Town note
The town came into existence when the Southern Pacific and Houston-Shreveport railroads met on land owned by the Keith brothers in the 1880s.
about 0:04:33The story
Ernest Luttrell was born on September 11th, 1936. He served as a paratrooper in the Korean War, worked for the Borden dairy company for decades and retired about ten years before his death. After retiring he built a log cabin himself on a small farm on State Highway 169 in Keithville, in Caddo Parish, and raised hay. Each had a child from an earlier relationship.
In the 2000s Ernest sold the mineral rights under his 60-acre farm for $400,000, bought a $300,000 annuity in both their names and placed the rest in certificates of deposit.
In 2009 both were tested for dementia. Ernest declined to prosecute and set up a repayment plan instead.
Ernest was taken to hospital and committed to the psychiatric ward. The joint accounts were closed and $24,535.69 was moved, leaving Ernest $397.37.
They drove around and she offered him $1,000 to kill her boss's husband. They went to a motel, ordered pizza, drank, took pills and had sex, and she gave him a snub-nosed .44 magnum, telling him it had to be done the next morning.
Firefighters arrived first and withdrew; deputies Robert Chatman and Mike King swept the house. Ernest had been shot in the left eye, stomach and hip. The gun cabinet had been ransacked and an empty Smith & Wesson .44 registered to Ernest was found. A distinctive bloody bootprint was recovered.
The truck was found within walking distance and his boots matched the bloody print.
A search of her house found a handwritten map of the Luttrell home with details not made public.
In the end, the episode says, Ernest's sister Mildred kept everything.