040
Speaker 3: a physical relationship for some time before Ernest Smith had

336
00:18:09,040 --> 00:18:09,560
Speaker 3: been killed.

337
00:18:09,880 --> 00:18:14,080
Speaker 1: Keep in mind, they were military buddies and they stayed friends.

338
00:18:14,680 --> 00:18:18,160
Speaker 1: The police learned James used to socialize with Ernest and Emma.

339
00:18:18,880 --> 00:18:22,360
Speaker 3: James Rain and him had become friends during the military,

340
00:18:22,520 --> 00:18:24,040
Speaker 3: and that's how they knew each other.

341
00:18:24,560 --> 00:18:26,360
Speaker 2: In fact, James almost.

342
00:18:26,200 --> 00:18:29,880
Speaker 3: Looked up to Ernest Smith like a mentor, somebody who

343
00:18:29,920 --> 00:18:32,440
Speaker 3: he respected and would go to for advice.

344
00:18:32,880 --> 00:18:35,880
Speaker 1: But that friendship ended when Ernest learned what they were

345
00:18:35,920 --> 00:18:37,040
Speaker 1: doing behind his back.

346
00:18:37,600 --> 00:18:41,239
Speaker 3: He had confronted James Rain in the past and was

347
00:18:41,320 --> 00:18:44,080
Speaker 3: just determined to really fight for his marriage and to

348
00:18:44,119 --> 00:18:44,840
Speaker 3: make it work.

349
00:18:45,119 --> 00:18:47,680
Speaker 1: Ernest had been trying for a pastor job in Atlanta,

350
00:18:47,800 --> 00:18:50,520
Speaker 1: and he knew no church would hire him if his

351
00:18:50,640 --> 00:18:54,280
Speaker 1: marriage was on the rocks. So up until his death,

352
00:18:54,640 --> 00:18:56,399
Speaker 1: he was trying to fix things with Emma.

353
00:18:57,400 --> 00:19:00,320
Speaker 3: He was fiercely loyal to Emma Rain. He just did

354
00:19:00,359 --> 00:19:02,920
Speaker 3: not want to give up on their marriage. In fact,

355
00:19:03,000 --> 00:19:06,120
Speaker 3: he had just gotten her a dozen roses right before

356
00:19:06,280 --> 00:19:06,920
Speaker 3: the murder.

357
00:19:09,520 --> 00:19:12,720
Speaker 1: So let's break this down. Emma was fooling around with

358
00:19:12,840 --> 00:19:15,960
Speaker 1: James while she was married to Ernest. Ernest knew about

359
00:19:15,960 --> 00:19:20,800
Speaker 1: the affair and confronted James. Then Ernest mysteriously got killed.

360
00:19:21,480 --> 00:19:25,359
Speaker 1: A year later, Emma marries James, and then five years later,

361
00:19:25,880 --> 00:19:28,119
Speaker 1: James was also mysteriously killed.

362
00:19:28,880 --> 00:19:32,480
Speaker 3: It was certainly a strange set of facts.

363
00:19:32,760 --> 00:19:35,480
Speaker 1: And while detectives tried to make sense of what was happening,

364
00:19:36,040 --> 00:19:39,680
Speaker 1: the estates that James and Emma had built in Poplarville, Mississippi,

365
00:19:40,119 --> 00:19:44,359
Speaker 1: burned to the ground. Luckily no one was injured, but

366
00:19:44,480 --> 00:19:48,960
Speaker 1: investigators rule that that fire was arson what was going on,

367
00:19:49,760 --> 00:19:54,720
Speaker 1: So that again is very suspicious, very strange. This is

368
00:19:55,040 --> 00:19:59,760
Speaker 1: a whole different ballgame. With two dead husbands and one

369
00:20:00,160 --> 00:20:04,280
Speaker 1: down house, Emma Rain's life hit rock bottom in search

370
00:20:04,320 --> 00:20:08,160
Speaker 1: of another clean start. She left Poplar Villain headed to Missouri,

371
00:20:08,720 --> 00:20:23,240
Speaker 1: where her luck was about to change. By twenty twelve,

372
00:20:23,280 --> 00:20:26,320
Speaker 1: Emma Rain had buried two husbands and even lost her

373
00:20:26,359 --> 00:20:29,280
Speaker 1: home to a fire. Police couldn't make sense of it.

374
00:20:30,040 --> 00:20:34,840
Speaker 1: Across the two homicides, there were no suspects, no arrests,

375
00:20:34,880 --> 00:20:38,360
Speaker 1: not even so much as a lead prosecutor, Laura rod

376
00:20:38,440 --> 00:20:39,480
Speaker 1: Reg investigated.

377
00:20:40,440 --> 00:20:44,879
Speaker 3: This case was one that immediately drew my attention because

378
00:20:44,880 --> 00:20:48,159
Speaker 3: it was not a typical murder case. There were no

379
00:20:48,280 --> 00:20:52,760
Speaker 3: eyewitnesses to either murder. Nothing was adding up. There wasn't

380
00:20:52,800 --> 00:20:55,600
Speaker 3: a motive that was clear, other than the fact that

381
00:20:55,640 --> 00:20:59,720
Speaker 3: we knew this woman's last two husbands were also found

382
00:20:59,800 --> 00:21:03,119
Speaker 3: dead in sort of mysterious circumstances.

383
00:21:03,880 --> 00:21:07,520
Speaker 1: The first case had gone cold, and investigators did not

384
00:21:07,640 --> 00:21:10,800
Speaker 1: want James Rain's murder to reach a similar fate.

385
00:21:12,320 --> 00:21:13,200
Speaker 2: If they aren't.

386
00:21:12,960 --> 00:21:16,040
Speaker 3: Able to develop a suspect or get a lead within

387
00:21:16,080 --> 00:21:19,200
Speaker 3: the first couple of weeks, it's almost never going to

388
00:21:19,240 --> 00:21:21,119
Speaker 3: be easy to find one quickly after that.

389
00:21:22,080 --> 00:21:25,800
Speaker 1: But shortly after James Rain's murder, things would take a turn.

390
00:21:26,480 --> 00:21:30,480
Speaker 1: Late one night, James's brother received a mysterious phone call,

391
00:21:31,560 --> 00:21:34,240
Speaker 1: a woman's voice he did not recognize told him to

392
00:21:34,280 --> 00:21:39,120
Speaker 1: walk outside and check his mailbox. As cryptic as that sounded,

393
00:21:39,640 --> 00:21:43,919
Speaker 1: he wanted answers. James's brother went to the mailbox and

394
00:21:43,960 --> 00:21:48,480
Speaker 1: found a thick envelope filled with documents. These documents contain

395
00:21:48,600 --> 00:21:53,240
Speaker 1: information about a lawsuit Ernest Smith's life insurance company had

396
00:21:53,280 --> 00:21:57,520
Speaker 1: filed to prevent Emma from obtaining the insurance proceeds from

397
00:21:57,600 --> 00:21:58,600
Speaker 1: Ernest's policy.

398
00:21:59,119 --> 00:22:02,240
Speaker 3: She had the insurance policy on Ernest Smith, and it

399
00:22:02,320 --> 00:22:06,400
Speaker 3: started at one hundred thousand, the money increasing from year

400
00:22:06,440 --> 00:22:08,879
Speaker 3: to year from one hundred to two point fifty all

401
00:22:08,920 --> 00:22:11,600
Speaker 3: the way up to eight hundred thousand. But a closer

402
00:22:11,640 --> 00:22:15,399
Speaker 3: look showed that just before Ernest's death, the amount was

403
00:22:15,480 --> 00:22:20,400
Speaker 3: increased to eight hundred thousand dollars and the beneficiary changed

404
00:22:21,480 --> 00:22:28,360
Speaker 3: to James Rain, which was extremely suspicious because everybody knew

405
00:22:28,440 --> 00:22:31,919
Speaker 3: that was her boyfriend while she was married. So it

406
00:22:31,960 --> 00:22:36,360
Speaker 3: didn't make any sense why Ernest Smith would allow James

407
00:22:36,440 --> 00:22:39,720
Speaker 3: Rain to be his beneficiary since he had clearly had

408
00:22:39,760 --> 00:22:43,560
Speaker 3: heated arguments asking James to stay away from his wife,

409
00:22:44,440 --> 00:22:47,960
Speaker 3: and you know, really just did not get along with

410
00:22:48,080 --> 00:22:50,840
Speaker 3: James in that time period in his life.

411
00:22:51,200 --> 00:22:55,240
Speaker 1: And there was more these documents also indicated that James

412
00:22:55,440 --> 00:22:59,320
Speaker 1: Rain had been involved in Ernest Smith's murder.

413
00:22:59,520 --> 00:23:01,640
Speaker 2: How was it possible that an.

414
00:23:01,480 --> 00:23:06,520
Speaker 1: Insurance company could put two and two together but detectives couldn't.

415
00:23:07,040 --> 00:23:07,760
Speaker 2: If this is.

416
00:23:07,680 --> 00:23:12,240
Speaker 3: Actually true, if they actually prove this, this is shocking,

417
00:23:13,080 --> 00:23:13,480
Speaker 3: all right.

418
00:23:13,520 --> 00:23:17,800
Speaker 1: So this is getting really weird, especially for James Rayn's brother.

419
00:23:18,600 --> 00:23:22,360
Speaker 1: He's just found out that the insurance company blamed his

420
00:23:22,440 --> 00:23:26,240
Speaker 1: brother James for the death of Ernest Smith. So he

421
00:23:26,320 --> 00:23:29,800
Speaker 1: shares this with a couple of his trusted relatives, including

422
00:23:29,840 --> 00:23:31,960
Speaker 1: his other brother, Alfred Everett.

423
00:23:32,880 --> 00:23:37,240
Speaker 3: James Rain's murder leads to what we learn is sort

424
00:23:37,240 --> 00:23:40,960
Speaker 3: of an uneasy feeling that Alfred Everett is going through.

425
00:23:41,119 --> 00:23:42,080
Speaker 2: He was nervous.

426
00:23:42,480 --> 00:23:47,320
Speaker 3: He has a moment where he feels like he needs

427
00:23:47,359 --> 00:23:50,000
Speaker 3: to talk to somebody and that he has to get

428
00:23:50,000 --> 00:23:51,159
Speaker 3: this off of his chest.

429
00:23:52,000 --> 00:23:56,240
Speaker 1: Obviously, Alfred's strange behavior concerned the group, so they did

430
00:23:56,280 --> 00:23:59,320
Speaker 1: something weird too. They drove him out to the middle

431
00:23:59,359 --> 00:24:01,680
Speaker 1: of nowhere so they could talk candidly.

432
00:24:01,960 --> 00:24:07,400
Speaker 3: During that conversation, Alfred Everett admits that Emma and James

433
00:24:07,440 --> 00:24:10,840
Speaker 3: had paid him to shoot Ernest Smith, that there was

434
00:24:10,880 --> 00:24:13,919
Speaker 3: a life insurance policy he was supposed to get one

435
00:24:14,000 --> 00:24:17,840
Speaker 3: hundred thousand dollars from it, and that's why he shot

436
00:24:18,080 --> 00:24:18,879
Speaker 3: Ernest Smith.

437
00:24:19,600 --> 00:24:24,640
Speaker 1: After keeping this secret for five years, Albert's conscience finally

438
00:24:24,640 --> 00:24:27,400
Speaker 1: got the best of him and he shared what happened.

439
00:24:27,520 --> 00:24:29,560
Speaker 1: On April twelfth, two thousand.

440
00:24:29,280 --> 00:24:35,480
Speaker 3: And six, Alfred Everett parked down the street again. During

441
00:24:35,520 --> 00:24:38,080
Speaker 3: this time, it would have been too dark for anybody

442
00:24:38,119 --> 00:24:41,680
Speaker 3: to sort of locate what would be considered a suspicious

443
00:24:41,760 --> 00:24:43,360
Speaker 3: car or.

444
00:24:43,160 --> 00:24:44,400
Speaker 2: Something out of the ordinary.

445
00:24:44,840 --> 00:24:49,080
Speaker 1: Alfred revealed he sat and waited that night for Ernest

446
00:24:49,119 --> 00:24:51,200
Speaker 1: to return from riding his motorcycle.

447
00:24:51,320 --> 00:24:55,280
Speaker 3: He runs up, he shoots, and exits the scene as

448
00:24:55,359 --> 00:24:57,640
Speaker 3: quickly as possible to jump in the car to head

449
00:24:57,680 --> 00:24:58,960
Speaker 3: back toward Mississippi.

450
00:24:59,680 --> 00:25:01,960
Speaker 1: On the way back, Alfred said he threw the gun

451
00:25:01,960 --> 00:25:05,960
Speaker 1: in Lake Pontchatrain, which borders New Orleans. The bridge over

452
00:25:06,080 --> 00:25:09,639
Speaker 1: Lake Pontatrain is also known as the Causeway, which is

453
00:25:09,640 --> 00:25:12,119
Speaker 1: the world's longest continuous bridge over water.

454
00:25:12,880 --> 00:25:17,320
Speaker 3: Lake Pontchatrain is a very very large lake, so there

455
00:25:17,400 --> 00:25:20,840
Speaker 3: was really very little to no chance that we would

456
00:25:20,840 --> 00:25:25,000
Speaker 3: ever recover that weapon. You know, it's often speculated how

457
00:25:25,040 --> 00:25:28,400
Speaker 3: many weapons could possibly be at the bottom of Lake

458
00:25:28,440 --> 00:25:31,480
Speaker 3: Pontchatrain just to give you an idea of how massive.

459
00:25:31,200 --> 00:25:34,120
Speaker 2: The lake is. So let's sort through this.

460
00:25:34,960 --> 00:25:38,520
Speaker 1: Alfred, James Rain's brother, said he was hired by James

461
00:25:38,520 --> 00:25:42,879
Speaker 1: and Emma to murder Emma's first husband, Ernest Smith, and

462
00:25:42,920 --> 00:25:47,080
Speaker 1: he did it for a cut of Ernest's life insurance money. However,

463
00:25:47,240 --> 00:25:50,640
Speaker 1: Alfred claimed he had absolutely nothing to do with his

464
00:25:50,720 --> 00:25:52,320
Speaker 1: brother James Rain's murder.

465
00:25:52,680 --> 00:25:55,800
Speaker 3: The group knows they're all going to sort of make

466
00:25:55,840 --> 00:25:59,680
Speaker 3: a decision what to do with this information and how

467
00:25:59,760 --> 00:26:05,920
Speaker 3: to sort of protect Alfred to whatever extent they can,

468
00:26:06,520 --> 00:26:10,320
Speaker 3: but also have him acknowledge what he has done. You know,

469
00:26:10,400 --> 00:26:13,399
Speaker 3: he was sort of the last man standing who could

470
00:26:13,840 --> 00:26:15,040
Speaker 3: bring it to the authorities.

471
00:26:15,480 --> 00:26:18,600
Speaker 1: They certainly wanted Alfred to do the right thing, but

472
00:26:18,680 --> 00:26:20,920
Speaker 1: they also wanted to somehow.

473
00:26:20,680 --> 00:26:24,360
Speaker 3: Protect him, and so they offer to help him get

474
00:26:24,400 --> 00:26:27,760
Speaker 3: an attorney. They advise him that he should report this

475
00:26:27,840 --> 00:26:30,200
Speaker 3: to the authorities, and Alfred says that he will. He

476
00:26:30,240 --> 00:26:32,760
Speaker 3: promises that he's going to tell the police, he's going

477
00:26:32,840 --> 00:26:35,720
Speaker 3: to come clean, and he's going to accept responsibility for

478
00:26:35,760 --> 00:26:36,400
Speaker 3: what happens.

479
00:26:38,560 --> 00:26:42,720
Speaker 1: But Alfred never went to the police. He just disappeared,

480
00:26:43,480 --> 00:26:48,480
Speaker 1: leaving his relatives even more conflicted. They wondered was Alfred

481
00:26:48,520 --> 00:26:51,679
Speaker 1: hiding out, was he being honest when he said he

482
00:26:51,840 --> 00:26:56,439
Speaker 1: wasn't involved in James's murder, or worse, was he killed?

483
00:26:57,880 --> 00:27:02,240
Speaker 3: There were so many moving parts, dead bodies, life insurance policies.

484
00:27:03,080 --> 00:27:07,240
Speaker 1: They were left with very little options. So the families

485
00:27:07,280 --> 00:27:09,960
Speaker 1: comp between a rock and a hard place. So what

486
00:27:10,040 --> 00:27:13,080
Speaker 1: did they do? They decided to call a detective they

487
00:27:13,119 --> 00:27:14,040
Speaker 1: saw on TV.

488
00:27:14,359 --> 00:27:15,760
Speaker 2: They see descend A.

489
00:27:15,840 --> 00:27:20,399
Speaker 3: Barnes on a televised episode of a case that she

490
00:27:20,480 --> 00:27:23,880
Speaker 3: had handled a cold case in New Orleans, and decide

491
00:27:23,920 --> 00:27:26,840
Speaker 3: to randomly reach out to her in the New Orleans

492
00:27:26,840 --> 00:27:27,640
Speaker 3: Police Department.

493
00:27:27,880 --> 00:27:34,200
Speaker 8: Relatives of James Rayne came to police headquarters after seeing

494
00:27:34,200 --> 00:27:35,800
Speaker 8: me on a Channel six news.

495
00:27:36,680 --> 00:27:40,000
Speaker 1: James's brother and uncle were impressed by how detective Barnes

496
00:27:40,040 --> 00:27:44,200
Speaker 1: cracked an unrelated cold case, and they felt she was

497
00:27:44,240 --> 00:27:45,520
Speaker 1: the person to help them.

498
00:27:46,240 --> 00:27:51,440
Speaker 8: They had recently learned about the brother being involved, Alfred Everett,

499
00:27:52,080 --> 00:27:53,840
Speaker 8: and as soon as they tried to give him the

500
00:27:53,880 --> 00:27:58,080
Speaker 8: opportunity to come forward and to speak to the authorities,

501
00:27:58,440 --> 00:28:01,760
Speaker 8: and when he refused, they they had to, I guess

502
00:28:01,760 --> 00:28:03,639
Speaker 8: take matters in their own hand, and they had to

503
00:28:04,160 --> 00:28:06,960
Speaker 8: advise the authorities of what they were able to learn.

504
00:28:07,840 --> 00:28:11,399
Speaker 1: They handed over the insurance documents that mysteriously mound up

505
00:28:11,400 --> 00:28:13,680
Speaker 1: in the mailbox of James Rayne's brother.

506
00:28:14,400 --> 00:28:16,560
Speaker 2: Think about that, how did that happen?

507
00:28:17,480 --> 00:28:21,520
Speaker 1: And then they shared Alfred Everett's confession with Detective Barnes.

508
00:28:22,640 --> 00:28:23,879
Speaker 2: That could not have been easy.

509
00:28:24,640 --> 00:28:28,000
Speaker 8: A lot of witnesses come forward after they family members

510
00:28:28,720 --> 00:28:31,960
Speaker 8: are murdered, and I guess they feel for that family

511
00:28:33,080 --> 00:28:37,439
Speaker 8: and now they can put their self in that family shoes,

512
00:28:38,040 --> 00:28:40,560
Speaker 8: so that allows them to, I guess, have a come

513
00:28:40,600 --> 00:28:41,480
Speaker 8: to Jesus moment.

514
00:28:43,040 --> 00:28:46,200
Speaker 1: Prosecutor Laura rodrig worked with Detective Barnes.

515
00:28:46,560 --> 00:28:49,280
Speaker 3: I remember to Senda and I kind of sitting down

516
00:28:49,320 --> 00:28:51,800
Speaker 3: and being like, whoa, you know, it was just not

517
00:28:52,320 --> 00:28:53,440
Speaker 3: your typical case.

518
00:28:54,640 --> 00:28:55,600
Speaker 2: No way wasn't.

519
00:28:56,080 --> 00:28:59,960
Speaker 1: And now the New Orleans PD reopened the murder investigation

520
00:29:00,320 --> 00:29:03,000
Speaker 1: have Emma Rain's first husband, Everett Smith.

521
00:29:03,280 --> 00:29:06,160
Speaker 3: As soon as she sat down with them and they

522
00:29:06,200 --> 00:29:08,760
Speaker 3: gave her the information and she was able to pull

523
00:29:08,800 --> 00:29:12,480
Speaker 3: the cold case file, it was very obvious to her.

524
00:29:12,680 --> 00:29:15,800
Speaker 2: That this was making sense and wait for this.

525
00:29:16,640 --> 00:29:21,440
Speaker 1: Once everything came into focus, the police would find another victim.

526
00:29:21,880 --> 00:29:24,920
Speaker 2: He was tragically hit by a vehicle.

527
00:29:24,720 --> 00:29:27,320
Speaker 1: And there was a growing fear that there were more.

528
00:29:27,680 --> 00:29:32,520
Speaker 3: This was somebody who had no regard for human life

529
00:29:32,760 --> 00:29:33,520
Speaker 3: at all.

530
00:29:33,640 --> 00:29:36,840
Speaker 1: And it will all hinge on finding Alfred Everett.

531
00:29:37,080 --> 00:29:39,720
Speaker 3: We had a murder for hire, you know, somebody killing

532
00:29:39,840 --> 00:29:41,160
Speaker 3: husbands to make a living.

533
00:29:45,400 --> 00:29:48,920
Speaker 1: I'm slung Glass. In the surprising conclusion of Bodies on

534
00:29:48,960 --> 00:29:51,840
Speaker 1: the Bayou, we'll and cover all the secrets behind the

535
00:29:51,920 --> 00:29:53,960
Speaker 1: murders of Ernest Smith and James Rain.

536
00:29:54,440 --> 00:29:55,720
Speaker 2: She gets the phone call.

537
00:29:55,920 --> 00:29:59,520
Speaker 3: She learns that James is dead, hopped some champagne and

538
00:29:59,560 --> 00:30:00,920
Speaker 3: had set thanks to celebrate.

539
00:30:01,840 --> 00:30:15,040
Speaker 1: That's next time on American Homicide. You can contact the

540
00:30:15,040 --> 00:30:19,360
Speaker 1: American Homicide team by emailing us at American Homicide Pod

541
00:30:19,480 --> 00:30:24,160
Speaker 1: at gmail dot com. That's American Homicide Pod at gmail

542
00:30:24,200 --> 00:30:27,800
Speaker 1: dot com. American Homicide is hosted and written by me

543
00:30:28,000 --> 00:30:32,360
Speaker 1: Sloane Glass and is a production of Glass Podcasts, a

544
00:30:32,440 --> 00:30:36,760
Speaker 1: division of Glass Entertainment Group, in partnership with iHeart Podcasts.

545
00:30:37,320 --> 00:30:41,080
Speaker 1: The show is executive produced by Nancy Glass and Todd Gants.

546
00:30:41,560 --> 00:30:44,680
Speaker 1: The series is also written and produced by Todd Gans,

547
00:30:45,040 --> 00:30:48,760
Speaker 1: with additional writing by Ben Fetterman and Andrea Gunning. Our

548
00:30:48,800 --> 00:30:52,880
Speaker 1: associate producer is Kristin Melcurrie. Our iHeart team is Ali

549
00:30:52,960 --> 00:30:58,160
Speaker 1: Perry and Jessica Crimecheck. Audio editing, mixing, and mastering by

550
00:30:58,240 --> 00:31:02,880
Speaker 1: Nico Auruka. American Homicides' theme song was composed by Oliver

551
00:31:03,040 --> 00:31:07,719
Speaker 1: Bains of Neiser Music Library provided by My Music. Follow

552
00:31:07,760 --> 00:31:11,959
Speaker 1: American Homicide on Apple Podcasts, and please rate and review

553
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Speaker 1: American Homicide. Your five star review goes a long way

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556
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Speaker 1: your podcasts