Everyone hopes to become famous for something, to have their name go down in history to achieve a remarkable achievement. What nobody really wants is to be remembered as one of the most vicious killers of modern times. Paul Durousseau is a name that will be remembered forever for the wrong reasons.
Paul, the father of two daughters, is an army veteran and notorious rapist and murderer. He has killed at least 7 young African-American women, all within 6 years. He is one of America’s most notorious criminals. Paul is also known as “The Jacksonville Strangler” because of his reputation for raping and strangling his victims in the Jacksonville area.
Paul Durousseau Biography
Paul was born on August 11, 1970, in Beaumont, Texas. Very little information is available about his childhood and formative years. He joined his mother’s relatives in Los Angeles when his father left her – although they were never married.
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Paul Durousseau joined the US Army in 1992 and was then transferred to Germany, where he met a beautiful young lady, Natoca. 3 years later the duo married in Las Vegas in 1995, and one year later he was transferred to Fort Benning in Georgia. Paul was arrested on March 13, 1997, for kidnapping and subsequent rape of a young woman, but for lack of sufficient evidence, the charges against him were dropped 5 months later.
Sometime between 1997 and late 1998, Paul was caught in possession of some stolen property, and the U.S. Army court-martialed him in 1999 and later dishonorably discharged him from the U.S. Army. After his discharge from the U.S. Army, Paul and Natoca moved to Florida, where they settled and had two daughters. There he found it extremely difficult to keep a job and his family’s income was severely affected, so much so that he often got into fierce battles with Natoca.
In September 2001, after a series of problems of domestic violence with his wife when she was discussing a divorce petition with him, Durousseau was finally arrested by the police and spent almost one and a half months in custody for domestic violence.
After his release from prison, Paul took several jobs to make ends meet as a school bus driver and cab driver; it is generally believed that he met some of his victims through this last job.
The Life And Crimes Of Paul Durousseau
Durousseau is believed to have killed about 7 young women in America alone; although the German authorities believe he was also responsible for some murders while stationed in their country by the U.S. Army, no charges were brought.
Here is a list of the victims of Paul Durousseau:
1. Tracy Habersham (26 years old)
Tracy had gone to a party in Fort Benning, but unfortunately, she never returned home. Her family reported her missing to the police and a few days later her naked body was found. Autopsy reports proved that she had been strangled and raped. DNA samples taken from her body linked Durousseau to her death, although no one had seen him with Tracy. Paul was later to confess to having committed this crime when he was arrested.
2. Tyresa Mack (24 years)
In 1999, Tyresa’s body was discovered in her house after she had been raped and strangled to death. Neighbors confirmed that they saw a man fitting Dorousseau’s description kicking out of her building with some equipment. Paul was arrested and sent to prison for 30 days, only to be released later on 2 years probation.
3. Nicole L. Wiliams (18 years)
Nicole was reported missing on December 17, 2002; two days later her body was discovered wrapped in a blanket and dumped into a ditch in Jacksonville.
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4. Nikia Kilpatrick (19 years)
The pregnant Nikia had not been seen or heard by her family for several days, so they paid her a visit on January 1, 2003. She was found dead in her bedroom – raped and strangled; her two sons were also found alive in the apartment, but severely dehydrated and malnourished.
5. Shewanda McCalister (20 years)
A pregnant Shewanda was found dead in her apartment on January 9, 2003. She had been raped and strangled to death; according to the police report, the crime scene of Shewanda’s murder was very similar to the crime scene of Nikia Kilpatrick, suggesting that the same killer was responsible for the deaths.
6. Jovana Jefferson (17 years) and Surita Cohen (19 years)
The bodies of Jovana and Surita were discovered very close to each other in a trench in Jacksonville on February 5, 2003. Witnesses in the area claimed to have seen the two ladies with a cab driver who matched Durousseau’s descriptions before they disappeared.
Police arrested Paul Durousseau on June 17, 2003, and charged him with 5 counts of murder. Paul was sentenced to death for the murder of Tyresa Mack on December 13, 2007. In 2017 Paul was still on death row at the Union Correctional Institution in Florida, as his death sentence was overturned by the Florida Supreme Court.