Robert E. Leamon the Third featuring Antighost

In this episode, we tell the heartbreaking story of Robert E. Leamon III, a young Michigan man whose life was taken in a sudden and senseless act of violence. What began as an ordinary night spiraled into tragedy, leaving Robert’s family devastated and a community struggling to understand how something so horrific could happen so fast.

We walk through the events leading up to the attack, the investigation that followed, and the emotional fallout that still echoes through those who loved him. This case is a painful reminder of how quickly anger and recklessness can turn deadly — and how the people left behind are forced to navigate a lifetime of grief.

To close out the episode, we feature Michigan band Antighost, bringing raw emotion and energy with their track 

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Written by Your Highness 
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Transcript

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Robert Eugene Leamon III

MDOC 254637

DOB 11-7-1976

1. Robert Leamon was raised in Niles, Michigan

1. His parents were Robert the 2nd and Kathy Leamon

1. As a child, Robert had a few troubles

1. He avoided groups of people, he preferred to be alone and he had sleep disruption problems.

1. This may have been an underlying condition or ptsd type thing from attending Small World.

1. At the time, psychology wasn’t a big deal, so his mom just didn’t really get him help.  I think they really didn’t know better.

1. Robert would later attend Brandywine High School in Niles

1. He didn’t have the best academic life but he was a football player, so he didn’t have to.

1. He had good parents, although they were divorcing and drove a nice blue truck, his life was going good.

1.  Robert, 16 years old,  worked at Martin Tire Company as part of the schools co-op program.

1. Being in the jock category put him in the popular tier of the high school hierarchy.

1.   Despite that, he did have a few special education classes, and apparently the football team did not tease him about that.

1. During the summer of 1993 Robert started hanging out with a classmate 

1.   Her name is Becky Stowe and she was 15 years old.  They both attended Brandywine High and she was a year under Robert.

1.    The two of them started hanging out a lot that summer and Becky considered Robert to be her boyfriend.

1.   She shared stories about her new crush with her friends.
2.   Becky was in a totally different social tier than Robert was…she was labeled to be a bit more of a rebel.

1.   The two of them made an odd couple, but it seemed to work.

1.   At the time, Becky was living with her mom, Diane and her step father, Steve.

1.   The family was mostly good.  I mean, there were issues with Steve as the step-dad sometimes.

1.   If he would discipline he would get the old, “You're not my dad” thing from Becky.

1.   All of that is rather normal though.  Nothing you would see as odd.

1.   In early July though, Steve and Becky were at odds a bit more than normal.

1.   Becky asked if she could just go stay with her friend Jaclyn for a few days, to get away and let the two of them calm down.

1.   Her mom agreed that it was a good idea.

1.   On Tuesday July 13 1993 Jaclyn and her boyfriend went for a walk and Becky stayed at Jaclyn’s house.

1.   When the couple returned home, they found a note from Becky that just said Went to talk to Robbie

1.   Later that day, Jaclyn receives a call from Robert.  He is asking Jaclyn if she knows where Becky is.

1.   Of course she doesn't know…Becky is supposed to be with him (robert)

1. Robert simply tells her that Becky never showed up and he was looking for her.

1.   Jaclyn and Todd (her boyfriend) discover that Becky left all of her propers.  Her purse, cigarettes and stuff.

1.  It’s now Wednesday and  at this point, Diane has not laid eyes on Becky since Monday night and she is going to call Becky’s mom, Diane. 

1.  Diane called the police and reported Becky missing.

1.  The news ran with the story the next day.
2.   Diane handed over the note from Becky to police and they went to talk to Robert immediately.

1.   Robert said he never saw Becky that night.  His alibi was that he worked and then went hunting with his cousin

1.   He did admit to having sex with her a few times.

1.   Robert even took a polygraph test and passed it.

1.   He also duped 3-4 investigators.

1.   Jeff is questioned and they don’t really find out a ton from him, just details of the day.

1.   When Jaclyn is questioned, they find out a lot more.  She explains that Becky is pregnant with Robert's baby.  She helped Becky buy the test and they did it all together.

1.   The investigation continues and one of the next suspects is going to be the step-Dad.

1.   After all, Becky was staying at Jaclyn’s house because she wasn’t getting along with Steve.

1.   Steve gets loads of pressure from the police, and he refuses to take the polygraph test.

1.   Steve had not gone to work that day and I don’t believe he had a good alibi.  

1. When people of the area heard of that, they really had suspicions that Steve was the one who took Becky.

1.   Meanwhile, Diane is doing everything possible to find her daughter.

1.   They are making fliers and passing them out. She calls the police department every single day for updates.

1.   Search teams were put together to hunt through the difficult michigan terrains to look for Becky,

1.   On only one day did Robert help pass out fliers in Niles.  

1.   Other than that, he stayed away from her family and never talked to them.

1.   None of the searches helped find Becky.

1.    3 months after the public hanging of Steve, Diane came home to an empty house.  He left her.  12 years of marriage and he bailed.

1.   Suspicion was on Steve, it all looked pretty bad.  They had no proof though.

1.    The investigators continued to follow up leads and kept the investigation open but there just wasn’t much to go on.

1.   June of 1995, Robert graduates from Brandywine high

1.   He moves to Ohio to attend some technical school.

1.   He would return home to Niles on the weekends to be with family and friends and his girlfriend, Angela.

1. Robert was dating Angela the school year before the summer of 93.  She went away for the summer and this is when Robert and Becky hooked up.

1.   Angela and Robert would get back together in January of 1994.

1. There was still no movement on the case, it had basically gone cold.

1. Until October 4, 1995 when Robert's girlfriend, Angela,  told her parents an awful secret that she had been keeping for Robert.

1.   Her parents called the police that day.

1.    When the police talked to Angela she spilled everything that Robert had told her a year and a half earlier.

1.   Then, she told them where they could find Becky.

1.    They went and found Becky.

1.   Robert was arrested on October 5, 1995.  The very next day.

1.   He gave up and confessed the information concerning the death of Becky.

1.   Becky was pregnant and Robert couldn’t handle the shame.

1.   When he got her to the farm, he wrestled with her and snapped her neck.

1.   He then placed her in a grave that he and his cousin dug the day before.

1.   He covered her up, then put sticks on top and then stacked a wood pile above her.

1.   During the time that Robert was giving his statement to the officer, his dad, Robert the Second stormed into the police department and yelled at Robbie, “Did you kill this girl?”

Robbie replied, “yes.’

Dad;  “Why?”

Robbie:  She was pregnant and I didn’t want to put the family through that.”

Dad:  “So you put us through this?”

1.  Robert Eugene Leamon the Third would be charged with open murder, giving the judge the option to charge him with different verdicts.

1.   During the trial, many people testified on Becky’s behalf.  

1.   Angela, Robert's girlfriend, was the first to take the stand.

1.   When the medical examiner took the stand to testify, we learned that Becky most likely was not dead when Robert placed her in that temporary grave.

1.   Robert buried her alive that night on his relatives farm, then just went on with his life

.

1.   It was revealed that Robert had a co-worker punch in for him that day, giving him his solid alibi.

1.   How he passed the polygraph is beyond me.

1.   The audio tape of Robert's confession was played at the trial and Becky’s mom Diane had to hear every word.  

1.   In all fairness, so did Robert's mom, Kathy.  They both lost their children that day.

1.   Remember how I said that Robert attended Small World when he was young?

1.   His lawyers used a situation from the 1980’s at a time when Robert attended Small World as his defense.

1.   The owner of Small World, Richard Barkman was charged with attempted criminal sexual conduct with a child from the pre-school.

1.   Richard Barkman would spend 5 years in prison.  They never connected Robert to any actual sexual abuse by Richard.  Plus, his mom just never talked to him about it.

1.   After hearing all of the testimonies, the facts, and listening to lawyers go on for hours and hours…for 3 weeks straight, the jury went to deliberate.

1.   It took them 5 ½ hours to decide Robert Eugene Leamon the Thirds fate.

1.   On June 29, 1997 he was found guilty of First Degree murder and was sentenced to life in prison.

1.   Unfortunately, in January of 2020, the family of Becky Stowe was put through it all again.

1.   Supreme court made those damn changes regarding life sentences and juveniles 

1.   Robert has been in jail for 23 years and is headed in for a 2 day hearing regarding his new sentence.

1.   During the hearing Robert claimed he was ashamed & regretful and he finally gave the Stowe family an apology, something he had not previously done.

1.   He was resentenced to 25-60 years with possibility of parole.

1.   Parole he would receive after taking an anti-violence class.  He did take and do a lot of good things in jail…he was a better prisoner than not.

1.   On January 14, 2023 Robert Eugene Leamon the Third walked out of prison and is a free man today.

1.   The next time you see a green ribbon, think of Becky.  It’s what her mom used to raise money for her searches.