It was the early 2000s in Baton Rouge, and everyone was looking for a white man in a white truck. That was the profile. That was the narrative.
But profiles can be dangerously wrong.
While investigators were chasing ghosts based on a rigid FBI profile that suggested the killer was likely a white male, a serial predator named Derrick Todd Lee was moving freely through South Louisiana. He didn't fit the box. He wasn't white, and he wasn't a loner. He was a "smooth talker" who charmed his way into homes.
Everything changed because of a survivor and a drawing. The derrick todd lee sketch wasn't just a piece of paper; it was the moment the blinders finally came off for law enforcement.
The Drawing That Broke the Case
Dianne Alexander is a name you should know. In July 2002, Lee attacked her in her home in St. Martin Parish. He beat her and tried to rape her, but her son interrupted the assault, forcing Lee to flee. Unlike many of Lee’s other victims, Dianne survived.
She did more than just survive. She remembered.
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Working with a sketch artist, Alexander provided a detailed description of the man who had attacked her. This resulted in the now-infamous derrick todd lee sketch. When you look at that sketch side-by-side with Lee’s 2003 mugshot, the resemblance is haunting. It captured his muscular build, his light-to-medium skin tone, and that specific set of his jaw.
It was a total departure from the "white male" profile the task force had been clinging to for months.
Why the Sketch Was Ignored (at First)
Honestly, it’s frustrating to look back at the timeline. The sketch was released by St. Martin Parish officials in mid-2002, but the Multi-Agency Homicide Task Force in Baton Rouge didn't immediately jump on it. Why? Because it didn't match the "person of interest" they were already looking for.
Basically, the system was siloed.
One agency had a sketch of a Black man who attacked a woman. Another agency was looking for a white man who was killing women. It took a while for the dots to connect—specifically through DNA evidence that eventually proved the "serial killer" and Dianne Alexander's attacker were the same person.
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The Profile vs. The Reality
The FBI Behavioral Analysis Unit had predicted the killer would be a white male, ages 25 to 35, who struggled with social interactions. They thought he’d be "awkward" around women.
Lee was the opposite.
- Social Skills: He was described by neighbors as friendly and a "womanizer."
- Employment: He worked as a pipefitter and cement truck driver—jobs requiring the physical strength the profile did get right.
- Method: He didn't always break in. He often asked to use a phone or offered "help," using his charm to bypass a victim's guard.
When the derrick todd lee sketch started circulating, it finally gave a face to the charm. A woman who worked at a truck stop in St. Francisville saw the sketch and the description of Lee's car—a gold Mitsubishi—and called the tip line. She knew him. She recognized that face.
The DNA Turning Point
By May 2003, the pressure was at a breaking point. Investigators finally obtained a warrant to collect a DNA sample from Lee. He had a long history of "Peeping Tom" incidents and stalking, but he’d largely stayed under the radar of the murder task force.
On May 25, 2003, the lab results came back.
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It was a match. Not just to one murder, but to several. The man in the sketch wasn't just an "attacker" in St. Martin Parish; he was the Baton Rouge Serial Killer. Lee fled to Atlanta once he saw his own face on the news, but he was captured shortly after.
What We Learned from the Sketch
The case of Derrick Todd Lee is often used in criminal justice classes to discuss the limitations of criminal profiling. If police had relied solely on the "white male" profile, Lee might have killed many more women.
The sketch provided by Dianne Alexander was the most accurate piece of "eye-witness" intelligence the police had in years. It challenged the bias of the investigation and forced a pivot that ultimately led to Lee's arrest.
He was eventually linked to the murders of seven women:
- Gina Wilson Green
- Geralyn Barr DeSoto
- Charlotte Murray Pace
- Pam Kinamore
- Trineisha Dené Colomb
- Carrie Lynn Yoder
- Randi Mebruer (linked via DNA)
Lee was convicted and sentenced to death, though he died of heart disease in 2016 while still on death row.
Actionable Takeaways for True Crime Followers
If you’re researching this case or interested in how these investigations work, here are a few things to keep in mind:
- Question the "Profile": This case is the primary evidence used to show that profiles are just educated guesses, not hard facts.
- The Power of Survivors: Without Dianne Alexander's bravery and her ability to recall Lee's features for that sketch, the investigation might have remained stalled for much longer.
- Cross-Jurisdiction Communication: One of the biggest failures in the Lee case was how long it took for different parishes to share information. Modern task forces now use more integrated databases to prevent this "silo" effect.
The derrick todd lee sketch remains a sobering reminder that the most dangerous predators often don't look like the monsters we imagine. They look like the "nice guy" asking to use your phone.