Chappaquiddick on Bayou St. John – New Orleans, La.
Michelle M. Haensel Memorial Web Site
Fredricks Street Mystery
(Victim: Michelle "Shelly" Haensel - New Orleans, LA - February 17, 1995)
View of Fredricks Street looking east @ Bayou St. John
There was no publically announced investigation of the activities which occurred on Fredricks Street just prior to the homicide of Shelly Haensel. Although the New Orleans District Attorney's office did consider what activities may have occurred in the moments leading up to Shelly's homicide, they did not have sufficient information with which to launch an official probe. There were two eyewitnesses. One was killed and the other was not talking. However, the following information has been accumulated and assembled over the years.
Fredricks Street is located in City Park, New Orleans, Louisiana. The Fredricks Street is owned by City Park. City Park is owned by the City of New Orleans. The posted speed limit is 20 MPH. The street is approximately 24 feet in width consisting of 2 traffic lanes supporting bidirectional (east-west) vehicular travel. There is no parking lane. Roadside parking is prohibited. The street is constructed or Portland Cement Concrete. It appears to have been constructed several decades ago. In the final 1400 feet of Fredricks Street just west of and ending at Wisner Boulevard (at Bayou St. John), there are no horizontal curves. The Fredricks Street/Wisner Boulevard tee intersection had adequate street lighting.
Wisner Boulevard is a curved, 2.6 mile long paved roadway paralleling Bayou St. John. The boulevard is a 4 lane divided roadway. The posted speed limit is 35 MPH. The street is asphalt surfaced. The northern terminus of Wisner Boulevard is Robert E. Lee Boulevard and the southern terminus is City Park Avenue. Approximately 50 feet of pavement exists on Wisner Boulevard at the Fredricks Street stop sign. This intersection had adequate street lighting.
Eye witness testimony at the trial revealed that Dr. Christopher Nabors departed the Parkway Tavern on Canal Boulevard at about 1:30 am in his 1990 red Eagle Talon vehicle at a very high rate of speed. The vehicle traveled northbound on Canal Boulevard until it was out of sight by the eye witness. It is believed the vehicle traveled north to Navarre Avenue then turned right to head east on Navarre Avenue toward City Park. The vehicle would have continued until it reached Marconi Drive then turned left to proceed north on Marconi Drive. As the vehicle passed the front of Tad Gormley Stadium, it would have entered the west side of City Park at Roosevelt Mall. The vehicle would have then proceeded east on Roosevelt Mall past the north side of Tad Gormley Stadium. Upon reaching Henry Thomas Drive, the vehicle would have turned north onto Henry Thomas Drive and continued on this circular road until it reached Fredrichs Street. It has been theorized by many who have investigated and studied this case that the vehicle was parked for a short period of time, during an unaccounted for 16 minutes, on the south side of Fredricks Street approximately 900 feet from the homicide location on Bayou St. John. Evidence observed on the morning of February 17, 1995 revealed fresh tire tracks from this area onto Fredricks Drive just 10 hours after the homicide. The last time Dr. Nabors Eagle Talon vehicle was seen was by an eye witness other than Dr. Nabors and his victim, Shelly, was when it was travelling at 52 MPH vaulting approximately 100 feet through the air into Bayou St. John.
One eye witness who was a resident on Moss Street fronting Bayou St. John reported that she heard the impact of the vehicle striking the curb and noted that the time was 1:52 am. She rushed outside and was told by another eyewitness to call 911. The 911 call was logged in at 1:53 am. The elapsed time from the moment Dr. Nabors departed the Parkway Tavern at a high rate of speed with his victim until the vehicle entered Bayou St. John at approximately 52 MPH was 22 minutes. The distance from the vehicle's starting location at the tavern on Canal Boulevard to Bayou St. John has been measured many times to be 10,894 feet or 2.063 miles. This distance can be traveled in 6 minutes when driving 20 MPH or 4 minutes when driving 30 MPH or 3 minutes when driving 40 MPH. Dr. Nabors was driving much faster than these speeds based on testimony by multiple eyewitnesses. Therefore, a minimum of 16 minutes is missing from the total elapsed time while Dr. Nabors vehicle was in the darkest most deserted part of City Park at approximately 1:45 am. There were two witnesses to the missing minutes. One was killed. One did not speak. There seems to be only one reasonable account for this time. It was probably an unpleasant moment for Dr. Nabors victim, Shelly Haensel, during the unaccounted 16 minutes in a dark City Park. A video of the Fredricks Street approach to Bayou St. John can be found on YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tKDQZffMiKI.
There should have been a full forensic investigation to determine the victim's condition at death. Unfortunately, the autopsy was performed by an LSU Medical School pathologist, member of the LSU teaching staff in Dr. Nabors curriculum. The autopsy provided by the Orleans Parish Coroners Office to the New Orleans District Attorney and the victim's family many, many months after the homicide, contained inaccurate and incorrect information about Shelly Haensel. The report was riddled with errors and inconsistencies Any useable information or meaningful physical evidence remaining from events occurring moments before the homicide were omitted from the report. It was very convenient for the coroners office staffed by LSU Medical School operatives to rule the death a drowning and not look for other physical trauma. The beneficiary of such a report would be LSU Medical School student, Dr. Nabors. No one in Orleans Parish should accept an autopsy report issued by the Orleans Parish Coroners Office as being accurate. An independent autopsy should always be performed in any case involving crimes by those who have connections in New Orleans.
As of 2005, all criminal court actions and appeals have been completed. Where are the honest people in the City of New Orleans? Anyone with a conscience and information about the Fredricks Street Mystery, please contact the victims family. The family can be reached by email at shaensel@cox.net, by telephone at (504) 454-3905, or by public mail at 3901 N. Hullen Street, Metairie, Louisiana 70002.
The Fredricks Street Mystery remains to be solved.