Authorities in Polk County, Texas, arrested 35-year-old Daniel Blank on November 14 for six slayings over the past two years in southeast Louisiana. Sheriff Jeff Wiley of Ascension Parish, La., said Blank confessed on videotape to stabbing, bludgeoning or shooting six people -- bosses, neighbors, and customers -- to pay for his gambling habit.
Most attacks were on older victims who lived mostly in upscale neighborhoods and homes. He says some of the victims were targets because they had safes in their homes. Folks in the piney woods town of Onalaska, Texas, say Blank told them he'd moved there last summer to get himself, his wife and their four kids away from crime. A search of Blank's house trailer turned up a machete with traces of blood and human hair on it. According to an ex-employer, "he wanted to have things he never could afford" and at times seemed to have a lot of cash. "He was an excellent mechanic, though, an excellent transmission man."
Blank, one of eight children, grew up in Paulina, in rural St. James Parish. He was sent to a reform school when he was young. Audrey Louque, a sister who lives in Gramercy, said the arrest stunned family members. "He was always quiet," she said. "He never got into trouble since he was in reform school." Next-door neighbors Penny and Mike Darling said the Blanks never tried to make friends or invite the Darlings' children to play with theirs. "After a while, I figured they only wanted to be friends with elderly people. Those are the only people they were real nice to."
On July 23, 1998 prosecutors have dropped two counts of first-degree murder against the ex-girlfriend of alleged serial killer, Daniel Blank. Police arrested Cynthia Bellard days after arresting Blank on five different murder charges in the river parishes. In exchange for having the charges dropped Bellard has agreed to testify about Blank's seven-month killing spree.
On April 11, 2000, a Lousiana District Court convicted Daniel Blank of first-degree murder for the second time and proscribed him a second death penalty. Authorities have charged Blank of killing six River Parishes residents during break-ins. Blank, 37, was convicted September of last year of killing Gonzales resident Lillian Philippe, 71, and sentenced to death by lethal injection. He has yet to stand trial for the murders of Victor Rossi, 41, of St. Amant; Barbara Bourgeois, 58, of Paulina; and Sam and Louella Arcuri, 76 and 69, of LaPlace.
In this his latest trial Blank was convicted of first-degree murder in the May 1997 death of Joan Brock, 55. Jurors saw Blank confess on videotape to stabbing Brock with a butcher knife and stealing her family safe. Defense lawyers argued that Blank, who blamed his crimes on his gambling addiction, was coerced into confessing.
Milton Rhea, an Alexandria counseling psychologist, testified that Blank had a low IQ and an abnormal personality. Rhea also said that Blank suffers from a schizo-affective paranoia disorder, which makes him feel incredibly inadequate and anxiety-ridden at all times. As a child, Blank was struck by a vehicle while riding his bike. Not surprisingly he is believed to suffer from some sort of brain injury.
Ronald Goebel, a neuropsychologist from Shreveport, said that the injury did not affect Blank's brain function. Goebel said Blank had a mild brain dysfunction that caused a learning disability, which, in turn, caused Blank to be frustrated and angry. "While a learning disability may be very frustrating, even little boys with learning disabilities can grow up to be productive citizens," Goebel added. "I don't think criminal behavior should be excused."