Murder on the Bayou: Mardi Gras 2026

It's not only Gumbo, Jambalaya and Étouffée which are served in the bayou, but a helping of murder to go with it.    

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Ville Platte, Louisiana c.1951

April, 1937
Ville Platte, Louisiana

Villa Platte is located in Louisiana's Cajun country. The area became a significant center for Acadian descendants, particularly after the 1785 arrival of a second wave of Acadian exiles who had been repatriated to France, and volunteered to settle in Spanish Louisiana.  It is located on what was once the Spanish Royal Road, and incorporated in 1858. It became the parish seat of Evangeline Parish. 

On a mild spring day, Melvin Nicholas Vidrine, 27, told authorities his common law wife Euphrozine “Frozina” Vizinat (Vizena), 24, had gone to the woods after an argument. According to him she said "I am tired of living this way, shoot me." She put a .22 rifle to her head he brought from the house, and asked him to finish her off if the shot was ineffective, and to "bury her deep". She fired a bullet, but didn't die. He shot her in the back of the head and killed her in a move reminiscent of a coup de grace. 

"My blood and nerves seemed to turn to ice and I shot her," he told police. This act was done within sight of their young child, James Buford.

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Euphrozine “Frozina” Vizinat (1911-1937)

Apparently the couple had a bitter quarrel that started at the home of a neighbor, Regile Oge. Vidrine told police the argument started after he returned from a Saturday night fishing party with his friends at Cocodrie Lake in Terrebonne Parish. She accused him of being unfaithful. The Oge family would be the last to see Frozina alive.

The couple returned home, and supposedly Frozina asked her husband where he had hidden his rifle. He retrieved it, took their son and walked about 400 feet from their home, crossed a barbed wire fence and went to a wooded, isolated area. He set the baby down, while they sat on a log and continued the argument.

Neighbors would later testify Vidrine on previous occasions said that if they ever separated, she would never take his son from him.

The neighbors first thought Frozina (Frozine) had left her husband, but when they found the couple's 18-month old child still with his father they became suspicious.

Vidrine who was the son of a well-to-do Easton farming family, took the baby to his parent's home telling them his wife had left him. 

​Evellia Oge, Frozina's neighbor called Nathan Vidrine and his wife Anna inquiring if they had seen their daughter-in-law. They told her she had gone to visit her aunt Margaret Aucoin, which was the story their son had given them.

Evillia contacted Frozina's mother Mrs. Lafleur in Port Arthur, friends in Eunice and Mamou and she looked up her first husband. None had seen or heard from her since April or earlier.

​Lastie Aucoin, Margaret Aucoin's husband, who was a second cousin of Frozina was the one who went to the sheriff and told him about the young woman's disappearance.

Police went to Vidrine's house, but he had gone fishing once more to Bayou Cocodrite, and they took the opportunity to check inside. Sheriff Charles Pucheau found bloodstains on towels, floors, under the house, and later in Vidrine's truck. 

​Two weeks later a chemist stated the stains found in the house and truck were not human blood.

Police didn't believe his story that Frozina asked to be killed, and charged Vidrine with murder. He led them to her carefully hidden grave. She was buried two-and-a-half-feet deep, and her head was pillowed on leaves. The place was so well hidden by shrubs it would probably never have been discovered.

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Melvin Vidrine under arrest c.1937

After the recovery of the body he changed his story to say he fired both shots, one in her temple, and the other in the back of her head. He told police he buried her deep enough "to keep the hogs from rooting her out." She had bruises on her face, which indicated it might have been more than an argument.

​Seven years before Vidrine had sparred against Auty Campbell in a community boxing match at Pine Prairie, which proved he was handy with his fists.

Vidrine told authorities Frozina was married twice before she started to live with him 3 years before; once to Amos Fontenot and then to Sidney Veillon. She had lived in Port Arthur, Texas during her marriages. He continued with her sorry history, and related that Frozina's parents had separated within 4 months of their marriage, and she was brought up more or less on the "open range, having a sorrowful and difficult time all of her life". She moved between Evangeline parish and Port Arthur where her mother lived. She said that people seemed to shun and dislike her wherever she went. He told her it was partly her fault because she was quick to become very disagreeable.

Melville Vidrine killed Frozina on April 4, 1937; by May 20 he was brought to trial, convicted of her murder and sentenced to life in prison at hard labor at the state penitentiary in Angola. The prosecutor argued that Vidrine had lured Frozina to the wooded area with the child, planning to kill her. He also believed that he waited until her back was turned, to shoot her in the back of the head, and then finished the job by shooting her in the temple.

The judge excoriated the jury members because they refused to bring in a verdict of "guilty as charged" which would have carried the death penalty. Some of the jury members based their determination to save him from the noose with the belief that he was "just an ignorant bayou Cajun who did not realize the enormity of his offending."

In a strange coincidence that made the newspapers, two months after Vidrine's conviction, Evellia Oge, star state witness in the murder trial, died in the local hospital of a ruptured appendix.  

Death continued to trail those connected to the unfortunate Frozina Vizinat. In May, 1939 her second husband Sidney Veillon a farmer, placed a .22 rifle to his head and killed himself while sitting in a rocking chair on the porch. He was 31, married and had a young child. The reason given was despondency over "a series of events which he found impossible to endure."

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Teet's Food Store, Ville Platte, Louisiana

Chances are that Frozina never legally married any of her three husbands as she was still referred to her by her maiden name. Nothing is found in the parish records as well. In some Cajun communities in rural Louisiana they practiced informal unions that resembled common-law marriages, particularly during periods when access to clergy or legal officials was limited.

Marriage usually occurred at a young age. Divorce was rare and difficult to justify, which calls into question how Frozina managed to exit her prior unions. Had she acted so crazily that her husbands were agreeable to ending the relationship? This makes sense since among the Cajun population of those years, the extended family had to approve the marriage of female kin, and probably the end of the union as well. The family cared for each other's children, and socialized and celebrated together.

Frozina's child James Buford went to live with his paternal grandparents.

By 1948 Melvin Vidrine was free. It’s not known if he was pardoned or paroled, but that year he married his fourth and final wife Harley Lemoine, and together they had three children.

Melvin Vidrine died in 2007 at the age of 92. Ironically he outlived his four wives, his parents, and his older sister Atile Guillory who committed suicide in 1959 by shooting herself in the chest. Both of his sons including James Buford died before him. It's unknown what happened with his other sister Leonie Vidrine. 

The story of the murder was written up in True Detective, Master Detective and American Detective.

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Sheriff Charles Pucheu c.1924

In 1940, while Melvin Vidrine was serving his sentence, scandals in state politics broke the once powerful Earl Long machine. Earl was the older brother of Huey "Kingfish" Long who served as governor of Louisiana and as a U.S. senator until his assassination in 1935.

The politicians had lost favor in Evangeline, and 1940 turned out to be a bad year for Sheriff Pucheu. He lost the election for sheriff, and was arrested for embezzlement and burning public records of the sheriff's office. By the end of the year he pled guilty to 20 counts of embezzlement on the promise that he would receive only four months to one year sentence on each count. He was admitted to the penitentiary on December 30, 1940 and served until May 14 when he was paroled. He paid $10,000 to settle a civil suit for the money he stole.

In December, 1941 he petitioned the Louisiana board of pardons for a full pardon and restoration of citizenship; he was denied. Charles Pucheu died in 1948.

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Euzebe Vidrine's self-written autobiography c.1924

Evangeline, Louisiana, 1921
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​It was noted by the local newspapers that the blue-eyed Melvin Vidrine was a distant relative of Euzebe Vidrine, a notorious criminal who had been apprehended by the same Sheriff Charles Pucheu 13 years before when he was newly elected to his office.

​Euzebe Vidrine was born on July 12, 1898 in the town of Ville Platte, Evangeline Parish, Louisiana. By his early twenties he had married Lillian Andrus, and there was nothing remarkable about his early life. According to those close to him, a normal man had become moody, dark and violent.

In 1921, Pierre Vidrine, possibly a distant but not close relative to Euzebe complained that several hogs had been stolen from his farm at Turkey Creek.

Already the men had clashed when Euzebe's dog killed one of his sheep, and Pierre told his neighbors he had seen Euzebe hanging around his farm when the hogs disappeared.

Inevitably Euzebe Vidrine learned of the rumors, and he spent several days in his house ruminating and even weeping in rage over the accusations.

On April 25, 1921 Euzebe headed to where Pierre Vidrine was plowing his field. He carried a loaded 12-guage shotgun, and he waited for the farmer to come close to his hiding spot.  The noise of both barrels going off rent the day, and the man fell to the ground. Euzebe Vidrine fled to his home and hid the firearm. Pierre did not die right away but succumbed to his wounds a week later. Since he had been shot in the back he had not seen who fired upon him. He left behind a wife and five children.

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Where Euzebe Vidrine's mother lived c.1924

Soon after the discovery of the wounded man, the sheriff had a posse ready to search for the culprit. Ironically Euzebe Vidrine was among them. Suspicion soon fell on him when he described circumstances of the crime, that only someone who was present would know about.

Euzebe was arrested along with Lee Andrus, a relative of his wife. As motive it was pointed out that Pierre Vidrine had recently held a dance at his house. Some of the young men grew boisterous and "attempted to pull off some  rough stuff". Pierre Vidrine ejected them from the house.

Eventually only Euzebe was brought to trial but acquitted. He had remained calm and said he was innocent, but it seemed he had developed an appetite for mayhem.

Eight months after he killed Pierre Vidrine, Euzebe left Evangeline Parish and headed to Lafayette to find work since his crops had failed. This time there wasn't even ill will to spur his murderous rage, instead he repaid a kindness with death. Evening was falling when Charles Garbo gave him a ride as he trudged along the road. A few miles later Garbo stopped to check one of his tires. Unknown to him Euzebe Vidrine carried a .32 caliber pistol in his coat. As the man leaned over, he shot him in the temple. Pocketing $4 taken from the dead man, he threw the body into the back seat and drove a few miles, until he found a ditch where he pushed the auto off the road. He walked the remaining distance to the train station in Lafayette.

The body was found ​eight miles from Lafayette on the road to Abbeville.

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Vidrine's execution made the newspapers

Since no good deed goes unpunished, another kind stranger became Euzebe's next victim. He struck up a conversation with John Roy, and told him he didn't have money for the train fare. Roy gave him a ride, and as they were approaching the town of Eunice, Vidrine asked him to pull over so he could smoke a cigarette.

Both men stood outside each smoking a cigarette, when Vidrine pulled the pistol out and shot John Roy in the head. He stole a nickel and watch from his latest victim. Rodney Reed who was on his way to a hunting trip came across the dying man around 4 a.m. Police were called but the man died before regaining consciousness.

On December 5, 1921 Mayor Wyble of Eunice said that a man who called himself Jack Vidrine had been picked up for the attacks on Charles Garbo and John Roy. Vidrine was arrested at the depot of the Gulf Coast Lines in Eunice.

An officer from Lafayette said he was not the man who had killed Charles Garbo, even though he fit the description of the man seen riding with him, including the blue serge suit he was wearing.

Once released Vidrine headed to Pine Prairie where his father-in-law lived. He had run out of money, and spent four days in town, and then left to Orange, Texas.

Soon after his arrival he met Lee Duke, a jitney driver who offered him a ride to Beaumont where he told Vidrine he could find a job. The killer used the same ruse that worked on John Roy. He shot the Good Samaritan, and stole a 38-caliber pistol, a watch and 75 cents after they had stopped for a cigarette.

Vidrine headed back to Ville Platte, with no one the wiser he had killed four men in less than a year.

Another man named Frank Smith was accused of the murder of Lee Duke. He was convicted and sent to serve 15 years at the Texas State Penitentiary. Throughout his trial he claimed he didn't even know who Duke was.

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Euzebe Vidrine standing next to Sheriff Pucheu (white hat) c.1924

Euzebe might have been crazy, but not stupid. He returned to Evangeline Parish and lay low when it came to killing, however he still suffered from mood swings.

A little over three years since the murder of poor Pierre Vidrine, he crossed paths with Leo Robert Wiggins, 27, who was the son of Evangeline's sheriff. Wiggins was heading to the house he had just built for his new bride, when he saw Euzebe walking down the road. They knew each other since childhood, and Wiggins offered him a ride. As Euzebe was about to enter the car, he pulled his revolver and shot the young man in the chest. He shot him again when he saw the first bullet didn't kill him. He hid Wiggins' body behind a tree, and after attempting to take the vehicle it stalled out on him. He walked back to his house and hid the pistol.

Later he came across men in town discussing the murder of Leo Wiggins. It seemed there had been eyewitnesses who described a young man wearing a blue serge suit run from where the body had been discovered.

Since it had worked once before, Euzebe joined the posse organized to find the killer, however luck turned against him. Bloodhounds were brought in for the search. The dogs followed the scent from where Wiggins was killed to where the group of men had stood discussing the crime, and from there to Vidrine's house, and then to his bedroom. Inside the closet the police found the blue serge suit with a loaded .38 caliber revolver. Later the cartridges would prove to be a match to the bullets taken from Wiggins' body.

Vidrine was arrested, but denied any knowledge of the murder.

On May 21, Euzebe wrote the following statement:

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I killed Leo Wiggins. I had been drinking. I asked Wiggins for a ride and as he opened the door of his coupe I shot him in the breast and he fell. Then I shot him in the head. I didn’t know it was Leo Wiggins until after I had dragged the body behind a tree. I mistook him for an old enemy. 
-Euzebe Vidrine

Leo Robert Wiggins the last victim of Euzebe Vidrine

Days after Vidrine was arrested, the sheriff from Lafayette Parish came to Evangeline since it seemed one of the watches found on Euzebe matched the one belonging to John Roy. Fingerprints taken from Lee Duke's crime scene were matched to Vidrine.

Vidrine only admitted to killing Wiggins, but denied murdering all the others. When asked how he felt killing Leo Wiggins he answered that he felt like a weight had been lifted.

Charged with the murder of the sheriff's son, Euzebe Vidrine went to trial on June 29, 1924. He received permission to represent himself, convinced he could sway the jury to give him life in prison instead of death. He told the court his actions were fueled by alcoholic rage and a temporary insanity, which made him a victim of his own actions. His closing statement was: "Please save my life. I'm sorry I killed Leo."

It took the jury only 10 minutes to find him guilty and that he should hang. His execution was delayed until August 8, 1924, after he asked the judge for a chance to write his memoirs as a cautionary tale. He admitted to the murder of Pierre Vidrine, Charles Garbo, John Roy, Lee Duke and Robert Leo Wiggins.

While the condemned man penned The Life of Euzebe Vidrine, his defense team appealed to the court that he was insane, and instead should be sent to prison. A lunacy commission found Vidrine sane, and his comment to the attorneys was:  "Well, I guess that's it. The jig's up."

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Euzebe Vidrine posing with noose around his neck, Sheriff Charles Pucheu holds the rope c.1924

Euzebe Vidrine met with his family before the execution, and on his way to the gallows paused to be photographed by the newspaper reporters. He seemed pleased with the large crowd his execution had attracted.

After the hood was drawn over his head, and the sheriff was about to release the trap Euzebe asked for a chance to speak.

Granted his dying wish, Vidrine preached his own funeral sermon for 20 minutes. "When the rope is cut that will be the end of me. My troubles will be over. My mother’s troubles, my wife’s troubles and the grief of human beings I have made widows and fatherless will have just begun. This rope now seems easy and kind compared to this dreadful remorse. Maybe the spectacle of my death will heal the hurt."

Vidrine's body was exhibited in an open coffin inside the jailhouse where thousands came to see the first person legally hung in Evangeline Parish.

If any in the town had doubts about Vidrine's guilt, it was settled two days later when rain fell in Evangeline after a weeks-long drought that had parched the land. Pierre Vidrine's widow foretold that rain would not fall until Euzebe was dead, and so it was.

Frank Smith who had been in prison since 1922 for the murder of Frank Smith was set free in November, 1924 after he was pardoned by the Texas governor.

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Roadway where Leo Wiggins' body was found c.1924

Euzebe's father Arcille "Sony" Vidrine died in 1919, and was spared the hanging of his son. However he was alive in 1917, when another son Rene Vidrine, 23,  was a victim of violence.

On December 2, 1917 Rene Vidrine and Fabien Fontenot, neighbors whose family lived on the edge of Big Mamou met in a strip of woods to engage in a duel.

What passed between them was not known since there were no witnesses. It was said that bad blood existed, and only a night before, Vidrine and Fontenot's brother had almost come to fists at a neighborhood dance.

Rene Vidrine's horse returned home without him, and Fontenot's buggy was found smashed against a tree. His horse went to a neighbor's house.

The appearance of both animals without riders set off a search. 

Vidrine's body was found; he had been stabbed in the heart. By then Fontenot had turned himself over to Sheriff Wiggins, claiming self defense.

​There is no further mention if Fabien Fontenot was prosecuted, but it seems that without witnesses to contradict his version, nothing further came of it.

This encounter was not unheard of since two weeks later two men engaged in a shooting duel on a principal street of Eunice. Dr. Marshall who was killed after the men shot 10 times at each other was a practicing physician of the Mamou section of Evangeline.

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Four months after Euzebe Vidrine was executed his brother Elgee was ambushed and killed c.1924

​Despite the execution of Euzebe Vidrine someone still desired vegeance against the family, or so it seemed.

The day after Christmas, 1924, Elgee Vidrine was found unconscious on the roadway. He had two deep cuts on the top and left side of his head. His leg was broken in two or three places. A highway builder on his way to work came across the dying man. 

The sheriff and a priest were summoned.

It seemed that Elgee had been drunk since Christmas day. At 1 a.m. he dressed to leave. His wife asked him when he would return home. He gave her the same answer that his brother Euzebe used to give his mother whenever he left home: "Do not expect me till you see me."

At first it was believed Elgee had gotten a ride on a truck hauling gravel and accidentally fell off, and the truck ran him over. However his cap was found 60 feet farther west on the edge of the roadway, and nearby was a heavy piece of steel 2 feet long and 2 inches wide. It had a small projection at the end, and this matched a dent on Elgee's head. The force of the blow crushed his skull. 

It was believed that Vidrine came to town for an appointment with someone, and it ended in an argument. This person knowing he might be armed struck him on the head, and drove him to the edge of town. After throwing him on the road, he ran him over which is how his legs were broken.

Vidrine's money and valuables were untouched, and he had the same pistol that his brother Euzebe had used to kill four men. It had been returned to his mother after Euzebe was executed.

Elgee's sister Anna Vidrine who was engaged to be married to Johnny Deshotels for several weeks, had Father Savy who had given her brother last rites and hour before marry them the same day.

Elgee was buried on December 28 and no arrests had been made, and never were. 

Rene Vidrine, Leo Wiggins and Elgee Vidrine were all found dead in the same strip of woods. 

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The duel of Johnnie Rougeau and Kossuth Manuel (which did not die as reported) c.1923

It appears that dueling in the 20th century had not disappeared from Louisiana. In July 1923, while Euzebe Vidrine, the murderer of four men walked free amongst his neighbors, Kossuth Manuel and Johnnie Rougeau met at the village Mamou to settle an old score by dueling. Both were farmers and used shotguns to shoot at each other. Rougeau died instantly after receiving two loads of buckshot. Manuel was wounded and was taken to a hospital at Eunice. Initially it was thought he would die, but he survived. Three months later Manuel was charged with manslaughter. In December he was acquitted. He died in 1969, age 76.

It seemed that Vidrine's conviction had more to do with the cowardly way he killed the men than anything else.

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Renette Cure accused and convicted of poisoning her children c.1926

New Orleans, Louisiana 1926

During those years, it wasn't only men killing each other violently, but a woman was accused of poisoning her entire family.

Renette Bussey, 23, was arrested on February 21, 1926 for the death of her 5-year-old daughter Verdia. Doctors believed she was poisoned. The bodies of Lawrence Bussey, her husband and her other children Clarence and Esther were ordered to be exhumed.

Renette Cure married Lawrence Bussey on December 21, 1921. He died on April 13, 1925, less than four years after their union. Their children followed him to the grave; Clarence on December 5, 1925, Esther five days later and Verdia on February 19, 1926. Four members of the Bussey family died in the space of eleven months.

Verdia (Verda) the last child to die was autopsied and the coroner found her death was due to mercurial poisoning. Before the child died she was alleged to have told doctors and nurses that her mother had forced her to eat bread with soap "and had threatened to beat her if she said anything about it."

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Clarence Bussie survived was thought an accidental poisoning which possibly was a failed attempt by his mother to kill him c.1925

​Clarence, age 3, who died in December, 1925 went to Charity Hospital in October, 1925 from the effects of swallowing iodine. His mother said she believed he mistook the bottle for one of cough syrup. Was this a failed attempt by his mother to kill him?

A druggist told police he had sold Mrs. Bussey rat killer containing mercury.

Renette had collected $1,500 of her husband's $3,000 life insurance. Her mother-in-law who had received the other half, turned it over to her to help take care of her grandchildren.

Some believed her motivation in doing away with the children, was her relationship with a lover. It turned out this man had served with her husband in the New Orleans fire department.

A few days after Renette Bussey's arrest, Frank Davis a fireman admitted he had an intimate relationship with her. He was married and had visited the Bussey household with his wife. They were having an extramarital affair before and after the death of Lawrence Bussey.

Taxicab driver Theodore F. Meade told police that he drove Mrs. Bussey from police headquarter to the central station where Davis worked shortly after she was questioned in connection with the deaths in her family. He overheard Davis say to her: "They can't do nothing to me."

Joseph Bussey, Renette's brother-in-law disclosed he did not believe she was his brother's legal wife. He said his brother had married a woman in New Orleans in 1917, and left to war a few months later. When he returned she left him. He met Renette in 1921.

This admission was shortly followed by the story of Ida Bussey Guillory, Lawrence Bussey's former wife. She told police she divorced him for infidelity in January 1, 1921. They married in 1917, and separated two years later. 

Her present husband Adam Guillory met Bussey two weeks after the divorce, and said that Bussey was with a woman and a small child.

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Rex Parade Canal St. Mardi Gras c.1926

Disquieting revelations continued. A few days later Oscar Petrie told police his mother became violently ill and died a few days after after drinking a bowl of soup given to her by Mrs. Bussey. He wanted her body exhumed, however it seems nothing came of this request.

He also admitted to having been intimate with Renette Bussey before and after the death of her husband. They were neighbors that lived a few doors down from each other. As a motive he said his mother discovered the affair through reading letters Renette Bussey had sent him. His mother threatened to tell Lawrence Bussey about the illicit relationship.

The police continued questioning different witnesses, then the city chemist found that poison was found in the body of all 3 children, but none in the father.

Renette went to trial in April, 1926, and on May 1, she was found guilty of manslaughter, even though she was originally charged with murder in the first degree for the death of her child Verda. Her defense had argued that the woman lived in squalor, loved her child and believed it tubercular.

The following month her attorney was seeking a new trial based on that the verdict was rendered contrary to law and evidence. The manslaughter verdict carried a sentence of 20 years. She was sentenced to serve 10 to 15 years at hard labor in the State Penitentiary. The motion for a new trial was overruled.

Surprisingly Renette's family history had not started in poverty. When her grandfather died in 1897 it was noted he was descended from one of the oldest and most distinguished Creole families of New Orleans. He had inherited a fortune from his father, but lost it all in various unsuccessful enterprises. He spent his last years poor but eking out an existence since he was known as a resourceful man.

In October, 1926 the Supreme Court set aside Renette Cure's conviction.

Life behind bars for 8 months seemed to have agreed with her since she gained about 25 pounds, and she was seen giggling frequently while she chatted with her attorney. The reason for  the weight gain became obvious when she gave birth to a baby girl on November 29, 1926, or so it was reported by the local newspapers. Obviously this child did not belong to her dead husband, so who was the father?

She was released on bond in December.

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Renette Cure Bussey Specht obit c.1965

No further mention was made of Renette Bussey until 1929, when "Mother O'Connor" a matron at the prison died at the age of 72. She had worked there for 30 years after she was left a widow with 4 children. She cared for the prisoners', one of them being Renette.

Renette faded from history and married Alphonse Spector some time after 1944. She died in 1965, at the age of 61. In her obituary she's listed as the mother of Frank E. Davis, so it turns out the child she gave birth to while incarcerated was a boy, and the father was her married lover Frank Davis..

Ironically by the jury showing leniency and convicting her only of manslaughter, instead of murder in the first degree, she won her freedom, even though it seems she was a serial poisoner who killed all her children.

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