What did Shelley Thompson Lemoine do? Texas woman arrested for 2005 double murder cold case

On Friday, July 8, 2022, a 41-year-old woman was arrested outside a parole office in Angleton, Texas. Shelley Susan Thompson-Lemoine, a resident of Freeport in Brazoria County, Texas, has been charged with the murders of an elderly couple in Cleveland in 2005.

Almost two decades later, the police have made connections concerning the brutal murders of Antonio Rodriguez and his wife, Luz Rodriguez. The septuagenarian couple was found murdered in their own home. No arrests were made back then.

Investigators found DNA on a carpet and bloody fingerprints on the side of a denture container at the Rodriguez residence. Police believed that it might lead them to a potential suspect. However, no further developments took place over several years.

The cold case reopened in 2021 when Shelley Thompson Lemoine was arrested amid drug charges. The unidentified DNA found at the scene of the Cleveland murder was entered into the Combined DNA Index System (CODIS), which matched Lemoine's, who was serving time at the Gatesville prison.

The Cleveland Police Department and Texas Ranger Brandon Bess traveled to Gatesville, Texas, to obtain a DNA sample from Lemoine. Upon confirmation of the match, police arrested Shelley Thompson Lemoine.

Cleveland Police Department Chief Darrel Broussard told CBS affiliate KHOU:

"Sometimes such small pieces of evidence can solve a case and in this case that piece of carpet that was found inside the home that had a speckle of blood on it."

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Post Shelley Thompson Lemoine's arrest, Texas family gets answers

World War II veteran Antonio Rodriguez and his wife, Luz Rodriguez, lived a quiet life in their Cleveland home, and they were much loved by the small-town community. Their gruesome murders shocked the entire town back in 2005. 17 years later, they believe they are close to solving the cold case.

Carolina Tejeda, daughter of the elderly couple, has never heard of Shelley Thompson Lemoine. She believes there were multiple people behind the death of her parents. Police are yet to find a motive behind the killing of the Rodriguez couple. Tejeda said:

"I have never seen her. I don't recognize her name or anything."

Juanita Espinosa, the couple's other daughter, expressed her gratitude to the authorities, who did not give up on her parents' case. She told the Houston Chronicle:

"We thought we would never get justice. I thank God and I thank the Rangers and everybody that put their part into it.”

A warrant for Lemoine's arrest was issued on July 5, 2022. She was charged with a capital offense, and her bond was placed at $1 million by a judge. She is being held at the Liberty County jail.