Seduced to Slay on ID: Who was Janie Ballard?

Janie Ballard
A still of the Ballards (Image via Little Rock Police Department)

Janie Ballard, a 58-year-old Little Rock resident was found brutally stabbed to death inside her Cedar Hill Road home on September 13, 2003 - a month after her husband had passed away in August 2003. The couple were well-off with their successful business ventures.

However, Janie Ballard was found stabbed to death 70 times along with her throat slit ear to ear. The investigators soon determined that such an action was warranted to arise from intense anger and hate, according to former Little Rock Police Department Detective, Steve Moore.

The upcoming Seduced to Slay episode titled The Good Girl offers a brief synopsis which reads:

"When recently widowed Janie Ballard is found brutally murdered in her home, police suspect it's a home invasion gone wrong; when detectives learn that Janie's husband left her with a sizeable estate, their list of suspects turns personal."

Season 1 Episode 5 airs on Monday, December 18, 2023, at 10 p.m. EST on Investigation Discovery.


Who was Janie Ballard? Details Explored

Janie Lee Connor Ballard was born to Renard and Barbara Connor on August 11, 1945, in Bald Knob, White County, Arkansas, United States. She grew up with her two brothers, Danny and Neil.

Her neighbors and relatives loved Janie Ballard as she was known to be a free-spirited woman. She is survived by her family and her beloved English bulldog, Gracie Mae.

A still of Janie Ballard (Image via Findagrave)
A still of Janie Ballard (Image via Findagrave)

Ballard was married to Lester Kenneth Ballard who passed away at 69 years of age on August 19, 2003 - less than a month before she met with her death. Janie had a daughter named Leslie Jane with Lester Kenneth Ballard and the family lived in their Cedar Hill Road home.

Janie and her husband founded Shepherd’s Printing, Inc., a printing and engineering architectural supply company on West Market in Little Rock, per The Cinemaholic. Janie additionally contributed her time to Cedar Hill Terrace Property Owners Association and the Neighborhood Crime Watch.

An old dated image of Janie Ballard (Image via Ballard family)
An old dated image of Janie Ballard (Image via Ballard family)

A month after Lester's passing on August 19, 2003, Janie's friend, Mickey Holloway, came in to check on her when he found her bloodied body stabbed to death inside her house on September 13, 2003.


What happened to Janie Ballard?

Janie Ballard (58) was found dead at her Little Rock home on September 13, 2003, by her friend Mickey Holloway who happened to be a crime scene specialist for the Little Rock Police Department. The former Arkansas detective of the Little Rock Police Department, Steve Moore, later spoke to Fox News Digital and confirmed,

"I think there were close to 70 stab wounds on her. There was blood all over the floor. Some spread on the furniture. She was soaked … from head to toe. When we moved her head, it was barely attached to the spine. It was cut from ear to ear. The way the throat was cut was brutal. And then you had all the stab wounds – these were all pretty deep. Any number of them would’ve been fatal without the throat-cutting."

The first responders noted the phone line to be cut and the cabinet doors left open at the Ballard residence. In addition to one of Ballard's car, some expensive jewelry and an invaluable coin collection that belonged to Lester Kenneth Ballard was also missing from the house.

A still of Leslie MacKool (Image via Pinterest/adc.arkansas.gov)
A still of Leslie MacKool (Image via Pinterest/adc.arkansas.gov)

The investigation was carried out initially keeping a home invasion in mind but soon, signs started pointing towards the strained relationship between Ballard and their daughter, Leslie, and her husband, Mike MacKool. Leslie MacKool eventually owned up to the crime and was convicted in May 2004. She was sentenced to life imprisonment without parole on the capital murder charge and five years imprisonment on the theft-of-property charge, per court documents.

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Edited by Abigail Kevichusa
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