Digging into the real-life background of the documentary The Pet Cemetery Murders: A Ghost Story

The series digs into a real 1985 New Orleans mystery: pet cemetery owner Dorothy Thompson vanished, and nearly a month later, her body was recovered from the Mississippi River on May 2, 1985. She’d been found in chains, and the cause of death was asphyxiation. With little physical evidence, the case went cold—until years later, when new witnesses came forward with stories that included alleged encounters with Thompson’s ghost.

Who’s involved

• Dorothy Thompson — Owner of the Azalea Original Pet Cemetery; disappeared in 1985 and was later found dead in the Mississippi River.
• Brandon Nodier — Thompson’s cemetery groundskeeper; later arrested in connection with the case.
• Patricia Newman — Thompson’s friend, power of attorney, and executor of her estate; appears in the docuseries.

According to the series, investigators had long eyed Nodier and Newman, but the case lacked proof. Hurricane Katrina in 2005 wiped out key documents, making a difficult investigation even tougher. Momentum shifted when people began contacting authorities with what they knew—and, in some accounts, what they said they’d seen from the other side.

Thompson’s body was found chained in the Mississippi River on May 2, 1985.

Several witnesses reportedly described ghostly encounters, including one who said Thompson appeared “wrapped in chains.” As the show lays out, many of those claims pointed back to Nodier. Newman also recounts an earlier dispute between Thompson and Nodier: she says Thompson had agreed to sell the cemetery to him for $20,000, then later sued, alleging she’d been made to sign under pretenses.

Arrest and outcome

The break came when a witness told authorities they saw Nodier choke and kill Thompson. After that testimony was presented to a grand jury, Nodier was arrested in 2012 and booked on a charge of second-degree murder, according to the series.

In July 2014, Nodier pleaded guilty to manslaughter and was sentenced to 10 years in prison. That plea finally closed a case that had lingered for decades.

Release

The Pet Cemetery Murders: A Ghost Story is a three-part docuseries released on October 11, 2026 .