Nathaniel Robert Code

Nathaniel Robert Code Jr. (born March 12, 1956) is an American serial killer and mass murderer who murdered eight people at their residences in Shreveport, Louisiana, between 1984 and 1987. He is perhaps best known for killing four members of the Cheney-Culbert family in the neighborhood of Cedar Grove in 1985. Tried for only those murders, he was found guilty and sentenced to death in 1990.

Early life Nathaniel Robert Code Jr. was born on March 12, 1956. His parents divorced only six months later and his great-aunt Josephine Code and grandfather William T. Code raised him. As a child, Code, who was nicknamed Junior, was noted for his tendencies to stop in the middle of a sentence and stare blankly for a while before continuing. He was alleged to have set fire to animals during his adolescence. After failing ninth-grade, Code dropped out of high school. In 1971, Code was shot four times by Boyd after an argument. Code was able to run four blocks down where he collapsed on the street, and soon after, two patrolmen found him. Code told officers that Boyd, whom he knew as "Uncle Joe," had done it. Boyd was later arrested.

In July 1975, Code was charged with aggravated rape and burglary in connection with the assault of a 20-year-old woman on June 30. He pleaded guilty to attempted aggravated rape in November 1975 and was sentenced to 15 years in prison. While incarcerated, his birth mother died.

Murders During the night of August 31, 1984, Code entered the home of 25-year-old Debra Ann Ford by pulling open a screen on the bathroom window. After a confrontation in the living room, Code bound Ford's hands and placed a gag on her mouth, then stabbed her multiple times and slit her throat. Ford died as a result of her injuries. With minimal evidence to pinpoint the perpetrator, a reward of $1,000 was put forward for information leading to an arrest. Two other girls in the home at the time, aged 7 and 10, survived. The bodies were discovered at 6:25 a.m. by a relative, Shirley Culbert, who had taken a taxi from a nearby bus station. Police were notified by the taxi driver.

Assistant police chief Sam Burns described the murders by saying, "I don't know that I've seen anything more vicious in the 25 years I've been in the department."

On August 5, 1987, Code beat and stabbed his grandfather, 73-year-old William Code, to death. He had stabbed him 13 times and had bound and gagged him. According to the authorities, Code made an incriminating statement in the interview while also denying involvement. Code's fingerprints were collected and were matched to evidence found at the scene, and he was arrested. Following his arrest, another fingerprint sample matched a sample collected at the 1985 murders on Cedar Grove, proving his guilt in those killings beyond a reasonable doubt. Finally, with John Douglas' information that modus operandi was the same to Debra Ford's murder, Code's fingerprints were compared, and they matched as well.

Following his arrest, family members and acquaintances of Code came forward with their disbelief that Code was a serial killer. L.C. Thomas, the co-worker whom Code had attacked in 1985, described Code as quick-tempered, In total, Code faced eight-counts of first-degree murder. Code denied killing anyone.

An acquaintance of Code, Oscar Washington, took the stand in late September and testified that he saw Code with blood on his arms between 2 a.m. and 3 a.m. on July 19, 1985. He also claimed that Code had told him he had gotten into a fight and "came out on top". Although on trial for four murders, the prosecution brought up the coroner, who described all of Code's murders, saying that they were all "methodical, controlling, and brutal." Code chose not to take the stand, but his defense presented evidence that Code could not have committed the murders, due to the fact it would take more than one person to kill four people at the same time. The jury of five men and seven women took only one hour to find Code guilty of four first-degree murder charges.

Incarceration In July 1991 Code filed an appeal, in which he alleged that he had been overwhelmed during the trial which caused him to make bad legal decisions. He also continually denied committing the murders, contesting that he could not have murdered four people at the same time. However, due to Code planning to appeal to a federal court, the execution had to be postponed. A new execution date was set for May 15, 1995, but it was delayed once again by a District Judge, who agreed to review documents in the case.

In 2013, Code was one of three inmates at Louisiana State Penitentiary to file lawsuits against the extremely hot temperatures in prison. According to them, they would suffer extreme heat, as high as 195-degree with the heat index in the summer, and said it was a risk of serious harm or death. Family members of Code's victims expressed their extreme rejections toward the request, mentioning what he did to put himself on death row. According to Albert Culbert Jr., the brother of Carlitha Culbert, "He lost all those privileges that you and I have. He lost that air conditioning privilege. He lost that. The Culberts, we didn't put him on death row. He did that when he decided to take my sister's life and my brother, my niece, Billy Joe Harris, Deborah Ford, Mr. William, and the other two little boys. He did that. And now he's got nerve enough..."