The Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office is asking for the public’s assistance with a cold case murder from 1984 that was recently reopened. One warrant has been issued in the case for Patricia Tito, a 58-year-old woman who is currently in the custody of the Louisiana Department of Corrections. Tito is serving a sentence for a homicide committed in Shreveport in 2003. As our investigation progressed, Tito identified another individual, Delvin Avard Sibley, now 76, as the individual responsible for the 1984 murder. Sibley, formerly of Shreveport, is considered to be a person of interest in the investigation, and our investigators are asking anyone with knowledge of Sibley’s possible involvement in the homicide or later disposal of the victim’s remains to come forward.
In January 1984, the family of Lester Rome reported Mr. Rome missing to the Grand Isle Police Department. JPSO investigators became involved in the case in February 1984. At the time of the initial investigation, Tito was found residing in Mr. Rome’s home and operating his business. She claimed then that Mr. Rome had simply gone on a trip and denied any knowledge of foul play. The missing persons case was eventually suspended after all investigative leads were exhausted.
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”. It was determined at that time that the unidentified man had been killed as result of blunt force trauma and possible stab wounds.
In 2021, “The Man in the Well” was identified by the Sabine Parish Coroner’s Office as Lester Rome. Investigators from the Sabine Parish Sheriff’s Office contacted JPSO and our agencies exchanged information about the cases. The Sabine Parish Sheriff’s Office interviewed Tito and provided information from that interview that indicated Rome had been killed in Grand Isle before his remains were dumped in Sabine Parish. The case was eventually transferred to JPSO for further investigation.
In spring 2022, JPSO investigators interviewed Tito, and she agreed to bring them to the location where Mr. Rome was murdered on Grand Isle near Elmer’s Island. She told our investigators that she was present during the murder, but placed responsibility for the crime solely on Sibley. She stated that when Sibley eventually left the Grand Isle area, he did so in possession of Mr. Rome’s remains. As our investigation continued, detectives learned that the well in which Mr. Rome’s remains were located was on a property formerly owned by Sibley’s family.
At this point in the investigation, our investigators have obtained an arrest warrant for Patricia Tito for Second Degree Murder in the death of Lester Rome. While the level of her involvement is not entirely clear, and despite her protestations of innocence, Tito obviously had knowledge of Mr. Rome’s death and failed to make any effort to notify law enforcement or a member of his family between 1984 and 2021.
Anyone with information regarding the initial disappearance and murder of Lester Rome, the whereabouts in 1984 of Delvin Avard Sibley or Patricia Tito, or any other information that may be of help to our investigators is asked to call Captain Dennis Thornton of our Cold Case Unit at 504-364-5300 or contact Crimestoppers.