Evidence in this Episode

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Note: This transcript was generated using AI and may contain inaccuracies or discrepancies when compared to the actual audio. Please refer to the audio for the most accurate representation.

Narrator: The claims, views, and opinions expressed are those of the speaker and do not represent those of But Media or its partners. All subjects are innocent until proven guilty. This is a podcast about difficult topics, and it may not be suitable for all audiences. Listener discretion is advised.

Demmie Rice: What happened? Tucker is bugging me, and I was thinking about my case and stuff, and I remembered it was an old laptop, and I went out, popped that bitch open. I found a 911 call and some notes.

Michelle Thomas: The whole ambiance of his demeanor was eerie. I just felt like I was in the presence of the devil, if you want to know the truth. He ever comes to try to harm me, the Holy Ghost would slap him ever. Which way but loose, so I’m not afraid of him.

Sherry: Piece of the puzzle. I just feel bad that you’re even having to put all the puzzle pieces together, because I know it’s a lot.

Tucker Simmons: That’s what I do.

Tabitha Meeks (theme song): Though, so I’m feeling heavy? There’s a pounding in my chest the shadows hiding but I see the silhouettes.

Tucker Simmons: I fear lives in the quiet whisper I’m Tucker Simmons, and this is freeze frame, an investigation into the unsolved murder of Donna Arceneaux. I’ve gotten a lot of questions about just how much I knew of Donna’s case before I began this investigation. And the reality is, of course, I knew certain details about her relationships, alleged abuse, and rumors about her death. But I’ve made a concerted effort to approach this investigation with no preconceived notions or theories. I’m just following the evidence, wherever that takes me. As I shared in episode one, that’s made for some uncomfortable situations and conversations with family and lifelong friends. One aspect of this story that I was well aware of long before Donna’s death is her troubled marriage to Clay. He was employed by the Franklinton police Department during their marriage, and when it came to his work, he was notoriously strict. I know this firsthand, actually, because when I was in high school, Clay never missed a chance to write me a ticket. According to Donna’s sons and others who spent time in the arsenal home, Donna and Clay’s marriage was intense. The highs were high, and the lows were often unbearable. There were allegations of domestic violence on both sides and at least one incident involving the Franklinton Police Department where Clay worked. Donna is alleged to have slapped and thrown a boot at Clay over a cell phone dispute during their separation. Sources at the Washington Parish Sheriff’s office claim there were multiple calls involving disputes at the arsenal home, but all record requests have been denied. Pending the open case. I, bring this up. Because Clay was interviewed by investigators and again by the state police, he remains a free man, though still working as a police officer. So despite what people think of him, there’s either a huge lack of evidence, or he’s just innocent. The following audio is an exact transcription of an individual who was close to Donna and Clay during their marriage. This person wished to remain anonymous.

Anonymous Source: I don’t want to blame anyone. All I can tell you is that after they separated, Donna told anyone who would listen that she was afraid of Clay. He didn’t like the people she hung out with. He didn’t want their daughter around them. And because of that, most people around her think he did it. Now, again, I’m not taking a position on it, but ask anyone around town, they’ll tell you to look into that cop she was married to.

Tucker Simmons: Like I said, Clay has a reputation, and some say he thrives on that tough cop image. But murdering the mother of his daughter and then working alongside her family to seek justice, at least for now, that just doesn’t make sense to me. Clay and his daughter moved to a neighboring Parish shortly after Donna’s death, which many locals considered suspicious. I don’t necessarily see it that way, but it was only a matter of time before I had to track him down. Before I made contact with Clay, I needed more than just speculation. Thankfully, Donna’s sister Sherry and her mom, Thelma, agreed to meet me at the local hospital in Franklinton to sign for Donna’s medical records. They believe Donna was admitted multiple times following domestic disputes throughout her life. If there’s anything in those records related to Clay, I need to know what they are.

Michelle Thomas: Hi, there.

Tucker Simmons: Yes, ma’am. I’m Tucker. We’re coming in for some medical records with Miss Cheryl. Okay, thank you. Last name is Simmons. For the records, though, it’s Arceneaux Sherry had just picked up Thelma to make a grocery run. They were casually dressed, and the mood was pretty somber. Thelma shuffled through her wallet with nervous anticipation.

Michelle Thomas: The id?

Tucker Simmons: Yeah. This is her mom, Miss Thelma. And this is the death certificate we brought for you.

Michelle Thomas: All right, I need you to initial date and put your relationship. All right. There you go. Thank you so much.

Tucker Simmons: Were you Cheryl?

Tucker Simmons: No. Okay. Okay, well, tell her we said thank you.

Michelle Thomas: We appreciate it.

Tucker Simmons: This is gonna be helpful.

Demmie Rice: I just feel bad that you’re having to put all the puzzle pieces together, because I know it’s a lot.

Tucker Simmons: Yeah, that’s what I do, though. So. Anyway, well, thank you all. I appreciate it.

Demmie Rice: Call me if you need me.

Tucker Simmons: I will, for sure. Thank you, Miss Thelma I do. Thank you. Y’all take care. And call me if you have anything, questions or anything comes up, please. I welcome it.

Donna made multiple visits to Riverside Medical center before her death

We said our goodbyes and I sat in the parking lot for a while, skimming through hundreds of pages of mundane medical records. Donna made multiple visits to Riverside Medical center in the months leading up to her death. Records confirmed Donna was being treated for complications with her kidneys. As her cousin Tony suggested in episode.

Demmie Rice: Two, Donna was having health issues with her kidneys and everything, and she wasn’t being able to work as much, but.

Tucker Simmons: She was also consistently complaining of pain in her right elbow and her left wrist and knee. She told nurses it was from being a hairdresser and working a lot. But at the time of these visits, Donna wasn’t working and hadn’t been for quite some time. It makes me wonder if those injuries could have been from something else, and Donna just didn’t want to say it. This is just one more reason those sheriff’s office records would be helpful. My eyes were glazing over as I reached the end of the giant stack of papers in my lap and all over my front seat. It didn’t look like there were any definitive leads, and there were no direct links to domestic violence in the records until I reached September 20, 2012 at, 02:05 p.m. on September 20, 2012, Donna arrived in police custody to Riverside Medical center. These are direct quotes from nurses notes.

Anonymous Source: Chief complaint. Suicidal patient. Sent texts to her husband suggestive of suicidal thoughts and plans. Sent a picture holding a gun to her head. Patient in apparent distress, crying. Patient reports quote, my husband is doing all these things because we are separated and he is crazy. Patient denies suicidal ideations and thoughts. Abuse history. Patient reports physical abuse, emotional abuse, and threats of violence by spouse against patient healing wound of left knee. Patient states, it’s from my husband pushing me down. About a month ago, doctor Harlan speaking with Captain Justin Brown from Franklinton Police Department. Captain Brown revealed evidence that patient held a gun to her head.

Tucker Simmons: Following the initial evaluation at Riverside Medical Center, Donna was transferred to a nearby psychiatric unit, where she was held for three days. Many people in Donna’s life don’t believe she ever sent the photo. They claim this was all a tactic by her ex in the ongoing separation and custody battle. I haven’t seen the photo for myself, and I’m definitely not ready to jump right into a conspiracy. So I called Justin Brown. He’s now Franklinton’s chief of police. After checking the report, he texted me the next morning. There was no arrest made, only a medical OPC. So no formal case file exists. There was no photo in his records. And if he did have it on one of his old phones, those had been destroyed. I’ve spoken with several people familiar with the incident, and they all have the same theory. Even if Donna did send the photo, she had no intention of actually harming herself. It would have been a cry for help. As you can imagine, my curiosity about Clay was growing, and it was time to make contact. He and Sherry have kept in touch throughout the years, and she was confident he would talk to me.

Michelle Thomas: Your call has been forwarded to an automatic voice message system.

Tucker Simmons: I left a voicemail explaining what I was working on, waited a few minutes and tried again, and I guess I’m blocked. I sent a Facebook message explaining who I was and why I wanted to talk. It didn’t take long to be blocked there, too. Up to this point, I had a hard time seeing the motive for Clay to want Donna dead. And I still do. But Clays reaction to my outreach didn’t sit well, especially after Sherry vouched for me.

Demmie Rice: I mean, I haven’t talked to him about it in a while, but, I mean, the last time I did talk to him, he said that he really just wanted. He wanted Donna’s killer to be found. I do know that he works very closely with Demmie so I wonder if Demmie has told him not to talk to the press or something. We can’t force him, but I will try to reach out to him and see and basically tell him that I sit down with you and that, you know, he wants to talk to you too.

Michelle Thomas: Tucker, please answer my call immediately. I’m going through some laptops I have.

Demmie Rice: From my personal use and work, and.

Michelle Thomas: I found something very interesting. So call me ASAP.

Tucker Simmons: By the time my brother and I got back to cell reception that evening and I listened to Demi’s voicemail. It was after 09:00 p.m. but it seemed too important not to call.

Demmie Rice: What happened? Tucker is bugging me. And I was thinking about back about my case and stuff, and I. I, Ha. I figured I had to have something somewhere. So I went through one of my laptops. Cause I remember bringing a lot of work home when I was working on his phone doc. And I started thinking. I said, wait a minute. And I remembered it was a Dell laptop. And I went off, popped that bitch open. I found a 911 call and some notes. You got time. You got time now?

Tucker Simmons: Yeah, or tomorrow, you mean.

Demmie Rice: No, I got time right now. It was too hot for me today, so I nap. I don’t mind it. I’ll just bring you truck on back to the, like I tell you, behind that shed, because that’s a blind spot from either direction on the road.

Tucker Simmons: I’ll text you when we leave.

Demmie Rice: Okay, sweetie. All right.

Anonymous Source: Okay.

Tucker Simmons: All right, thanks. Bye. We arrived at Demmie’s house about an hour later, parked in the blind spot like she told us, and she greeted us on the porch. Two days earlier, I received the 911 call audio from the Washington Parish communications district, and it matched the audio that Demmie had found. But we weren’t there until after midnight for a 911 call. The lengthy word document she found was a treasure trove of notes on the case. Shes pretty sure theres more on another computer, but it needs repairing.

Demmie’s notes help fill in a lot of gaps in Donna’s timeline

Until then, we dove into what she found. I had worked for months to build a timeline, and it was becoming more confusing every day. Demi’s notes helped fill in a lot of those gaps. I want to bring you up to speed on the days leading up to the discovery of Donna’s body, so bear with me. It’s a lot of information. I asked our narrator to read portions of the timeline.

Anonymous Source: on the morning of Wednesday, October 18, 2017, Donna and her spiritual counselor, Michelle were getting dressed and doing their hair at Donna’s house. Donna confided in Michelle that she was seeing another man and was planning to end her relationship with Scott, her boyfriend, who had recently purchased her home. Michelle claims she looked through a doorway into the living room and saw Scott’s reflection in a mirror. He was listening in on their conversation. Scott then made himself visible to them both, clearly angry, and walked away.

Tucker Simmons: This was the first day of the Washington Parish free fair. Donna and Michelle left to watch the parade, and not long after, Scott showed up to where they were with an ice chest. This is where the last known photo of Donna was taken. I just posted it on the freeze frame website, freezeframepodcast.com dot. Friends of Donna claimed she was openly telling people she was going through a breakup and had gotten a restraining order, but was otherwise in good spirits at the parade. Despite her claim, there is no record of a restraining order. But if she was telling people that, whether true or not, isn’t that pretty good insight into her state of mind? Donna was then seen by several friends at the fair on Thursday and Friday. Some saw her walking around with friends. Others saw her with Scott and reported her demeanor as standoffish and shy. When he was around as you heard in episode one, Uncle Bubba saw her on Friday night hiding her face in Scott’s arm.

Demmie Rice: That was the last time I saw her. No, I saw her the Friday night of the fair, walking around with that guy and she wouldn’t even talk to me. She stood behind him and would put her face into his armpit area and stay secluded.

Tucker Simmons: Donna’s body was found at approximately 11:45 p.m. on Monday night. This is what we know so far about the two days prior.

Anonymous Source: On Saturday, October 21, Donna and her daughter visited an elderly friend’s house to help in the garden. The friend has since passed, but her daughter confirmed nothing seemed off or strange about Donna and that she was not in a suicidal state. According to Scott’s statements to investigators, he and Donna had sex Saturday evening and went to bed. They woke up on Sunday morning, October 22, around 11:00 a.m. at Donna’s. Scott asked Donna to get up and help with breakfast. As they were cooking, a conversation about their relationship went south between 1230 and 01:00 p.m. on Sunday, Scott left amid the argument and walked to his house behind donnas. He claimed this is the last time he saw Donna alive. But during interviews with Scotts ex wife Alicia, the mother of their two children, more details about Sunday afternoon emerged, suggesting Scott was at donnas long after 01:00 p.m. at 02:00 p.m. alicia called their son to check in. As usual, he told his mom that dad was at Donna’s cooking pork chops for dinner. At 04:00 p.m. alicia called her son again and Scott was still at Donna’s. Between 430 and 05:00 p.m. donna dropped off her daughter and their dog to Clay’s house, six minutes away. At the time, Clay was a Franklinton police officer. He and Donna were separated and going through a heated divorce for more than a year. At 05:00 p.m. donna texted her friend George saying she was coming over to visit. At 510 pm, Donna texted Georges sister, asking to meet her there. She said she could use a hug. At 616 pm, Donna posted an emotional message on Facebook. She followed up with two comments. Feeling very sad, not one person called to check on me. You wake up one morning and realize that not one person gives a damn about you and that everything that you’ve worked your whole life for can be taken away at any minute and the closest people to you are the people who will do it. At 07:00 p.m. alicia called her son again. He said Scott and Donna had argued all day and never got around to cooking their pork chops. He told her Scott had gone to town to pick up sushi for dinner. Instead. At 08:00 p.m. donna texted George again, saying she was on her way over. By 09:30 p.m. donna hadn’t made it to George’s, so he went to bed. Donna texted George one last time at 10:00 p.m. saying she was no longer coming over. George was asleep and didn’t see it until the next morning. At approximately 11:00 p.m. clay tells investigators that Donna called him while he was in bed with his girlfriend. She wanted to tell him she was grateful for what an amazing father he was. At 12:47 a.m. on Monday morning, October 23, Scott texted Donna, shooting a gun right outside my kid’s bedroom window. To which Donna responds, what are you talking about? I’m, in bed. The last communication from Donna’s phone was around 02:00 a.m. monday morning, when several of her friends and her sister Sherry got a text reading, I love you.

Tucker Simmons: I’ve spoken to the people who received those messages. I won’t reveal their names, but they all wonder if it was really Donna. One in particular was in a relationship, and Donna knew not to say things like that to him. And if you recall from episode one, Sherry also believes someone else sent those messages after Donna was killed.

Anonymous Source: We don’t think it was.

Demmie Rice: We think it was somebody used her phone. At that point, all it said was, I love you. And that’s not Donna. She never wrote I love you, and it was always lowercase. You know what I mean?

Demmie Rice: And this was capital I, capital L. Ydeh.

Tucker Simmons: Without having the case file or cell phone data or geolocation pins, I can’t determine whether Donna was texting or not. I’m not even sure investigators can. Because as Demmie recalls, Scott’s house was so close to Donna’s, that location data from their phones was no help. But what we do know is that Scott was at Donna’s for a significant amount of time on Sunday. The only other person there was Donna’s daughter. I understand she was interviewed by investigators, but she’s still a minor, and I have not been given permission to speak to her. What were they fighting about all day? Did Scott leave between 1230 and 01:00 p.m. like he told investigators? Or was he there until after 04:00 p.m. like his son told Alicia? When Donna got home from dropping off her daughter, where was Scott? The other detail that’s confusing is a post on Donna’s Facebook page. At 06:31 a.m. monday morning, her spiritual counselor Michelle wrote, quote, hang on, sweetie, I’m coming home today. I assume that was in response to Donna’s feeling very sad post. But why not just call her instead of a public Facebook post? A lot of people around Washington Parish have strong feelings about Michelle. No one really expresses why in detail other than wild rumors. I won’t repeat here. Their go to line is always something like, yeah, I know her. She’s that crazy pastor lady. I don’t trust her. I got caught up in that for a moment, but pretty quickly recognized the pattern. Anyone who locals didn’t grow up with or who’s moved away, or even just people who don’t have a typical nine to five, there’s constant doubt cast upon them.

Tucker says Michelle expressed to him that she was suicidal and depressed

I couldn’t let those opinions dictate my investigation. I was told repeatedly that Michelle would never talk. She’s fearful of what she knows, and she just wants to move on. Once I finally tracked her down, Michelle was at a bed and breakfast in Texas preparing for a sermon. As you’ll hear, she didn’t hold back.

Michelle Thomas: I’m going to say, and I don’t know you, and as far as I know, you could be a friend of scotch fishing for information. And I don’t mean that rude, but I just mean, The whole situation was so sketchy. And I’ll just tell you my involvement. Donna reached out to me because we had a mutual friend and she wanted to have lunch one day. We met there at the mexican restaurant. I think it was Don Juan’s still, maybe, I don’t know. Hadn’t been in the area in a couple of years. And she began to tell me how she had been in a real bad relationship. She was in a relationship currently that was toxic and it was draining her emotionally. He was very jealous, and the ex husband had done her, injured a lot of trauma from that relationship. And she was very suicidal. You know, issues from growing up, issues with relationships. She was tired. She was mentally wore out.

Tucker Simmons: So she expressed to you that she was suicidal and depressed. So why are you so adamantous that she didn’t commit suicide?

Michelle Thomas: I can’t say that I am. you had to have been there that night, seeing where she was positioned versus where it should have happened. I, just. I can’t put those pieces together. The puzzle don’t fit there for a couple of weeks. I would call her. I’d invite her to church. I went and hung out with her a couple of times. She’d do my hair. She loved people. She just. When she found somebody that she kind of connected with, she kind of clung to you. That’s kind of how I felt. But I’m very busy, so I didn’t get a lot of time with her. But I know that I was leaving for Florida, and she called me, and she said that Scott was driving her crazy, that he was threatening to take the home back, that she thought he had good intentions of buying the home so she could keep it. And he was kind of hanging it over, being threatened with it. So you had that whole ordeal going on, and then the ex husband was just a cop, just was aggravating her. You know, it was a power struggle between the little girl that they shared. So she let me read some letters, and basically, you know, you’re gonna be mine regardless. I saw that with my own eyes. I was in Florida preaching, and I reached out to her a day or two before I come home, because the plan was that I was to come home and stay the night with her that night. And we were gonna pray and just spend some time together because she was depressed. She had been fighting depression. She wanted out of the relationship with Scott. Bottom line, she wanted out of relationship and didn’t feel she could because he was controlling and very jealous, by the way. So I go to Florida, I’m preaching, and I get this strong urge to reach out to her. Then I’m laying in the bed, just studying and praying for that service that night. And I’m on Facebook, just scrolling, you know, killing time. And I see a post that she wrote. And I’m going to tell you, I don’t know if you are familiar with the prophetic or people that see things in the realm of the Holy Ghost, but I just. For some reason, I’m gonna be honest with you, she put something like, I’m tired. I’m tired of it all or something. And I just felt immediately, Tucker, this ain’t her. Somebody has went on her page and put this. And I felt immediately it was diversion. And I don’t know why, but I said, I’m gonna reach out to her. And I did. I left several voicemails. I said, dad, I love you. I’ll be home soon. We’re going to talk about this. We’re going to work it out. We’re going to pray about it. She wouldn’t respond to me. And I tried to call her. Donna always responded. She always answered my calls. Listen, this was two days. This was two days before I come home. I couldn’t get her to answer the phone, so Scott reaches out to me and he says, listen, I haven’t heard from Donna, and I’m worried about her. And, she’s not answering my calls. Something’s wrong. He said, when did you get home? I said, well, I fly in late Saturday, Sunday, night, or Monday night. Maybe it was a Monday. I said, I fly in real late Monday night. And I said, my plan was to come by there, but it’s so late. You know, she’s. And then he went on this long spill, she’s a diabetic, and she’ll pass out. The dogs had to wake her up. It was just weird, the whole conversation. I felt I was being invaded. I’m gonna be honest with you. I felt I was being invaded. And I felt like whatever had happened and God knows what, that what has happened had already happened. When he reached out to me, he said, I really need you to stop by here and go with me to check on her. And I thought, well, you live in her backyard. Have the law go check on her. Why are you waiting for me to go check on her? I. But regardless, I love Donna. And when I flew in, I went straight there, and. Oh, God, the feeling that you got when you pulled up on the property that night, it was very cold.

Michelle says Scott’s demeanor was eerie when she first met him

I pulled up, and the first thing I noticed is her dog would bark bad when he would pull up. The few times I had been there, he just would be in that window barking obnoxious. The first thing I noticed is the dog wasn’t barking. All the lights was out. It was like, oh, my spirit literally said, something’s wrong. That this doesn’t even feel right. And so from the backyard, dressed like he was going to dinner, fully dressed, like he knew there was fixing to be a thing and he wanted to be fixed. Does that make sense? My hair’s in a bun. I mean, I got traveling clothes on. And you’ve been lounging around, worried, and you’re that fixed up. That was my first clue. Then he walks around the house, knocking on windows, and it’s like he has rehearsed this in his mind. I’m just being honest. I’m not trying to accuse him. he ever comes to try to harm me, the Holy Ghost would slap him. Ever. Which way but loose. So I’m not afraid of him, but I. The whole ambiance of his demeanor was eerie. I just felt like I was in the presence of the devil, if you want to know the truth. that was playing me, and I believe now, he set me up to try to have a alibi for whatever had happened. But he acts like he can’t get her to the window. And I’m thinking, this is odd. First of all, she don’t go to bed early because she’s called me at the twelve 01:00, you know, fight depression. We go in and I’m standing in the kitchen. I notice there was pork chops in the sink. And the pork chops had not only thawed out, but had been thawed out a while. It’s like she was planning something. She was planning to cook. it was weird. So the minute I went in the house, I felt just this overwhelming feeling of danger. So I back up to the counter and I’ll be honest, you know, I just grabbed a little knife and put it in my back skirt because I thought, the house is dark. I really don’t know this guy. And what I do know about him has all been negative. Like, I had met him one time at the fair, and you could tell he’s very controlling. You could tell he was very jealous of, her time with me. I’m a preacher. I’m just trying to encourage her.

Tucker Simmons: Michelle goes on to explain that Scott didn’t look around the house in a natural way, whatever that means. Instead, she remembers him walking straight to the bedroom. And that’s when she heard this.

Michelle Thomas: She’s dead. She’s dead. Well, how do you know? You ain’t been in that 3 seconds. How do you know she’s dead? She could be passed out. Not only that, he takes a key and goes in the house. Why are you knocking on windows? Why is the law there for you to go in there and check on her?

Tabitha Meeks (theme song): Something’s staring back at me. No sound, can’t look in your eyes.

Tucker Simmons: There’s Something Strange in the air tonight. Thank you for sticking through so many dates and times. Is your brain mush like mine? Coming up in episode four, well hear more from Michelle and a lot more about the suspects. Make sure you follow rate and review on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you’re listening. It’s a huge help in spreading the word about Donna’s case. Then head over to Freezeframepodcast.com for behind the scenes details on the investigation and follow us on socials at Freeze Frame pod for exclusive content. Freeze Frame is a. But why? Media production it’s written and produced by me, Tucker Simmons. Editing and post-production by Evan Desonnier. Narration by Greg Geringer and Carrie Lauren and our original music is Something Strange by Tabitha Meeks.

Tabitha Meeks (theme song): Something strange, you can hide forever close.