Serial Killer: Sean Vicent Gills

Sean Vincent Gills was born June 24, 1962, in Baton Rouge, LA to Norman and Yvonne Gillis. His father died of acholism when Gills was just a young boy. His mom working a full time job at a local television station struggled to take care of Gills. Her parents often looked at after him. As a child Gills was thought to be normal. His mother was quoted saying that “I used to call him my little blue-eyed angel. This is the person I loved most in this world.” It wasn’t until his teenage years when others began to see a different side of him. As a teenager he had minor infraction but none to alarm others to think he would become a killer. He was arrested for traffic citations, DUI, possession of marijuana, and contempt of court through tout the years.

Sean didn’t commit his first murder until 1994. His first victim was an 81 year old woman, Ann Bryan in March 1994. Ann was living at St. James Place which was an assisted-living facility located across the street from the convenience store where Gillis worked. As she often would do, Ann left the door to her apartment unlocked before retiring to bed so that she did not have to get up to let the nurse in the next morning. The warrant says Gillis told detectives he entered Ann Bryan's home at 3a.m. to rape the 81 year old, but she started screaming when he touched her. Gillis then told detectives he cut her throat to stop her screaming and began stabbing her a total of 47 times. The warrant says Gillis gave them details about this elderly woman's death only the killer could know. He seemed fixated on stabbing at her face, genitals and breasts.

His second victim Katherine Ann Hall, aged 29, murdered January 4, 1999. Katherine was a prostitute. She was black and a drug ...

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... took about a minute and a half to succumb to unconsciousness and then death. Honestly, her last words were I can't breathe. I still puzzle over the post mortem dismemberment and cutting. There must be something deep in my subconscious that really needs that kind of macabre action." Although Purpera died shortly after receiving Gillis letter, before she died she gave all of the letters she received to the police.

The letters, and many other photos found of other victims on Sean’s computer were used at his various trials for first-degree murder. Sean was convicted of murdering Katherine Hall, Johnnie Mae Williams, and Donna Bennett Johnston on July 21, 2008 and was sentenced to life in prison. The following year he was charged with second-degree murder for killing 36-year-old Joyce Williams. Sean currently has only been convicted to seven of eight of his victim