GUILTY NC - Troy, 48, & Ladonna French, 45, murdered, Reidsville, 4 Feb 2012

[JohnTate90210]

New story:

http://myfox8.com/2015/08/25/arrest-made-in-french-family-murders/

A story from 2012:

http://myfox8.com/2012/10/30/rockin...ld-press-conference-on-french-family-murders/

There's been an arrest in a three-year old murder case. Douglas and Ladonna French were murdered in their home on February 4, 2012. Their daughter, Whitley, suffered non-life threatening injuries.

At the time of the murders, Whitley was dating John Alvarez and they married earlier this year. Now, police have arrested his brother, Jose Alvarez, for the murders. Police say he may not be the only suspect and the investigation is continuing.

Back in late 2011, Douglas French told his family his pistol was missing. After the murders, police stated they believed it to be the murder weapon. There was DNA which ruled out John Alvarez but one would wonder if police saw a familial match.

 

[colette]

Why would the brother of the man Whitley was dating kill her parents but leave her to survive with non-life threatening injuries? Why did Whitley not tell LE that her boyfriend's brother was the killer? Oh ya, more arrests to come.

 

[JohnTate90210]

This story says the daughter was cut on the arm and had no other injuries:

http://www.newsadvance.com/rockingh...cle_af50a2af-222b-5241-831d-bb4c7ab0bb29.html

It also tends to hint they may have found a familial DNA connection:

“We do have a suspect,” Page said. “We have a male suspect who has left his DNA evidence behind. We’re going to continue to do our analysis and it’s just a matter of time before that person is identified.”

Page wouldn’t comment if the DNA strain matched any family members. He also wouldn’t go into further details on age or race.

 

[JohnTate90210]

It seems odd that the parents were shot to death but the daughter received a cut on her arm. Why not shoot her, too? Then there's the oddity that the gun had been previously stolen from the victims' home.

Another story states Whitley said that she awoke to find a stranger in her bedroom. She screamed and he ran out. Then her parents ran to help her. Somehow they all then went downstairs where the intruder shot her parents but not her. Why would he hang around downstairs rather than run away? Why leave a living witness after already killing two? And just how did she receive the cut? One story describes it as a scratch that required two stitches.

A bit of a timeline:

http://www.wfmynews2.com/longform/n...-depth-report-french-family-murders/32367341/

Some statements from the mother of one of the victims:

http://www.wfmynews2.com/story/news/2015/08/26/ladonna-frenchs-mother-arrest-bittersweet/32440769/

 

[JohnTate90210]

Oh ya, more arrests to come.

We're both thinking along the same lines. LOL.

Based on Facebook, it appears the young couple had a very nice wedding.

I can really only see it being a one-man crime if it went something like this. He'd been in the house before and managed to steal the gun. Then perhaps he went back several weeks later to abduct or rape the daughter. He was nearly caught but didn't want to kill her due to having an obsession or something. If he were wearing a mask then she might not have recognized him.

That's not what I'd bet my money on, though! I'm curious about the size of any inheritance or insurance policies.

And wasn't it a happy coincidence that the other child of the house just happened to be away that night? And yet another that the daughter was home for the first time in a while?

http://www.greensboro.com/rockingha...cle_f42ffea2-39f2-5ea8-87c6-a9efe8c5723b.html

 

[Tulessa]

Is it possible that the daughter was in on this? Were her parents wealthy? I haven't followed this case, so just trying to throw something that will stick.

 

[JohnTate90210]

Is it possible that the daughter was in on this? Were her parents wealthy? I haven't followed this case, so just trying to throw something that will stick.

I wouldn't want to be in her shoes right now. It looks awfully suspicious.

As for wealth, I don't know. Here's the house on Google Maps. A nice amount of land. There are Google StreetViews, too:

https://www.google.com/maps/place/7...0x8852e6619acf7a5f:0x2fc999ecaabd1c4f!6m1!1e1

 

[al66pine]

"In late 2012, John Alvarez and Whitley French, along with her younger brother Hunter, who was at a swim meet during the homicides, were ruled out as suspects. Deputies later recanted that statement in a news conference on the first anniversary of the deaths." bbm
http://www.greensboro.com/rockingha...cle_f42ffea2-39f2-5ea8-87c6-a9efe8c5723b.html Tu Aug 25

Hmmmmm?
Did LE retract the 'ruled out' statement as to all three? Or only one or two?

 

[JohnTate90210]

This story says Whitley didn't just wake up to find a man in her room but that he was on top of her (but apparently didn't recognize him):

http://www.greensboro.com/news/crim...cle_92dd7e5d-a0e3-5190-a79b-8a8931cdda6a.html

In addition to the scratch on her arm it says she had a small burn on her chest. It also makes it sound like the shooting happened in her room while another story said it happened downstairs.

It also shows that the victims' and killer's families are pretty close.

 

[meanmaryjean]

I think i see where this might be leading....

 

[qtrmlr]

Sept 8 Jose Alvarez indicted "may not be the only suspect". http://myfox8.com/2015/09/08/french-family-murders-suspect-jose-alvarez-indicted/

 

[less0305]

http://www.greensboro.com/news/crim...cle_f62a2c7a-fcf4-11e5-b245-7ba7cbc89212.html

Local newspaper reporter is detailing the information in a week long series about the murders. Today is the first of the seven part series. Seems to be more information here and a video depiction of how the daughter relayed the incident. Interesting.

 

[Hoosgirl]

Excellent coverage by this reporter! Here's part 2:

http://m.greensboro.com/news/crime/...b78-fcf5-11e5-aa13-c3c6d1c9597b.html?mode=jqm

 

[Hoosgirl]

It is interesting that the accused is charged with the 2 murders, but no assault on the daughter. JMO

 

[qtrmlr]

Thoughts on burn on daughters chest? & that video, would you just stand there so close to the killer? & the killer coming back by her to exit. He should have a bullet left.
Why wasn't the only witness polygraphed? On the timeline the son & another family member were polyed.
Wonder if the family got the ok to clean/destroy evidence ASAP. Hope to get some answers to the 1001 ?s about these murders.

 

[less0305]

My thought on the burn: expended shell casing? I live here in this county and the "rumor" or story was that she got cut escaping through an upstairs window. Well, that turned out not to be true based on this article. And I had never heard about the burn before this article. In fact, the assumption seemed to be that she got out a window to get away from the intruder - this is the first we're hearing that she followed the intruder downstairs and watched him murder her parents and that he left the house by walking right past her and out the front door. I think the local sheriff's department cleared the crime scene initially - and then found that items were cleaned or destroyed a few days later... why would they clear the crime scene?? That sounds like a boo-boo on the sheriff's department's end. Another item in the first article that raised my eyebrow was that she turned off her cell phone, but used her cell phone to call 911. Did I read that right? So she turned off her cell phone and would have waited for it to power back up to call 911? That is just strange to me. Did she have it in her hand as she went downstairs? Or did she have to go back upstairs to get it. That whole scenario just sounds off to me.

 

[Hoosgirl]

I wondered about the burn, too, and what caused it. Spent casing is a good guess!

 

[qtrmlr]

Thanks for posting about this series. Glad to have any light shone on this case. Don't feel any better about the way it has been handled. Almost expected to read Sheriff Sam walked little miss paper cut down the aisle.

 

[qtrmlr]

Jose Alvarez expected to plead guilty in 2012 homicides of Troy and LaDonna French
http://myfox8.com/2016/07/07/jose-alvarez-to-plead-guilty-in-2011-french-family-murders/


Jose Alvarez, a man charged in the 2012*double homicide of Douglas “Troy” and LaDonna French will plead guilty in Rockingham County Superior Court Friday morning, according to the Greensboro News & Record.

Alvarez has been in the Rockingham County Jail for 317 days. He was arrested on Aug. 25, 2015.

 

[OkieGranny]

http://www.twcnews.com/nc/triad/new...in-2012-french-murders-to-take-plea-deal.html

The man charged in a four-year-old double murder in Rockingham County has been sentenced to two consecutive life sentences without parole.

On Friday morning Jose Alvarez Jr. pleaded guilty in the February 2012 deaths of Troy and LaDonna French...

"The defendant would spend five to ten minutes inside the French home and dare himself to go through the house,” said Rockingham County District Attorney Crag Blitzer. "He would often watch Troy, LaDonna, Whitley and Hunter as they slept in their beds.”

After several months of going into the home, investigators say it all came to an end on February 4, 2012. Alvarez went in again, but the French's daughter, Whitley, screamed, as a hooded Alvarez stood over her body. Her cries woke her parents, who rushed to help. Alvarez shot and killed them with a gun he'd stolen from Troy French.