Cold Case Breakthrough: Arrest Made in 2003 Louisiana Murder

Years ago, one of the television networks aired a show called “Cold Case.” An investigator would examine a file that had been languishing in a box on a shelf, review the information, and locate the criminal within an hour. Law enforcement chuckles and laughs.

Investigations go cold, but police in Louisiana continue to seek for the perpetrator. They understand that the victim, as well as their family in situations of murder, deserve closure and justice. Louisiana State Police collaborate with agencies around the state including the Acadiana Crime Lab in New Iberia to find new evidence and leads that can assist catch a criminal.

Acadia Parish Sheriff K.P. Gibson said this week that an arrest has been made in connection with Susan Kennedy Jackson’s 2003 murder. Her body was discovered in December in Bayou Wikoff, just north of I-10 at Exit 82 near Crowley, Louisiana. An autopsy found that Jackson had received blunt force damage to the head.

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DNA evidence was gathered and sent to the Acadiana Crime Lab, which entered the information into a national database. That move was successful 20 years after Jackson’s death.

Acadia Parish investigators were recently alerted that they had “got a hit,” a DNA match in Jackson’s murder.

The crime scene DNA matched Ferris Bonham, 44, of Marysville, Washington. Bonham was in prison in Michigan on charges unrelated to Jackson’s death when the match was established.

Bonham was taken from the Michigan jail to the Acadia Parish jail in Crowley, where he was arrested for second-degree murder. His bond was set at $1,000,000.

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Sheriff Gibson said his agency has been working with Louisiana State Police and the Acadiana Crime Lab on several cold case homicides for many years.

For the past 20-plus years, investigators have worked many cold cases for their victims and continue to do so today. This team has been focused and their hard work and determination have led to this arrest.

Sheriff Gibson is understandably happy that his detectives and team were able to solve the murder of Susan Kennedy Jackson.

 

I cannot express my appreciation for the investigators who never gave up on this case. Their teamwork has led to positive results.