Dorothy Lou Thompson owned a 14-acre pet cemetery in the Louisiana bayou outside New Orleans. In April 1985, she vanished just days before a court hearing in a lawsuit over her land. Her body was later pulled from the Mississippi River, wrapped in 200 pounds of chains. For nearly 30 years, her murder went unsolved. Then two witnesses came forward with a strange claim: Thompson’s ghost had pushed them to talk.
A new three-part HBO docuseries, The Pet Cemetery Murders: A Ghost Story, revisits the case. Directed by Philip Cairney and produced by Lightbox, the series premiered on Sunday, October 11, 2026, at 9:00 p.m. ET/PT on HBO and HBO Max. New episodes air weekly on October 18 and October 25.
Who Was Dorothy Lou Thompson
Dorothy Lou Thompson was born on September 1, 1924, in Oklahoma City. She moved with her mother, Grace, to Toca Village in St. Bernard Parish, Louisiana, in 1946. Grace founded the Azalea Original Pet Cemetery, also known as the E.E. Matt Plantation Garden, on land that had long been rumored to be cursed.
The cemetery sat on 14 acres and became the final resting place for an estimated 5,000 pets, including dogs, cats, parakeets, and even a cheetah. Thompson took over operations and ran the cemetery full-time.
Her personal life was marked by violence. In 1970, she shot and killed her first husband, Logan Banks, telling police he was drunk and had threatened her with a knife. Authorities ruled it self-defense and filed no charges. Her second husband, Donald Robinson, was found fatally shot at the cemetery in 1978. No charges were filed in that case either.
The Killing That Shocked the Parish
Thompson disappeared from her secluded home in Toca Village on April 13, 1985. She was 61 years old at the time. Days later, she was scheduled to appear in court in Chalmette for a lawsuit over the ownership of her cemetery property.
On May 2, 1985, fishermen found her partially nude body on the east bank of the Mississippi River in Plaquemines Parish. A plastic garbage bag had been tied around her head with metal wire. Heavy chains had been used to weigh her body down. The coroner ruled the cause of death as asphyxia.
Before her death, Thompson had been locked in a legal battle with Brandon Nodier, a handyman who had worked at the cemetery since 1980. Nodier’s company had signed a 99-year lease on the cemetery in 1981 for $20 a month. In April 1984, Nodier allegedly persuaded Thompson to sign over the property for $20,000, a check she never cashed.
Thompson realised she had been swindled and filed a lawsuit in November 1984 to undo the transfer. Ten days before the trial was set to begin, she vanished.
“He and his wife apparently hatched a scheme to coerce Ms. Thompson out of her land. They coerced her into what we believe was a fraudulent act of sale. When she realised what had happened, she filed a lawsuit against the Nodiers to get her land back, and 10 days prior to it going to trial, she disappeared; that was the motive.” — Col. John Doran, St. Bernard Parish Sheriff’s Office
The Ghost Story That Reopened the Cold Case
The case went cold for more than two decades. Detectives suspected Nodier from the start but lacked enough evidence to arrest him. In the early years of the investigation, State Police even consulted a Slidell psychic, who visited the cemetery and claimed Thompson had been tortured there.
The case was reopened in 2009 by Det. John Doran. That same year, a witness came forward with a story that would change everything. The witness claimed Thompson’s ghost had pushed him to talk.
Three years later, a second witness made a similar claim, saying he was being haunted by the murdered woman seeking vengeance. That witness also claimed to have information about the killing.
“It was her ghost that I saw.” — witness account cited in HBO’s docuseries
The second witness, James J. Tregler, told authorities he had witnessed Thompson’s slaying. He said he had been Nodier’s assistant groundskeeper at the cemetery and was present at the killing. He claimed Nodier intimidated him into 28 years of silence.
Nodier reportedly visited Tregler in jail and told him to keep quiet about the murder, warning that he knew where Tregler’s wife lived. That visit backfired. Tregler contacted authorities, and his account helped secure Nodier’s indictment.
Brandon Nodier and the Plea Deal
Brandon Nodier was arrested in April 2012 at the age of 58. A grand jury indicted him on a charge of second-degree murder in the 1985 death of Dorothy Thompson.
Prosecutors were wary of taking the case to trial. Evidence, including crime scene photos, had been lost during Hurricane Katrina. The eyewitness was also reluctant to testify.
On July 11, 2014, Nodier, then 60 years old, pleaded guilty to one count of manslaughter. He was sentenced to 10 years in state prison. Under the parole calculation in effect at the time of the 1985 killing, he was expected to serve less than five years behind bars.
“You walked the streets as a free man for so long. You got away with this horrible act of violence for a long time.” — Judge Perry Nicosia, 34th Judicial District
“I would like to have seen Mr. Nodier go to jail for the rest of life. Ten years is better than none.” — Sheriff James Pohlmann, St. Bernard Parish
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Inside the HBO Docuseries
The Pet Cemetery Murders: A Ghost Story is directed by Philip Cairney (Being Beethoven). It is produced by Emmy-winning Jonathan Chinn and Academy Award-winning Simon Chinn’s Lightbox. The series features interviews with Thompson’s neighbours, law enforcement, local journalists, and scholars.
The three episodes run as follows:
- Episode 1 (October 11): A decades-old Louisiana cold case gains traction after a startling account launches investigators down various haunting leads. Runtime: 46 minutes.
- Episode 2 (October 18): Detectives make strides in Dorothy’s case, and an unlikely witness emerges with a troubling admission. Runtime: 43 minutes.
- Episode 3 (October 25): Dorothy’s murder gets solved, but what was unearthed is a trail of murders, mobsters, and a horrific history that still haunts the community. Runtime: 53 minutes.
The series also examines Thompson’s family history, including her mother Grace’s own criminal past. Grace was convicted of second-degree murder in 1942 after shooting her husband’s new wife in 1934, though the charges were eventually dropped.
How to Watch
The Pet Cemetery Murders: A Ghost Story airs on HBO and streams on HBO Max. The first episode debuted on October 11, 2026. New episodes air on October 18 and October 25 at 9:00 p.m. ET/PT.
For viewers in the United States, the series is available on HBO and HBO Max. In the United Kingdom, Canada, and Australia, HBO content typically streams through local partners such as Sky, Crave, and Binge. Viewers in India can access HBO Max content through JioHotstar. Global audiences should check their local HBO or Max provider for exact availability.
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