I have to admit; I never knew Baton Rouge was such a fascinating place. City Confidential sure makes it sound interesting, and they sold me. what a wild mixture of people and cultures, with some fabulous scenery, too! Two things everyone in the state - from pagan to Cajun to Baptist - can all agree on: state politicians are corrupt and the food served up here is fabulous. Apparently, those two things don't change.
In addition to the fascinating look at this city, the crime case also features an intriguing story with an unusual main figure. That figure belonged to Sylvia Landry. Her story is pretty amazing. Down in the dumps for most of her life, from abject poverty as a kid to abusive relationships and marriages as an adult, Landy was about as low as one could get, trading sex just for a place to live.
At the age of 27, with a kid and a string of bills and the above abusive relationships, she left her town and headed to Baton Rouge. At 32, she embarked on a new career path: prostitution. However, this isn't your normal sordid prostitute saga. This woman was ambitious and apparently very good at what she was doing. She found a "seller's market" in Baton Rouge - lots of men who wanted sex and would be willing to pay big bucks for it, if they felt it was worth it.
Landry also had, despite little education, a great business sense. In just a few years she was charging $200-$300 an hour and had no shortage of customers. Those customers included a lot of Baton Rouge's big shots. Remember, politicians and such don't have a great reputation in this area of Lousiana, the home of the famous Huey P. Long.
Amazingly, by 1993, Landy had 80 women working for her. She expanded to several escort services and a new "janitorial service" (don't ask!). She had the biggest prostitution ring in the state. The next year, she expanded to other states, such as Alabama, Tennessee, Mississippi. Soon it was rumored she had clients as far north as Washington, D.C. and south to Florida.
Well, as former New York State governor Eliot Spitzer can attest, there is something called the Mann Act. You can't transport women for prostitution purposes across state lines. Landy was carting them off by the bus load, so the Feds finally got her.
When put in handcuffs she smiled broadly to any camera that would photograph her. This made her lawyers cringe. This happened every time she was on TV! She loved this attention and was having a great time. I've never seen a suspect in 'cuffs so happy! It was bizarre.
To many people in Baton Rouge, the major issue, as in similar cases like this, is "will all the names in the 'Little Black Book' be divulged? People were going on local TV saying "I'm not in the book!" Rumors were that Sylvia's "Little Black Book" was more the size of an encyclopedia..
In April of 1995, her trial took place and verdict came pretty quickly. She got six years in jail. One day, when being transferred to a minimum security prison in Bryan, Texas, she walked off the bus and, while the other inmates walked to the right to the prison, she walked left. Three days later, she found her in the woods just a mile-and-a-half from the prison.
The story ends on a shocking note. While waiting for her transfer to a different jail, she was found hanged in her cell. Those who knew Sylvia said she would never do this; she loved life way too much. Most people think somebody didn't want that black book ever to be divulged (which it hadn't.) Almost nobody believes it was suicide, but nothing has been done to prove otherwise.
In addition to the fascinating look at this city, the crime case also features an intriguing story with an unusual main figure. That figure belonged to Sylvia Landry. Her story is pretty amazing. Down in the dumps for most of her life, from abject poverty as a kid to abusive relationships and marriages as an adult, Landy was about as low as one could get, trading sex just for a place to live.
At the age of 27, with a kid and a string of bills and the above abusive relationships, she left her town and headed to Baton Rouge. At 32, she embarked on a new career path: prostitution. However, this isn't your normal sordid prostitute saga. This woman was ambitious and apparently very good at what she was doing. She found a "seller's market" in Baton Rouge - lots of men who wanted sex and would be willing to pay big bucks for it, if they felt it was worth it.
Landry also had, despite little education, a great business sense. In just a few years she was charging $200-$300 an hour and had no shortage of customers. Those customers included a lot of Baton Rouge's big shots. Remember, politicians and such don't have a great reputation in this area of Lousiana, the home of the famous Huey P. Long.
Amazingly, by 1993, Landy had 80 women working for her. She expanded to several escort services and a new "janitorial service" (don't ask!). She had the biggest prostitution ring in the state. The next year, she expanded to other states, such as Alabama, Tennessee, Mississippi. Soon it was rumored she had clients as far north as Washington, D.C. and south to Florida.
Well, as former New York State governor Eliot Spitzer can attest, there is something called the Mann Act. You can't transport women for prostitution purposes across state lines. Landy was carting them off by the bus load, so the Feds finally got her.
When put in handcuffs she smiled broadly to any camera that would photograph her. This made her lawyers cringe. This happened every time she was on TV! She loved this attention and was having a great time. I've never seen a suspect in 'cuffs so happy! It was bizarre.
To many people in Baton Rouge, the major issue, as in similar cases like this, is "will all the names in the 'Little Black Book' be divulged? People were going on local TV saying "I'm not in the book!" Rumors were that Sylvia's "Little Black Book" was more the size of an encyclopedia..
In April of 1995, her trial took place and verdict came pretty quickly. She got six years in jail. One day, when being transferred to a minimum security prison in Bryan, Texas, she walked off the bus and, while the other inmates walked to the right to the prison, she walked left. Three days later, she found her in the woods just a mile-and-a-half from the prison.
The story ends on a shocking note. While waiting for her transfer to a different jail, she was found hanged in her cell. Those who knew Sylvia said she would never do this; she loved life way too much. Most people think somebody didn't want that black book ever to be divulged (which it hadn't.) Almost nobody believes it was suicide, but nothing has been done to prove otherwise.