According to Oxygen True Crime, investigator Todd Morris of Louisiana’s attorney general’s office told reporters that Sean Vincent Gillis further mutilated Katherine Hall’s body by taking her eyelids. This gruesome detail was noted despite the fact that other identifying objects, such as her jacket and identification card, were left behind, scattered a stretch away from where the body was placed.
In a separate piece, Oxygen True Crime reports that serial killers often leave crime scenes with “trophies” in hand. These horrifying keepsakes can be anything from a patch of hair to a piece of clothing or, in this case, a pair of eyelids taken from the victim. Theories abound as to why they engage in this kind of behavior, with many experts believing they are either asserting skill or reliving a sick and twisted fantasy. Nicole Mott, who penned “Encyclopedia of Murder and Violent Crime,” has hypothesized there might be a sexual component to these trophies.
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While unsettling, the latter theory lines up with former FBI Criminal Profiler Mary Ellen O’Toole’s assessment. She described Hall’s killer as “sexually deviant,” and further evidence from the autopsy report shows that statement rings true (via True Crime Daily).
