Leigh Occhi

[wiseguy182]

Over the years, I've reported on numerous cases that were pitched to UM but denied, or cases that were filmed but never aired, such as Sharon Davis.

And now, here's another one. It's the case of Leigh Occhi, whom we've talked about a bit including on the Charley Project thread in the All Other Cases forum.

link to CP page
http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/o/occhi_leigh.html

and a link to an article where it says her segment was filmed but never aired

http://djournal.com/news/tupelo-teen...ins-a-mystery/

Really can't imagine why this didn't air. Seems like they have a good suspect, but the mother sounds kind of suspicious.

[unsolved88]

Originally Posted by wiseguy182

Over the years, I've reported on numerous cases that were pitched to UM but denied, or cases that were filmed but never aired, such as Sharon Davis.

And now, here's another one. It's the case of Leigh Occhi, whom we've talked about a bit including on the Charley Project thread in the All Other Cases forum.

link to CP page
http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/o/occhi_leigh.html

and a link to an article where it says her segment was filmed but never aired

http://djournal.com/news/tupelo-teen...ins-a-mystery/

Really can't imagine why this didn't air. Seems like they have a good suspect, but the mother sounds kind of suspicious.

The mother does seem suspicious. And the fact that Leigh's biological father said he initially thought she had run away because of rumors about her being mistreated by the mother and stepfather kinda adds a little bit more suspicion.

What would the mother's motive be? Could it have been some type of accident where she went overboard in physically punishing Leigh and panicked when Leigh died?

[wiseguy182]

most of the locals in Tupelo, MS seem to think the mother is involved in some capacity. I don't know that there's any one huge thing that points to her, but the failing 3 polygraphs just looks bad. Seems to be a lot of little things that just don't make sense, put all together in seems to point in the mom's direction. There was a good, 4-part article on the internet that sadly seems to have been taken down.

This may be neither here nor there, but I know I read the mother claimed Leigh got into her bed with her that night because she was "terrified of the thunderstorms". I could see a 5 year old doing that, but a teenager? Seems incredibly far-fetched.

I don't know what the motive would be, but then again, I don't know what the motive is in practically any situation where a parent kills their own children. I just can't fathom why someone would kill their own offspring. This is purely speculative, but perhaps the mother believed that Leigh was a product of one of her failed relationships and didn't want any remembrances of it, so she got rid of her. Again, that's speculation.

[DarkDante]

I personally don't think "Unsolved Mysteries" which at the time Leigh went missing was still a hit show for NBC, would waste money producing a segment and then never airing it at least of their own volition. There is only one case I can think of personally offhand where UM filmed a "Final Appeal" segment and then never aired it and that was due to the spinoff being cancelled and the case being resolved before it could be adapted into UM proper like many of the unaired "Final Appeal" cases were.

Reading this article I notice some curious wording where they note an episode "about Unsolved Mysteries" was filmed but don't state "an episode OF Unsolved Mysteries" was filmed. While it's reasonable to assume that the article is referring to the NBC/Robert Stack series, as we know from the Chad Mauer segment there were local broadcasts at the time that attempted to serve the same purpose as "Unsolved Mysteries" but on a smaller scale/budget.

My take on this is that IF "Unsolved Mysteries" was involved in this case, then if anything it was a Special Alert segment that never made broadcast. Either that or for some reason someone in an official capacity made a request that UM not broadcast the segment they filmed on the case, but that really doesn't make any sense to me outside of random brainstorming.

[wiseguy182]

They didn't specify a time when the segment was filmed, so it could have been later. In any event, it's difficult to prove a negative. Without having more info, I don't see any reason to believe they lied about it.

[LilMissKryssy]

The Leah Occhi case has always bothered me. I hate to say I suspect the mother but it's a lot more than just the fact that she failed 3 polygraph tests.

As the detective stated in the investigated discovery article/program:

Whoever the perpetrator was, they had a very small time frame to commit this crime which according to police with the amount of blood/hair/tissue found they believe she was killed in the house.

This was her first time all alone according to her mother. So the perpetrator (whether familiar with the family or not) would not have been able to pick up a pattern when she was alone because this was apparently her first time by herself.

Her mother last saw her at 7:40-7:45am when she left for work and when she had dialed 911 by 9am. She says she was worried when Leah did not answer the phone. So, if she called 911 by 9am, I can assume she was home by 8:50-8:55am at the latest.

This leaves about an hour for this crime to be committed.

The police say there was clear evidence someone tried to clean up the blood in the bathroom but no towel or rag was found. According to the police a random assailant would not have wasted the time cleaning up the crime scene then taking the towels.

Also, if this was for an adduction / sexual assault type crime, why was she brutally killed in the house? Doesn't sound the typical MO of someone looking to kidnap a teenage girl. Yes, she could've put up a fight but the house wasn't in disarray and there was no sign of forced entry.

If it was some male she had been familiar with, they would've gained her trust to enter but then overpowered her or threatened her with a weapon. I don't see why such brutal force that would've cause that amount of blood (they believe it was a head wound) would've been necessary.

If he had just been some crazed murderer, why take the body and why try to clean up the scene? He would've had no inclination of when someone would've come home. (but again no forced entry)

Also, the mother said she left work because she was so worried. Her drive home is about 15 mins yet her mother (leahs grandmother) lives just 5 minutes away from their house. It says she called the grandmother to check on her but she left work anyways. She was the first one to come home not the grandmother. Now this panic was all because she didn't answer the phone within a very short time frame. She was 13. The storm was downgraded to just a tropical storm with only power outages and downed trees. So, why didn't after a few calls, the mother, just ask the grandmother to go check on her? She only lives 5 mins away. Yes I realize this was the first time she was alone, but the kind of panic in such a short period of time seems a little uncalled for especially when the grandmother could've just gone to check on her and was closer.

Leah's stepfather (who was living separately) has passed the polygraphs and didn't live there at the time. According to police he was always very cooperative since the beginning. He has now passed away. Her biological dad lived states away but was very close to Leah and he too passed the polygraphs and is very cooperative.

The family car was tested but they said given that it would be very common to find leahs clothing fibers/hair in the trunk or other areas of the car, they couldn't use that either way.

Anyways, Id hate to think a mother could do that but the story just never sat well with me. Plus the 3 failed polygraphs on top of the story, its just odd

[wiseguy182]

Was this on an ID program?

I think the way things happened were a little too convenient for the mother's sake. (especially the part where it was mentioned this was the first time she left Leigh home alone). The part about her going to work, being there for only a few minutes, and leaving just doesn't make any sense. It's like she's trying to create an alibi and place herself away from the scene of the murder. I could understand if the mom was concerned because of Hurricane Andrew, but she said the reason she was worried for Leigh was because of the thunderstorms, claiming Leigh was so terrified of them she slept in her bed. Just doesn't make any sense.

I found most of the 4 part article. It's not the original source, but somebody copied and pasted most of it.
http://mydeathspace.com/vb/showthrea...lo-Mississippi

Here is another link where various people comment on the case. Numerous comments about the mom having a temper, and theories on Leigh being buried in a creek bed.
http://m.topix.com/forum/city/tupelo...A20MFENJ2H4/p7

I think if the mother is responsible, it was probably because they had an argument and the mother lost her temper and lashed out.

[LilMissKryssy]

Absolutely agree wiseguy. Her panic just doesn't make sense nor does her choice to leave her alone for the first time. Why leave a 13 year old alone for the VERY first time in a storm if they are supposedly terrified of them? The grandmother lived just 5 minutes away from their house and by all accounts could have watched her. She obviously had someone with her all summer while she worked if this was her first time alone (this was in august).

Aside from the abductor theory not making sense, the failed 3 polygraphs are telling. Yes, I realize they are not admissible in a court of law but to me that speaks volumes. I believe, 1 was conducted by the police and 2 were later done by the FBI.

This probably occurred very early that morning. The mother probably did lose her temper. She panicked and came up with this whole alibi to be away from the house. She probably did try to clean up the blood but realized it was way too much to clean up in a short period of time. The would explain the half clean up job in the bathroom and the missing towels. So she left the rest of the blood. That to me makes the most sense given the scenario.

[Awsi Dooger]

Not familiar with this case. On brief sample, I would have to suspect the mother. Very convenient to list a handful of missing items and then have one of those items mailed back to the residence a month or so later, and from a moderate distance away and with exactly 1 misspelling in the address. That sounds like the plan of a simple mind, wanting to do just enough to deflect suspicion elsewhere.

Unfortunately, in cases like that if you get the one major variable correct --successfully hiding the body -- other aspects plummet to insignificance.

Her description of that morning was rambling and disjointed. Details that seemingly don't matter or could have been used to explain evidence she worried might link her, like Leigh supposedly sleeping in her bed that night due to fear of the storm.

The linked article was poorly written. I had to chuckle about the dead stepfather who was not available to comment. Really? When an article is sloppy like that and not the highest caliber of journalism, it's not surprising the reference to unsolved mysteries is vague and not capitalized, if it should have been capitalized. I wouldn't know which way to guess. Probably favoritism that Unsolved Mysteries was involved but chose not to air it, since the two words are identical, no other details, and the time frame matches.

[everprincess]

I suspect someone that knew her closely did it otherwise why not leave the body for it to be found. Sad case. So many people go missing to never be found.

[LilMissKryssy]

Well, to me all it points to the mother. She is the one who last saw the victim, failed all three polygraphs and her story is quite bizarre.

[TJ]

I was reading some old posts on the All Other Cases board. The original article, which you can view at the Wayback Machine, doesn't specifically mention Unsolved Mysteries.

http://web.archive.org/web/201704210...ins-a-mystery/

"He returned once the next year with two psychics and again with television detectives to film an episode about unsolved mysteries, but it never aired."

It could have been a different true crime show.

It's been almost 30 years since she disappeared. Her disappearance has been covered by Nancy Grace and was also featured on the Geraldo Rivera Show and 20/20. Does anyone know the year or title of the 20/20 episode?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disapp...of_Leigh_Occhi

https://charleyproject.org/case/leigh-marine-occhi