The Murder

Jody LeCornu pulled into the now-defunct Caldor discount department store parking lot in Baltimore, Maryland in the early morning hours of Saturday, March 2, 1996 when witnesses said a man driving a white BMW pulled up behind Jody’s white Honda Civic. He got out of his car and approached her vehicle.

Witnesses describe this man as an African-American about 5’10’’ to 6’2’’ weighing 200-220 pounds. He seemed to be between the ages of 20-30, with a stocky build and wearing an Army green camouflage-style jacket.

Jody rolled her window down and the two exchanged words, before the man turned and walked back towards his car. Before reaching his car, he turned back around to face Jody’s car, drew a handgun, and fired through the rear passenger window of her car, hitting Jody in the back.

Bleeding and wounded, Jody was able to drive across the street and into Giant Food grocery store parking lot, where she circled and stopped at a curb between the Firestone Complete Auto Care shop and the Boston Market.

The shooter followed Jody across the street in his car, and, once again pulled up beside her car and approached her vehicle. He reached across Jody’s lap, put the car in park, and took something from the car. Witnesses say he left the scene and drove southbound on York Road.

Background

Jody LeCornu was a 23-year-old Towson University student and was the daughter of John and Linda LeCornu. Her father was an assistant state’s attorney for Anne Arundel County and a retired member of the Marine Corps. She spent most of her younger years growing up in Annapolis, Maryland along with her three sisters—one of which was her identical twin, Jenny.

Jody and Jenny were extremely close and did almost everything together, but they both struggled with anxiety. They experimented with alcohol in their early teens, and by high school, the experimentation had developed into a drug and alcohol addiction. During their senior year, Mr. and Mrs. LeCornu put Jody and Jenny in rehab, and then eventually decided to split the girls up. Jenny was sent to a ranch out west, and Jody stayed in Maryland, where she moved in with her boyfriend to a place on Gittings Avenue, less than a mile from where she died. Jenny, who had stopped drinking and moved from the ranch to California, was with her new fiancé when she heard that her sister had been killed.

Jenny LeCornu Carrieri spoke to Hunt a Killer about her relationship with Jody and gave us some background regarding her murder.

Crime Scene Photos

Jenny talks about different scenarios in this below audio clip. Was the murder random or did Jody know her killer?

The Day Before the Murder

On Friday morning, March 1, 1996, Jody and her boyfriend got into a fight regarding her drinking, and he told her to stay at her parents’ house for the night. He left to go to work at a local school, and then he attended the school dance until about 12:30 a.m. on Saturday morning.

Jody left the house that Friday and drove approximately 20 minutes to Eastern Savings Bank in Hunt Valley, where she had recently started working as the receptionist. After work, she drove back towards home to one of her favorite bars, Mt. Washington Tavern on Newbury St. in Baltimore, where she stayed until the bar closed at around 2 a.m.

After closing, the bar manager asked Jody if she could drop off an employee at home, because he didn’t have a car. She agreed, and after dropping him off, she allegedly drove to an ATM to withdraw cash and then picked up a six pack of beer.

At this point, Jody ended up parked in front of what is now the Drumcastle Government Center off York Road.

In this audio clip, Jenny shares her thoughts on her sister’s murder:

Here’s What We Know

Jody made two calls from her car phone before the murderer pulled up in his BMW. She made one call to a former roommate’s boyfriend and another call to the bar manager at Mt. Washington Tavern, but the manager was unavailable to talk at the time.
Six witnesses watched the murder unfold. An overnight delivery crew at the Giant Food store heard gunshots and found Jody’s body. There was also a 24-hour gas station nearby.
The camera system at the Giant was down the night of the murder.
There were no drugs found in her system
Police found fingerprints in Jody’s car and are in the process of running them through the system again
Jenny has recently paid for a billboard to be erected on York Road with a large photo of Jody’s face. It reads “Find My Killer”

What We Don’t Know

Did Jody know her murderer?
Had she set up a meeting with the killer at some point? Did she know him from working at the bank or from the Tavern or from her previous waitressing job?
Was this a robbery gone wrong?
Why did Jody go to the Caldor parking lot?