Lisa Scheetz, 44, and her daughter Hailey, 16
Leeton Thomas
Quarryville man faces death penalty in double murder trial
By Tom Knapp
Lancaster Online
Leeton Thomas, who is accused of killing an East Drumore mother and daughter to silence their testimony against him in a sex-assault case, will face the death penalty when the case goes to trial.
The 38-year-old Quarryville man is charged with killing Lisa Scheetz, 44, and her 16-year-old daughter Hailey on June 11.
Police allege Thomas murdered the women to make sure they couldn’t testify on charges that he had molested Hailey and her sister in December 2013.
Thomas was out on bail, awaiting formal arraignment on the molestation charges, when he allegedly broke into Scheetz’s basement-level apartment at 2 a.m. and stabbed the woman and two of her daughters multiple times with a knife.
Lisa and Hailey Scheetz died at the scene. The sister, 15, was critically injured in the attack — officials said she suffered multiple stab wounds to the chest, shoulder and back — but was able to flee the scene and seek help from a neighbor.
Scheetz’s third daughter, age 13, was not at home at the time of the attacks.
District Attorney Craig Stedman in June called it a “premeditated assassination.”
Assistant District Attorney Christine Wilson, who is prosecuting the case with ADA Christopher Larsen, filed a notice of intent to seek the death penalty on Thursday, according to a release issued Thursday by the District Attorney’s office.
Wilson, in her filing, outlined five aggravating factors that she says make the case death-penalty eligible.
They are:
— The victims were killed to prevent them from testifying in the sex-assault case.
— The killings happened during the course of a felony (burglary).
— Thomas created a grave risk of danger to another person (the sister who survived).
— Thomas is charged with multiple counts of homicide.
— Thomas broke a no-contact order in place regarding the victims.
Thomas is at Lancaster County Prison, without bail, on charges of homicide (two counts), attempted homicide and burglary.
He waived a preliminary hearing in August. Brett Hambright, with the District Attorney’s office, said Thomas has also waived his arraignment, which was scheduled for Friday.
The trial will not be held before 2016, Hambright said.
http://lancasteronline.com/news/loca...a8fef6481.html
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