The Tinkerbell Witchcraft Delusion

Cherry Log is a small community in Gilmer County in far northern Georgia, close to Ellijay and Blue Ridge and about an hour and twenty-five minutes from Atlanta. It is a rural mountain town of 99 people, with a post office, a Baptist church, a Christian church and the Pink Pig Restaurant along Cherry Log Street. Joanne Lee Tiesler came to the area in 1999 as a family nurse practitioner with the National Health Service Corps. She had grown up in Franklin, Tennessee, studied nursing at Berry College in Rome, Georgia, and taken a master's degree at Vanderbilt University. She bought a cabin on Cherry Log Mountain near the Appalachian Trail and worked out of medical offices in Blue Ridge and Ellijay, treating more than 3,000 patients in two years. By 2001 she was 30, engaged to Larry Flowers of Rome, and planning her own practice.

the rest of this account is covered until you choose to reveal it His father was abusive and controlling, and his parents divorced. this part of the story is covered for now A week later he saw her coming downstairs arm in arm with her boyfriend, and a week after that his family moved away. He later said Tinkerbell was a witch who had put a hex on him, and that the hex explained every trouble in his life.

At 17 he joined the army in 1987, hoping to become a paratrooper. He broke his ankle in training, was stationed in Hawaii, began drinking and taking drugs, went absent without leave and lived on the streets of Honolulu, breaking into homes for food. details of the account remain covered until revealed Back in Cobb County at 19, he moved in with his mother and her new husband Sam Houston, his father's former partner on the police force. In January 1990 the family discovered that he was sexually involved with his 13-year-old stepsister Alicia, after Alicia's mother found a note. the rest of this account is covered until you choose to reveal it On March 3, 1991, he was stopped for bald tyres, and a search of his car found a gun, a holster and handwritten notes describing plans to rob cars and kill their drivers, a list headed how to be a pirate, and a hit list. this part of the story is covered for now details of the account remain covered until revealed

the rest of this account is covered until you choose to reveal it After his release he lived with Donna and Sam Houston on Cherry Log Mountain and commuted by motorcycle to Marietta to work with his father. He passed Joanne Tiesler's cabin every day and they waved to each other. He was ordered to undergo a psychosexual evaluation; on September 18, 2001, he walked out of the appointment before being seen, saying the waiting room reminded him of child molesters, and was given a second appointment for October 22. On October 5 Donna and Sam left for the weekend. A series of burglaries followed on the mountain. On Sunday, October 7, Joanne returned from a weekend in Rome with Larry Flowers. LaCroix said he had broken into her cabin to wait for her, intending to make her reverse the hex. He believed she was Tinkerbell. When she came home he struck her on the back of the head with a shotgun, accidentally firing a round into the wall, tied her hands and legs with plastic cable ties, raped her, demanded that she undo the curse, choked her with a cord from a carbon monoxide monitor, cut her throat and stabbed her repeatedly in the back. He then took her .32-calibre pistol and her 1996 black Ford Explorer.

On Monday, October 8, she missed a morning appointment. Larry Flowers called Mountain Medical, and a co-worker and a real estate agent went to the cabin at about 10.30 a.m. and found her body. Georgia Bureau of Investigation agent Jeff Branion processed the scene. The missing Explorer was broadcast with Georgia wildlife tag 50-RJ7, and LaCroix was believed to be heading for Alabama or Oklahoma. this part of the story is covered for now In the Explorer officers found a bloodstained knife, cable ties, shotgun shells and notes, including one addressed to Joanne saying he had killed her and asking forgiveness. details of the account remain covered until revealed

Because he had taken the Explorer across state lines, the case was prosecuted federally as a capital carjacking rather than in Gilmer County. the rest of this account is covered until you choose to reveal it The defence argued that he had gone to burgle the cabin and killed her in a panic, so there was no intent to take the car. this part of the story is covered for now details of the account remain covered until revealed

His younger brother Chad had become a Georgia state trooper. the rest of this account is covered until you choose to reveal it this part of the story is covered for now As Chad approached the car he was shot in the neck and died on the way to Grady Memorial Hospital at the age of 38. details of the account remain covered until revealed In 2014 LaCroix's lawyers argued for sympathy because the family had lost one son already. the rest of this account is covered until you choose to reveal it He requested Kentucky Fried Chicken for his last meal but was refused because the bones were considered a security risk, and settled for Pizza Hut. this part of the story is covered for now Witnesses included Joanne's father Tom and her fiance Larry Flowers. Three days later his final letter was read out by his spiritual adviser, Sister Batista. Joanne's mother Janie later used a $50,000 life insurance settlement to build a 1,000-square-foot outdoor classroom in her daughter's memory.