The Brutal Murder of Genore Guillory

As Monday morning slipped into Monday afternoon, a small crowd gathered at Genore's house.  Several friends from work had come from Baton Rouge and members of Genore's family had driven in from Opelousas, La.  Her neighbors Phillip and Amy Skipper  were also there. 

Phillip Skipper

Phillip was 23.  He and his wife, Amy, had a baby boy.  They also had custody of a 15-year-old named John Baillio.  Baillio had lived with the Skippers for about two years.

The four of them lived in a trailer across the road from Genore. 

The Skippers were dirt-poor.  Genore had practically adopted the young couple and their baby.  She hired Phillip and John Baillio to help her take care of her dogs and her horses and to mow the grass on her property.  She paid Amy to clean her house.  Genore even picked up the tab for a birthday party at a local pizza joint for the Skippers' son.

Because the Skippers didn't have a telephone, Genore gave Amy a key to her house so they could use her phone whenever they needed.

It was an unusual relationship, a middle-aged black woman and a young white couple in a parish where a statue of a Confederate soldier still stands guard in front of the courthouse, but it seemed to work well. 

Genore's family asked Phillip and Amy Skipper if they would do their best to clean up her house.

The Skippers agreed.