Jefferson Parish sheriff issues arrest warrants in nearly 40-year-old cold case murder

By WDSU Staff

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    GRAND ISLE, Louisiana (WDSU) — Nearly 40 years after a man was found dead in a well in Sabine Parish, the Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office has issued arrest warrants in the cold case.

The 1984 “Man in the Well” cold case murder was reopened, and an arrest warrant was issued in the case for Patricia Tito, 58, who is currently in custody at the Louisiana Department of Corrections.

Tito is serving a sentence for a homicide that happened in Shreveport in 2003.

JPSO said Tito identified another person possibly responsible in the 1984 murder of Lester Rome, the man found in the well in Many, Louisiana.

According to the sheriff, Tito said Delvin Avard Sibley, 76, was possibly involved in the murder or disposing of Rome’s body in the well.

The sheriff said Sibley is a person of interest and is asked to come forward.

Rome was reported missing to the Grand Isle Police Department in January of 1984.

JPSO investigators became involved in the case in February 1984 and found that Tito was living in Rome’s home and was operating his business.

Tito, at the time, claimed Rome had gone on a trip. The missing persons case was suspended, and the case turned cold.

In April 1986, the Sabine Parish Sheriff’s Office opened a homicide investigation after human remains were recovered from a water well in the 1000 block of Recknor Road in Many, LA.

That victim remained unidentified for 35 years, and the case became known in that area as “The Man in the Well,” according to the sheriff.

In 2021, “The Man in the Well” was identified by the Sabine Parish Coroner’s Office as Rome.

It was determined that Rome had been killed by blunt force trauma and possible stab wounds.

Through a collaboration between the Sabine Parish Sheriff’s Office and JPSO, investigators were able to learn from Tito that Rome was killed in Grand Isle, and his remains were dumped in Sabine Parish.

In the spring of 2022, JPSO interviewed Tito and agreed to bring them to where Rome was murdered near Elmer’s Island.

Tito told JPSO that she witnessed the murder but said Sibley was the one who killed Rome.

Tito said when Sibley eventually left the Grand Isle area, he left with Rome’s remains.

JPSO said deputies then learned that the well where Rome’s remains were found was on a property formerly owned by Sibley’s family.

An arrest warrant was issued for Tito for second-degree murder in Rome’s death.

The sheriff said that while her involvement remains unclear, Tito had knowledge of Rome’s death and failed to tell the police or family.

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