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\u201cThe killing occurred after Nodier duped Thompson into transferring possession of the property to him, then feared he would lose it after she sued to have the transaction voided,\u201d St. Bernard Sheriff’s Office colonel John Doran said at the time, as reported by Reuters<\/a>. Police reopened the case in 2009 after a witness came forward saying Nodier had told him he was the killer and that Thompson\u2019s ghost was haunting the witness\u2019s dreams, Doran said in the documentary. \u201cPeople genuinely almost fall down a foxhole when they become involved with this bit of land,\u201d Cairney says, \u201cbecause it does seem to suck you in and not let you go.\u201d<\/p>\n Decades before the documentary\u2019s central crimes, the Louisiana land was tied to racial violence\u2014first against the region\u2019s Indigenous population by white colonizers, then the dozens of formerly enslaved Black people murdered by mobs of white men during what became known as the Reconstruction-era 1868 St. Bernard Parish Massacre<\/a>. \u201cThese are America\u2019s original sins\u2014enslavement, Native American genocide, women\u2019s role in society,\u201d Cairney says. \u201cIt\u2019s that rich, fertile soil\u2014to use a terrible metaphor\u2014that means any story, if it\u2019s got those layers, is interesting.\u201d<\/p>\n