The murder of Lori Ann Slesinski
Auburn, Lee County, Alabama · 2006
Overview
Lori Ann Slesinski, 24, a 2004 Auburn University graduate who worked at a mental health center in Auburn, Alabama, was last heard from on the evening of June 10, 2006, when she called her best friend on the way to a girls' night; the friend could hear Derrill Richard "Rick" Ennis, a friend of Lori's from a bowling alley, in the background. Lori never arrived. Her mother reported her missing on June 13, and the next day her Mazda Tribute was found burning at the dead end of DeKalb Street. Ennis, the last person known to be with her, had fresh scratches on his arms and hands when police questioned him; he left Auburn soon afterwards and the case went cold. In 2016 the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency's new cold case unit took the file as its first case, re-interviewed witnesses and sent the old evidence to a laboratory, which found Ennis's DNA on a hand-rolled cigarette near the burned car, in blood inside Lori's front door and in semen on her bedsheet. A Lee County grand jury indicted him on August 2, 2018, and a fugitive task force arrested him in Pilot, Virginia four days later. At trial in 2022 Ennis testified that the two had consensual sex and that Lori left to meet a drug dealer; the defense said evidence had been planted. On April 14, 2022 a jury convicted him of capital murder during a kidnapping and during a burglary. At her mother's request prosecutors dropped the death penalty, and he was sentenced to life without parole. Lori's body has never been found.
How it was solved
Nothing about the solution was new in kind; what was new was that somebody went back and finished the work. From the first week, Auburn police had the obvious suspect. Ennis was the last person known to be with Lori, he said she had been fine when he left her home, and when detectives re-interviewed him they photographed fresh scratches on his arms and hands and found his statements inconsistent; he said his dog had scratched him. Then, CBS News reported, they learned that at twelve he had told an Alabama state trooper he had killed his mother and stepfather, for which he had served nine years in juvenile detention. But there was no body and no direct evidence, and after the questioning he abruptly left Auburn. In 2008 the police captain in charge could still not say whether she had been murdered or had run away. In 2016 the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency created a cold case unit under State Bureau of Investigation special agent Mark Whitaker, and he chose Lori's case first. According to CBS News, his team, including his long-time partner J.W. Barnes, reviewed the files, re-interviewed witnesses and sent the physical evidence to a forensic laboratory; Auburn police dated the formal joint effort between the department, the ALEA unit and the Lee County District Attorney's Office to April 2017. The laboratory work turned up what had been overlooked: a hand-rolled cigarette recovered near the scorched Mazda carried Ennis's DNA, so did blood on the inside of the trailer's front door, and so did semen on Lori's bedsheet. After eighteen months the unit took the case to a Lee County grand jury, which indicted Ennis on August 2, 2018 for capital murder during a kidnapping and during a burglary. Four days later a federal fugitive task force with Virginia SWAT teams arrested him in Pilot, Virginia. The DNA mattered at trial, but it confirmed a suspect the police had identified within days in 2006; it did not find him. A jury convicted Ennis on April 14, 2022 without a body, and without hearing a word about 1993.
Sources
- Man convicted of murder in woman's 2006 slaying even though her body was never found (April 14, 2022)
“the defense suggested someone planted the cigarette with Ennis' DNA at the scene of the burned-out vehicle.”
- Rick Ennis, who killed his parents as a child, on trial for the disappearance of Lori Ann Slesinski (48 Hours, updated June 25, 2023)
“Slesinski's car suddenly exploded into a fireball on a desolate cul-de-sac outside a construction site”
- Alabama Man Sentenced To Life In Prison For Murder Of Woman Missing Since 2006 (April 15, 2022)
“He was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole, according to Georgia television station WTVM.”
- Mother of Lori Slesinski speaks out after sentencing is decided (April 14, 2022)
“The judge sentenced Ennis to life in prison without parole.”
- Prosecutors: Capital Murder defendant romantically obsessed with Auburn graduate (2022)
“Lastly, Lori’s mom testified her daughter was a fighter.”
- Jury deliberating fate of Capital Murder defendant Derrill Ennis (2022)
“Forensic investigators testified the defendant's semen and presumptive blood were inside Slesinski's mobile home.”
- Man arrested in 2006 Capital Murder of AU graduate set for trial in March (2022)
“After being questioned by police, Ennis abruptly moved from Auburn and was never arrested.”
- Parents of missing Auburn woman hope arrest leads to justice in 12-year-old cold case (August 7, 2018, updated August 22, 2018)
“Later on June 14, her vehicle, a 2005 Mazda Tribute, was found in flames at the dead end of DeKalb Street.”
- Man charged with two counts of capital murder in 2006 missing person case (August 7, 2018)
“He was indicted on Aug. 2, 2018, by a Lee County Grand Jury on two counts of Capital Murder.”
- Man charged in '06 slaying enters not guilty plea (August 29, 2018)
“Ennis was arrested earlier this month in Pilot, Virginia, where court documents indicate he was living.”
- Still No Sign Of Missing Auburn University Graduate 2 Years Later (June 27, 2008)
“her car was found on fire on the dead end of Dekalb Street by an off-duty Auburn Police officer.”