The curious unsolved case of Mr Smith (Part One)

In New Orleans during the 80’s and early 90’s, Morris Smith had the unique distinction of being a local celebrity’s favourite child. He wore it well until his life was taken.

In the spring of 1993, after enjoying an evening out at the Superdome watching a Paul McCartney concert, he and his most recent girlfriend had only just started their Saturday night out. The pair ended up in the Irish Channel area of the Big Easy. Technically it’s a subdistrict of the larger Garden District along the Mississippi River. It is all very walkable, and that’s what they did after his girlfriend drove back to the area from the concert. Morris didn’t have a car.

Sunday morning - 1:15am, April 25^th

As the story goes, twenty-four-year-old Morris and his girlfriend (let’s call her Tricia) were off to visit a friend of his on Washington Ave. As they approached the road, Tricia noticed three well-dressed black guys in their 20’s hanging out near a payphone on Magazine Street. Thinking nothing of it, they continued on their way to the residence of Morris’s buddy.

As they climbed the five steps on the porch of the classic French Colonial, they were greeted by a female resident. While standing in the front entrance the woman could see over the shoulders of Morris and Tricia. She watched as the unknown men rapidly approached with weapons drawn. According to police it appears that the resident “panicked” and shut the door abruptly, leaving visitors stranded on the porch with their backs to the perps. No escape.

The victims were apparently rushed from behind by the men from the payphone. The attackers may have been surprised by the slamming door and found themselves face to face with witnesses. Police believe the attackers also panicked and reacted badly.

Morris was shot twice from behind, once in the heart and the other went through him and hit Tricia’s arm. Without saying a word, the assailants fled on foot down Washington Ave.

Morris was taken by paramedics, back past the Superdome, to Charity Hospital. He was pronounced dead just after arriving at 1:30am. The occupants of the house were unable to give any descriptions, having slammed the door once they suspected danger. They told police they saw and heard nothing.

Tricia would survive and be able to give a very detailed description of the shooter and his gang. He was a 6’0, clean shaven African American male. It is still unclear if there were one or two men directly behind the shooter at the time.

News spread fast in Irish Channel as neighbours and acquaintances started congregating in the area. All were awaiting info from the attending authorities, as you did before social media. But curiously, none of the onlookers were worried about the assailant returning or the threat of a murder on the loose. Gun violence in New Orleans was just normal in the 1990s.

Police immediately contacted Morris’s mother, Andre Trevigne. She had quickly become a local legend as the face of WWL-TV’s morning newscast, a decade before. Known as a hard drinking, no-nonsense ass-kicker, Andre would tell it like it is and earned much respect from viewers and colleagues.

Andre Trevigne

Without warning and prior to the shooting, Andre Trevigne was released by WWL-TV. She appeared to be suffering personally. Over the previous Christmas, Morris had moved out of the family home sighting his mother’s erratic behaviour, drug use and that she carried a gun in her purse. It was hard to know what was fact or fiction as Morris was a grand story teller.

The police began investigating the possibility of a robbery gone wrong. Was it possible the assassins were plotting to hold up the house and wanted to use the victim’s visit as their way in? Rumours began to swirl as little information was being released by the police. This was the 112^th homicide in New Orleans that year and it was only April. The police were overrun by murders and detectives were reeling.

When the smoke began to clear, many locals believed (and still do) it may have been a ‘hit’ on Morris because of his mother’s involvement in drugs and organised crime. I am not so sure.

Morris’s mother, Andre, was married to a man named Bruce Fowler and they lived in a converted Bank in the Bywater district. He had a nine-year-old son from a previous relationship who would have surely been traumatized after losing his stepbrother. Morris and his older sister’s biological father was from New Orleans but not in the picture.

Being a TV celebrity enabled Andre access to the investigation in a way normal citizens would be unable. She pushed them to wrap-up this case and the police were fully aware of the reputational damage a vocal newscaster could have on the department.

Within a few days the Police had interviewed dozens of Morris’s associates without gaining a single clue. But they began to zero in on Morris’s former housemate and good friend (let’s call him Mike). Morris and Mike had both attended Loyola University as did many in their social circle. Mike had graduated, Morris had dropped out the year before.

Morris owed him about $150; back rent from the short time they lived together that winter. Morris had moved in but never paid any rent, even though he had recently landed a job at True Brew Coffee Shop. Mike was forced to throw him out when the rent was due on March 1^st. Morris eventually found his own place, just down the same street.

When police initially interviewed Mike, he told them of Morris’s sporadic behaviour over the last few months. There was an occasion, on New Years Eve, where Morris had threatened a bartender on Bourbon St over the phone. Saying, “Fuck you bitch! I’ll come down there with my nine and fuck you up!”. Then a few moments later, Morris denied this ever happened.

In early April, just before the murder, Morris was back visiting Mike’s place for a small party and starts trouble with the group. He overreacts and destroys most of the bathroom. Eventually he leaves but returns for his forgotten backpack and attempts to fight whom ever will have him. The following day, according to Mike, Morris apologises, considers slowing down with his drinking and the pair remain friendly.

It also turns out that Morris had gone around town telling people he and Mike had been in a few scraps with each other. Mike winning the first fight and Morris getting the better of him in the rematch. All this was news to Mike.

Police gather multiple witness statements describing Morris’s issues with addiction and how difficult he was to be around when he had been drinking. His older sister had never seen her bother act this way but was only mildly surprised considering her mother’s similar problems.

By the first week of May 1993, WWL-TV had added £5000 to the Crime Stopper existing reward of £1000. Police homicide commander, Lt. LJ Canal said, “We’re stuck, that’s why we’re soliciting the help of the general public”.  Detectives had now ruled out the possibility of a robbery and began looking for a motive to target Morris.

It worked. Two anonymous witnesses, who claimed they were at the scene came forward. They fingered Mike as the culprit and said they were so scared by what happened - they jumped on the first bus they could find went home across town. Soon the witnesses began enquiries for the reward cash.

On Monday May 10^th 1993, police arrested Mike for first degree murder and took him downtown. But there was a problem…  Mike was a skinny 6’4 white guy with a van dyke style goatee and not remotely close to description given by the surviving victim and witnesses at the scene. He was a twenty-six year old university graduate with no history of violence, did not own a gun and had a lock-tight alibi.

Mike tells police he had nothing to do with it and was unaware that Morris had been telling imaginative stories about their relationship. The day after the shooting, Mike visited Andre and Bruce at their Bywater house to give condolences. Andre flew into a rage and sent him away telling him to never darken their door ever again. It was at that stage that Mike realised he was a person of interest.

Mike lived around the corner from the crime scene and said he was awoken by mutual friends about two hours after the shooting. He and his girlfriend were entertaining another friend for the evening and had been out on the stoop most of the night having drinks. The three of them eventually went to sleep only to be rousted out of bed with the bad news.

Mike was paraded to the media and a high-profile press conference supported the arrest. Poor Mike would be incarcerated for 59 days without being charged and released once the media attention died down. He says he knows exactly who wrongly accused him but there was nothing he could do to stop it. Once Andre had confirmed the suspicion to police, he believes he was cooked.

The case has never been solved and nor does it look like it ever will.

Andre Trevigne involvement has always been considered but never confirmed. There is also the concept of Morris being trapped in drug related crossfire and the intended target was the house. We may never know why it really happened. New Orleans has more than 2000 cold cases on its books with few detectives working in the department.

Andre and Morris’s resting place has never been published. There are also very few pictures of Morris available, anywhere. There seems to be zero attempt to find justice for Morris’s family. 25 years ago, his sister says she was told to stop calling the police by the investigating detective. So, she did. This case isn’t just cold, it’s frozen. Perhaps the cops knew who it was but didn’t have enough to convict. But why arrest Mike without any evidence?

Sadly, Andre never really regained her mojo and bounced between New Orleans TV station and eventually to radio. She hosted many anti-violence debates on local TV and was known as a victim’s advocate. Still a local celeb, she would often been seen at Vieux Carre Wine and Spirits doing the Times-Picayune crossword puzzle and drinking herself to death. She passed away far too early at just Sixty-five in 2015. She will always be famous for her cutting wit and supreme dislike of NOLA meter maids.

Tricia was so young at the time and moved back to Texas after graduating the Teachers For America program. It appears that she still struggles with the memory and rightly so. She no longer communicates with the Morris’s family and I wish her peace.

Mike on the other hand has survived his incarceration and deals with the murder of his friend. He left New Orleans shortly after gaining freedom and attended Law School in San Diego. He now works as an attorney in the Golden State.