Paul Durousseau (born August 11, 1970) is an American

serial killer A serial killer (also called a serial murderer) is a person who murders three or more people,An offender can be anyone: * * * * * (This source only requires two people) with the killings taking place over a significant period of time in separat ...

who murdered seven young women (two of whom were

pregnant Pregnancy is the time during which one or more offspring gestation, gestates inside a woman's uterus. A multiple birth, multiple pregnancy involves more than one offspring, such as with twins. Conception (biology), Conception usually occurs ...

) in the southeastern United States between 1997 and 2003. German authorities suspect he may have also killed several local women when he was stationed there with the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...

during the early 1990s.

Background and early crimes

Paul Durousseau was born in Beaumont,

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

. In 1970, he moved in with his mother's family in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

, after his father, unwed to his mother, deserted them. Little else is known publicly about Durousseau's childhood. After graduating high school, 19-year-old Durousseau found himself working as a security guard. His first offenses as an adult took place on December 18, 1991, and January 21, 1992, for carrying a concealed firearm. In November 1992, Durousseau enlisted in the

and was stationed in Germany, where he met a woman named Natoca. The two married in 1995 in

Las Vegas Las Vegas, colloquially referred to as Vegas, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and the county seat of Clark County. The Las Vegas Valley metropolitan area is the largest within the greater Mojave Desert, and second-l ...

. In 1996 the couple were transferred to

Fort Benning Fort Benning (named Fort Moore from 2023–2025) is a United States Army post in the Columbus, Georgia area. Located on Georgia's border with Alabama, Fort Benning supports more than 120,000 active-duty military, family members, reserve compone ...

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

, where, on March 13, 1997, Durousseau was arrested for

kidnapping Kidnapping or abduction is the unlawful abduction and confinement of a person against their will, and is a crime in many jurisdictions. Kidnapping may be accomplished by use of force or fear, or a victim may be enticed into confinement by frau ...

and

raping Rape is a type of sexual assault involving sexual intercourse, or other forms of sexual penetration, carried out against a person without consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority, or against a person wh ...

a young woman. However, in August of that year he was cleared of those charges. Soon after, however, he was found in possession of stolen goods. Durousseau was

court-martial A court-martial (plural ''courts-martial'' or ''courts martial'', as "martial" is a postpositive adjective) is a military court or a trial conducted in such a court. A court-martial is empowered to determine the guilt of members of the arme ...

ed in January 1999, found guilty and

dishonorably discharged A military discharge is given when a member of the armed forces is released from their obligation to serve. Each country's military has different types of discharge. They are generally based on whether the persons completed their training and the ...

from the Army. Durousseau and his wife moved to

Jacksonville Jacksonville ( ) is the most populous city proper in the U.S. state of Florida, located on the Atlantic coast of North Florida, northeastern Florida. It is the county seat of Duval County, Florida, Duval County, with which the City of Jacksonv ...

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

, where they had two daughters. It was during this period that he committed most of the murders. Durousseau struggled to keep jobs to make ends meet, and the couple would often argue over their financial situation. In 1999, the police advised Natoca on how to file for a

restraining order A restraining order or protective order is an order used by a court to protect a person in a situation often involving alleged domestic violence, child abuse and neglect, assault, harassment, stalking, or sexual assault. Restraining and perso ...

after Durousseau allegedly slapped her in the face and grabbed her by the neck. Later, she testified that he became violently angry when she talked about getting a

divorce Divorce (also known as dissolution of marriage) is the process of terminating a marriage or marital union. Divorce usually entails the canceling or reorganising of the legal duties and responsibilities of marriage, thus dissolving the M ...

. In September and October 2001, Durousseau spent 48 days in jail for

domestic battery Domestic violence is violence that occurs in a domestic setting, such as in a marriage or cohabitation. In a broader sense, abuse including nonphysical abuse in such settings is called domestic abuse. The term "domestic violence" is often use ...

. Durousseau still managed to hold various legitimate jobs. In 2001, he was hired as a school bus driver and an animal control worker despite being a convicted felon. By 2003 he was working as a

taxi A taxi, also known as a taxicab or simply a cab, is a type of vehicle for hire with a Driving, driver, used by a single passenger or small group of passengers, often for a non-shared ride. A taxicab conveys passengers between locations of thei ...

driver for the Gator City Taxi Company, which was how he first came into contact with some of his victims. It was erroneously reported that the taxi company failed to run a background check on Durousseau; the City of Jacksonville was responsible for the background check, and issued Durousseau's taxi driver permit. Neighbors and friends described Durousseau as a "lewd womanizer" who often asked young women when they planned to "make flicks" with him. A witness recalled him hitting on a girl that appeared to be around 13 or 14 years old.

Murders

Durousseau started killing less than one month after the

acquittal In common law jurisdictions, an acquittal means that the criminal prosecution has failed to prove that the accused is guilty beyond a reasonable doubt of the charge presented. It certifies that the accused is free from the charge of an of ...

over the rape charges. His

modus operandi A (often shortened to M.O. or MO) is an individual's habits of working, particularly in the context of business or criminal investigations, but also generally. It is a Latin phrase, approximately translated as . Term The term is often used in ...

would be that he would usually meet his victims (all young single

African-American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from any of the Black racial groups of Africa. ...

women) through his job and gain their trust to enter their homes, where he would bind them before proceeding to rape them before strangling them to death with a cord.Ferguson, George, Emily Downing, Kaylor Eutsler, & David Disque
''Paul Durousseau: The Jacksonville Serial Killer''.
Radford University Dept of Psychology. On September 7, 1997, the nude body of 26-year-old Tracy Habersham was found in Fort Benning. She had been missing for 48 hours and was last seen leaving a party. She had been raped and strangled to death with a cord. Durousseau was not a suspect in the murder, but

DNA Deoxyribonucleic acid (; DNA) is a polymer composed of two polynucleotide chains that coil around each other to form a double helix. The polymer carries genetic instructions for the development, functioning, growth and reproduction of al ...

would later tie him to the crime. He later confessed to Habersham's killing after his arrest. In 1999, Durousseau raped and killed 24-year-old Tyresa Mack in her apartment. Witnesses saw him leave her place carrying a television. In 2001, he was arrested for raping a young woman in Jacksonville. He spent 30 days in the

Montgomery Correctional Center The Montgomery Correctional Center, previously known as the City Prison Farm (P-Farm) and Jacksonville Correctional Institution, started in 1958 on a large, tract in the northwestern Duval County, Florida. In 1958, two large buildings were c ...

and received two years'

probation Probation in criminal law is a period of supervision over an offence (law), offender, ordered by the court often in lieu of incarceration. In some jurisdictions, the term ''probation'' applies only to community sentences (alternatives to incar ...

. On December 19, 2002, 18-year-old Nicole L. Williams' body was found wrapped in a blue blanket at the bottom of a ditch in Jacksonville. She had been reported missing two days earlier. On January 1, 2003, family members of 19-year-old Nikia Kilpatrick went to check on her. They had not had any news from her for several days. They found her body in the bedroom of her apartment. She had been raped then killed by strangulation with a cord two days before. Her two sons, an eleven-month-old and a two-year-old, were alive but

malnourished Malnutrition occurs when an organism gets too few or too many nutrients, resulting in health problems. Specifically, it is a deficiency, excess, or imbalance of energy, protein and other nutrients which adversely affects the body's tissues a ...

. Kilpatrick was approximately six months pregnant at the time of her death. Eight days later, 20-year-old nurse assistant Shawanda Denise McCalister, who was also pregnant at the time of her death, was raped and strangled in her Jacksonville apartment. The murder scene was almost identical to that of Kilpatrick. She was killed on Durousseau's first day of driving a cab for Gator City Taxi. Her body was found the following day. The next two victims were 17-year-old Jovanna Jefferson, and 19-year-old Surita Cohen. Their bodies were found close to each other in a ditch next to a construction site on New Kings Road in Jacksonville on February 5. Police estimated that Jefferson was murdered around January 20 and Cohen was killed 10 days later. Witnesses recount having seen the two last victims with a taxi driver fitting Paul Durousseau's description on the night they disappeared.

Arrest

Durousseau was arrested and charged with five counts of murder on June 17, 2003. On December 13, 2007, he was

sentenced to death Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty and formerly called judicial homicide, is the state-sanctioned killing of a person as punishment for actual or supposed misconduct. The sentence ordering that an offender be punished in s ...

lethal injection Lethal injection is the practice of injecting one or more drugs into a person (typically a barbiturate, paralytic, and potassium) for the express purpose of causing death. The main application for this procedure is capital punishment, but t ...

for the murder of Tyresa Mack. As of August 18, 2013, he was still a resident on Florida's death row at

Union Correctional Institution The Union Correctional Institution, formerly referred to as Florida State Prison, and also commonly known as Raiford Prison is a Florida Department of Corrections state prison located in unincorporated Union County, Florida, near Raiford. Si ...

. In January 2017, Durousseau's death sentence was overturned by the

Florida Supreme Court The Supreme Court of Florida is the state supreme court, highest court in the U.S. state of Florida. It consists of seven justices—one of whom serves as Chief Justice. Six members are chosen from six districts around the state to foster geog ...

. The jury that sentenced Durousseau was split 10-2 and the high court declared a split decision unconstitutional in capital sentencing. He was resentenced to life in prison without parole on December 10, 2021, after a jury split 10–2 in favor of another death sentence.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Durousseau, Paul 1970 births 20th-century African-American people 20th-century American criminals 21st-century African-American people 21st-century American criminals American murderers of children American people convicted of murder American people convicted of rape American prisoners sentenced to death American taxi drivers Bus drivers Criminals from Texas Living people Military personnel from Texas People acquitted of kidnapping People acquitted of rape People convicted of domestic violence People convicted of murder by Florida People from Beaumont, Texas Criminals from Jacksonville, Florida Prisoners sentenced to death by Florida Serial killers from Florida Serial killers from Georgia (U.S. state) United States Army soldiers

Background and early crimes

Murders

Arrest

See also

References