Rene Lenier

Rene Lenier is a Cajun resident of Bon Temps and works on Jason Stackhouse's road crew. At the beginning of the series he is dating Arlene Fowler, and he later proposes to her, which she gladly excepts. Rene is thought to be a respectable member of the Bon Temps community, however when he attacks Sookie it becomes clear he is responsible for the murders of the women in Bon Temps. We later discover that Rene had a deep hatred of vampires and anyone who fraternises with them, including fangbangers - people who dote on them and sleep with them. Each of the women he killed had fang marks on their bodies. It isn't clear how he knows this however, its possible he heard it from Jason as Jason had slept with the victims and is a friend of Rene's.

It is revealed at the end of the book that Rene used to live in Bunkie, a city close to Bon Temps, and that he had learnt his Cajun accent for show. He had moved from Bunkie when he killed his sister after realising she was a fangbanger. His real name is Drew Marshal.

He was killed when attempting to kill Sookie. Sam Merlotte came to Sookie's aid in the form of a dog which distracted Rene and Sookie was able to stab him with a shovel.