Questionable events highlight jail investigation

By HATTIE SHERRICK-BURTON
Staff Writer

After over a month of careful analysis of audio and video collected at the DeRidder Gothic Jail, the Louisiana Spirits paranormal investigation team has determined the investigation to be inconclusive.

While several questionable events were documented throughout the course of the investigation, which began on the evening of Saturday, November 18, and continued through the early hours of November 19, Louisiana Spirits members feel they need more evidence to deem the old jail to be haunted.

“We have several strange audio recordings, photos of possible light anomalies and personal reports of hearing footsteps when no one was moving around,” Louisiana Spirits Founder and Director Brad Duplechien said. “In another specific incident, one of the group's investigators picked up an increase in the electromagnetic field energy in a specific area of the jail. As he attempted to investigate this further, one of our infra-red cameras, which was securely fastened to a sturdy tripod, fell over.”

Duplechien went on to say that no one in the jail was around the camera when the event took place and that the group could find no explanation for the occurrence, but that these events were not proof enough to reasonably conclude that there was a haunting.

“We strive to be as professional and scientific as possible, and these types of experiences and bits of evidence are still not enough to truly validate a haunting of the Gothic Jail,” Duplechien said.

Louisiana Spirits - which is a reputable organization that has been regularly featured for its work in both print and broadcast media - have previously performed their paranormal investigations on well known and historic structures in Louisiana and Texas, as well as several private residences.

Armed with state-of-the-art equipment, Louisiana Spirits strives to be distinct from similar “ghost hunting” teams that are more amateur in nature, and does so by conducting a lengthy and strenuous screening process of all evidence it collects without jumping to any hasty conclusions.

“I demand and require that we attempt to rule out any and all logical explanations for strange occurrences. Only when all logical explanations have been expelled do we look into the paranormal realm,” Duplechien, who admits to having a healthy skepticism toward the paranormal, said. “Still, on a personal note, due to such a rich history and the personal experiences that were - in fact - felt, I definitely feel that we have enough legitimate evidence to warrant a follow-up investigation of the Beauregard Gothic Jail.”

Members of Louisiana Spirits hope that, with the help of the Beauregard Parish Police Jury and Beauregard Tourist Commission, they will have the opportunity to repeat the investigation in the near future.

“Our main goals are to possibly find concrete proof of the paranormal, see the building restored and up to safety codes, and then hold paranormal seminars or investigations for members of the public who wish to learn more on such a fascinating hobby,” Duplechien said.

The Gothic Jail, which earned its title from its unique architectural style, has been the subject of speculation about potential hauntings for many years. For decades, stories have circulated locally about possible paranormal activity or hauntings in the jail, which housed prisoners until 1984 and has since sat unused by the city or parish.

Most believe that the supposed hauntings are related to the double hanging of Joe Genna and Molton Brasseaux inside the jail in the late 1920s.

The two were sentenced to death after being convicted of robbing and killing a DeRidder taxi driver, and legend claims that the two met their fates by being hung through the now famous staircase that spirals up the jail's center.

Several other unconfirmed deaths, due to natural and unnatural causes, have been reported to have taken place in the building - a structure that has also been nicknamed locally as the “hanging jail.”