FILE 578 / 8 March 2025 / 72 MIN / express

Video Poker Playboy Murder

Lake Charles, LouisianaListen

The town

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We're going down to Louisiana this week, Lake Charles, Louisiana. about 0:03:23

History, in brief

Town note

Originally called Port du Lafitte, for the pirate Jean Lafitte.

about 0:05:42

1857

First incorporated in 1857 as Charleston, after an early settler named Charles Salier.

about 0:05:55

1867

Reincorporated as the city of Lake Charles on March 16th, 1867.

about 0:06:03

1910

In 1910 a great fire devastated the whole city; it was rebuilt and expanded.

about 0:06:10
All 9 history facts

Town note

Originally called Port du Lafitte, for the pirate Jean Lafitte.

about 0:05:42

1857

First incorporated in 1857 as Charleston, after an early settler named Charles Salier.

about 0:05:55

1867

Reincorporated as the city of Lake Charles on March 16th, 1867.

about 0:06:03

1910

In 1910 a great fire devastated the whole city; it was rebuilt and expanded.

about 0:06:10

Town note

Industrial growth after the Second World War came with the petrochemical refineries.

about 0:06:33

2020

Battered in 2020 by two category four hurricanes, Laura and Delta.

about 0:07:02

2021

The southern part of the city was damaged by an EF2 tornado in 2021.

about 0:07:23

The figures, as told

Money

Median home value$179,400
Median household income$49,913
All figures and comparisons, as told in 2025

Population

"83,444"

Comparison: "about 70,000 when the murder happened". No direction stated.

As told in 2025 about 0:04:12

Median household income

"$49,913"

Comparison: "national average of $69,000". No direction stated.

As told in 2025 about 0:04:26

Median home cost

"$179,400"

No direction stated.

As told in 2025 about 0:04:46

Value of the trailer at Wedgwood Drive

"$40,300"

No direction stated.

As told in 2025 about 0:19:05

Boat Brian Davis was looking at

"$30,000"

Comparison: "worth more than his house". Direction: above.

As told in 2025 about 0:40:19

The reviews

2.3 / 5 · average of 3

5 stars

“The sportsman's paradise, with great food and great people and something for everyone; the only thing missing is a Dave & Buster's or a skating rink.”
about 0:08:16

1 star

“Written by a ten-year-old: the city sucks, the crime rate is horrible and all there is to do is go to a crappy casino.”
about 0:08:43

1 star

“A city of scumbags, low lives and thieves; the reviewer does not like Lake Charlesians and says the schoolchildren are among the meanest in the country.”
about 0:09:14

In Louisiana

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The story

Brian Davis was born on July 9th, 1969, in New Orleans and grew up in Independence, Louisiana, just outside the city. By 2000 he was working as a sales manager for the Union National Life Insurance Company, collecting premiums door to door, and he had three children, Douglas, Danielle and Darla, from an earlier marriage. She spent the money on a Chevrolet Trailblazer, a new boat for Brian and renovations to the trailer, and she and Brian married soon afterwards.

Brian was a keen fisherman and target shooter who carried a Springfield XD 9mm handgun, and he was addicted to video poker. From 2009 his gambling grew worse.

He never came home. A Lake Charles police officer, Mark Chapman, took her missing-person report at 4.30 p.m. on June 30th, recording that Brian had been heading for Beaumont in the Honda.

On July 1st an ATV rider reported a car parked at the end of Wagon Wheel Lane, a dirt track off Big Lake Road near Calcasieu Point Landing. Brian's body lay some distance away. He had been dead for a couple of days in the Louisiana heat and was identified by dental records and tattoos. The coroner put his death after noon on June 29th: four gunshot wounds, three to the torso and one to the head, fired from behind as he ran. His shoes were off and his belt loosened. His valuable ring was still on his hand, but his Springfield handgun, GPS and laptop were gone. The tyre was later examined at Southern Tire Mart and found to have no defects. The prosecution's case was that it had simply been let down to lure him out there.

Neither woman implicated the other. She played video poker on the afternoon of his funeral.

There was no murder weapon, no DNA and no eyewitness. The state relied on the phone towers, the staged tyre and the lies. Brian's insurance money went to his mother, who campaigned to have his body moved from the mausoleum in Lake Charles to Independence. Both women have always maintained their innocence.

The case

Murder of Brian Davis

Victims

Brian Davis (40). Sales manager for Union National Life Insurance; husband of Davis; keen fisherman and target shooter; addicted to video poker.

Accused and outcomes

As told in the episode, on 8 March 2025.

Accused

Accused

Outcome

Other people

Justin son. son and Brian's stepson; worked at the insurance company and knew of the affair
Kelsey. daughter; found a $100,000 life insurance policy after her father Andrew died
Fanny Deets. Brian's co-worker and mistress; questioned and cleared
Shane Deets. Fanny's husband, who confronted Brian about the affair; cleared
Stephanie Wells. friend living at the trailer; had eye surgery on the day Brian disappeared
Bailey. Brian's daughter, who was ill that day
Catherine Davis. Brian's sister
Mark Chapman. Lake Charles police officer who took the missing-person report
Daryl Pettifer. of Jerry's Marine; said Brian was looking at a $30,000 boat
Lynn Miller. Southwest Louisiana crime lab examiner who checked the fingerprints
Brian's mother. received the insurance money and campaigned to have his body moved to Independence

The timeline

  1. July 9th, 1969 Brian Davis is born in New Orleansabout 0:11:17
  2. 2000 Brian begins work as a sales manager for Union National Life Insurance (Union National Life Insurance Company)about 0:12:33
  3. 2008 Brian and Little marryabout 0:12:47
  4. March 2009 learns of Brian's eighteen-month affair with Fanny Deets and confronts herabout 0:20:13
  5. June 28th, 2009 car will not start, so tells her to take Brian's Honda home (Davis trailer)about 0:54:29
  6. June 29th, 2009, 8:52 a.m. Walgreens video shows and entering the store together (Walgreens)about 0:56:57
  7. June 29th, 2009, 11 a.m. Brian leaves work and he and go boat shopping in Lake Charles and at Jerry's Marine in Sulphur (Jerry's Marine)about 0:33:24
  8. June 29th, 2009, about 2:30 to 3 p.m. The two return home; says Brian then took his Honda and drove to Beaumont (Davis trailer)about 0:33:46
  9. June 29th, 2009, 3:44 p.m. Brian's phone makes a two-second call using Sprint tower 3045about 1:00:18
  10. June 29th, 2009, 3:45 p.m. Rain begins at Lake Charles airport and lasts until about 7 p.m. (Lake Charles airport)about 1:01:01
  11. June 29th, 2009, 3:50 p.m. calls Stephanie Wells; her phone moves from tower 4045 to tower 3045, which serves the area near the murder sceneabout 0:41:47
  12. June 29th, 2009, after noon Brian is shot four times, three in the torso and one in the head (Wagon Wheel Lane crime scene)about 0:28:45

Places and phrases

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Places in the story

Public places are marked on the map.

Heard in this episode