TERROR IN STARK COUNTY

                                                         By

                                            Norman V. Kelly

 

He worked as a mechanic at the Sauder Implement Company located in the business District of Wyoming, Illinois. A small, perhaps sleepy town located in Stark County. Nothing much happened in this town of 1,500 souls, and most folks liked it that way. A farm community, no doubt, but close enough to Peoria, Illinois to enjoy the excitement of a big town but still live in the peace and quite of a small town.

 

It was the second week of September 1958 when the young man with the ruddy complexion, dark hair and glasses walked in to Dick Howeler’s store to look at some boots. Mr. Howeler and Merlin talked briefly about a size 8 logging boot that Merlin was interested in. “I don’t have that size now, Merlin, but I got a shipment coming in a few days, I’m sure I’ll have it then.” Merlin left the store and walked back to the implement company just down the street where he worked as a mechanic. For the next week or so, Merlin checked in with Dick to see if the shipment had arrived. Finally, disappointed, he decided that he would look for the boots across the street.

 

Just across the street from Howeler’s place was a jewelry and clothing store owned by Howard  ‘Pete’ Fletcher a well-know businessman located in Wyoming, Illinois. Merlin decided that he would try to obtain the boots from him. When he walked in a very pretty lady, dark hair, with glasses smiled at him, but Pete waited on him. He liked the pair he was shown and told Pete, “Save these for me until pay day will ya’?” Pete agreed and Merlin walked back to work. Most of that day and certainly many times after the visit, Merlin thought about the pretty lady that worked in the store. He not only thought about her but fantasized about her as well. Maybe he would get lucky and see her again. Maybe.

 

SEPTEMBER  29, 1958                                       WYOMING, ILLINOIS

 

It was noon when Merlin stepped down from the engine of the John Deere corn picker he’d been working on all morning. He washed his hands, cleaned his glasses and turned to leave the building. “Going to lunch,” he called out to no one in particular. It was a beautiful fall day that fateful day in September. He waved at a few folks that spoke to him. He was a familiar figure in town even though he was somewhat shy and introverted the folks were friendly enough. Oh, he’d heard the jokes about him, the painful remarks, but over all he was content enough. His father, Howard, was a well-respected auctioneer and real estate developer and he felt secure in that knowledge.

 

He arrived at Dorothy Faufel’s popular café just down the street and sat at the counter. Never a talkative man he spoke when someone spoke to him. After lunch he walked back toward the implement store. On the way he thought again about the pretty lady in the clothing store. Hoping that she would wait on him instead of Pete he entered. “Hello, Merlin,” the pretty lady said, “can I help you?”  Merlin basked in her smile as he told her he would like to try on a pair of logging boots. He watched after her as she fetched the size eight boots. “Try these,” she said as she bent over to put them on the floor in front of the bench where Merlin was sitting. Suddenly he reached out and grabbed her arm as he stood up.  “I’ve always wanted to hug and kiss you,” he said, pulling her to him with his powerful arms.

With both hands she pushed the man away surprised and angered at his sudden attack. He held onto her arm and once again pulled her in close to his body. She struck out at him as she screamed. Quickly his hand went to her mouth. “Don’t scream…don’t scream.”

 

She continued her struggle and even though her voice was muffled by his rough hand her screaming continued. Now both hands were on her throat squeezing the scream and the life out of the terrified woman. He continued the pressure on her throat until all threat of a scream was gone and she fell limp against him. He let her slip to the floor. Furtively he glanced out the front window. His heart was pounding, he was panicking as he pondered his next move. Quickly he bent over and took both ankles in his hands dragging the woman to a cluttered back room. He stood now looking down at her as she suddenly began to move again. As she struggled her hand grabbed the leg of the ladder attached to a railing on the wall. Quickly Merlin pulled his victim away from the wall causing the ladder to clatter to the floor.

 

Merlin then reached into his pocket extracting a switchblade that he always carried with him. In one vicious swipe he cut the woman’s throat from ear to ear. In frozen fear and horror he stood for a moment watching the blood flow from the ghastly wound. Jarring himself back to reality he walked over to a small basin where he washed his hands and the knife before pocketing the weapon. Trotting out to the front entrance he bent to look out the window as a group of happy schoolgirls skipped by the front door. Merlin moved over to the door and glanced once again out the window before he slipped out of the door and walked back to work. It was close to one in the afternoon when he climbed up the corn picker to work on the engine. Once up there he saw Howard Fletcher heading for his store. “Afternoon, Merlin,” he said. Merlin

waved, “Hi Pete.”

 

                                        A  HORRIBLE  SIGHT

 

Harold ‘Pete’ Fletcher walked into his store and immediately saw the open box and the logging boots on the bench. “Donna, I’m back did you sell a pair of boots?” Getting no answer he assumed his clerk was in the restroom. He busied himself at the counter checking the watch-cleaning machine to make sure his clerk had shut it off, he called out again, “Donna, hello.”  He walked back towards the rear of the store noticing that the ladder was not attached to its rails. Clicking on the light his heart leaped into his throat. He rushed over to find a grisly sight…a sight that he would never forget for the rest of his life.

 

Racing out of the store he headed for the office of Doctor Joe Unhold nearby on Main Street. Discovering that the doctor was not in, Pete ran over to Don Arganbright’s store where he spoke to Bernadine Blackley. He told her what he had found, asking her to call the police.  “Bernadine would you please go over and stay with Donna? I’m going to try and find Doctor Carey.” Like wildfire the word spread up and down Main Street that Pete had discovered the body of Donna in his store. One by one the local folks made there way to Pete’s store, quietly at first, then talking among themselves, feeling the fear creep up their spines. A murder here in Wyoming, Illinois? In Peoria…yes, but not here in Wyoming was the feeling that prevailed that terrible September afternoon.

 

Across the street, down at Sauder’s Implement Company Merlin had watched the activity over at Pete’s store. He wondered if he would be less suspicious if he went over with the rest of the curious people.  He decided to stay put, but all afternoon he glanced numerous times across the street. At four that afternoon he climbed into the cab of the John Deere and drove it out to a farmer in Bradford, Illinois. He would read and hear enough about the murder later. He was certain of that.

                           

 

                            A  MATTER  FOR  THE  POLICE

 

Respectfully the local folks stayed back with very little prompting from the sheriff’s deputy. Chief of Police Ted Knowles was on the scene as Sheriff Burt Eltzroth walked up. The two old friends had a whispered conversation before they both walked inside the store. They stood over the body talking to Dr. Carey. “That looks like a cut maybe eight inches long. As you can see it was ear to ear, and almost severed the head.” The sheriff nodded, “we’ll wait for the coroner to get here, meantime, we need some help from the state lab guys.”

The officers checked the rear door, satisfied that it had been bolted and the entry of the killer was from the front door. It was obvious to the investigators that the victim would more than likely have known her killer. “We need to find out who was in the store this morning, all the way up until about one,” the sheriff said.  For over an hour the authorities talked to Pete Fletcher.  Distraught, Pete managed to make sense out of what he was saying. “When I walked in I saw those boots, I called out to Donna but she didn’t answer. That’s when I walked back and found her.”

 

Pete went through the hand-written receipts that were on a spindle next to the cash register. He soon discovered that the last receipt was for a pair of white work gloves. He showed it to the sheriff. “Have any idea who bought them, Pete?”  “No, I didn’t wait on the customer. A lot of times if Donna knew the customer she didn’t bother writing the name on the top.”  The men also talked about the boots and during that conversation Pete remembered something that would eventually lead to the killer of Donna Fritch, but that was somewhere down the pike.

 

Deputy Coroner Robert Dunlap arrived on the scene to officially take charge of the body and do his preliminary investigation. As they viewed the scene accidental death and suicide were discussed and dismissed. It was clearly a case of murder plain and simple. It was a heinous murder that occurred somewhere between 12:15 PM and 1:00 PM, Tuesday, September 29, 1958.  Pete told the authorities that he had checked the watch-cleaning machine and that Donna had probably turned the machine off a little after noon, as he had directed. So, the authorities surmised the killer was probably known by Donna and that he…or she…had entered the story somewhere between 12:15 and a few minutes before one. As the sheriff looked out at the crowd gathered outside surely he was thinking that the killer could be watching him at that very moment. He also had already formed some ideas of his own which he would keep to himself until the time was right to reveal them. That evening in his office he gathered up a piece of paper and wrote the name of the killer on the paper. He then sealed it in an envelope and put it in his safe. He told his deputies that if anything happened to him they were to open the safe and read the note.

 

Early the next day the Sheriff and the chief of police were busy with the visiting newspapers reporters and trying to keep some order. The sheriff made calls to the State of Illinois asking for help from their lab. The state then assigned state investigators Tom Howard and Tom Coleman, experts in forensics, to the case. The men from the Illinois Criminal Bureau took over the scene of the crime to work their magic. Trooper Rollin Pugh was also assigned to the case for the duration. So the troops were accounted for, including deputy Jack Lane.  The plan was to talk to every living soul who worked in the business district during the day of the murder and branch out from there.

 

Robbery had been ruled out after Pete took a careful inventory. There was no evidence of any sexual crime, which often helped police narrow down the suspects. The first bit of evidence came in from troopers who reported that a hiker had found a knife along side the highway, which caused quite a furor. However, the knife turned out to be a dead end. The sheriff’s main goal was to find the person that had purchased the white gloves. The word went out with all the folks and the media, but no one admitted the purchase.

 

Mike Fester, a local mechanic came to the sheriff to tell him what time he had been in the store and was quickly dismissed as a suspect. He had gone in to have his watch repaired. When he found no one in the store he left a note and the watch. Another young girl who thought she had heard a scream as she walked by volunteered the information as well. She told police that she thought about going inside to check but she walked on instead.

 

Morrow Cox of a local funeral home came to the scene to clean up the blood and transport the body of the victim to his local funeral home. The newspaper reporters were getting their stories and printing quotes from people that knew the victim. The sheriff told the reporters, “I suspect that the town’s people will help.” The lead reporter from the Peoria Journal was W.J. O’Connell, a veteran journalist with a reputation for getting his facts straight. Meanwhile the fear spread across the tiny town of Wyoming and seeped out into Stark County. A brutal, dangerous killer was loose in their community and doors were being double locked for the first time in some people’s memories. Families were watching out very closely for their children, and suspicion was rampant. Once the word got out that the killer was probably from right there in Wyoming, the fear deepened.

 

                               WHO  WAS  THE  VICTIM?

 

Once authorities notified the dead woman’s husband, the name of the victim was common knowledge. Her name was Donna Dillon Fritch, the daughter of Mr. And Mrs. Don Dillon. Her husband was George Fritch, who farmed on land between Toulon and Wyoming, Illinois. Mrs. Fritch had two children, Mike, age 5 and Monta Sue age 2. Besides her parents, Donna had a sister, Darlene Robinson, a brother Donald of Wyoming and Dwain of Davenport, Iowa. She was a brilliant student in high school who gave up a scholarship to college to marry young George Fritch.

 

“I often told Donna that I wished she would give up her job in town. I have no idea who would want to kill her. Everyone in town has been nice to us and Donna never implied that she was afraid of anyone.”

 

Donna was a popular girl at Wyoming Community High School, graduating in 1951. She was a member of the Eastern Star and an active member of the youth club within the Methodist Church. Both George and Donna were members in the group and according to folks that knew them a “perfect couple.” Actually, Donna had spent three years in Bradford High School before she enrolled at Wyoming her senior year. Folks from both communities mourned the death of this young lady.

 

Visitation at the Methodist Church was a sad affair that filled the place to overflowing crowds. The basement had to be utilized, and Reverend E.W. Reynolds used a public address system to reach the mourners. The Eastern Star formed an honor guard as the casket was carried to the hearse. Burial took place Thursday at the Wyoming Cemetery where the victim was buried on a shady knoll. Donna Dillon Fritch, beloved wife and devoted mother was all of twenty-four years old when she was murdered. Her death shocked and saddened the entire community. Life may never be the same, folks said,

and they were right.

 

                              A  SEARCH  FOR SUSPECTS

The Illinois Criminal Bureau had all the evidence they were going to get as they left the scene of the murder. The sheriff knew that it would really be up to the local investigators to run down the suspects and that is what they were busy doing. “I am no further along on a solution than I was Monday,” he told the press.  Pete had handed him a receipt for the gloves and that was the main focus. The receipt was for thirty-five cents and one penny for tax. Who had purchased these gloves and why didn’t they come forward? Could this be the person that killed Donna? That was the question that was being bantered about not only by the police but the local folks as well. The sheriff had talked to so many people and had narrowed the murder down as to time. “We have about twenty minutes missing,” he told reporters, “just twenty minutes.”  Who was it that had entered the store between twelve twenty and about fifteen minutes or so before one? All they had to do was find that person and they had their killer. 

 

As the days slipped by with no further clues being uncovered the fear in the area of the murder seemed to grow. It was rare to see a woman alone out after dark, and parents kept a tighter grip on their children. Over here in Peoria there was news of Russia testing the Atomic Bomb. The next page contained this headline:  GLOVE BUYER FOUND.  For the Peoria folks that were following the Wyoming murder this was good news. An old farmer had finally found out that the sheriff was interested in him so he drove into Wyoming to talk to Sheriff Eltzroth. After a long discussion with the elderly man he was told to go on home. The sheriff decided that he would not even reveal the man’s name, but was truly relieved over the fact that he had finally found the buyer of the gloves.

 

Another headline hit the news and each and every time the local folks hoped that this was the clue the sheriff was looking for to solve the murder. The news was that a Toulon youth had been picked up by police for speeding and ‘hot rodding’ in Fairview, Illinois. The officers found three very sharp knives in the car and of course were immediately suspicious. They took in Ralph Smith and his companions.  Sheriff Virgil Ball, who was famous because of the case of the missing Fay Rawley and the buried Cadillac in the strip mines, called Sheriff Eltzroth.  Could these knives be connected with the Stark County murder?  Turns out they were not, and all suspicion that Smith was involved was quickly dropped. He had his problems about the charge of the concealed weapons but he was innocent of any other problems in Stark County. Another dead-end.

 

 

Several investigators had attended the visitation and the funeral of Donna Fritch. They walked among the visitors just to see what they could hear or see. The officers did not advance their investigation, but it was something they felt they had to do. The coroner’s inquest was coming up and it was hoped that something might come of that. It was Thursday and the sheriff still had hope that they could solve this murder within the next few days. Of course he told the press that he had no idea as to the identity of the killer. However, like all wise investigators, he never revealed everything he knew, and he felt that he knew plenty.

 

The sheriff and the chief met with the entire family of Donna Fritch to discuss what they might know about any of Donna’s acquaintances. They talked about people she knew in high school looking for any person that might have some reason to dislike Donna. They found none. They spoke at length with Mr. Fletcher trying to find any information about a customer that might have something against her as well. All of this talk netted the investigators nothing. Everyone seemed to like Donna Fritch so they moved on. Of course they were looking for a motive for murder and so far they had none whatsoever.

 

The mood in the area was somber and even at the football game between Toulon and Wyoming something was missing. The folks were trying to get back to their normal lives but it was not easy to do. The next step was to see if some of the men in town and the surrounding area would be willing to take lie detector tests. Even if they were not admissible, the tests are viable investigating tools. The sheriff began setting those up, using the experts in the polygraph from the State of Illinois.

 

                                           THE  INQUEST

 

An all male jury of six elderly were sworn in by Deputy Coroner Dunlap

at 7:30 that Monday evening in Toulon, Illinois. Reporters from a half dozen newspapers were there along with a room full of spectators. Seven witnesses were subpoenaed, six men and one woman. Most of the men investigating the case were there, along with some family members of the deceased. Three doctors testified, one of them read the report from the pathologist, Doctor Lowell Martin. The doctor stated in his report that the death of Donna Fritch was due to bleeding from a massive gash across the neck that extended virtually from ear to ear.

 

Other witnesses included Morrow Cox of the local funeral home and of course, Harold Fletcher. Pete told the jury about Donna, and the fact that she had worked for him for almost seven months. It was very obvious that Pete felt the loss of this fine young lady. Doctor Joe Unhold indicated to the jury that there was no possibility of an accident or suicide. The Jury was sworn by the coroner and handed the case for deliberation. After their coffee they came back with an open verdict.

                       “We the jury find that Donna Fritch died

                       from extensive bleeding from a neck wound      

                       caused by a person or person unknown with

                       an unknown weapon. We recommend that the

                       authorities continue the investigation into her

                       death.”

 

                       THE  INVESTIGATION  CONTINUES

 

Every day the local folks expected to hear some good news that would ease the fear they were feeling, but the sheriff had nothing to report. After three

Lie detector tests, the sheriff said, “I can’t say that we are getting any closer.”

 

On October 9, 1958 the World learned that Pope Pius XII had died. In small towns like Wyoming and Toulon Catholics mourned and flocked to their churches to pray.  That day the investigators were very busy and unknown to the local folks they would soon have some very exciting news to hear… exciting indeed.

 

 OCTOBER  10, 1958                                                TOULON, ILLINOIS

 

KNIFE SLAYING IS CONFESSED screamed the headline in the Journal Star here in Peoria, Illinois. All the small town newspapers around the Wyoming area had a similar headline. Folks in all the surrounding counties breathed a sigh of relief as the details of the killer’s confession were made public.  As they read the news a giant weight of fear seemed to lift from their hearts.

 

Pictures of Sheriff Burt Eltzroth with the man that confessed to the murder of Donna Fritch  were prominent in most of the local papers. Here in Peoria a young man with dark hair and glasses looked out at us during breakfast. Under the photograph the text stated that the man who confessed to killing Donna Fritch was a local man from Wyoming named Martin Leadley. Truth is the captioned was wrong. The name of the killer of Donna Fritch was  Merlin W. Leadley, a twenty-seven year-old man that worked at the Sauder Implement Company just down the block from the scene of the murder.

In rushing to print the first name must have gotten muddled.

 

It was during a routine polygraph test of Merlin Leadley held in the office of the sheriff that the subject broke down and confessed to the brutal murder. It was around five o’clock the evening of October 10, 1958 that the break- through came and the news spread like water bursting through a dam. Shortly after the confession was signed the state’s attorney took the admitted killer before Justice Of The Peace Lambert for a preliminary hearing. The prisoner was bound over to the grand jury and incarcerated in the Stark County Jail without bond. I think that if America had been listening we could have heard the sigh of relief coming from Stark County.

 

                                          THE  AFTERMATH

 

State’s Attorney Eugene Rennick suggested that the killer be held without bond for formal charging by the grand jury. The court agreed and the town now had to await that outcome. It seemed pretty evident to observers that this man was eligible for the death penalty and all legal avenues had to be properly traveled. Bits and pieces of the ongoing investigation were told to reporters and the community as well. Merlin had been picked up at his place of employment and taken over for his lie detector tests. All of his rights were told to him, and the slow process of the polygraph was instigated by William Abernathy, the highly respected polygraph operator for the State of Illinois. After the preliminary statements the actual interrogation began in earnest. The operator then told the investigators where the inconsistencies were in the first round of questioning. The operator then re-questioned the suspect and finally in the late afternoon, Merlin Ward Leadley confessed to the murder.

Reporters, including Bernadine Martin from the Journal Star talked to a lot of the folks around town. Many told her that they had “slight suspicions” about Merlin but never thought he was capable of murder. According to Bernadine most of the people were surprised that he was able to spend those ten days after the murder walking among them, going to work, eating at the local café, and showing no signs of guilt.  Even his best friend Arlo Bernard said, “He sure fooled me. Merlin was with us when we would talk about the murder, but he rarely put his two-cents in the conversation. Once when we were walking along I mentioned that they should execute the killer of Donna in the electric chair. Merlin said, ‘That’s exactly what he should get.’”

 

His fellow workers chimed in that he never acted any different after the murder. “I saw no noticeable reaction,” the worker said.  Up at the café where Merlin ate every day after the murder the opinion was the same.

Dorothy Faufel, the owner said, “ He ate here all the time. He was never a talkative guy, but I certainly saw no change in him and nobody else did either.”

 

The folks were very talkative to Bernadine, and each and every one of them expressed their great relief that they had caught the killer. “I thought he might be a guy that just stopped by and was long gone,” one of the men said. “A murder like this just does not happen in a little town like ours and we were scared to death, I can tell you that.” Arlo knew Merlin for a long time. He and a lot of folks were aware that Merlin was ‘different’ maybe even retarded, but a killer…no way.

 

                            MORE  INFORMATION  SURFACES.

 

Sheriff Burt Eltzroth finally revealed the note he had written and put in his safe. Here is what the sheriff said: “I believe the murder of Donna Fritch to be Merlin Leadley of Wyoming.” The sheriff was certainly aware that back in 1947 Merlin was suspected of molesting a young woman. There was also a lot of talk about the suspicious death of Merlin’s sister, but gossip in a small town is just that…gossip.

 

It turns out that the key to the mystery rested with Harold ‘Pete’ Fletcher. It was he that noticed the boots on the bench and immediately recalled that Merlin Leadly wanted a pair of those boots. “He told me to save him a pair until payday.” It took some time for Pete to reason it all through, but when it came to him, he talked it over with the investigators. Shortly after that Merlin was asked to take the lie detector, which he agreed to do. Information from the confession began to filter around the community.  It seems Merlin was certainly no ladies man, and that he told the investigators that all he wanted to do “Was hug and kiss her.” When she resisted he panicked, chocked her to stop her from screaming, and then slashed her throat to silence her forever. He also told the sheriff, “I never tried to hug her before.” So that surely indicates that Merlin was well aware of the pretty clerk in the jewelry and clothing store. Later it would come out that Merlin was pretty much obsessed with his thoughts about Donna Fritch…and it cost her her very life.

 

And so the shock and fear slowly subsided. A poll was taken by the Peoria reporter and not one person came forth to demand that Merlin be executed. Here is what State’s Attorney Eugene of Stark County said.

                 “I don’t believe there is a person in Stark

                   County who wants that boy sent to the chair.”

 

Is that surprising to you? This man that they call a boy, who is after all twenty-seven years old killed a beloved wife and mother of two small children. Over here in Peoria folks are more used to murder and the consensus here was that this was a capital crime and that he should be executed for murder. Ten men from Peoria who were all convicted of murder were executed here in Peoria, Illinois. Eight of those men met their fates at the end of a rope and two of them were executed in the electric chair.

Of course nobody in Peoria knew Merlin Leadley like the folks up in Stark County. One housewife in Wyoming may have summarized local opinion when she said, “He belongs in an institution for the criminally insane.”

 

                                    THE  LEGAL  PROCESS

 

The State can’t just whisk a confessed killer off to jail without ‘Due Process Of The Law.”  After the hoopla over the confession the arraignment was held on October 25, 1958. Over here in Peoria, Illinois the headlines screamed that at least 85 miners were known dead in a Centralia, Illinois coal mine.  The grand jury had voted a five-count murder indictment and now Merlin Ward Leadley came before Henry Ingram, the Peoria County Circuit Judge. The courtroom was crowded over there in Stark County when the prisoner was led in by the sheriff. He had no shackles or handcuffs. which surprised the two Peoria reporters.

 

The confessed killer wore a brown shirt, red jacket, gray trousers and was wearing loafers. He stood alone in front of the judge, his head down, not looking about.

 

                                  “Do you have an attorney?”

In a low voice the young man answered the judge, “No.” The judge glanced out at the crowd then said, “Do you have means to employ one?”

 

                        “No.”

 

The hearing was delayed as the judge left the bench. When he came back the prisoner stood before him once again.

                        

I have appointed Floyd A. Demanes to defend you. He is currently the Peoria County Public Defender, and has been since 1956.”

A moment later the judge said, “There will be no further action on this case until you have had time to confer with your attorney.”

 

The state’s attorney then asked the defendant to sign for a copy of his confession and the indictments.

 

On the way out a reporter asked Merlin what he should get in the way of punishment. “Anything I get I will probably deserve.” The quote made all of the newspapers.

 

                                             A  QUIET  TIME

 

After the hearing the prisoner went back to his cell where he would remain until called before the court for sentencing. There was talk of having a state psychiatrist meet with him, and of course there would be visits from his court appointed attorney. Merlin was a model prisoner and spent his time basically doing nothing as his fate was being decided. About the only discussion going on concerning Leadley was whether or not he should be imprisoned for life or executed. The folks that actually knew him felt that he was simply not a candidate for the chair because of his lack of mental stability.

The public defender clearly let it be known that he agreed with the guilty plea and told the reporters something that he would repeat later on the record.

             “Merlin Leadley is a loved-starved youth who was the

              butt of small town jokesters for most of his twenty-

              seven years.”

 

                            THE  SENTENCING  HEARING

 

NOVEMBER 18, 1958                                                  TOULON, ILLINOIS

 

Wearing the same outfit that he wore during his arraignment, Merlin Ward Leadley was guided into the courtroom of Henry J. Ingram in Stark County.

The courtroom was packed with reporters and the citizens that could cram themselves inside to witness the drama.  There were no wild demonstrations, no threat of mob violence in the civilized towns of Wyoming and Toulon. The people were satisfied that the judge would handle the situation and in the end justice would be served.

 

The court addressed the defendant who stood now with his public defender. “Do you understand that you are not compelled to enter a guilty plea and that you understand your rights?” “Yes.”

“I have three choices in sentencing you. I can sentence you to not less that fourteen years or give you a life sentence. You can also be sentenced to be executed for the crime of first degree murder.”

 

Leadley then admitted that he had not been beaten or coerced into pleading guilty and confessing to the murder of Donna Fitch. Also that he voluntarily had waived his rights to a trial and that the state had made no promises in exchange for the guilty plea. “I will now hear evidence concerning mitigated or aggravated circumstances in this case.”

 

                                              THE  STATE

State’s Attorney Eugene Rennick put on four witnesses. The first was Ernest Robson the official crime photographer for the State of Illinois. William Abernathy the polygraph expert explained the procedure he undertook and the dramatic confession of the confessed killer. Thomas Howerton, the chief investigator for the department of criminal investigation took the stand. He outlined the investigation and the steps that were taken to track down the killer of Donna Fritch. The hero of the hour, Sheriff Burt Eltzroth was the last witness. He summarized the case and brought it up to date for the court.

 

                                           THE  DEFENSE

Frankly there was no attempt at any defense since the defendant had confessed the murder and had instructed his court appointed attorney that he wanted to plead guilty. Attorney Floyd A. Demanes of Peoria stood before the judge. He waited a moment for the crowd to quiet down.

 

“Your honor, in my many years I have never encountered such a case as this one.” He had the rapt attention of everyone in the courtroom as he looked over at his client, Merlin Ward Leadley.

“Mr. Leadley wishes that his plea of guilty be entered into the record. He feels the deepest regret for his actions in the death of Donna Fritch. The death of Donna Fritch was tragic. There is nothing that we can do to undo that act. What we now have at stake is the life of Merlin Leadley.

 

The defendant is a shy, repressive and a normally uncommunicative and mentally retarded young man. Since childhood he has never afforded association with boys and girls his age.” The attorney walked over just behind Merlin and pointed, “He has never had a date with a girl in his twenty-seven years of life.”

 

The lawyer let that sink in as he walked over toward the spectators  before he turned to look at his client. The defense attorney gestured with both hands as he walked back to the lectern. “He was withdrawn from school in the seventh grade and I ask you what was his motive?”  Looking over at the jury he answered his own question. “It was a want of love and affection.”

 

After a hesitation, the public defender went on to explain, “When Donna Fritch repulsed him he panicked and he killed her. I ask that this boy be confined to the Illinois State Penitentiary as I am positive that he will not be able to adjust to a normal life.”

The crowd was silent as they looked from the lawyer to the defendant taking in everything he said. “He was the butt of small town jokesters for many years and was driven to a world within himself.” The defense then recommended that his client be sentenced to ninety-nine years in the Illinois State Penitentiary.

 

Once the defense attorney finished the judge ordered the defendant to rise.             “Do you have anything to say?”

“No.”

The judge then sentenced the killer of Donna Fritch to ninety-nine years.

“You will become eligible for parole in thirty-three years,” the judge said before he banged his gavel. The case against Merlin Ward Leadley was over.

 

                                 TRUTH  IN SENTENCING

 

The years have slipped away and perhaps the people in Stark County have long forgotten about Donna Fritch and the man/boy that murdered her. Certainly her loved ones haven’t but surely most of the other folks have.  I hope that if this story is every printed in Stark County that the people take a moment to remember Donna Fritch.  A young mother, a loving wife taken from her husband and two small children at the very moment when they needed her the most. She was a lovely young woman that wanted only two things, to live her life with her husband and be the best mother possible for her two kids. That dream ended with the slash of a switchblade yielded by a man that the defense attorney said only wanted “love and affection.”  I’ll let you be the judge of that.

 

Merlin Ward Leadley was sent to the state penitentiary on November 18, 1958. He would be eligible for parole, according to the judge in thirty-three years, or when the killer was sixty-years old.

 

Here are the facts:  Merlin Ward Leadley, Inmate #C 10202 entered the prison on 11-18-1958.  He was sentenced on a five-count indictment for murder to 99 years. He was discharged on a 3A discharge, which included parole on April 4, 1983. You can do the math, which shows that he spent a total of Twenty-five years for the murder of Donna Fritch. He got out when he was fifty-two, not sixty.

 

I decided not to try to locate him, which I could do rather easily and have no idea if he is dead or alive. I can only personally hope that he served some “hell on earth time,” for his heinous crime. I have no way of knowing personally but I certainly feel that the people who loved Donna agonized over her death and miss her to this very day. This story is dedicated to her memory, may she never be forgotten.

 

NORMAN V. KELLY                                   norman.kelly@sbcglobal.net

P.O. Box  1282

Peoria, Il.  61651-1282