Do you all remember Leroy who drives into a tree and dies. Only later the body is exumed and autopsied and its found there are stab wound on his neck. Its assumed he got in a fight at his girlfriend Patty's house. An ex relative wtnessed the argument. Patty intialy says she does not know what happend to Leroys sister . but then call's her and says she tell her more , but when Leroy's sister calls to make date to talk with Patty her phone is disconected. I don't know about you all but I think this family is protecting themselves. Or why not come forward? Doesn't make sense unless someone in this family is guilty. What do you all think?

I don't see how the police don't see his death as a murder. They ruled it a suicide but I don't see how someone could stab themself in the neck that many times and drive into a tree and not be a homicide.

you would also think the police would question patty's family sence people are saying there was argument at the party were Leroy was before he hit the tree. Exspecially with those stab wounds found on him. I think the police maybe a sleep on the job on this one.

you would also think the police would question patty's family sence people are saying there was argument at the party were Leroy was before he hit the tree. Exspecially with those stab wounds found on him. I think the police maybe a sleep on the job on this one.

I agree with you on that, lazy police work. My question is why are the police covering up for Patty's family when Leroy's family without a doubt believe someone in Patty's family murdered him. This case deserves another look into. How many years ago did this happen?

I agree with you on that, lazy police work. My question is why are the police covering up for Patty's family when Leroy's family without a doubt believe someone in Patty's family murdered him. This case deserves another look into. How many years ago did this happen?

Not to mention some person comes out of know where and say to the police he got in fight with his girl friend and killed himself. They take that as fact and don;t even question the guy as how he know that . what the heck? Not to mention they never had an autopsy done untill years later at the families request. Something sure smells with the police work in this case.

Ok, correct me if I am wrong, but wasn't there some type of underlying racial issue or something?

Ok, correct me if I am wrong, but wasn't there some type of underlying racial issue or something?

Yes the relative of Patty's that was said to have argued with Leroy appeared to be Latino. He supposedly was yelling at Leroy to not date mexicans and go find a white girl. I'm guessing that must mean Patty had some Latino in her. If the Unsolved Mysteries segment is acurate.

Yes, Patty was hispanic. Maybe the police were afraid to really do anything about it at the time due to fear of latinos, who are often unfairly classified as dangerous criminals that are beyond control. It was the 60's after all. But I think the root of the problem in this case is laziness.

Yes, Patty was hispanic. Maybe the police were afraid to really do anything about it at the time due to fear of latinos, who are often unfairly classified as dangerous criminals that are beyond control. It was the 60's after all. But I think the root of the problem in this case is laziness.

Makes you wonder why the cops did not question Patty or her family., And why they took that fellahs word for it was sucide.

Makes you wonder why the cops did not question Patty or her family., And why they took that fellahs word for it was sucide.

I believe they were just afraid to mess with them

I believe they were just afraid to mess with them

I guess cops get scared like anyone else.

Is it possible that Leroy was involved in some fight or scuffle at the party, and some of Patty's relatives chased him in a car to attempt to scare Leroy, and Leroy ran off the road and crashed into the car? I can't remember specific details about this one, what was the actual cause of death?

Is it possible that Leroy was involved in some fight or scuffle at the party, and some of Patty's relatives chased him in a car to attempt to scare Leroy, and Leroy ran off the road and crashed into the car? I can't remember specific details about this one, what was the actual cause of death?

Actually he hit a tree. They determined his death at the time was auto suicide. They didnt do autopsy till years later at the request of the family. They found the cuts in his neck one which cut his asophogaus and disrupted his breathing. They said he died instanly when hitting the tree before the cuts could kill him.

So Leroy was obviously fleeing from whomever attacked him when he hit the tree, which would definitely make this a murder. In all likelihood, it was someone from Patty's family.

didn't they say he was stabbed before he crashed into the tree?

didn't they say he was stabbed before he crashed into the tree?

yes but that wasn't known till years later when Leroy's family had him exhumed and autopseid.

makes you feel there's no justice in the world

The actor playing Patty looked white to me, that's why I always thought she was white. UM never went into detail about that. Still confused

The actor playing Patty looked white to me, that's why I always thought she was white. UM never went into detail about that. Still confused

The original segment mentioned that Leroy had started dating a hispanic girl named Patty, and a former wife of one of Patty's relatives alleged that there had been a racial argument between Leroy and some of the relatives. Hispanics are caucasian, although in the U.S. they sometimes are viewed as a different race and not just as a different ethnicity for whatever reason.

It's sad that the case hasn't developed further since the exhumation. I got the feeling that both the former sister in-law and possibly even Patty knew who followed Leroy out to his car. I'm curious if the coroner's report mentioned the name of the witness who claimed that Leroy said he was going to kill himself; that person was likely either a witness to or responsible for Leroy's stabbing.

Okay thanks for clearing that up for me. Didn't see the original one in years, just recently the Dennis Farina one on lifetime last week. I got a feeling also that witness blurted that out to make it a suicide case for the emt's.

Okay thanks for clearing that up for me. Didn't see the original one in years, just recently the Dennis Farina one on lifetime last week. I got a feeling also that witness blurted that out to make it a suicide case for the emt's.

No problem. There are some UM cases where a family is desperate to believe that their loved one didn't commit suicide, despite evidence that points to it. This case was messed up from the get-go because the coroner believed that there wasn't a need for an autopsy based in part on the statement the guy made at the scene.

I have seen this one quite a few times. I do not believe for one second that it's a suicide. The family friend said everyone was drinking heavily that day. Alcohol always causes problems and from what it looks like Patty's family had this issue with him for a while...

Just watched this for the first time today. I don't believe for a second it was suicide either. One of his girlfriend's relatives knifed Leroy at a party, he jumped into his car and drove off. Then, either because of the wounds or because he was being chased, he crashed his car and died.

Sloppy policework though always infuriates me......:mad:

Definitely shoddy police work. I wonder why Patty's family hated Leroy, other than he was Caucasian? Did he and Patty argue often? Was it verbal or physical? Her family doesn't seem like the kind that would be "tight" with the police department and coroners, so I don't see why they are covering Leroy's murder up. The coroner's report, from the 1993 exhumation, said Leroy died from injuries from the crash and not the knife wounds to his neck. I wonder how long he would have had to live after the knife wounds had he not crashed? I feel Patty does know who attacked Leroy, but obviously never divulged anything for fear of retaliation from her family or blaming the wrong person/people.

I watched this one recently and am very intrigued.

I definitely think one of Patty's relatives stabbed Leroy at the BBQ. And it's ironic and sad that all they had to do was wait for the ambulance to arrive and make sure to tell him that he "said" he was planning on killing himself...and it was as simple as that. Case closed. Patty knew the truth the whole time but covered it up to protect her family.

If the issue was because of race (the family not wanting Patty to date Leroy because he was white) it's interesting that the former in-law who lived with them at the time was white herself. I wonder if there were other factors involved in the argument.

What gets lost in this is the fact that Leroy was only 18 years old. Barely an adult. The actor who played him looked a little too old. It's also interesting that Leroy's sister was able to track down so many of the neighbors who had such vivid memories of a BBQ that had taken place 20+ years earlier.

Just saw this one for the first time in awhile. I wonder if he had an argument at the party, drove off in a huff and hit a tree on accident. The wounds on his neck could have been caused by impact with some part of the car.

As far as the family not cooperating, it could be that either

A. They didn’t like the guy or don’t care
B. They were afraid of somehow being implicated in his death

Also, would be curious to know if they checked for alcohol in his system?

It's also interesting that Leroy's sister was able to track down so many of the neighbors who had such vivid memories of a BBQ that had taken place 20+ years earlier.

That always stood out to me as well. The fact that all these people remembered this particular BBQ so many years later kind of bolsters the idea that there was some type of huge scene at the party.

As far as the racial argument and Patty’s ex-sister in law also being white, I wonder if she experienced that same problem as Leroy and ended up divorcing over it, hence why she’s an ex.

I always kind of wondered if Leroy got Patty pregnant and the show avoided telling us that. I know people back then got married much earlier than they do now, but I know of more than a few people of Leroy and Patty’s generation who got married at about 17 only for the new bride to give birth a few months later. Having kids out of wedlock was huge social no-no in 1968. Perhaps that’s what the crux of this argument was that day.

I always kind of wondered if Leroy got Patty pregnant and the show avoided telling us that. I know people back then got married much earlier than they do now, but I know of more than a few people of Leroy and Patty’s generation who got married at about 17 only for the new bride to give birth a few months later. Having kids out of wedlock was huge social no-no in 1968. Perhaps that’s what the crux of this argument was that day.

If she got pregnant and didn't have a miscarriage or an abortion, wouldn't news eventually reach Leroy's family that the girl he was seeing just had a baby? They would bound to put 2 and 2 together.

That still leaves Patty pregnant and unwed in the very judgmental 1960's.

If she got pregnant and didn't have a miscarriage or an abortion, wouldn't news eventually reach Leroy's family that the girl he was seeing just had a baby? They would bound to put 2 and 2 together.

That still leaves Patty pregnant and unwed in the very judgmental 1960's.

True. I hadn’t thought of that.

I just always got the feeling there was more to the argument that day than just Leroy being white. And unless Patty opens up, we’ll probably never know all the details.

LD obviously didn't commit suicide; there is no way someone gets neck wounds like that from crashing into a tree - ridiculous. Very sloppy investigative work when he died back in 1968.

It's sad that it took LD's sister to open up the case back up (in the late '80's) before the suicide angle was questioned. I wonder if Patty's family members were questioned by the authorities?! The UM segment had a re-enactment showing the sister meeting & speaking with Patty - who didn't say much.

This is an interesting case on a number of levels.

First, this is one of the few cases I have seen of the formula "officials say X committed suicide but X's family says it was foul play" where there has actually been a change in the official ruling. In general these cases are unsolved and the official line has remained unchanged due to the unwillingness of officials to admit fault, but this case breaks with that trend.

I'm not sure that UM withheld any information here so much as there isn't a lot of information to go on. Definitely seems like Patty's family had something to do with his death. And I'm not convinced the police simply missed the obvious here, seems much more like they were afraid of the family which led them to rule it a suicide. At the time this happened Mead was a small town of ~200 people, LE likely consisted of the county sheriff and a few deputies. A group that kills a family member's boyfriend at a barbecue and won't testify against each other is going to be both very dangerous and largely pointless to confront.

Hard saying what the origin of the dispute was, but the possibility that she was pregnant at least gives some justification for being hostile to Leroy if that was in fact the case. This seems to be somewhat likely, as if the racial angle was the issue its a bit hard to see them allowing the relationship in the first place, since that would have always been a factor, whereas pregnancy would be a change in circumstances.

I highly doubt this ever gets solved, Patty has stayed quiet all this time after dangling something in front of Leroy's sister. Seems like someone wants her to stay quiet.

I just saw this one for the first time. It's very clear that he was murdered, but due to how much time has passed and the fact that it was clearly a member of his girlfriend's family, this will likely never be solved.

Ok, correct me if I am wrong, but wasn't there some type of underlying racial issue or something?

yes I remember him being Caucasian and his in-laws were racist towards him. As if its ok for them to be racist to him because "they experienced racism already". I remember thinking what a bunch of hypocrites. they did something to him. He was murdered imo.

what episode is this case included in on Youtube?

what episode is this case included in on Youtube?

I went to the UM site. When you read the case the Robert Stack episode is in different print. Touch it and it takes you to Amazon where you pay for the episode. In the next sentence a different print is used mentioning the Dennis Farina version. Touch it and it takes you to U-tube. I just watched the Dennis Farina version on U-Tube.

First there are families where the boyfriend is considered not good enough for their daughter regardless of class, race etc.
Self segregation was common up into the 1980s. On the great plains it was common to have a WASP White Anglo-Saxon Protestant town of primarily UK descent. Another of Swedish Lutherans, another of German Lutherans, a Mexican town primarily Catholic etc. They didn't mix unless they had to. Was Mead a Mexican town? Or was it divided?
Hispanic or Latino is a blanket term. There are racial differences within: Native American,European Spanish and all sorts of mixes. Even if both parties were pure european you have cultural and religious differences. Apparently he offended one of the men in the family and provoked an attack.

I am not saying it was right or logical but a man in his home under the influence of alchohol has less inhibitions about defending his "honor". Leroy crossed a line that day whether he realized it or not and paid the ultimate price.
I don't think this will be solved. But I don't want to discourage his sister. She could get lucky. But please be careful.

what episode is this case included in on Youtube?

Season 8, episode 8.
This was one of those cases that was just infuriating. Patty's family came off as totally despicable and there is no excuse for what they obviously did. Leroy did not deserve it. He called a spade a spade and he didn't "cross a line" other than defending himself.

Season 8, episode 8.
This was one of those cases that was just infuriating. Patty's family came off as totally despicable and there is no excuse for what they obviously did. Leroy did not deserve it. He called a spade a spade and he didn't "cross a line" other than defending himself.

I am not defending Patty's family. In fact the attack on Leroy violates all of the "hospitality customs" White, Indian, Latino I grew up with. When a person was no longer welcome they were asked to leave or escorted out. We don't know what happened except that Leroy ended up with 2 throat wounds crashed into a tree.
1) Self inflicted wounds and suicide? Probably not
2) Wounded by family member and crashed? Probably
Leroy was 18, a grown man and responsible for his own safety. He obviously misread the situation and misjudged the consequences. We don't have a reliable detailed accounts of his actions so we don't have any idea what went wrong. For some reason people refuse to accept there are cultural differences within the US. When I was stationed back east I was shocked to hear people say things or behave in ways that would get them shot where I grew up.

The actor playing Patty looked white to me, that's why I always thought she was white. UM never went into detail about that. Still confused

The actress looked white? Wow.

Just saw this one for the first time in awhile. I wonder if he had an argument at the party, drove off in a huff and hit a tree on accident. The wounds on his neck could have been caused by impact with some part of the car.

As far as the family not cooperating, it could be that either

A. They didn’t like the guy or don’t care
B. They were afraid of somehow being implicated in his death

Also, would be curious to know if they checked for alcohol in his system?

Her hit a tree BY accident and it caused a stab wound in his neck and slashed his throat? This has got to be one of the weirdest threads here. Some of these posts sounds like they were made by people who were drinking. What part of a steering wheel stabs the driver or slashes his throat? Did you read what you typed before you entered it?