On July 8, 1999, Robert Leach murdered Jean Poteet and murdered and raped Sarah McBride in Sarah's home in Nashville on Haywood Lane. Sarah McBride was a sixty-nine-year-old widow who had been outside working in her yard when Leach happened upon her. Leach asked Sarah if he could use her telephone to call his sister to pick him up because his car was broken down. Sarah agreed. Leach told Sarah that his telephone call to his sister was successful and that she would be picking him up. Leach later admitted that he had in fact attempted to call his sister in Texas, but was unsuccessful. He also admitted that he did not own a car. At approximately 7:30 a.m., Sarah's sister Louise called and spoke with Sarah as part of their normal morning routine. Sarah told her sister that a man was in the kitchen drinking coffee as he waited for his sister to pick him up. Louise  testified that she urged her sister to have the man wait for his ride outside and that Sarah responded, "OK, I'll call you later." Sarah never returned the call. Louise  testified that she went shopping at Wal-Mart and then began calling her sister. She called her in fifteen to twenty minute intervals, but no one answered. At approximately 1:30 or 2:00 p.m., Louise became very worried and drove to her sister's house. When she arrived, the garage door was up, and Sarah's pickup truck was gone. She noticed that the back door was open. She entered Sarah's home and noticed her cousin Jean Poteet's wig on the floor, a pair of scissors on the floor, and a stream of blood. Louise explained that although her cousin Jean had her own apartment, she had essentially been living with Sarah for a couple of months. After seeing the "stream of blood," Louise  walked through her sister's home. She found Jean lying face down in the hallway. She checked to see if Jean was breathing, but she was cold. She found her sister, Sarah McBride, on her bed. She was not breathing. She called 9-1-1 from her sister's kitchen. As soon as the paramedics arrived, Louise was escorted out of her sister's home. William Harris, Jean Poteet's cousin and legal guardian, testified that he went to the scene immediately after learning that his cousin had been murdered. Mr. Harris testified that his cousin Jean had a diminished mental capacity due to a blood clot at the time of her birth. He testified that she was somewhat retarded, and her right hand and leg were partially paralyzed. He explained that because of her problems, financial and legal matters were too much for her to handle; therefore, he had been appointed as her guardian. Mr. Harris explained, however, that Jean had a fairly normal life. Other than the aforementioned problems, she had no physical infirmities. He explained that Jean enjoyed shopping and going out to eat, but because she could not drive, she relied on others, including Sarah, for transportation. He testified that Jean enjoyed helping Sarah with her house and dog. He said that they spent a lot of time together because neither would have to be alone. Jean was seventy years old at the time of her death. Detective Jim Reed arrived at the McBride residence at approximately 2:30 p.m. in response to the 9-1-1 call. Upon his arrival, two firemen advised him that two deceased elderly women were inside the house. He entered the home where he saw one woman face down on the floor and a second woman on a bed, partially clothed. He ordered everyone out of the house. After interviewing Louise, he sent out a bulletin for officers to be on the look out for the missing pickup truck. Evidence was collected from the scene including a pair of black jeans, pieces of linoleum, scissors, a pair of blue jeans, and a piece of the marble floor. A few weeks later, a plumber was called to Sarah's residence to fix a clogged sewer line. The plumber recovered a pair of men's underwear in the line from the toilet to the sewer line, which was turned over to the police. Dr. Bruce Levy testified that he performed rape kits on both victims and took photographs of their bodies. Autopsies were performed on the victims the following day. Dr. Levy testified that Jean Poteet died as a result of strangulation with a ligature. Dr. Levy surmised that Jean was first attacked in the kitchen and dragged to the bedroom area where she was found. He testified that Jean's blouse was pulled up around her neck and tied in a knot. Further, the autopsy indicated that someone sat on her abdomen as the ligature was being applied. Dr. Levy testified that the tip of Jean's tongue was bitten and protruding from her mouth, which indicated that she was dragged by her blouse while it was tied around her neck. According to Dr. Levy, Jean was still alive while she was being dragged. Jean also had numerous blunt force injuries to her face and suffered from brain hemorrhages due to blows to the head. Jean had a defensive wound on the back of her left forearm, bruises on her abdomen, and two pairs of scissor stab wounds on the left side of her chest and abdomen. When Jean was found, her upper torso was exposed, but the clothing on her lower body was intact. It was his opinion that Jean was probably not sexually assaulted but that because her upper torso was exposed, he could not completely rule out some sort of sexual assault. Dr. Levy testified that the cause of death of Sarah McBride was strangulation with a ligature. The ligature on Sarah's body was a belt that was wrapped around the neck twice. Unlike Jean, Sarah was not dragged by the ligature around her neck. In addition to the injuries caused by the ligature, Sarah had a laceration over her left eye, blunt force injuries to her head, a broken nose, a fracture at the base of her skull, a fracture to her breastbone, and three fractured ribs. Sarah had two sets of double puncture wounds on her back, which were consistent with being stabbed with scissors. Sarah also had bruising around her left eye, left cheek, nose, and mouth and defensive wounds on the left forearm. Sarah was found at the scene lying on her back on a bed, partially clothed. Dr. Levy explained that Sarah was completely unclothed from the waist down and the clothes on her body had been pulled up to her upper chest and neck area. When Sarah was found, her legs were open and up over her body, with her legs flexed at the hips and bent at the knees. As the result of testing, it was determined that Sarah was raped. Dr. Levy testified that it was his opinion that she was alive when the sexual assault began, but died at some point during the assault. He also said that both Sarah and Jean had irreversible brain damage approximately four minutes after the ligature was applied. Detective Mike Roland was the lead investigator on the case. He testified that Leach became a suspect in the murders when he was contacted by detective Marsha Brown of the sex crimes unit. Detective Brown was investigating an incident that occurred a few hours before the murders at an Econo Lodge within one mile of Sarah's residence. Detective Brown gave Detective Roland Leach's name. Detective Roland learned through the investigation of the sex crime at the Econo Lodge that Leach had been living there. Evidence collected from the Econo Lodge was consistent with evidence collected from the McBride residence, and Leach's fingerprints were identified from evidence at the McBride residence. Detective Roland talked with Leach's sister, Cathy, who lived in Missouri, on July 12, 1999. Detective Roland advised Leach's sister that he was a suspect in a double murder case in Nashville. She had not heard from her brother, but she agreed to cooperate. Leach called Detective Roland on July 13, 1999. He told Detective Roland that he knew nothing about the murders. He blamed his entire situation on the State of Texas and its penal institution. He told Detective Roland that he had been imprisoned in Texas and that when he was released he wanted to blow up schools, hospitals, and nursing homes. He said that he had turned his life around for a while but that when Texas wanted to revoke his parole, he wanted to "go down there and blow up a whole city block." When Detective Roland asked him what happened in Nashville on Haywood Lane, he replied, "I just-I snapped. I don't know. And I've snapped-I feel like snapping now." Leach told Detective Roland that he knew he was prison bound and he wanted to go to a psychiatric hospital because he could not deal with reality. He stated he wanted just to travel and kill. Detective Roland called Leach's sister after he spoke with him, and she gave him the telephone number for her brother. The police were then able to determine Leach's location, and Detective Roland called the Missouri State Highway Patrol and described the pickup truck taken from the McBride residence. Sergeant Larry Wayne Plunkett, Jr. testified that he was an officer with the Missouri State Highway Patrol. He located the truck at the Friendly Tavern in Greenville, Missouri. He and Deputy Larry Bruce with the Wayne County Sheriff's Department in Greenville, Missouri entered the tavern and located the owner, who identified Leach as the person driving the pickup truck. Leach was on stage playing a guitar at the time. Sergeant Plunkett arrested him. Leach denied driving the truck and insisted that he had walked to the tavern. The pickup truck was secured and Leach was transported to the local jail. Leach later admitted to Deputy Bruce that he was driving the truck. He said that he was sorry he did it but that he just snapped. He also told Deputy Bruce that he had been trying to get help for three years. While Deputy Bruce was at the tavern securing the pickup truck, a couple stopped and asked why he was at Leach's truck. After a discussion with the couple, Deputy Bruce went to their residence and recovered clothing supposedly belonging to Leach and lawn equipment that Leach had given the couple from the back of the truck. Detectives Roland and Vogel traveled from Nashville to Missouri to talk to Leach. Leach explained that he had been in Nashville pursuing a music career. He advised the detectives that he was gifted with music and had won Star Search in 1997. He said he obtained employment at a Denny's restaurant to pay the bills. After staying at a couple of other hotels, he took up residence at the Econo Lodge. He met an employee of the Econo Lodge named Dorianne during his stay. He said they flirted with each other. He told Detective Roland that on the last night he spent in Nashville, he had been to a bar and had several beers. He admitted that he was "pretty tipsy." He remembered seeing Dorianne outside her room and her inviting him in. Later, a black man entered the room and confronted him about why he was with his girlfriend. Leach also said the man demanded his money. He said that Dorianne began screaming and that he became worried about going to jail. He was very afraid, so he hit the man and ran out of the hotel. He said he blacked out and woke up in a pickup truck in Illinois. He said his knuckles were swollen as if he had hit someone. He said he had on men's clothing that was not his. He also saw jewelry boxes and costume jewelry in the truck. He denied that he had stolen a purse. He insisted that he did not know what had happened but stated, "If I deserve it, I deserve it." According to Leach's statement, he went to visit his family in Missouri. He met a girl on the first night he was in Missouri, spent the night with her, and gave her some of the jewelry. He also gave lawn equipment to his aunt. When he talked with his sister, she told him he was about to be on "America's Most Wanted." He told Detective Roland that he had a metal plate in his head from a car accident and claimed that he had memory loss and blacked out as a result. He told Detective Roland that he could only kill in self-defense. He continued to claim that if he had done something, he had just snapped. The day after Leach's statement, Detective Roland transported him to Nashville. During the trip, Leach pointed to a road and said that was where he went the wrong way, going to Illinois instead of Missouri. He then said he had thrown the purse out down the road. A friend of Leach's named Harold testified that he had known Leach for over fifteen years but had not seen him for six years. He stated that Leach showed up at his residence in Coldwater, Missouri on July 8, 1999, driving a pickup truck. Leach stayed with him, his wife, and his sister-in-law, Becky, for two nights. They went to the Friendly Tavern where they drank beer and danced. He noticed nothing unusual about Leach's behavior. Becky testified that Leach drove her home in the pickup truck after their evening at the Friendly Tavern. Leach told her he did not have a driver's license; therefore, he only drove the back roads. She further testified she spent the night with Leach at the Winberry residence the first evening he was in town. The next day, Leach presented her with jewelry, which he said belonged to his ex-girlfriend. She testified that she took some earrings, but turned them over to the police after Leach's arrest. According to Becky, Leach appeared to be acting normal while he was with her. Leach's aunt Jane also testified at trial. She testified that Leach came to her home on July 11, 1999. She stated that she had not seen him since his father's funeral, about six years before. She said that he was driving a Dodge pickup truck with Tennessee tags. He stayed in a trailer outside her home for two nights. While he was there, he asked her to wash his clothes, but she refused because they had dog hair all over them. She later gave the clothes to the police. She testified that he acted normal while he stayed at her home. A jail inmate who met Leach in the Davidson County jail while they were housed in the same pod testified that Leach told him he wanted to get sent to a psychiatric hospital and asked how to establish the insanity defense in Tennessee. According to the inmate, Leach believed it was easier to escape from a psychiatric hospital, and he wanted to go to Canada because Canada would not extradite him if he was facing the death penalty. Leach also confided to the inmate that he knew a psychologist in Texas who would testify that he had been incompetent for a long time. Leach told him the details of the murders as follows: Leach went to a house in Antioch where some women, whom he had previously seen in Denny's, lived. He told one of the women that his car was broken down and he needed to call a ride. Leach said one of the women recognized him as an employee of Denny's and invited him to have some coffee. While he was inside, one of the women received a call, he thought from a daughter, who told her to get the man out of her house. Leach told him that he put a "chokehold" on both women, got them on the floor, and beat their heads. Leach said he raped one of the women and fondled the other. Leach went through the house and took some rings, necklaces, lawn care equipment, and a pickup truck. Leach said that there was blood all over the house. Leach said he had always had a secret fantasy of committing multiple rapes and murders. The jury found Leach guilty of premeditated first degree murder as to Jean Poteet and Sarah McBride. The jury also found him guilty of felony murder as to both victims. Further, the jury found him guilty of especially aggravated robbery and aggravated rape. The felony murder convictions were merged into the premeditated murder convictions. At the penalty phase of the trial, the State presented the testimony of Sarah's older sister Louise. She testified that her sister was sixty-nine years old at the time of her death. She said that Sarah was her best friend and that they talked every day before she was killed. She said she had talked to her sister the morning of her murder and regretted not going to her home sooner. She thought she might have been able to save them. She testified that she had "gone to pieces" since her sister's death and had lost a lot of weight because she no longer eats. Sarah's stepson testified and said that he and Sarah were very close. He explained that his parents had divorced when he was young, and his father and stepmother had been married for twenty-seven years at the time of his father's death. He told the jury that she loved to garden and had been employed for thirty years before retiring. After his father died, she kept his pickup truck and could never sell it. She had grieved over her husband's death for a few years and had really started to enjoy life again. He testified that his stepmother's death had been very hard on him and his children. William Harris testified that he was Jean Poteet's cousin and legal guardian. He again explained to the jury that she had a diminished mental capacity. Although she was never able to work outside of the home, she was able to take care of her mother and aunt until they passed away. He testified that she enjoyed going out to eat and traveling. Jean had started renting an apartment on her own in 1997 after her aunt's death. Mr. Harris testified that she had been burdened with responsibilities of taking care of people her entire life. He explained that she had just started to enjoy some freedom. She had been able to travel some with his family and was looking forward to more travel. He testified that her death had greatly affected his life. The jury sentenced Leach to death for the murders of Jean Poteet and Sarah McBride. As to victim Jean Poteet, the jury found four aggravating circumstances: Leach had previously been convicted of one or more violent felonies; the murder was especially heinous, atrocious, or cruel in that it involved torture or serious physical abuse beyond that necessary to produce death; the murder was knowingly committed by Leach while he was committing or attempting to commit robbery or aggravated rape; and the victim was seventy years of age or older or was particularly vulnerable due to a significant handicap or significant disability, physical or mental. As to victim Sarah McBride, the jury found three aggravating circumstances: Leach had previously been convicted of one or more violent felonies; the murder was especially heinous, atrocious, or cruel in that it involved torture or serious physical abuse beyond that necessary to produce death; and the murder was knowingly committed by Leach while committing or attempting to commit robbery or aggravated rape. The trial court subsequently sentenced Leach to consecutive sentences of twenty-five years for the especially aggravated robbery and aggravated rape convictions, which were ordered to be served consecutively to the death sentences.

A Baltimore County judge signed a warrant for the April execution of a longtime Maryland death row inmate. Vernon L. Evans Jr., 55, was convicted in 1984 of the contract murder of a federal witness and a bystander. Judge Christian M. Kahl signed the death warrant two days after the Supreme Court refused to hear the latest appeal from Evans, who argued that he was wrongfully sentenced under harsher sentencing guidelines that took effect after he committed his crimes. The judge ordered that Evans be put to death by lethal injection sometime during a five-day period that begins April 18. "It has been 22 years since this crime happened, so, for a lack of a better term, this has been a long time coming," John Cox, an assistant Baltimore County state's attorney said. Attorneys for Evans said that they will ask the court to stay the execution while they appeal the death sentence. Evans and drug kingpin Anthony Grandison were convicted and sentenced to death in the April 1983 killing of David Scott Piechowicz and Susan Kennedy at the Warren House Motor Hotel in Pikesville. Grandison paid Evans $9,000 to kill Piechowicz and his wife, Cheryl, who were to testify against Grandison in a federal drug trial. Kennedy was working for her sister Cheryl that day, and prosecutors said at trial that they believe Evans mistook Kennedy for her sister on the day of the killings. The two victims were gunned down in the lobby of the motel in a brief burst of bullets from a MAC-11 machine-pistol with a silencer. Grandison remains on death row.  UPDATE: The state's highest court has granted a stay to a death row inmate who had been scheduled to be put to death by lethal injection sometime during the week of April 18. Vernon Evans Jr. had asked the Court of Appeals for more time to argue that his sentence should be overturned because of racial and geographical disparities in Maryland's application of the death penalty. The court scheduled oral arguments on the matter for June 7. Evans was sentenced to death for the April 1983 killing of David Scott Piechowicz and Susan Kennedy at the Warren House Motor Hotel in Pikesville. In seeking a stay, Evans' attorneys noted the court has agreed to hear an appeal from death row inmate Wesley E. Baker in June. Both Evans and Baker, as well as two other death row inmates, have asked the courts to overturn their sentences based on a January 2003 study by University of Maryland professor Raymond Paternoster that had been commissioned by the Legislature. Paternoster found that black defendants who killed whites statistically were most likely to be charged with capital murder and sentenced to death in Maryland. He also found that the likelihood of prosecutors seeking capital murder charges in Baltimore County is 13 times greater than in Baltimore. Evans and Baker are black. The victims in their cases, all of whom were white, were killed in Baltimore County. Baker was convicted in 1992 of fatally shooting a teacher's aide in front of her grandchildren in the parking lot of a Catonsville shopping center.

Milton Mathis was sentenced to death for killing Travis Brown III, 24, and Daniel Hibbard, 31. The men were shot to death in the house where they lived in the 5800 block of Maywood in Houston, Texas. Mathis was 19 at the time of the brutal crime. All three victims were shot in the head with a .45 caliber pistol. Police believed the motive for the shootings was robbery. On December 15, 1998, at approximately 8:00 or 8:30 a.m., a woman and her 15-year old daughter went to the home of a man named Chris. Chris rented rooms in his home to Travis Brown and Daniel Hibbard. Travis Brown and Milton Mathis were in Travis's room. While the woman, her daughter and Hibbard sat in Chris's room, Chris went into the kitchen. Shortly thereafter, Chris heard gunshots from Travis's room and turned to see Mathis exiting the room with a gun in his hand. Mathis claimed that Travis had just shot himself. Chris told Mathis to put the gun down, but Mathis ordered Chris and the other three back into Chris's room where he calmly walked up to the girl and shot her in the head, leaving her alive, but paralyzed from the neck down. Mathis then shot Daniel Hibbard in the head, causing his death. Mathis finally pointed the gun at the girl's mother, whereupon he discovered that he was out of bullets. Mathis thereafter rummaged through the house, set fire to Travis Brown's room, threatened Chris and the woman, and finally left in Travis Brown's car. The police identified Mathis as the killer and went to arrest him. Upon being arrested, Mathis became violent. Officers discovered that Mathis had told his father to lie for him and had persuaded his girlfriend to give him an alibi, which she maintained until confronted by the police. A fellow inmate testified that Mathis showed no remorse for the shootings and stated that he wished he had killed them all. Mathis took the stand and at first testified that although he had been to the house earlier, he was not there on the morning of the shootings. After defense counsel requested a recess, Mathis took the stand and stated that he had lied in his previous testimony. He then testified that he was at the house at the time of shootings, and admitted that he had shot all three people and taken Brown's car. Mathis claimed he shot Travis Brown in self-defense after Travis had threatened to shoot him. He claimed that he shot the others because he panicked after shooting Travis. During the punishment phase, the State put on evidence of Mathis's prior criminal history, including an aggravated robbery, various assaults and thefts, and a charge for resisting arrest. The State presented additional evidence that Mathis had been repetitively belligerent and disruptive at school and that he had gotten into a fight with jailers while incarcerated. UPDATE: The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals halted one of the two executions set for Wednesday when it granted a reprieve to condemned inmate Milton Mathis, whose lawyers contended may be mentally retarded. Mathis, 26, was convicted of the fatal shootings of two men at a Houston crack house in December 1998. In a short five-paragraph order, the court today said arguments about Mathis' mental retardation should be reviewed by his trial court in Fort Bend County. The U.S. Supreme Court in 2002 barred the execution of the mentally retarded. Mathis' attorneys also contended his execution, if carried out, would violate his rights unless he could get a full hearing on the claims of mental retardation.

A Missouri inmate sentenced to death for fatally beating and stabbing his grandmother more than 30 times to get money for crack cocaine says that woman would not want him executed. Facing scheduled death by injection April 27, Donald Jones, 38, absorbed another legal setback this week, when the Missouri Supreme Court refused to intervene. Jones said he expected to take his case to the U.S. Supreme Court. Jones' family - including 2 uncles, the sons of slain Dorothy Knuckles - wants Gov. Matt Blunt to spare Jones' life and commute his sentence to a life term without parole, arguing that the murdered 68-year-old grandmother wouldn't seek vengeance against the grandson. "Just having their love and their forgiveness has been a tremendous comfort for me," Jones said Thursday by telephone from the maximum-security Potosi Correctional Center, insisting that "I can say most confidentally" Knuckles - a Christian - wouldn't be vengeful against the grandson who killed her. "My grandmother and my family were all raised in church, strong Christians," he said. "I know for a fact she wouldn't want this at all." Jones said he hasn't circled his scheduled execution date on his calendar. "The 27th will be here when it gets here," he said. "The only thing I can control is today; that's always been my approach to the situation. "I have all the faith and know God can turn this around in no time." Blunt has said through a spokeswoman that he planned to review the case, having asked the state Board of Probation and Parole to offer a recommendation. Messages were left Friday with Blunt's office and with Jones' Columbia attorney. Jones said he was high on PCP-laced crack cocaine when he went to his grandmother's St. Louis home in March 1993 to ask the woman for more money for drugs. When Knuckles lectured him about his abuse of drugs and refused to give him cash, Jones first beat her with a butcher's block of knives, then repeatedly stabbed her. Jones took the grandmother's videocassette recorder, some money and the keys to her car, then sold the VCR and rented out the vehicle to get 2 pieces of crack cocaine. Jones was arrested 3 days later. Jurors convicted him in June 1994 after just 3 hours of deliberations, recommending the death sentence for 1st-degree murder and a life term for armed criminal action. The next month, a judge condemned Jones despite pleas by his family - including the victim's sons - to spare Jones' life and order him imprisoned for life without parole.