Facts of the Crime:
Leroy Mann was sentenced to death by a Wake County jury in July 1997 for the death of Janet Houser. Ms. Houser was a co-worker of Mann's; the day before her death, she notified him that he had been laid off from his job at Advanced Plastics, Inc. and need not report to work the following day. The following day, Mann asked Ms. Houser to lunch to discuss his unemployment benefits, and the two agreed to meet across the street from Mann's apartment complex. Ms. Houser's husband reported her missing later that day when she failed to return home. Ms. Houser's body was found two days after her lunch appointment with a gunshot wound to the chest and several bruises and lacerations. Investigation of Mann's apartment showed blood spatter covered by new. paint and Mann's car was found to contain a 9mm pistol and cleaning items. The jury convicted Mann of first-degree murder under the felony murder rule and found three aggravating circumstances: (1) the murder was committed during the commission of a robbery, (2) the murder was committed for pecuniary gain, and (3) the murder was especially heinous, atrocious, or cruel. No statutory mitigating factors were found.
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