Emma Smith Raine and the Trail of Dead Bodies Behind Her
Is This Woman a Serial Killer?
As a Southern girl, I enjoy Oxygen's new Sins of the South series. If you haven't seen the episode about New Orleans seductress and murderer Emma Smith Raine, buckle your seat belt. You're in for a wild ride.
This story begins in the heart of New Orleans in 2006, where Emma lived in an apartment with her husband, Ernest Smith, on 10700 Roger Drive. The couple had tied the knot in the early 2000s, but the bloom of their marital rose had faded. After Hurricane Katrina hit, the Smiths sought shelter in Arlington, Texas; Emma returned to New Orleans as soon as possible, but Smith was still in Arlington, seeking greener pastures.
Emma Smith Raine Golston
Emma begins a passionate affair with James Raine, a man Ernest considers a friend and fellow soldier from serving in the National Guard in Iraq. Initially, Earnest had no idea; perhaps the unfaithful couple was operating under the assumption that an oblivious spouse is a blissful one. But before too long, Earnest becomes suspicious of the relationship between James and Emma. He confronts his (now former) friend and tells him to stay away from his wife. They even get into some screaming matches, but Earnest Smith decides to fight for Emma.
When Smith, a truck driver and minister, is offered the opportunity to take over a good-sized Atlanta church, he is overjoyed. Finally; the chance to be a full-time pastor. Perhaps this is the change he and Emma need. Hopeful, Earnest returns to New Orleans to help his wife pack up their belongings so they can begin their fresh start.
On the night of April 12, 2006, just before 11:30 pm, gunshots rang out in their quiet neighborhood. Thirty-eight-year-old Ernest, who had been returning home from a motorcycle ride with his friend Ronald Mason, was shot twice in the chest at close range. Mortally wounded, Ernest managed to stumble through the front door of their apartment, uttering his final words to Emma: "Honey, I've been shot."
Emma claimed to have been asleep when the shooting occurred, later saying she had been jolted await by the sound of gunshot. According to records, she called 911 at 11:32 pm. When the first responders arrived, Ernest was already dead. Investigators from the New Orleans Police Department (NOPD) meticulously combed the crime scene, but the killer had vanished into the night, leaving only spent 9mm bullet casings as clues. Despite these suspicious circumstances, the case went cold for five years.
Have We Seen This Movie Before?
On October 21, 2011, James Raine was found shot to death inside the Poplarville, Mississippi home he shared with his now-wife Emma. Police discovered his body after Emma called her mother, telling her she was out of town and concerned that she had been unable to reach her beloved husband. Emma's mother went to check on Raine and found him dead in his bed; he had been shot several times in the forehead, chin, head, and neck. There was evidence of forced entry into the home, but - strangely, someone had turned off security cameras the previous day.
Shortly after Raine's death, the house the widow Raine had so lovingly built went up in flames. The fire was ruled an arson, but investigators could identify no suspects. Emma was there to pick up the pieces – and the home insurance money.
Friends and family members came forward with disturbing revelations about Emma's affair with James Raine and her increasingly volatile relationship with Ernest. The NOPD learned that Emma had been steadily increasing Ernest's life insurance policy over the years, from a modest $100,000 in 1997 to a staggering $800,000 by November 2005, just months before his murder.
After waiting for so long to cash in, Emma had been in no mood to share; upon learning that Smith's biological daughter, Queentene Jefferson, was in line to receive some of Smith's insurance benefit, she had her own daughter, Keisha Judge, forge documents, using Jefferson's name, to make Emma the beneficiary. As soon as Emma got the life insurance proceeds, the pair high-tailed it out of town and settled in Poplar, Mississippi, where James was born. They built a luxurious 4000 square feet mansion on a road that the mistress of the house dubbed "Emma's Lane."
As news of James Raine's murder spread, his foster brother, Alfred Everette, came forward with a chilling confession. Everette admitted to family members, including his brother Enoch Raine and uncle Henry Fowler, that Emma and James had hired him to kill Ernest Smith back in 2006. Everette recounted the night of the murder in vivid detail, explaining how he had waited patiently outside the couple's apartment for over an hour. After watching Ernest chat with his friend Ronald Mason for about 20 minutes, Everette seized his opportunity. He approached Ernest and fired two shots from a 9mm handgun into his chest before fleeing the scene and disposing of the weapon in Lake Pontchartrain. Everette claimed he had been promised between $8,000 and $10,000 for the hit, but Emma and James had only given him two "clunker" cars as payment. Fearing for his own life after James' murder, Everette believed that Emma might be responsible for James' death as well.
Alfred “Terry” Everette, hitman
Detectives uncovered that Emma had a history of suspicious marriages and untimely deaths. The Mississippi Bureau of Investigation, led by Lieutenant Brad Garrett, discovered striking similarities between Ernest's and James' deaths. Both men had been shot with a 9mm gun, and both had substantial life insurance policies naming Emma as the beneficiary. Her first husband, Leroy Evans, had also died under mysterious circumstances years earlier after being paralyzed in a hit-and-run accident. He had choked to death in 1994 after his feeding tube was mysteriously removed. Even though suspicious, Evans's death was ruled an accident, and Emma got some insurance money. She was never charged, and the judge would not allow it in as part of "pattern of conduct" evidence during her trial for Smith's murder.
Many members of law enforcement, as well as family members of the deceased, believe that Emma Smith Raine repeatedly orchestrated a sinister scheme, marrying men for their life insurance policies and then having them killed to collect the payouts. The deaths of Ernest Smith, James Raine, and Leroy Evans were not mere coincidences but rather the work of a calculating and ruthless woman who valued money over human life.
A Different Kind of Victim?
At least one person, however, believed in her innocence – her fourth husband. Within months of her third husband's death, Emma Smith Raine moved to Grain Valley, Missouri. In December 2012, six months after they met, she tied the knot with fifty-year-old John W. Golston. After her 2013 arrest, he insisted that his blushing bride was being set up by a corrupt Louisiana criminal justice system hellbent on seeking a conviction.
Who is a victim here is a matter of opinion. Golston certainly sees his wife as one. Talking about the amount of money he spent on his wife's legal defense, he also sees himself as one. Those who know Emma feel somewhat differently; they believe that Golston fell victim to a black widow's charm. Yes, he was duped into virtual bankruptcy by her legal bills. But at least he escaped with his life.
Is Emma Smith Raine Goston a Serial Killer?
Technically, no. For someone to meet the criteria for a serial killer, she must have killed at least two people, and the murders must have been on separate occasions. The fact that she has not been convicted of more than one murder would eliminate her as a serial killer.
As a forensic psychologist, I often research serial killers and have a particular interest in female serial murderers, who usually look and act very differently than their male counterparts. Let's look at what the research says about female serial killers and how Emma Smith Raine compares:
Female serial killers often experience significant childhood trauma and abuse, including sexual abuse, neglect, unstable home environments, and parents with substance abuse issues. This early adversity likely contributed to later antisocial behavior. (While male serial killers often come from a background of childhood trauma, it is even more exaggerated among females). We don't know anything about Emma's background.
Many exhibited attention-seeking behaviors like compulsive lying and creating interpersonal drama starting in their early teens. Some had unstable romantic relationships and multiple marriages. We know the latter is true; we don't know about the former.
Female serial killers tended to target victims they knew, like family members and patients under their care. They operated for more extended periods on average than male serial killers. Emma Smith Raine targeted one husband and possibly more.
The most prevalent motive among solo female serial killers is financial gain. Emma's suspected motives seem to align with the typical financial gain seen in solo female serial killers. She took out and cashed in on large life insurance policies on her husbands, who died under suspicious circumstances. I have also often seen a pattern of financial crimes predating female serial killers who wind up murdering for money. Emma's history of fraud and forgery certainly fits this bill.
Female serial killers often choose murder weapons that allow them to distance themselves from their victims; for example, they may use poison or convince/hire someone to do their dirty work. Emma and James Raine did this by hiring a relative to murder Earnest Smith.
Female serial killers (like their male counterparts) often use similar patterns in their serial murders. While Emma has only been convicted of one murder, the fact that three husbands died under suspicious circumstances, with the last two being shot multiple times, appearing to be staged robberies, and including large insurance payouts, certainly raises my eyebrows.
There are plenty of murderers who murder a spouse for money and would never do it again. There are also plenty of one-time murder-for-hire. I question, though, whether there are a lot of one-time conspirators who happen to have three spouses who die under suspicious circumstances and wind up richer each time.
The End of the Story (for now)
Following a three-day trial from December 2-4, 2014, hitman Alfred "Terri" Everette was convicted and given a mandatory life sentence. In August 2016, Emma Smith Raine Golston was convicted of second-degree murder and, two months later, sentenced to life without parole. An appeals court affirmed her conviction in 2018. That same year, the estate of James Raines filed a lawsuit in an attempt to block the convicted murderer from receiving any of the proceeds from his life insurance. The suit was dismissed, with the judge finding that there was insufficient evidence that Emma Smith Raine was responsible for his death (the criminal investigation is still open, but the case remains unsolved).
In a bit of irony that I'm sure escapes no one, the current resident of the Louisiana Correctional Institute for Women in St. Gabriel, Louisiana, will never see a penny of that money. She may have gotten away with the murder of a husband or two, but she hasn't escaped the long arm of the IRS. Due to her previous convictions for bankruptcy and tax fraud for $94,107.0, any proceeds from Emma's life insurance will be paid to the U.S. government. For someone driven by greed, there may not be a worse consequence.
As always, thank you for reading this issue of The Mind Detective. Please pass it along to your true-crime-following friends and colleagues. If there’s a case you’d like me to cover, let me know.