Friday, July 9, 2021

Flashback Friday: The Dedeaux Kidnapping

A sensational kidnapping shook Jackson during the 1959 Fourth of July weekend.  James Dedeaux may have been divorced from Marion "Sooky" Dedeaux but unfortunately for the ex-Mrs. Dedeaux, he never forgot about her.  Maddened by jealousy, James pistol-whipped Sooky's date on July 1 and kidnapped her at gunpoint.  

He held her for three days at a home on Pine Lane in Northeast Jackson.  The homeowner was vacationing in Missouri. 

The kidnapping blazed across the Jackson media through the Independence Day weekend. The former Mrs. Dedeaux was feared to be dead. Fortunately, July 4 indeed meant freedom for the victim as she managed to escape on Independence Day.  Some armed neighbors gave her shelter and contacted the police. James Dedeaux was arrested and confessed. A grand jury indicted him one week later.  He pleaded guilty at his arraignment.    The Clarion-Ledger did not report his sentence.  Perhaps Wallace Dabbs can enlighten us. 








22 comments:

Anonymous said...

"James Dedeaux was arrested and confessed. A grand jury indicted him one week later. He pleaded guilty at his arraignment." 82 Indictments, wow. Now a days this would be a two-three year, minimum, process. Wonder what his sentence ended up being. maybe someone can print that. My eyes won't let me read some of the smaller print.

Anonymous said...

It's amazing how preoccupied these articles are with the physical appearances of the key players. The victim is described as "pretty," "shapely," and "attractive." Virtually every article says she was "scantily clad" at least once. Her clothing, along with the husband's attire and hairstyle, are described on multiple occasions. Feels so strange to read that.

Also, what's with printing the street addresses of the witnesses? Incredible.

Anonymous said...

no snowflakes around back then to whine about addresses and such. people were more focused on work and making a living.

Anonymous said...

@12:49
Nobody should be allowed to anonymously slander someone. Society had to be conditioned to accept “anonymous sources” as having any credibility whatsoever.

Anonymous said...

12:49-
Back then people read more often than watched TV. People expected words to paint a picture. Writers were also unconcerned about offending sensitive people since society rarely took such pathetic creatures seriously.

Also, the girl in the story you are focusing on was a real life “Lolita” and Goodman was definitely playing the part. She was an adopted daughter who destroyed a marriage and was going to marry her stepfather. However, due to the standards and practices of the day, you couldn’t come out and say she was a floozy home-wrecker using her sex appeal to manipulate her own stepfather. That was all carefully implied by the word choices and context of describing her attire and her demeanor.

Anonymous said...

Ok they don’t have to be anonymous to have their home addresses not printed publicly for their own safety. Pretty sure that was unacceptable even then.

Kingfish said...

Different time and culture when it comes to addresses. No Google maps and more respect. Baton Rouge paper used to publish addresses lf letters to editor. How would that work today?

Anonymous said...

I thought one of the JPD officers looked very familiar.

It was a very young Lavell Tullos.


This young detective would become the Chief of Police about twenty years later.





anonymous said...

Mr. Dedeaux died in Cocoa FL in 2012

Anonymous said...

Bob Nichols was the DA. He was an original. Gruff as they came but whipsmart and had a heart. I could've asked him for some good stories about this one if I had known. I know he had some

Anonymous said...

" Different time and culture when it comes to addresses " .

Understatement.

No one wants live around psychos like that ... back then or today.

There was no such thing as "social media' or facebook groups to alert the people that crazy ass idiots may be living a few doors down.
This dude plead guilty within one week of his arrest.

That alone speaks volumes about a judicial system that actually worked backed then.

Anonymous said...

every generation thinks they invented sex and lurid behavior. i hate to pop the ballon of all the JJ keyboard cowboys out there, but the world was turning long before you came along.

Anonymous said...

Wallace Dabbs, that guy was everywhere in his day.

Anonymous said...

Interesting story. I grew up on Pine Lane and never knew anything about this. However, I didn't move to Pine Lane until 1960.

Anonymous said...

My favorite posts are flashbacks!

Anyone notice the "Waller for District Attorney" ad?



Anonymous said...

My two favorite things: Bill Waller for DA and Saint Augustine sod for 17 cents a square foot.

Anonymous said...

And how about the S&L paying 4%?

Kingfish said...

Can't find anything for sentencing. Makes you wonder if he was actually sentenced.

Anonymous said...

When my Dad died in the mid seventies the newspaper put our full address in his obituary. Somebody finally figured out there were people who watched obits and burglarized people's homes while they were at the funeral. They finally stopped doing that.

Anonymous said...

According to evidence submitted to the state Supreme Court in Presley, et. al. v. American Guarantee & Liability Insurance Co., et. al. (1959) Mr. Dedeaux had a few years earlier accrued a gambling debt in New Orleans and caught a beating because of it, leading him to misappropriate funds from a business venture he was involved in to cover the debt.

Kingfish said...

Not approving your comment because Barry Seal has nothing to do with any of this. Nothing.

Anonymous said...

9:09 -

Ads are always the best. Reminds me of a story of some Trekkie who had recorded every Star Trek: The Next Generation episode on his VCR and meticulously spliced out the ads to have the whole series. Twenty (?) years later, he could buy the whole series on DVD, no problem - but the ads were impossible to get back.

No business ads from south Jackson, just central/west and north. Only two exchanges at the time, apparently. And the 19 cent St Augustine nursery was just across Gallatin Street from what's now the Iron Horse. Guess the plants don't much mind noise.


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