As testimony began in the murder trial of an alleged serial killer Wednesday, prosecutors described the terror that Ryan Joseph Sharpe unleashed on rural parts of East Baton Rouge and East Feliciana parishes eight years ago.

Authorities said he went on a three-month killing spree that saw him shoot four strangers at random, killing three of the men, over the span of 14 weeks between July and October 2017.

Assistant District Attorney Dana Cummings opened the trial by comparing Sharpe’s trail of blood to the deeds of another notorious serial killer.

“This was a big deal in that area,” she told jurors. “For those of you who remember Derrick Todd Lee here, this felt like their Derrick Todd Lee. People being shot in their front yards while they’re doing yard work, exercising or fixing their

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