Thrill Killer

[crystaldawn]

I watched the segment yesterday about the Sacramento Convenience Store Murders. I believe it was the first time I'd seen the update although I did know someone had been arrested. For those of you who don't know he was dubbed the "Thrill Killer" and his name is Eric Royce Leonard. The defense argued that he had diminished mental capacity due to brain damage caused by epilepsy. I also read that at one point in the trial he shouted out "I'm guilty!". The jury apparently didn't buy the defense and sentenced him to death and he is currently on death row in California.

[MickeyLover06]

I didnt know that case had been updated thanks for sharing.

[Kane]

I recommend checking out this link. It's about Kyle Reynolds, who was one of Eric Leonard's victims.

http://www.murdervictims.com/CAH/kyle_reynolds.htm

[kadrmas15]

Kane, I tried the link and it didnt work but will try it again later. Yes indeed Eric Royce Leonard who was 22 at the time of the murders was 27 when he was sentenced to death on June 13th, 1996. Leonard's lawyer did say that he didnt deserve death and actually should be confined to a state mental hospital and not prison. Leonard's lawyer says he needs treatment and that he cant get that on death row. Leonard's lawyer said that he had brain damage due to epilepsey as well as a schizoid personality. The prosecution even agreed that Leonard had brain damage to epilepsey and because of this had both mental and physical limitations however they justified death because they said despite the brain damage Leonard knew right from wrong in that he hid evidence and tried to make the pizza parlor killings look like a robbery.

[Kane]

Originally Posted by kadrmas15

Kane, I tried the link and it didnt work but will try it again later.

I see what you mean. I also tried "murdervictims.com", but that didn't work either. Evidently, the site is down. But I don't know whether it's temporary or permanent.

In any case, I have been to "Murder Victims" site before. It listed numerous other cases that were profiled on UM.

[Corky Kneivel]

His appeal was denied yesterday by the California Supreme Court. The appeal was comprised of several issues, including the argument that Eric Royce Leonard was "incompetent to stand trial because of psychiatric disorders and developmental disabilities". His lawyers contend that he is brain damaged, suffers from epilepsy, and is of low intelligence.

Heh. The local paper that this story is printed in, The Sacramento Bee, goes on to say that ERL "suffers from low intelligence". "SUFFERS". Poor choice of words considering that this man murdered, with no reason whatsoever (hence his catchy moniker "Thrill Killer"), six inncocent people. If there's any suffering going on, its being done by the familes of the six people this scumbag murdered. I don't mean to quibble over word usage like that but that just seems wholly inappropriate.

Kudos to the justices who found this appeal devoid of merit and said so.

[Kane]

Originally Posted by Corky Kneivel

His appeal was denied yesterday by the California Supreme Court. The appeal was comprised of several issues, including the argument that Eric Royce Leonard was "incompetent to stand trial because of psychiatric disorders and developmental disabilities". His lawyers contend that he is brain damaged, suffers from epilepsy, and is of low intelligence.

I saw some of the recent articles. For those of your who are interested, her is one of them:

http://www.metnews.com/articles/2007/leon051807.htm

Heh. The local paper that this story is printed in, The Sacramento Bee, goes on to say that ERL "suffers from low intelligence". "SUFFERS". Poor choice of words considering that this man murdered, with no reason whatsoever (hence his catchy moniker "Thrill Killer"), six inncocent people. If there's any suffering going on, its being done by the familes of the six people this scumbag murdered. I don't mean to quibble over word usage like that but that just seems wholly inappropriate.

The Sacramento Bee must be run by a staff that is politically correct and soft-hearted. In any case, I agree with you, Corky, that it was a poor choice of words. The families of the six innocent murder victims are going through more suffering than the killer is. So they deserve far more sympathy than Eric Leonard.

Kudos to the justices who found this appeal devoid of merit and said so.

My thoughts exactly.

[kadrmas15]

Well this wont be popular but I am used to not having my views be popular. OF course everyone feels sorry for the victims, I dont think the article was meant to seem not sorry for the victims. We all know what happened there and it was horrible that it happened. At the same time, Eric Royce Leonard also has a family that has had to suffer with this and what has happened and maybe these murders could have been prevented had Eric Royce Leonard got the proper help he needs. He should have been confined to a mental health hospital and committed there for the rest of his life instead of being in prison especially on death row because like it or not the man is still alive, he wont be executed anytime soon since California is being blocked by the feds from executing unless someone voluntarily ends their appeals and asks to be executed. Eric Royce Leonard needs mental health treatment and he cant get that on death row.

[crystaldawn]

Originally Posted by kadrmas15

Well this wont be popular but I am used to not having my views be popular. OF course everyone feels sorry for the victims, I dont think the article was meant to seem not sorry for the victims. We all know what happened there and it was horrible that it happened. At the same time, Eric Royce Leonard also has a family that has had to suffer with this and what has happened and maybe these murders could have been prevented had Eric Royce Leonard got the proper help he needs. He should have been confined to a mental health hospital and committed there for the rest of his life instead of being in prison especially on death row because like it or not the man is still alive, he wont be executed anytime soon since California is being blocked by the feds from executing unless someone voluntarily ends their appeals and asks to be executed. Eric Royce Leonard needs mental health treatment and he cant get that on death row.

Your opinion is based on the assumption that he truly is mentally insane and that really hasn't been proven. Of course they're going to give the insanity defense a shot since the death penalty was involved. I have a sister who has epilepsy and has even had brain surgery to remove part of her brain that was affected by her epilepsy and she has absolutely no signs of brain damage and is as normal as you or I. I also have a friend who has it and even suffers grand mal seizures currently but is not brain damaged so I would think it is a very small percentage of epilepsy sufferers who have brain damage from it especially to the degree where you would no longer know right from wrong. Not to mention if he were confined to a mental hospital, it would be easier for him to escape than if he were on death row and if he were to escape you would run the risk of him murdering even more innocent people.

[kadrmas15]

Well Crystaldawn, I am going to respectfully disagree with your opinion. While I am sorry your sister has epilepsy and while I am glad that your sister has no mental problems as a result of it that does not mean that others wouldnt have a problem. I dont know if that is what you meant or not but you seemed to imply that, if that is not what you meant than I do apologize.

I do not think Leonard is insane, but I have not examined him either so I guess I do not know for sure. I do think that sentencing him to death was inappropriate but then again I am against the death penalty so I am against it as a whole but some people I would feel less sorry for than others. Leonard did terrible things and I am not excusing his behavior. However if he has serious psychatric problems, which it seems that he does, he was diagnosed with schizophrenia in addition to his epilepsy and the prosecution did not disagree that Leonard had serious psychatric problems but they said it didnt excuse his behavior. I do not think it excuses either, he shouldnt be on the streets, I am not disputing that. I do however thing we have an obligation to give him the proper mental health treatment and psychatric help he needs whether he is on death row, a mental hospital, life in prison, whatever.

However I think if we had preventative measures in this country to care for the mentally ill than we could head off a lot of crimes before they happen in the first place since at leats 20 percent of people in prison have serious mental illness i.e. schizophrenia, bi polar, etc.

Again Crystaldawn, I hope I didnt come off as a jerk, it is just I had a serious disagreement with you on this issue but I wanted to let you know more where I was coming from. If I offended you at all I do apologize because that was not my intention.

[jdeem]

In 1995, I spent 6 months in a housing area in the downtown Sacramento jail in a cell next to Eric Leonard. I spent a lot of time talking to and getting to know this guy. Although there is absolutely no excuse for what he did, and the victims of this crime and their families deserve justice for what happened, I firmly believe that the death sentence is inappropriate for this person. He was obviously mentally damaged, and had these horrible seizures regularly where I would have to cushion his head to prevent head injury on many occasions. He was oddly childlike, and claimed to see multicolored 'auras' around people. Anyway, what I am saying is that after spending several hours daily around this guy for several months, it was obvious to me that he belonged in a mental institution, for life.

[crystaldawn]

Originally Posted by jdeem

In 1995, I spent 6 months in a housing area in the downtown Sacramento jail in a cell next to Eric Leonard. I spent a lot of time talking to and getting to know this guy. Although there is absolutely no excuse for what he did, and the victims of this crime and their families deserve justice for what happened, I firmly believe that the death sentence is inappropriate for this person. He was obviously mentally damaged, and had these horrible seizures regularly where I would have to cushion his head to prevent head injury on many occasions. He was oddly childlike, and claimed to see multicolored 'auras' around people. Anyway, what I am saying is that after spending several hours daily around this guy for several months, it was obvious to me that he belonged in a mental institution, for life.

Thanks for posting. Does he seem to show remorse for what he did? Of course on one hand you would certainly hope so but on the other hand if he showed remorse it might indicate that he was aware that what he was doing was wrong. Meaning you're not going to feel remorse for something that you don't understand was wrong.

Jdeem, does Leonard believe he deserves death for his crimes? Are there still appeals going on in his behalf that you're aware of? Thanks!

[mozartpc27]

I have to a agree with kadrmas here. I, too, am anti-death penalty; I think it reduces the state to the level of the murderer, for one thing, and I also think it is unfair to ask any otherwise decent person to be responsible for essentially murdering a healthy person. I wouldn't do it if I were asked, and I don't think it's right to ask anyone else to do it. We're supposed to be the good guys, for heaven's sake.

But, that said, I'm not mourning the loss of child murderers and serial killers and their ilk. The law is the law, and if I were the governor of a state, I'd allow death sentences to be carried out --- UNLESS there were obvious questions about the mental capacity of the accused. In this case, that sounds like it was overwhelmingly the case. What does the state get by executing this person that they couldn't get by keeping him under very secure surveillance while providing him with proper treatment? And which is better for the moral "health" of the state?

[Kane]

Originally Posted by mozartpc27

I have to a agree with kadrmas here. I, too, am anti-death penalty; I think it reduces the state to the level of the murderer, for one thing, and I also think it is unfair to ask any otherwise decent person to be responsible for essentially murdering a healthy person. I wouldn't do it if I were asked, and I don't think it's right to ask anyone else to do it. We're supposed to be the good guys, for heaven's sake.

Indeed, we are supposed to be the good guys, and one can have a legitimate argument against capital punishment. But I seriously question whether being pro-death penalty necessarily makes you a bad person. I don't see it that way. I mean, I think there are some crimes that are so brutal and so outrageous (especially ones that result in the death of a child or police officer) that the killer has shown himself to be unfit to live among us.

But I wouldn't go out and seek revenge on a killer or anyone for that matter. There's a difference between that and executing a killer through legal process.

[Huskerz85]

If what's been said by Leonard's prison-mate is indeed accurate, then I agree that treatment would be definitely warranted.

However my confidence in such treatment is shaky at best. For example, the State of Nebraska spent over a quarter of a million dollars on many forms of treatment for a teenager.....but then a month and a half ago, said teen took an assault rifle and killed a number of people inside our largest shopping mall before turning the weapon on himself (see my avatar....)

When some people are obviously beyond help.....I don't think it makes a damn bit of difference whether you let them die in prison or strap them into the electric chair. No matter what kind of treatment is prescribed or how much money is spent on the treatment, the subject is obviously not going to improve at all. Then it just comes back to the fact that said subject committed a brutal, callous crime and deserves to be punished.