A Town Full Of Suspects

A little murder with your bourbon?

What could have easily come from the pen of a colorful Southern novelist is the sizzling murder case of Ray Guidry, a wealthy cattle rancher and oil man in Bayou Blue, Louisiana.

On October 12, 1987, the body of 78-year-old Ray Guidry was discovered in his bedroom at the Guidry Ranch. Terrebone Parish Sheriff's detectives determined he had been beaten on the head and stabbed mulitple times in the chest and neck.

The supposed murder weapon, a steak knife, was found in the kitchen sink. There were no signs of forced entry into the house and otherwise no other physical evidence discovered at the scene.

17-years later, Ray Guidry's murder remains unsolved yet is still considered one of the most compelling murder cases in South Louisiana history.

Southern Comfort

Ray Guidry was the wealthiest man in Bayou Blue, but certainly not the most popular. He was ruthless when it came to business dealings and had little use for personal relationships.

He was openly contemptuous of his adopted son Vernon, who he severely beat throughout the boy's childhood. Ray's adopted daughter Tina, however, was treated like a princess even during her adult years.

Ray Guidry's passion was undoubtedly making money and spending it on women. He had four ex-wives and a continual parade of women at his ranch, some of them married, many barely out of their teens.

After Ray's untimely death -- he was about to be married for the fifth time -- Sheriff's detectives discovered a Pandora's box of hundreds of x-rated photos of Ray's ladies.

It seemed almost everyone in Bayou Blue had a motive to kill Ray Guidry.

Despite a six month investigation a grand jury failed to indict anyone for the murder.

A Jigsaw Puzzle

In June 2000, AMW entered the investigation teaming up two of the best homicide detectives of our time. Ron Antoci formerly of the elite Manhattan D.A.'s office in New York and Joe Matthews a past supervisor of the Homicide Squad for Miami Beach PD.

These two savvy detectives spent months in South Louisiana's bayou gaining the trust of the native Cajuns and unraveling secrets hidden for thirteen years.

The clues to solving a murder are like the pieces of a jigsaw puzzle.

Antoci and Matthews eventually ruled out the ladies of Ray Guidry's little black book and began to focus their investigation on the inner members of the dysfunctional Guidry family.

They believe the motive for Ray Guidry's murder was greed and suspect his upcoming marriage had possibly sparked the homicide.

They also believe the killer could be a woman.

But who?

A new update on AMW is expected soon, as our investigators continue to probe one of the toughest unsolved murder cases in South Louisiana history.