Page 1 of 2 12 LastLast
Results 1 to 10 of 12

Thread: Leeton Jahwanza Thomas - Pennsylvania Death Row

  1. #1
    Administrator Helen's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2013
    Location
    Toronto, Ontario, Canada
    Posts
    20,875

    Leeton Jahwanza Thomas - Pennsylvania Death Row


    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
    "I realize this may sound harsh, but as a father and former lawman, I really don't care if it's by lethal injection, by the electric chair, firing squad, hanging, the guillotine or being fed to the lions."
    - Oklahoma Rep. Mike Christian

    "There are some people who just do not deserve to live,"
    - Rev. Richard Hawke

    “There are lots of extremely smug and self-satisfied people in what would be deemed lower down in society, who also deserve to be pulled up. In a proper free society, you should be allowed to make jokes about absolutely anything.”
    - Rowan Atkinson

  2. #2
    cash48
    Guest
    Hailey was my friend. She was a true sweetheart. there was not a bad bone in her. I sat with her for years on the bus as a seat buddy. Then when her younger sister (whom I won't name) came on to the bus I protected her from two older bullies. I miss hailey every day. The world is not the same with out her. I wish they would give an update on my other friend who was hurt. I know she went from critical to stable but other then that I have never heard any thing else. The newspapers don't even say her name, I presume this is to keep her safe but the world also needs to know what this evil evil man did to All of those women.

  3. #3
    Administrator Heidi's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2010
    Posts
    33,217
    So sorry for your loss. Thank you for not disclosing the little girls name. The media is not allowed to print the name of victims of sexual assaults.
    An uninformed opponent is a dangerous opponent.

    "Y'all be makin shit up" ~ Markeith Loyd

  4. #4
    Administrator Helen's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2013
    Location
    Toronto, Ontario, Canada
    Posts
    20,875
    Jury selection begins in Leeton Thomas double-homicide trial

    By Jeff Hawkes
    Lancaster Online

    Attorneys began picking a jury Tuesday to decide the fate of Leeton Thomas, accused in the June 2015 fatal stabbing of an East Drumore Township woman and her 16-year-old daughter, both witnesses in his sexual molestation case.

    Lancaster County President Judge Dennis Reinaker told nearly 150 prospective jurors filling a ceremonial courtroom that prosecutors will ask the jury to sentence Thomas, 39, to death if he is convicted of first-degree murder.

    State police accuse Thomas, who lived on Conowingo Road, Quarryville, of breaking into the basement of a house on Spring Valley Road in East Drumore Township and fatally stabbing Lisa Scheetz, 44, and Hailey Scheetz, 16.

    Scheetz’s 15-year-old daughter, Paige, survived stab wounds to the chest, shoulder and back. First Assistant District Attorney Christopher Larsen listed her as a prosecution witness.

    Thomas, currently held without bail at Lancaster County Prison, was released April 18, 2015 on $50,000 bail while facing 11 sexual assault counts related to two Quarryville area girls.

    Early on June 11, 2015, police allege, Thomas broke into an East Drumore Township apartment and attacked members of the Scheetz family who were witnesses in the sexual assault case. Police arrested Thomas at his home only hours after the slayings.

    Prosecutors contend Thomas, if convicted of first-degree, or premeditated, murder, is eligible for the death penalty because of five aggravating circumstances, including killing a witness to a crime and breaking a no-contact order.

    A first-degree murder conviction would be followed immediately by a penalty hearing, after which the 12-member jury will impose a sentence of death by lethal injection or life in prison without possibility of parole.

    Judge Reinaker asked the prospective jurors preliminary questions to assess their ability to serve on a jury. A total of 39 indicated they had possible objections to capital punishment.

    No jurors picked

    On Tuesday afternoon, prosecution and defense attorneys began asking questions of individual jury candidates. Of the 15 questioned Tuesday, none was selected to hear the case.

    Three were rejected by defense attorney Samuel Encarnacion and one was rejected by prosecutor Larsen. The judge excused the other 11 for health issues, an inability to be fair, a criminal record, or objections to the death penalty.

    “I think there’s a law out there that’s higher than human law,” a Washington Boro man said in explaining why he couldn’t condemn someone to die.

    Jury selection resumes this morning in Courtroom 8 and is expected to take the rest of the week. Testimony isn’t scheduled to begin until Wednesday, June 7.

    http://lancasteronline.com/news/loca...918429610.html
    "I realize this may sound harsh, but as a father and former lawman, I really don't care if it's by lethal injection, by the electric chair, firing squad, hanging, the guillotine or being fed to the lions."
    - Oklahoma Rep. Mike Christian

    "There are some people who just do not deserve to live,"
    - Rev. Richard Hawke

    “There are lots of extremely smug and self-satisfied people in what would be deemed lower down in society, who also deserve to be pulled up. In a proper free society, you should be allowed to make jokes about absolutely anything.”
    - Rowan Atkinson

  5. #5
    Administrator Helen's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2013
    Location
    Toronto, Ontario, Canada
    Posts
    20,875
    'Rage, vengeance' fueled East Drumore double slaying, prosecutor tells jury as Leeton Thomas trial opens

    By Jeff Hawkes
    Lancaster Online

    As an East Drumore Township mother and two teen daughters were watching a Netflix movie late at night, a knife-wielding Leeton Thomas slipped into their apartment and savagely stabbed all three for accusing him of sexual assault, a prosecutor told a jury Wednesday as the double-homicide trial opened.

    “This was rage. This was anger. This was vengeance,” said First Assistant District Attorney Christopher Larsen in highlighting upcoming testimony he said should lead the jury to convict Thomas, 39, of first-degree murder for the slayings of Lisa Scheetz, 44, and Hailey Scheetz, 16.

    Larsen said testimony will show that Thomas cut open a screen window to enter the Scheetzes' basement apartment early on June 11, 2015. Then he stabbed Lisa Scheetz 14 times, Larsen said, before turning his knife on Hailey and Hailey's 15-year-old sister, who survived the attack and identified Thomas as the killer.

    The evidence will show, Larsen said, that Thomas raced back to his nearby home, washed his clothes, sneakers and cap in bleach, flushed latex gloves down a toilet and then showered. Although Thomas tried to destroy evidence, Larsen said, a trace of Hailey's blood was found on Thomas' sneaker.

    Blood hound trainers will testify that their dogs traced Thomas' scent to and from the Scheetz home on Spring Valley Road, the prosecutor said.

    “It's not a who-done-it case,” Larsen said. “This is nothing less than first-degree murder.”

    Defendant 'sleeping'

    In his opening statement, defense attorney Douglas Conrad told the jury of six men and six women they will hear that Thomas was sleeping when state troopers came to his home about a half-hour after the slayings.

    Conrad said the 15-year-old daughter, who will be the prosecution's key witness, has learning disabilities and communication difficulties. On her word alone, Conrad said, investigators focused on Thomas and he became “the only suspect.”

    Conrad said investigators did not find the victims' blood on the alleged murder weapon and did not find blood in Thomas' home.

    Conrad asked the jury to not base a verdict on sympathy for the victims.

    If convicted of first-degree, or premeditated murder, Thomas faces an immediate hearing at which the jury will decide to sentence him to either death by lethal injection or to life in prison without parole.

    State police found Thomas at his home less than an hour after the slayings and took him into custody.

    Thomas, currently held without bail at Lancaster County Prison, had been free since April 18, 2015, on $50,000 bail while facing 11 sexual assault counts related to two Quarryville area girls.

    President Judge Dennis Reinaker is presiding over the trial, which is expected to take one to two weeks.

    A Lancaster County jury of six men and six women was selected over four days last week.

    http://lancasteronline.com/news/loca...8716f0283.html
    "I realize this may sound harsh, but as a father and former lawman, I really don't care if it's by lethal injection, by the electric chair, firing squad, hanging, the guillotine or being fed to the lions."
    - Oklahoma Rep. Mike Christian

    "There are some people who just do not deserve to live,"
    - Rev. Richard Hawke

    “There are lots of extremely smug and self-satisfied people in what would be deemed lower down in society, who also deserve to be pulled up. In a proper free society, you should be allowed to make jokes about absolutely anything.”
    - Rowan Atkinson

  6. #6
    Administrator Helen's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2013
    Location
    Toronto, Ontario, Canada
    Posts
    20,875
    Leeton Thomas convicted of first-degree murder, faces death penalty hearing tomorrow

    By Jeff Hawkes
    Lancaster Online

    A jury this afternoon convicted Leeton Thomas of two counts of first-degree murder for the savage stabbings of an East Drumore Township mother and her teen daughter, witnesses in his sexual molestation case.

    Thomas, convicted on his 40th birthday, faces a penalty hearing at 9 tomorrow morning at which the jury will sentence him to life in prison without parole or death by lethal injection.

    Thomas, wearing a beige dress shirt and khakis pants, sat still when President Judge Dennis Reinaker read the verdict. But as deputy sheriffs were taking him handcuffed out of the courtroom, he directed a profanity at prosecutor Christopher Larsen.

    The jury deliberated less than three hours before finding Thomas guilty of first-degree, or premeditated, murder for the June 2015 stabbings of Lisa Scheetz, 44, and her daughter, Hailey, 16.

    He also was convicted of attempted homicide for stabbing and severely injuring another Scheetz daughter, now 17. And he was found guilty of burglary for breaking into the Scheetzes' basement apartment at 877 Spring Valley Road.

    “We have DNA evidence and an eyewitness,” said First Assistant District Attorney Larsen in a summation Tuesday morning seeking first-degree murder convictions. “We have it all, plus all of the damning circumstances.”

    But in his closing argument, defense attorney Douglas Conrad highlighted discrepancies in the testimony and the physical evidence.

    “This is how an innocent man gets convicted,” Conrad said.

    The Lancaster County jury of six men and six women got the case about 11:45 a.m. Tuesday after Judge Reinaker instructed them on the law.

    Jury question

    Shortly before 2 p.m., the jury returned to the courtroom with a question about the legal concept of reasonable doubt and with a request to view a diagram of the crime scene.

    In explaining reasonable doubt, Reinaker said the jury may not convict unless all 12 members conclude that the prosecution proved its case beyond a reasonable doubt.

    Reinaker allowed the jury to take the crime scene diagram into the deliberation room.

    About a half hour later, the jury informed the judge it had reached a verdict.

    The jury heard four days of testimony as the prosecution sought to portray Thomas, a father of four who had worked as a home remodeler, as a homicidal monster bent on eliminating witnesses in his sexual molestation case.

    Scheetz and daughter Hailey, attacked while watching a movie on Netflix, died quickly from horrendous stab wounds in the early hours of June 11, 2015, testimony established. State police found a basement window screen sliced and removed.

    A 15-year-old daughter survived multiple stab wounds. After the attacker fled, she told rescuers that Thomas, once a family friend, was the killer.

    “Look at him,” said Larsen, indicating Thomas. “He’s very distinctive. She knew exactly who he was. There’s no mistaking him.”

    A native of Jamaica, Thomas is a black man of average height and weighing about 230 pounds.

    Larsen said Thomas broke into the apartment intent on getting rid of witnesses who were going to testify against him at a court hearing two weeks away.

    “He was not going to let that happen,” Larsen told the jury. “This was nothing less than an assassination ... He went in there thinking he could wipe them all out.”

    But Conrad said state police focused on Thomas, whose nickname was Pie, without investigating the possibility that another neighbor who had a record of indecent assault could be the guilty party.

    The teenage survivor “says it’s Mr. Pie, and everyone is supposed to believe it,” Conrad told the jury.

    Clothing described

    Throughout the trial, clothing worn by the attacker was a point of contention.

    Conrad emphasized that the survivor’s description of her attacker’s clothing did not match what investigators found soaking in bleach in Thomas’ home about an hour after the killing.

    Conrad pointed out that the survivor said her attacker wore shorts and a T-shirt.

    But state police did not find those items. Instead investigators found a set of men's clothing, including sweatpants, a dark hooded sweatshirt, black socks and a cap, soaking in a washing machine. A trooper said the water smelled heavily of bleach.

    Prosecutor Larsen, in his closing, displayed the sweatshirt and sweatpants, saying the significant stains on each article show they were doused in bleach.

    More than two months later, police recovered black latex gloves and a face-hiding balaclava mask in the trap of a toilet pipe in the Conowingo Road home Thomas and his family were renting at the time of the slayings.

    Conrad said Larsen didn't ask the survivor detailed questions about what her attacker was wearing because he was afraid he wouldn't like the answers.

    "She wasn't able to get all those details," Larsen conceded, "but, ladies and gentlemen, you heard what you needed to hear. She knows the people in her life, and she was able to tell you exactly who did this."

    Lights on

    Larsen also leaned on a state trooper’s observation that lights were on in Thomas’ house at a time when Thomas’ wife, Donna, testified that they were both in bed.

    Larsen showed the jury the police cruiser’s dash cam video. He said the video showed a light on in the bathroom and the laundry room.

    The prosecutor also emphasized testimony by an expert that Hailey’s blood and DNA were on a man’s sneaker retrieved from the washer.

    Conrad contended that DNA labs make mistakes.

    Larsen roamed the courtroom in his closing, displaying the suspected murder weapon only inches away from the jurors, walking over to Thomas to make a point and even sitting at the witness stand to evoke empathy for the teen survivor who had struggled to testify last week.

    "Imagine what is going through her mind as she is sitting here," said Larsen, who made his summation without holding notes.

    Conrad, by contrast, often referred to a notepad and kept his distance from the jury.

    http://lancasteronline.com/news/loca...a66b023ba.html
    "I realize this may sound harsh, but as a father and former lawman, I really don't care if it's by lethal injection, by the electric chair, firing squad, hanging, the guillotine or being fed to the lions."
    - Oklahoma Rep. Mike Christian

    "There are some people who just do not deserve to live,"
    - Rev. Richard Hawke

    “There are lots of extremely smug and self-satisfied people in what would be deemed lower down in society, who also deserve to be pulled up. In a proper free society, you should be allowed to make jokes about absolutely anything.”
    - Rowan Atkinson

  7. #7
    Administrator Helen's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2013
    Location
    Toronto, Ontario, Canada
    Posts
    20,875
    Lancaster County jury delivers death verdict to Leeton Thomas

    By Keith Schweigert
    FOX 43 News

    LANCASTER — A Lancaster County jury found Leeton Thomas guilty Tuesday of all counts regarding the June 2015 stabbing deaths of an East Drumore Township woman and her daughter during an early-morning break-in that severely injured the woman’s other daughter, the Lancaster County District Attorney’s Office reported.

    The jury deliberated for about 2 1/2 hours before deciding the case at about 2:30 p.m.

    The panel of seven women and five men convicted Thomas, 40, of:

    • 2 counts of 1st-degree murder
    • 1 count of attempted homicide
    • 1 count of burglary

    The attack occurred on June 11, 2015. Assistant District Attorney Christopher P. Larsen told the jury that Thomas cut a window in the screen of the victim’s home, entered, and then brutally stabbed the victim and her two daughters. Larsen called the killings “assassinations” to avoid pending prosecution for the alleged sex abuse of a girl.

    The surviving daughter, now 17, testified during the trial and identified Thomas, who she knew as “Pie,” as the killer.

    After the penalty hearing Wednesday morning, the jury returned with a sentence of death for Thomas.

    At the hearing, Larsen outlined five “aggravating factors” for the jury to take into consideration while deciding the sentence:

    • Thomas killed witnesses in a separate criminal prosecution (his pending sex-abuse case)
    • Thomas committed the killing(s) during the commission of another felony (burglary)
    • Thomas killed multiple people
    • Thomas broke a court order (a no-contact order) during the killings
    • Thomas presented a grave risk of death to another individual (the 15-year-old girl) besides those he killed

    “The defendant thought he could avoid the consequences of his actions by committing these horrible, vile murders and attempted murder. However, the diligent work of the Pennsylvania State Police, especially Corporal Todd McCurdy, saw to it that he would be held fully accountable,” Larsen said Wednesday night. “The strength of the surviving victim and the voices of her deceased sister and mother, who spoke through evidence presented at trial, were instrumental in bringing him to justice.

    “The jury’s verdict is the only right and just verdict for a case as disturbing as this.”

    http://fox43.com/2017/06/13/lancaste...other-charges/
    "I realize this may sound harsh, but as a father and former lawman, I really don't care if it's by lethal injection, by the electric chair, firing squad, hanging, the guillotine or being fed to the lions."
    - Oklahoma Rep. Mike Christian

    "There are some people who just do not deserve to live,"
    - Rev. Richard Hawke

    “There are lots of extremely smug and self-satisfied people in what would be deemed lower down in society, who also deserve to be pulled up. In a proper free society, you should be allowed to make jokes about absolutely anything.”
    - Rowan Atkinson

  8. #8
    Senior Member Frequent Poster Fact's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2012
    Posts
    486
    The fact that they conducted the penalty hearing in one day gives me pause.

    Granted, I think this is one of the strongest cases for death I've ever seen. It's not very often that someone checks off five different aggravators.

  9. #9
    Administrator Moh's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2010
    Location
    Germany
    Posts
    13,014
    June 16, 2017

    Leeton Thomas sentenced to death for 2015 murder of woman and daughter in Lancaster County

    LANCASTER, PA. — A Quarryville-area man was formally sentenced to death Friday morning in Lancaster County Court for killing an East Drumore Township woman and her daughter during a 2015 break-in.

    Lancaster County President Judge Dennis Reinaker sentenced 40-year-old Leeton Thomas to death after a jury convicted Thomas on Tuesday of two counts of first-degree murder for fatally stabbing Lisa Scheetz and her 16-year-old daughter – who would have celebrated her 19th birthday on Friday.

    While ordering sentence, Reinaker said that should Pennsylvania lift a moratorium on executions, Thomas “should go to the very top of the list.”

    Thomas and his attorneys declined to comment during the 30-minute hearing.

    First Assistant District Attorney Christopher P. Larsen, who won the conviction, showed Reinaker three photographs of Lisa and her daughter smiling and, in one, embracing each other.

    Several of the victims’ relatives – including Lisa’s two other daughters, one of whom was nearly killed by Thomas in the attack – watched from the courtroom gallery.

    Some of them spoke of Lisa and her deceased daughter’s joyful and caring approach to life. They scolded Thomas for trying to avoid pending sex-abuse charges by killing witnesses in the case.

    “He has no remorse,” one of Lisa’s surviving daughters said. “It doesn’t matter to him that I’m not able to call my mom. That my (surviving) sister has to live everyday of her life with reminders on her body of that night.”

    Thomas cut a window screen of the Scheetzes’ Spring Valley Road home, entered, and attacked Lisa and two of her daughters, viciously stabbing them.

    The 15-year-old daughter survived and testified at trial, saying Thomas, who she knew as “Pie,” was the intruder.

    Thomas did not look at any of the relatives who spoke Friday in court.

    Kim Scheetz, Lisa’s husband, called Thomas an “evil man.”

    “The horror, terror and fear (the victims) had to endure that night is unimaginable,” he said.

    Thomas was convicted Tuesday afternoon of two counts of first-degree murder, attempted murder, and burglary.

    The jury reached a death sentence verdict Wednesday night.

    http://fox43.com/2017/06/16/leeton-t...caster-county/

  10. #10
    Administrator Helen's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2013
    Location
    Toronto, Ontario, Canada
    Posts
    20,875
    U.S. Supreme Court refuses to hear appeal of Lancaster County man on death row for double murder

    Leeton Thomas was convicted in 2017 of killing Lisa Sheetz and her 16-year-old daughter during a home invasion in 2015

    By Keith Schweigert
    Fox 43 News

    LANCASTER COUNTY, Pa. — The U.S. Supreme Court will not hear an appeal from a man convicted of killing a woman and her daughter during a 2015 home invasion in East Drumore Township, the Lancaster County District Attorney's Office announced.

    Leeton Thomas, 42, was convicted in 2017 of killing Lisa Scheetz and her 16-year-old daughter because they were potential witnesses in his pending sexual assault case, according to the DA.

    Thomas also nearly killed Scheetz’ 15-year-old daughter in the attack, prosecutors say.

    He was convicted at trial of two counts of first-degree murder, attempted murder, and related charges, and later sentenced to death.

    Thomas filed to have the U.S. Supreme Court hear his appeal, which challenged the constitutionality of the death penalty.

    The country’s highest court recently issued a filing denying the allowance of appeal.

    At trial, the surviving victim testified that “Pie” – a nickname for Thomas – was the intruder and killer.

    Prosecutors presented these aggravating factors for the jury in consideration of a life or death sentence:

    • Thomas killed witnesses in a separate criminal prosecution (his pending sex-abuse case)
    • Thomas committed the killings during the commission of another felony (burglary)
    • Thomas killed multiple people
    • Thomas broke a no-contact order issued by the court during the killings
    • Thomas presented a grave risk of death to another individual (the 15-year-old girl) besides those he killed.

    The jury decided on a death sentence.

    While imposing the death sentence, Lancaster County Judge Dennis Reinaker said that should Pennsylvania lift a moratorium on executions, Thomas “should go to the very top of the list."

    https://www.fox43.com/article/news/l...7-86e93501c28e
    "I realize this may sound harsh, but as a father and former lawman, I really don't care if it's by lethal injection, by the electric chair, firing squad, hanging, the guillotine or being fed to the lions."
    - Oklahoma Rep. Mike Christian

    "There are some people who just do not deserve to live,"
    - Rev. Richard Hawke

    “There are lots of extremely smug and self-satisfied people in what would be deemed lower down in society, who also deserve to be pulled up. In a proper free society, you should be allowed to make jokes about absolutely anything.”
    - Rowan Atkinson

Page 1 of 2 12 LastLast

Thread Information

Users Browsing this Thread

There are currently 1 users browsing this thread. (0 members and 1 guests)

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •