Lillian Philippe, 71, was found dead in her Gonzales, Louisiana, home on April 10, 1997. Her sister-in-law discovered the body; investigators determined Philippe had been fatally stabbed after encountering an intruder who had broken into the house the previous day, April 9, 1997, to burglarize it. Stolen items were taken when the assailant fled.

Authorities later identified Daniel Joseph Blank, a mechanic with a documented gambling habit, as the person who broke into Philippe’s home. Blank was arrested in November 1997 and confessed to killing Philippe; he also confessed to five other murders in the River Parishes area and was labeled the River Parishes serial killer. In 1999 Blank was convicted of first-degree murder in Philippe’s death and sentenced to death, with additional life terms for the other homicides. He has remained on death row and pursued appeals, at one point claiming his confession was coerced after a lengthy interrogation without counsel. A judge ordered further testing of fingerprint evidence as part of his appeals.

Did anyone who knew Lillian in Gonzales remember signs of a break-in or a visitor in the days before April 9, 1997?