Mark Todd Woolie

Background

Mark Todd Woolie was born 02/10/1962 to Franklin Woolie and Ethel Wilburn. A 1980 graduate of Ouachita Parish High School in Monroe, he was a member of the school band from 1978–1980.

Before moving to Shreveport, Mark worked as a disc jockey at KNOE in Monroe. In Shreveport, he worked at KWKH and briefly at KVKI in 1989. After time away, he returned to KVKI on 08/04/1990, where he worked weekends. Mark had a passion for music, and his collection included more than 4,500 records, according to a later estate sale.

Coworkers at KVKI remembered him as shy around people he did not know well, but someone who opened up once he became comfortable.

At the time of his death, Mark lived at Westwood Village Apartments, 6777 Raspberry Lane, in Shreveport.

Mark was interred at Mulhearn Memorial Park Cemetery, Monroe.

Case Summary

Mark worked his usual shift at KVKI from 6:00 pm to midnight on 09/10/1990. He called in sick the following day. What happened between then and the morning of 09/13/1990, when he was found, remains unknown.

At around 7:30 am on 09/13/1990, a passing motorist discovered Mark’s body beside eastbound I-20 near the Allen Avenue exit. He was lying approximately five feet from the highway shoulder and had no identification on him. His body was reportedly still warm when police arrived. He was identified later that day.

The Caddo Parish Coroner’s Office determined that Mark died from multiple incisions to the throat.

Police believed Mark had been killed elsewhere and that his body was later left along I-20. That same day, a witness reported seeing a maroon car, possibly a 1980 General Motors vehicle, near the location. Around midday, Mark’s red 1985 Oldsmobile Calais was found abandoned at a car wash near Hearne Avenue and Lakeshore Drive, approximately a mile from where his body was discovered. Blood was found inside the vehicle, including a large amount on the passenger side.

At Mark’s apartment, investigators found blood and determined that the residence had been burglarized. A microwave, television, and VCR were missing. Neighbors told police they had heard what sounded like a struggle. Bloody bedding believed to have come from his apartment was later found in an alley off Poland Street. Lt. Gary Pittman told reporters that the bedding led him to lean toward the apartment as the location where Mark was killed, although the vehicle had not been ruled out.

Detectives spent weeks questioning his neighbors, coworkers, and acquaintances. By mid-September, investigators said they had developed a possible suspect, although one detective described the strength of the lead as “debatable.” The person was never publicly identified, and the lead did not result in an arrest. Capt. Marshall Nelson, who headed the Crimes Against Persons Unit, told reporters that investigators considered it more likely that Mark knew his killer, although the person could have been either a recent acquaintance or someone from his past.

Investigators also examined whether Mark’s homicide could be connected to the 12/31/1988 unsolved murder of Louis Plaisance, 35, who had been found repeatedly stabbed in his Villa Del Lago apartment near Cross Lake. Pittman said investigators believed the cases shared enough similarities (including multiple cutting wounds and evidence of a struggle inside an apartment) to warrant comparison. No further connection between the cases was publicly established. By October, police reported that they had run out of strong leads.

Mark’s death was one of 72 Shreveport homicides reported in 1990.

In a 1998 memorial notice, Mark’s mother wrote that police had “virtually stopped looking for the killers and have closed the file.”

Suspects/Persons of Interest

Investigators reported developing a possible suspect, but the person was never publicly identified and no arrest resulted.

Timeline

Limited Information – Can You Help?

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Research Notes

• This profile will be updated as pending public records requests are received.

Sources

• The Shreveport Journal, “Police identify murder victim as part-time DJ,” September 14, 1990.
• The Times (Shreveport), “Disc jockey’s body found on I-20,” September 14, 1990.
• The Times (Shreveport), “Car belonged to murdered disc jockey,” September 15, 1990.
• American Press, “Disk jockey murdered,” September 15, 1990.
• The Daily Advertiser, “Murder victim ID’d as DJ,” September 15, 1990.
• The Delhi Dispatch, “Mark Todd Woolie obituary,” September 20, 1990.
• The Richland Beacon-News, “Mark Todd Woolie obituary,” September 20, 1990.
• The Times (Shreveport), “Woolie murder still stumps police,” October 4, 1990.
• The Times (Shreveport), “Police seek leads in 3 recent crimes,” October 29, 1990.
• The Times (Shreveport), “Handful of 1990 homicides still puzzling police” / “City sets murder record,” December 31, 1990.
• The Times (Shreveport), “Violent deaths had no boundary” / “Homicidal year got an early start,” December 31, 1990.
• The News-Star, memorial notices, September 13, 1998.
• School Yearbooks, Ouachita Parish High School, 1978–1980.

rev 09/12/26