Loreplay

In 1985, Dorothy Lou Thompson vanished from her home at a Louisiana pet cemetery. Nearly three weeks later, her body surfaced in the Mississippi River, wrapped in chains. Decades later, witnesses came forward with information about her death and a disturbing explanation for finally talking: they said Dorothy’s ghost wouldn’t leave them alone. This week on Loreplay, Dayna Pereira explores the true crime case featured in HBO’s The Pet Cemetery Murders: A Ghost Story. From her mother Grace’s murder trial to Dorothy’s troubled marriages, a bitter property dispute, and rumored buried treasure, this story had enough secrets to fill the cemetery. Apparently, someone forgot to tell Dorothy that dead women were supposed to stay quiet. We also discuss the 1868 St. Bernard Parish Massacre and why its victims deserve to be remembered beyond the region’s ghost stories, with a full episode to follow. A Louisiana cold case, a haunted pet cemetery, and a woman with unfinished business.

 • HBO. The Pet Cemetery Murders: A Ghost Story. Documentary directed by Philip Cairney.
• St. Bernard Parish Sheriff’s Office. Guilty plea, investigation details, and sentencing in Dorothy Thompson’s case. July 11, 2014.
• Reuters, Jonathan Kaminsky. “Louisiana man pleads guilty in 1985 pet cemetery slaying.” July 17, 2014.
• Gone South. “The Pet Cemetery Murders, Part 1” transcript and “The Pet Cemetery Murders, Part 2.”
• Supreme Court of Missouri. State v. Wynne (1944). Court opinion concerning Grace Wynne’s murder conviction and its reversal.
• Chris Dier. “A Forgotten Massacre in Southeast Louisiana.” January 12, 2014.
• Vanity Fair, Savannah Walsh. Interview with documentary director Philip Cairney about Dorothy Thompson and The Pet Cemetery Murders.
• Autopsy of Architecture, David Bulit. “Azalea Original Pet Cemetery.” June 12, 2020.
• U.S. Attorney’s Office, Eastern District of Louisiana. James Tregler arrest announcement. November 9, 2011.
• WDSU. Coverage of the 2012 arrest and original investigation.
• WDSU. Coverage of Nodier’s 2014 plea and sentence.



From Lizzie Borden to Elizabeth Báthory, the infamous Blood Countess, Loreplay explores true crime, haunted history, paranormal mysteries, and the people behind the legends. Join host Dayna Pereira for ghost stories, witch trials, urban legends, cryptids, and dark history told with researched storytelling, sharp sarcasm, and absolutely no patience for historical bullshit.
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Creators and Guests

Host
Dayna Pereira
Show Host of Multiple Chart Hitting Podcasts. French Fry and Wine Enthusiast

What is Loreplay?

Hey there, My Fellow Lore Lovers. Welcome to Loreplay. The show where we dig up haunted history, creepy folklore, and paranormal weirdness and poke it with a stick. I tell you the legend, then I tell you what the actual sources say.. and then we sit together in the gap between the two, because that’s where the good stuff lives. Loreplay is skeptic-meets-believer. I love a ghost story as much as anyone, but I love digging into if we were fed some bullshit, or if the sources check out more. If a “fact” has been passed around for 150 years without a single receipt, we’re going to talk about it. We also don’t pretend history was some charming olde timey costume party. A lot of what gets packaged as spooky folklore was really people in power hurting people with none... women burned as witches, the poor locked away, the “different” made into monsters. Loreplay calls that out. Loudly. With jokes. So, to be clear about where this show stands: we’re pro human rights, pro truth, and deeply anti historical bullshit. If that bothers you, the door’s right there. Bye Girl.. If you love learning about all the fucked up ways history has historied, and you're ready to use that knowledge as your feral superpower, then welcome! We ride at dawn.