5. Murder and Missteps: The Richard Leavitt Story

Welcome to Episode 5 of 'The Lethal Library!' This week, Dani and Stephanie dive headfirst into the case of Richard Albert Leavitt and the shocking murder of Danette Jean Elg in Blackfoot, Idaho. From the baffling negligence of local police, who ignored glaring clues, to the courtroom circus featuring an inept bailiff and the dramatic testimonies of those close to the case. Uncover the layers of a horrific crime involving an aerospace engineer, a poetry-writing murderer, and the missteps that slowed the wheels of justice. This episode is rich with dark humor, eye-rolls, and more 'WTF' moments than you can count. Great for true-crime aficionados who appreciate a side of sarcasm with their suspense.

Contact The Lethal Library at TheLethalLibrary@gmail.com. Follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok!

Transcript

Dani 0:31

Hello. Welcome back. Welcome to the Lethal Library. This is episode what? Five. I think it's episode five. I think we're at five. I'm excited to tell you this story today. Has some, I'm going to tell you during the research. I was like, Oh, I don't know. But then I was like, are you fucking kidding me?

Stephanie 0:56

So some twists and turns

Dani 0:58

and suspense. Yeah.

Stephanie 0:59

I'm very excited. I don't know

Dani 1:00

if it's suspense, but it was just like, It's an are you, are you kidding me moment, which is, you know, my fave. So,

Stephanie 1:08

me too.

Dani 1:09

Stupid people.

Stephanie 1:12

Or

Dani 1:12

just not even, I mean, of course, stupid people. They're murdering people. but just how do some people's lives end up just being involved in shit? Like, like with Rowe, it's like, Murder after murder after how do people know people fire after fire like so it's kind of there's there's just a little Thing in here and it's just like how does this even happen to a normal person because it's never happened to a person I've ever Known in my entire life. So I'm excited This is the story of Richard Albert Leavitt. Also known as Rick Leavitt. But, you know, for me, he'll just be referred to as Leavitt. Alright,

Stephanie 1:58

Leavitt, what do you got in store for us?

Dani 2:02

On July 16th, 1984, Danette Jean Elg called the police after hearing someone outside of her home in Blackfoot, Idaho. She was really upset and worried, and the police did find signs of attempted entry, but nothing else when they came out to investigate. She told the police that she had suspected Richard Leavitt as the culprit. They left. The next night, July 17th, a 9 1 1 call was placed by a jogger claiming to be Mike Jenkins. He claimed he heard two women fighting and one woman was screaming that she was bleeding from the heart and dying. When the police came out again, To Elk's home. They found the home dark and locked. Okay. So they left. Oh, of course. On July 24th, police went back to check on Danette after receiving a report. She had been missing from work for several days. Danette Elk, 31, was found dead in her bed. She had 15 separate slash and stab wounds and robbery was ruled out. It was determined that she had died several days earlier on July 17th.

Stephanie 3:22

Good job, police! Well, we went there to do like a wellness check because she hasn't showed up for work, but it was dark. There was nobody home, clearly.

Dani 3:32

Yeah. Jogger called saying he heard women fighting and screaming

Stephanie 3:38

and

Dani 3:38

was

Stephanie 3:38

bleeding from her heart and dying. That's what you do when you're bleeding from your heart and dying. You say, someone I'm bleeding from my heart and dying. That's just such a weird phrase. And they go out there and like, house is closed up, must not be home.

Dani 3:51

Obviously, she's just out for

Stephanie 3:52

the night. Bye. Wild.

Dani 3:56

These fucking idiots, dude. Danette was employed at the Idaho National Engineering Laboratory. Ooh. I know. She was the 1982 female graduate of the Idaho State Aeronautical School. The one. The bitch be smart. Yeah. She's awesome. She's working hard. She's doing her thing. Good for her. I mean, I would fail. let alone in, you just think about the times. Oh

Stephanie 4:24

yeah, I'm

Dani 4:25

sure it was terrible. The struggle was real. It had to be. It had to be. so, yeah, she was a go getter. So she was also a fighter, too. Yeah, she was a go getter. the same night, August 17th, that Danette was murdered, Levitt went to the emergency room to treat a cut on the sand.

Stephanie 4:45

Coincidence. So the police have no leads. What a shocker. I mean with how hard they were investigating the 9 1 1 call.

Dani 4:56

And, and the part where Danette said, I suspect Richard Levitt on the first like attempted break in, but they still had no leads.

Stephanie 5:07

As this is wild to me, like.

Dani 5:09

So this was all going on in July, right? Danette was murdered in July. In October, Thelma Wilkins filed a 600, 000 claim against the Bingham County and the state of Idaho. Thelma was the previous roommate of Danette's. Thelma said she had been the victim of harassment and suffered damage to her reputation as a result of the repeated questioning and investigation by police officers in the death of Danette. So they, just totally ignored I think it might be Leavitt breaking into my house from Danette and was like, Let's go after the roommate. This roommate, these, these And I don't blame her. She said that she'd been harassed at her place of business and been kept under surveillance. And so this is October for months. They're like, hunting her.

Stephanie 5:59

They're spending all this time and money surveilling

Dani 6:01

her.

Stephanie 6:02

And looking into her when, likely,

Dani 6:05

Except for the, yeah, not the guy that, You're not looking into him at all? The victim stated, I think this person has tried to break into my house. Are they like friends with him or something? Is there a deep conspiracy? Oh my, Or possibly, stupidity. That's weird. But on December 5th of that year, Richard Albert Leavitt, 26, is arrested for the murder of Danette Elde.

Stephanie 6:37

That took a long time, especially given Considering

Dani 6:40

the circumstances. in 1985, the court date for an arraignment for Leavitt, happened. He pled not guilty. This is just kind of a little, it's not significant to the story, but this had garnered national attention and there was a lot of reporters there and this is a small county in Idaho. Tiny. And the bailiff just freaked out and he actually pulled a gun in a hallway full of television cameras. And he threatened to shoot the cameras. Like, he pulled

Stephanie 7:21

his gun. Wow. So, I'm really starting to get a feeling that this police department, it's just a gut feeling that this police department is struggling hard with the, everything, literally everything. Who does that? Yeah, you're on camera, bro. And that was more rare then.

Dani 7:43

And that he threatened to shoot. Yeah, the cameras. They're allowed to be there. Oh, I just can't even imagine the chaos. He just didn't know what to do, like, there's not just people here paying traffic fines. He should

Stephanie 7:59

definitely have a gun. Give him another gun. He's the type that should have one.

Dani 8:03

Yes. Oh! I kind of think of like, is it Barney Fife? Right? Listen here! Shaken? I'm gonna shoot everyone at your cameras!

Stephanie 8:20

If reporters are scaring you in a courthouse, there's some bigger issues, I, I hope you never have to, I know he's a bailiff, so he spends most of his time there, but it's like, gosh, not doing good with the stressful situations, buddy.

Dani 8:35

No. in May of 1985, Levitt's attorney, Joy Kohler, asked for Levitt to be released on bond, but it was denied. Shortly after the denial, Levitt was hospitalized twice in the same day. How do you do that? Well, you know I know. Like twice in a day? This is amazing. He was first taken to the hospital for a drug overdose. He had to have his stomach pumped after reportedly taking 24 pills that had been prescribed to him. He had saved them up in a cell and took them all at once.

Stephanie 9:12

So this This jail has an issue with their pills. I thought you were going to say he swallowed 24 razors with how pre treatment is

Dani 9:20

just

Stephanie 9:21

in

Dani 9:21

abundance. I'm like, this is still, this is still county jail. We're not to the Idaho State Correctional Center yet. So, he just has

Stephanie 9:28

a handful or two of pills.

Dani 9:30

Okay. They pumped his stomach and returned him back to his cell. But, I don't think that they really cared how good he felt because he ended up falling and he gashed his head. Oh, no. Like, okay, we got the drugs out of you. You might still be a little fucked up. But, bye. You're out. But, yeah, you're not

Stephanie 9:51

going to be spending the day in a hospital bed. This is no vacation, bitch.

Dani 9:55

Bye. Uh, so, yeah, when he got back, he fell because he was probably fucked up. Like, ah, shit, another trip. Two vacations in one day. Uh, you again? Oh, I got a song in my head. Okay. Um, in June, defense attorney Kohler asked for a change of venue due to the publicity. All these people, all these, they're like, let's just change it. It's going to be so much better. It was denied, denied, denied, quit asking for a change of venue. It's. Although, what's his fuck up?

Stephanie 10:36

Uh,

Dani 10:37

they got it instead of Kohlberger.

Stephanie 10:40

Which, there is no venue with those two crimes that you could go to, in my opinion. They are so national. I know. Like, and this one was also national news. People know about it. I know it's not like a viral thing probably back then. There's probably people that hadn't heard of it or whatever, but you'd struggle to find somewhere where no one has ever heard of like

Dani 11:03

Well, ask Barney Fife, man. Cameras were in the courthouse. It was being spread like wildfire.

Stephanie 11:10

The bailiff was just trying to help the case. He's like, you're gonna get us a change of venue.

Dani 11:15

Too many cameras.

Stephanie 11:16

I'm sure that's what he was thinking.

Dani 11:17

so in September, The, the trial begins. The one time roommate of Danette, Thelma, the one who was like, quit harassing me, you dicks, I didn't do it. Yeah. Testified, Danette had a drinking problem, um, this is, this is This irritates me, by the way, what I'm going to tell you. Okay. Um, I mean, yeah, the drinking problem, whatever, who cares, right? And, but the next part is so irrelevant, but this is so 1984. Let's hear it. Uh, so Thelma testified that Danette had a drinking problem and liked watching X rated movies with friends.

Stephanie 11:58

No. Scandal. In the tiny town of Blackfoot, you Oh my god. I am clutching my pearls.

Dani 12:07

It's like, really? Go get her, girl. Go watch you some porn. Well,

Stephanie 12:10

and what a not good friend and roommate. Why do you need to even say that?

Dani 12:17

It was probably the defense attorney that dragged it out of her or something. Trying to make Trying to, trying to, again, it's victimizing the victim again, and it's just completely unnecessary.

Stephanie 12:29

Because obviously, if you're watching a porno with a friend or friends, you can get murdered about it. That's, totally makes it okay.

Dani 12:39

There's some weird things going on with Thelma though, as well. It just, I don't know how I feel about it. I want your opinion.

Stephanie 12:49

Okay.

Dani 12:50

Thelma also testified Leavitt had approached her. With a proposed way of having Danette arrested. Why? That's what,

Stephanie 13:00

mm.

Dani 13:01

Danette was on probation for a DUI and was serving weekends in the Blackfoot jail. So maybe she did have a little bit of a, you know, drinking problem, but she's paying her

Stephanie 13:11

time.

Dani 13:11

Yeah, but she's doing her time. I don't understand this, this next part. And I just couldn't, I can't, I still can't even wrap my head around it. Thelma said, Levitt suggested he try to convince his wife's father, Idaho State Police Officer Doug Griffiths, to arrest Danette for driving without a license because she was probably driving back and forth to work to INL. Um, but also why? What is this conspiracy? Why are they trying? How do they

Stephanie 13:46

know each other?

Dani 13:49

They're all just kind of in a group, a friend group thing.

Stephanie 13:53

Friend group, okay.

Dani 13:54

And I, I imagine there was drugs.

Stephanie 13:58

It's a very small town. It is a very small town. Blackfoot is tiny. So, you know people that you don't even want to know.

Dani 14:04

But I don't understand the reason that they were trying to get Danette arrested. Or I don't understand either Thelma's reasoning, Levitt's reasoning, that has never come to light through my research. it's

Stephanie 14:22

probably either money, sex, some type of lover's thing, or

Dani 14:29

I don't know. It's just kind of weird.

Stephanie 14:31

Don't you

Dani 14:31

think?

Stephanie 14:32

Yeah, like, why are you I'm like,

Dani 14:33

why, why would they, why would they be trying to get her arrested? Thelma also testified that she had moved out around July 10th after a disagreement with Danette over household chores. Hmm. Interesting timing. But I also bet you it was more than household chores because Thelma stated that she and Danette were lovers. During the cross examination. I

Stephanie 14:57

knew it.

Dani 14:58

which, you know, 84, that that was shocking. Oh my god, lesbians! Lesbians! Gay people! Shut the fuck up. You know that it was just like, Oh, I'm

Stephanie 15:13

sure in a small town, I bet that was not fun.

Dani 15:18

Who fucking cares? Watch porn, be a lesbian. Do you? Who cares? But in 1984, small town, Idaho, big,

Stephanie 15:31

everyone cared deeply

Dani 15:32

that it was in the newspaper. Oh, shit. They were lovers. Lovers. Uh.

Stephanie 15:38

They were roommates.

Dani 15:40

Have you been watching the Paloma stuff on Tik

Stephanie 15:46

Tok? Yeah. I love it. I don't watch it. I don't follow. So I've obviously missed some episodes, but I just love the production and the music. I'm

Dani 15:56

so fucking digging the music. And I

Stephanie 15:58

love when people are posting things like this would be in Paloma's house. And they, when they find like a very eighties, like Clearly this was a dresser, but also a coke table. Like Paloma would have loved this.

Dani 16:11

So it just reminded me of that because it's so scandalous.

Stephanie 16:15

Yes, the scandal, the drama.

Dani 16:19

Um, would occasionally become jealous when Danette would pay attention to other men or women. There! They were

Stephanie 16:28

lovers! They were lovers and roommates.

Dani 16:31

Blood evidence was presented to the court. Blood found splattered on the walls, floor, and ceiling matched both Danette and Levitt. Danette had Type A and the presumed killer had Type O. Blood and Bradley from the Idaho Forensic Lab found eight Distinct properties in the type O blood that matched Leavitt because I was like this is 84 the reason I

Stephanie 16:55

before real DNA Yeah,

Dani 16:56

I'm like, oh, okay type O blood, you know But I put that in there because it's like no there was some distinct properties than just type O blood that matched Leavitt So it's not DNA, but there was definitely some properties there that matched Leavitt.

Stephanie 17:12

Okay, so

Dani 17:14

Pathologist Robert Ramsey, trigger warning, this got, Robert Ramsey testified a hole had been cut in Danette's lower back and her reproductive organs were removed.

Stephanie 17:29

No.

Dani 17:31

This was not, she was, she was mutilated by this,

Stephanie 17:35

yeah, by this

Dani 17:36

guy. I know at the beginning, it's like slashed and cuts, but like he mutilated her body.

Stephanie 17:42

And that is so like. Not common. You know, I mean, I've heard of someone getting, again, trigger warning, like a breast cut off or something, but to take the reproductive organs, that is very distinct and different and off the charts. It was a horrific

Dani 18:03

crime.

Stephanie 18:05

Sounds like it. I feel bad for the people that had to find this days later.

Dani 18:10

Days.

Stephanie 18:11

Ooh.

Dani 18:14

One person testified while hunting with Levitt, he watched him mutilate a deer's sex organs while dressing it. It was similar to how Danette was mutilated.

Stephanie 18:24

That is so gross. Dude of like he basically practiced this on an animal and you know We we our family hunts and everything just to do that when you're hunting to do weird things again hurting animals

Dani 18:42

Big huge big huge

Stephanie 18:44

and for no reason like there's no reason you would ever need to specifically be like I want the steers uterus. Are you kidding me? Right weirdo.

Dani 18:55

Did you say it steers uterus? You

Stephanie 18:57

A deer, a deer is you.

Dani 18:58

Oh, I was like. Hey. I'm so sorry. I was like. Does Stephanie know what a

Stephanie 19:08

steer is?

Dani 19:09

Should we correct that? I'm sorry, I was trying to find my page. I was wondering why you were looking

Stephanie 19:14

at me like that. I was like. I was like, do deers not have a uterus? Now do I sound stupid because a deer has like a very special, like, different part?

Dani 19:24

Oh, I'm so sorry because I was listening, but I was trying to find my spot, so. I'm so sorry. Well, did you say a steer?

Stephanie 19:38

You said staff. Can we talk about steers? I'm gonna hold my, hold your hand while I say this.

Dani 19:43

They don't even have balls. I wouldn't have known that. I love you so much. Okay, this is, okay. Drink break. The prosecutor also claimed the 911 call made by the jogger was Leavitt.

Stephanie 20:04

Wow, they really did a lot of investigative work, finally.

Dani 20:10

Yeah, that was bullshit. A former acquaintance of Levitt, who was an ambulance driver, testified that Levitt had contacted him and asked, how long does it take a dead body to smell?

Stephanie 20:25

If you are an ambulance driver, and you get that call from someone, are you immediate? I would immediately phone the police. I'd be like, listen, this person's my friend, but

Dani 20:37

And like, and then also, we know what a tiny town Blackfoot is, so for somebody to be murdered A few weeks later after somebody asked me like somebody say dots connect them, please. Yeah So, how long do you think the police will take to look for a missing person and then somebody shows up missing? I'm calling the popo.

Stephanie 21:02

Yeah,

Dani 21:02

right there. Like

Stephanie 21:03

oh, yeah I do remember Ricky Levitt was asking me about dead bodies But that was I mean everyone does that

Dani 21:09

everybody asked me that as an ambulance driver because endured

Stephanie 21:12

You

Dani 21:14

I'm not here to save lives as an ambulance driver. I'm here to find dead bodies. No!

Stephanie 21:20

Very strange.

Dani 21:23

Levitt claimed when he was arrested that he had cut his hand on a fan. Remember he had a little trip to the emergency room? Okay. But when Levitt testified in court, He said he actually cut his hand trying to stop his wife, Kathy, from committing suicide when he had grabbed her razor blade from her.

Stephanie 21:46

A hero. He's, guys, thank goodness he was there to stop that.

Dani 21:52

He said his wife is trying to commit suicide after learning Levitt had an affair. Mmm. Juicy. A letter from his mistress was introduced into evidence.

Stephanie 22:07

Who's the mistress? Paloma.

Dani 22:11

Unimportant. But he was sleeping around. And it wasn't,

Stephanie 22:16

the victim.

Dani 22:17

No. And I think she even testified in court. I didn't take notes on that. Uh, I just wondered. It was a true thing. that he was having an affair. Oh, busy guy. Super busy killing people, sleeping

Stephanie 22:34

with other people, being a jogger, being an actor, calling his friends about how much a body stinks when it's dead.

Dani 22:40

Just curious,

Stephanie 22:41

just curious, curious guy.

Dani 22:43

to address the blood evidence, LUT claimed to have had a nosebleed on July 10th

Stephanie 22:51

ceiling, Annette's house on the ceiling, sir,

Dani 22:54

and wiped it up with some of Danette's clothes that were lying on the floor. Now, remember. The 10th is when Thelma moved out.

Stephanie 23:03

And who, if you're in someone's house, if I got a nosebleed, would you be like, Oh yeah, Steph's just running to my hamper to grab my clothes for it. Oh no, this is, this is, he, it gets deep. He was saving someone from a suicide, probably too.

Dani 23:21

Levitt stated that he went to Danette's house that night to warn her Thelma was setting her up to be arrested while driving without a license. Drug. There's drugs. There is drugs. So bad in this. I don't care. Drugs. While there, Thelma showed up and Danette told Levitt to hide. And that's when he had the nosebleed. He went to her closet and hid from Thelma. Because he was telling on Thelma. Which, wasn't it Levitt's idea? Anyway. Uh, to call his father in law. Um, Anyway, he just picked up some of her clothes that were on the floor, because he was scared of Thelma.

Stephanie 24:04

This is a very interesting story.

Dani 24:06

Everybody's so creative. Ha ha ha ha ha. Very good

Stephanie 24:09

imagination here.

Dani 24:12

Everybody's so creative, I love that. a handwritten letter. Levitt's, uh, Uh, To Love It's Wife was also presented in court. It was found among papers in a cell. What do they call that? When they go into your cell and rummage through everything?

Stephanie 24:27

Like a cell check.

Dani 24:28

Yeah.

Stephanie 24:28

And they could, they turn everything upside down. So,

Dani 24:31

during a cell check, I bet you these small town cops just dug it. He probably didn't, they probably didn't have a reason. Barney Fife's in there. Just for fun.

Stephanie 24:40

Oh yeah. Let's go, let's go flip this bitch up! Let's go! Well, and I wonder how effective they were, because I mean with all the things they did. But they do go over and they tip, tipped over their trash can. They're like, nothing's in here.

Dani 24:52

Nothing's in here. We're

Stephanie 24:54

good boys. Nothing to see

Dani 24:55

here guys. Did you see the camera? Um, the handwritten letter was presented in court. It was found among the papers in a cell, in the eight pages, laid out, love it, state of the events, days before the murder, he said, to his wife. Quote, be sure you memorize this, especially the times, because if our times are not right, they won't believe our story, and I'll get convicted. He told her to say she noticed blood around his nose, And she had asked him what had happened. So, this is

Stephanie 25:39

This man cheated on you. If you are taking requests and demands from jail, ma'am, no. Mm mm.

Dani 25:48

So that's how, you know, she just was confirming the July 10th nosebleed. Sure, sure, sure. Um, in the closet when Thelma showed up. it also said to read it until she gets it down pat. Mm Interesting. But she never got it because it was in his cell.

Stephanie 26:06

No, and I mean, obviously his story, just, just the audacity. So they, he had to have known that his letter was found before trial, right? Because it was found before trial. Yeah, it was

Dani 26:20

admitted to him. Why

Stephanie 26:21

would you even say that

Dani 26:22

in trial? What? No, I'm sure it was something like, Oh, it's just reminding her of the times. Because it's very important. It was very important. That's what your attorney's for, dumbass. I watched Clueless this weekend. Dumbass! Dumbass! I'm taking the dog, dumbass! Is that Clueless? Legally Blonde. Thank you, Jesus. Okay, but I do love

Stephanie 26:51

Clueless.

Dani 26:53

I almost watched that, but I opted for the Legally Blonde. I was very ill, and I was

Stephanie 26:59

You needed movies and rest.

Dani 27:01

I did. And I watched more movies in the last week than I have probably watched in the last two years. It was fantastic.

Stephanie 27:09

But now, you look like the 4th of July.

Dani 27:13

Makes me want to Want a hot dog real bad. Okay.

Stephanie 27:16

Oh, Jesus.

Dani 27:18

well, all that evidence took the jury to deliberate for only five hours before they found Levitt guilty of first degree murder on September 25th.

Stephanie 27:29

I mean, I'm sure they want to do their due diligence, but it does surprise me that it's still five hours, because if I walked into that jury room, I'd be like, are we confused? It was, they probably had lunch. They're like, we won't get our lunch if we, if we only, we have to do at least two and a half hours, because then we get a break for lunch, and they're ordering, like, two and a half hours. Subway today. I love Subway.

Dani 27:54

I would be very interested to see the restaurants that were available in Blackfoot 1984. There's probably two. But I bet you they had a damn good cafe. A good cafe, a good diner. Those small towns. Um. In October, the defense attorneys asked for a mental evaluation to try to mitigate the possible life sentence Leavitt is facing. Okay. Possible life sentence? What about the death penalty? Yeah, that's interesting. In November, Kathy Leavitt, Leavitt's wife, 23, is facing perjury charges. Oopsie, Kathy. Prosecutor said. Shh. Is that your man? It's my man and I'm sticking with him. In November, Kathy Love at 23. is facing perjury charges. Prosecutors say she lied under oath about how Levitt cut his hand. The only wit So, that's coming up for Kathy, but we're at the, we're at the sentencing hearing for, for Levitt. Okay. The only, I just, bad attorneys. I'm just gonna say this. Uh oh. I mean, it just, the only witness at the sentencing hearing Before Judge George was a psychologist, David Groberg, he testified Leavitt has an intermittent explosive personality disorder that causes uncontrollable rage. Groberg also stated Leavitt was a dangerous person that should not be allowed back in society because he's liable to commit the same acts he's committed before. This is where your defense attorney has another psychologist that disputes, because I haven't

Stephanie 29:53

heard of this.

Dani 29:56

No, no, that was it. He didn't call anybody.

Stephanie 29:58

Explosive personality disorder. It's 1984. They're like, we're just making it up as we go. And I feel like, with, with what we know, it's like, no, that's just being an awful man. Like, most awful men have this.

Dani 30:14

But for his defense attorney not to get another psychologist up there to Yeah, and he's just like, oh, okay. Okay. Good. Well, I guess my client's a D bag. You

Stephanie 30:23

hired the pro. What am I to say?

Dani 30:27

There probably isn't another psychologist in

Stephanie 30:29

Bingham County either. He's probably done with this. Is he also a deputy at the police department? He's like, they told us. They have a professional shrink up here. So, that's

Dani 30:41

who we're gonna use. Sorry

Stephanie 30:42

bud.

Dani 30:44

We're just gonna roll the dice and see what he says. On December 19th, Leavitt was sentenced to death. So much for that mitigating the life sentence. I'm sorry. Love it was sentenced to death. Judge H. Reynolds George stated that this was a vicious attack, which it was. And that Levitt was a threat to society. It was a very

Stephanie 31:13

malicious, cruel murder. Completely brutal and for what reason? That is just repulsive to me to think of. Someone, well of course killing someone is already bad. But he knew her. But thinking of someone slicing someone up for some surgery like that, like, it's not a surgery. But like, to slice someone up that way and then it was gone, right? Where did it go? Yeah. Where is it? Like, that's so strange. Sick fuck shit. So gross, gross, gross, gross, gross.

Dani 31:52

After he was sentenced to death, all of it did was shout Merry Christmas to his family.

Stephanie 32:00

What?

Dani 32:03

As he left the courtroom. Okay. So you know, here it comes, the dreadful fucking appeals. Appeals on appeals on appeals on appeals. So I'm gonna, I'm gonna go through, some of these just kind of, I don't hit on everyone, but. So in 86, it was automatically appealed, it's a death penalty. But in May of 86, Kathy Leavitt pled guilty to perjury.

Stephanie 32:33

Because you did it, Kathy. If, if your, if your little husband, did he even tell you that his letter was found? Is that why she did it? I feel like any woman would be like, well they found your letter where you're telling me to, like, exactly what to say and to memorize it. Like, I feel like if I say it, that, wouldn't that be weird? Kathy, come on. You should have got your shit together.

Dani 32:57

She admitted to lying to protect her husband. In the plea deal, she was sentenced to three years probation. Which, is fine. Her, I mean, It was, it wasn't like her evidence was detri Like her testimony was detrimental to anybody. It was insignificant. Because it was

Stephanie 33:17

so, it was so stupid. Easily, easily broken. I do, I do feel like she should have got at least a little time. Because there's cases like this where people do lie, and it is consequential, because they don't have a letter detailing exactly how she should lie, you know? Well, in

Dani 33:32

1984, women were just stupid, and they had to follow their husbands and

Stephanie 33:37

rules. I mean, kinda, yeah. So, alright, Kathy, enjoy your probation, you weirdo.

Dani 33:45

Okay, here's a fun fact for you.

Stephanie 33:47

Ooh, I'm excited.

Dani 33:48

In 1987, while in prison, Levitt was awarded the Golden Poet Award by the World of Poetry Organization out of San Francisco from over 2, 000 entries. Okay, what,

Stephanie 34:05

are you going to read the poem?

Dani 34:08

I haven't.

Stephanie 34:11

I think we'll be the judges, because we are poetry experts, we've. Do you want me to read it? Okay. Is it actually good?

Dani 34:20

Let me read it.

Stephanie 34:21

Okay, let's read it. We gotta hear it now.

Dani 34:24

The Golden Potemkin. Award is to Poets what the Academy Award is to Actors. Poetry editor Edie Lou Cole said, it is the highest honor World of Poetry is able to bestow upon poets.

Stephanie 34:39

Is that true? Why have I never heard of it?

Dani 34:44

Well, it's in the

Stephanie 34:45

newspaper, Stephanie. Isn't it like what, what's one of the literary ones, is it a Pulitzer? Yeah, no, this is no Pulitzer. Okay, well then don't say it's the, the Oscars or whatever. Who said that? It's the

Dani 35:01

poetry editor, Eddie Lu. Eddie Lu. Cutely chat. The awards are presented in Las Vegas during their third annual poetry convention, but somebody's not gonna make it. But let me tell you, let me read you, let me read you his poem, Plenty of Beauty. I heard some people talking about the world today. They were saying it was ugly as they hurried on their way. I thought to myself, why don't they stop and look around? Because there is plenty of beauty just waiting to be found. There's the beauty of an eagle with its wings spread in flight, and that of a mountain at the first break of light. There is beauty of a flower as it basks in the sun, and that of the deer or the elk as they run. There's the beauty of squirrels, Gathering nuts in the dark, and that of the horizon, just before dark. There is the beauty of a rainbow, with its colorful stripes, and that of the fruit, as it just gets, getting ripe. There's all kinds of beauty in most living things, and it's in the color and fragrance that each of them brings. So if you think the world's ugly, stop and look around. You'll find there is plenty of beauty just waiting to be found.

Stephanie 36:38

It was really tough for me to hold it together with that. I'm so sorry. That is I read it fucking beautifully though. You read it beautifully and it would make a great children's book. If you, if, if you like were making your first children's book, sure, sure, sure, sure. Knowing the great poets. That have, like, escaped way before this. It was their third annual award ceremony. They're calling this an Oscar? I gotta talk to Eddie Lu immediately. I know, maybe they're not here anymore. Eddie Lu, this alone. This alone. You piss me off. Fuck you, Edie! Get out of here. Okay, so Audience, what do you think? I want to hear about that poem. Because I've taken some like, literature classes when I was in college, and I'm like

Dani 37:30

My favorite was when he rhymed dark with dark.

Stephanie 37:37

Man, the mental acuity needed a genius brilliant. Oh my god. I'm so glad that we decided to read that because I just because you know, I was like, maybe this is going to be deep and be like, oh, wow, just like a very like make you feel like existential like. Uh, a crazy perspective or some interesting writing. That was ass.

Dani 38:05

Thank you. So we are in 1989. In May, the Idaho Supreme Court ruled to uphold Leavitt's conviction but overturn the death sentence. Okay. The high court stated Judge George had failed to weigh mitigating circumstances which have made warranted a life sentence. A resentencing hearing was held in December. Lovett's mother testified about how his, Lovett's relationships with both of his sons have been growing and improved. Which probably means he was a shitty dad, because he was probably doing

Stephanie 38:54

drugs.

Dani 38:55

I mean, I'm just a lot of assuming, but Reading

Stephanie 38:59

between the lines here. Yeah.

Dani 39:01

and a woman who had been communicating with Lovett for quite some time stated his poetry was uplifting and encouraging to her when she felt down.

Stephanie 39:11

Did she? I'm so sick of this fucking poetry. I'm sorry. I know. Girl, get out of here. Go get yourself a book from the library. Stop.

Dani 39:25

Go get you some Paloma Diamond. Diamond Paloma. Wait, is it Paloma Diamond? Paloma Diamond. Valen Mathe, Danette's sister, heads up the push for a victim's rights amendment. Get it? Fucking girl. Not kidding. This is bullshit. She was excluded from most of her sister's trial because the defense had subpoenaed family members.

Stephanie 39:56

Oh, so they didn't even get to like, see or be

Dani 39:58

there? No!

Stephanie 39:59

Oh, damn.

Dani 40:00

So the Victim's Right Amendment would allow for family to contest the subpoena and ask the judge to be present. If they really, if a fam, I don't even care if they testify, like, if, I feel like, They almost should have pre testimony or something like that. I think that family members should absolutely be able to sit in over anyone else. And what a dick of a defense. The defense did it on purpose. The sister really had nothing important to say. I don't even recall reading any of her testimony. But as soon as they're subpoenaed, they can't sit in on their own family member's trials. Go fuck yourself. Good for her. Ugh. 1990. February. Leavitt was once again sentenced to death and is resentencing. And here we go with another appeal. In November of 1990, the Idaho Supreme Court upheld his death penalty conviction. And this is where I'm going to take you on a little side trail. I'm excited. we're going to go back to 1977. Oh. Okay. Okay. 18 year old Kurt Corneliuson's body was found on Sunday, July 25th, 1977 near Blackfoot, Idaho. He was shot behind the left ear with a 38 caliber handgun. Kurt was last seen on Saturday at a Blackfoot, Idaho residence. Later that week, the authorities announced that they were seeking a 22-year-old man, Robin James LaPage, as a suspect in the shooting. LaPage escaped from the state hospital south of Gooding, Idaho on July 23rd, along with a 15-year-old juvenile. Oh, LaPage was sent to the hospital for a mental evaluation after he was arrested and charged with a total of 19 burglaries. Police placed a warrant out for LePage on first degree murder, five counts of burglary, and one charge of grand larceny. The information given by the juvenile accused LePage of burglarizing the Spudnik Equipment Company and stealing a pickup from Valley Equipment Company on July 23rd, which is so Blackfoot, Idaho, right? All this, all this farming community. The youth also stated that Kurt was shot while he was hitchhiking home. LePage and the youth met Kurt and his friend Richard Leavitt at a party that night the authorities quickly found LePage He was in Spokane on a federal charge of unlawful flight to avoid prosecution He waived extradition So the sheriff went to get him while there the sheriff discovered LePage had failed to sign the waiver of extradition Okay, the sheriff came home empty handed But LePage was returned to Idaho and booked into the Blackfoot jail a few days later. He's like, oh, this was a wasted trip. Fuck. God, I'm gonna go home. I'll be back. I forgot the one thing to get him to say it. The one fucking thing I needed. Shit. He said he was gonna come. Fuck. We had a verbal agreement. It's on a handshake, bro. Kurt's family files a lawsuit against the hospital claiming the hospital should have known LePage was dangerous. And should have kept him secured. This was eventually dismissed. Of course. And I even have this in my notes. I want to, there are several incidences of people escaping this mental hospital. And I might do a little, tiny, Mini sode. Mini sode on that, Because I just, I could have went through the trenches with this. Problematic. Oh. Basically, they had no sec they're like, Oh, you're in jail, but we're gonna take you to get a mental eval. And then they were just like placed in a hospital.

Stephanie 44:16

Were we

Dani 44:17

supposed to

Stephanie 44:17

like watch him or something? He's in here for what? Who? We don't even, we don't even have the check in paperwork done and he's escaped. It was

Dani 44:29

fucking 80s and 70s. What do you want me to do? We're supposed to watch. Oh, he was in jail and you're just okay. Well, you know. So I feel, I do feel that that was a valid lawsuit against My fucking kid was killed because you neglected to keep this guy under wraps who was obviously, a bad person. He, he was 19, 19 burglaries? That's excessive. And then at what point? And, uh, well, I want to know who decided, uh, well, he's, he's a thief, so he must be mentally ill. Let's just, let's go get that eval. Shut the fuck up. He was, rant over. In 1978, during the first trial, Dr. Edward E. Fisher testified Kurt had died from a head hemorrhage caused by a bullet wound. During the autopsy, evidence of sexual assault was also found. The trial only lasted two days and LePage was found guilty of first degree murder. Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty. LePage was eventually sentenced to life in prison plus 15 years. In 1981, the Supreme Court ruled it was a flagrant violation of LePage's rights. The actual, the actual violation was the rights of a man accused of murder to place a paid informant in LePage's cell to solicit a statement from him. So they put somebody in his jail cell, paid him to try to get him to talk. Yeah.

Stephanie 46:34

That's dirty bird stuff.

Dani 46:35

In 1993, LePage asked for DNA testing, for DNA testing, hoping this will help him gain release because he's denied doing this. Okay. DNA tested showed it was not LePage's semen found on the body. But the judge, James Herndon, said, Ech, doesn't mean that he didn't kill Kurt. He just didn't rape him. He just didn't rape him. In April, so five years later, in April 1998, LePage's attorney asked the judge permission to compare semen from Leavitt to a sample found on Kurt's body. Why? Leavitt was the last person to see Kurt alive. Lovett testified during LePage's trial, the other person to testify against LePage was the 15 year old escapee who was later identified as John Messonese III. Messonese testified he saw LePage shoot Kurt and then was asked to help load the body into the truck, which he refused. But he testified that Kurt was shot in the front of the head. Well, evidence showed that Kurt was shot behind the head. So we're getting

Stephanie 47:51

this.

Dani 47:51

Yeah. Also, the only fingerprints found in the truck were those of Messonese. And those were found on the driver's side of the truck.

Stephanie 48:00

Hmm. Never had a passenger before in your life?

Dani 48:05

I just feel like it's very messy and not clear. They're taking testimony, from a 15 year old escapee. who doesn't want to get in trouble and Levitt, who is not at the time, but is still a convicted murderer, who I'm pretty sure did drugs. so, but here this guy is like really trying, I mean, he's fighting for the DNA evidence. He always maintained his innocence. And to be, this, to be so ballsy, to be in jail for all those years and then all of a sudden here comes DNA rolling around and he's like, let's go. I want DNA testing. Do you think that maybe somebody else did it?

Stephanie 49:01

I do.

Dani 49:05

conveniently, in 1999, despite his life sentence plus 15 years, LePage is released on parole after 20 years behind bars. Oh my god. I think it was 22 years. In 2000, Leavitt's DNA was tested, but was not a match either.

Stephanie 49:25

LePage

Dani 49:29

was still fighting for a new trial up until 2004, which was eventually denied. He was adamant. He wanted this off his record. Yeah. So, I'm just saying, Levitt murdered somebody, but also was the last person to see somebody that was murdered. And the people who were suspected of murdering him, their DNA was not a match. Makes you think. Makes you think. So that was my little

Stephanie 50:04

I'm glad that you brought that up. A little side swoop. Just because. It also brings light to how many people are wrongfully convicted. Yeah. it's wild, especially from this era. Oh. And imagine how many way before this, when they didn't even have a way to test blood types, where you, they're like, looks like your blood to me, you bleed kind of like that.

Dani 50:28

In the year 2000, Levitt's conviction is overturned by the ninth US District Court Judge Windmill. Due to a jury instruction that may have in insinuated big word for me, kids levitt's guilt, uh, the instruction in question was given what was called protect the innocent language, which could have been confusing, misleading, and ambiguous, and could have insinuated levitt's guilt. I looked this shit up. I couldn't find what the instructions were. I couldn't find I even googled what that meant. Nothing. So, sorry. I wanted to know. But there

Stephanie 51:10

was something that the Supreme Court said this could lead a jury pool to believe that they have to do XYZ when that shouldn't be there. Right. But I want to know what

Dani 51:18

he said. But I couldn't find it. I was so pissed. Give me the deets. Uh, I know Attorney General's office. I was asking the judge to reconsider the decision, in 2004. Levitt's conviction overturned again because a sentence was imposed by a judge and not a jury. And we've seen this time and time again with Idaho death row cases. They were not following the fucking rules, which has led to these years and years and years of appeals and just a nightmare. Just fucking have the jury convict them and sentence them. Both. Thank you. I think we fixed that. Why

Stephanie 51:54

did the judges not know the rules? Or did they know and not care? Who knows?

Dani 51:58

Well, the, the, it wasn't Idaho rules, it, it, it was, Idaho's rules were that a judge could do it. But the federal rule. But the federal rule is like, you can't, it's against the constitution, so. They should have known. It took them a lot of years to fix it, which was fucking stupid. Can't just be like, just have

Stephanie 52:20

the good old boys do it.

Dani 52:21

And this is why we have people sitting on death row for years and years and years. In 2011, the death penalty was reinstated for Leavitt. Okay. And in 2012, Leavitt had been on death row for 26 years, and his last minute appeal was rejected. On June 12, 2012, Leavitt, at age 53, was dead by lethal injection.

Stephanie 52:54

Okay.

Dani 52:55

And I believe he was the last person executed. I think so. Thank you. I'm gonna have to,

Stephanie 53:06

that timeline sounds good to me because I can't remember, but you know my memory.

Dani 53:15

Let me just see. Let's

Stephanie 53:16

verify folks. Stay tuned.

Dani 53:20

I don't death row executions. Yeah! So he's dead.

Stephanie 53:26

The last, so 2012 is the last time Idaho has executed someone on death row, which honestly surprises me because I feel like Idaho wants to be like Texas quite a bit, in my opinion. Like,

Dani 53:44

put them in the chair, firing squad. Yeah, it's showing here that since 1994, there's only been three, and I'm going to tell you why. I mean, I don't know. It's because Idaho fucked up the death penalty through the 70s and 80s, by not following federal law. And a lot of these convictions have been turned to life sentences because of it. So, Not surprising to me.

Stephanie 54:10

With an Idahobian

Dani 54:10

like, but I can do what I want. I do. Catch me outside. Boom. do you wanna catch his hand? Sorry, couldn't help it. So, yeah. I still

Stephanie 54:26

am horrified that he did that. And that they probably never found out where it was, or like, to have parts of you cut out. I mean, I hope that she was dead when this happened, just because who would want to be alive for that? But to have someone desecrate a body so just, it's awful. Abhorrent to me, like.

Dani 54:59

And for the police to take five fucking months to arrest this dick who did the work for you. Uh, Jesus Chri Like, slam dunk. where was Danette said, Oh, yeah, I think that, uh, This guy? That I know, you know, I think he's, she had to have some reason to think that. He tried to break

Stephanie 55:29

in and kill her already.

Dani 55:31

She had to have a reason, and I don't know what the, but you know when you get the ee, the ooo, the eee, you're a creepy fucker. There was

Stephanie 55:41

something going on in all of their lives that made Danette say, I am pretty sure this is who it would be. Whether it was drugs, sex, money, jealousy, whatever. Something.

Dani 55:55

Something happened. And she's like, Oh, I think it's this dude. I think it's this dude. I wish we knew. Oh my gosh, I'm like, eh. Well, I know that somebody attempted to break into your home, but, shh, shh, gotcha later. They didn't say, um, you know, maybe you should go stay at a friend's house, or, you know. Do you have a parent, a family member you can go stay with for a few days? No, and when someone

Stephanie 56:15

tried to report, I think that, it isn't funny, but I, I feel like, he did that fake 911 call several days later, right?

Dani 56:24

The, the day he killed her. The jogger was the day that she died. My heart is bleeding. I'm dying from my heart. Oh no, my heart is bleeding from my heart and I'm dying and it's a woman here killing me. Two women fighting. He was trying to set up Thelma.

Stephanie 56:41

Totally was. What a douchebag. He thought that he had the perfect plan, clearly. Drugs. He thought he was way smarter. Yeah, that's a little bit of that methamphetamine or cocaine, probably cocaine confidence, I'd say.

Dani 56:53

Yeah, 84.

Stephanie 56:55

Yeah, cocaine confidence. Anyway, thank you for telling me. This was a very interesting one for me. And, unbelievable. Totally like a soap opera, It was total soap opera. And there's so much that we don't know about it. I know. I

Dani 57:12

wish I was rich so I could, I just want the court transcripts. They're just so expensive. I would be like, yes please. I will pay the five dollars a fucking page. I want to read the whole damn thing! Ha ha ha ha ha! But, uh, you know, we're not there yet, kids. Maybe.

Stephanie 57:30

Thanks for hanging out with us. Yeah. Hope you guys like this as much as I did. And,

Dani 57:34

uh, like, follow, subscribe, all of those things. Push the

Stephanie 57:39

buttons. Essentially.

Dani 57:40

Tell your friends. Word of mouth is the biggest thing. So, if you like our storytelling, and, we make you laugh a little bit, please tell your friends. If you don't

Stephanie 57:52

like it, write us an email and

Dani 57:56

we'll listen, uh, we'll read it. I love you. You're Audrey. you can get ahold of us at the lethal library at gmail. com. Also, Facebook, Insta.

Stephanie 58:09

Yes.

Dani 58:10

TikTok. We're trying. You're working on it.

Stephanie 58:13

I feel like a boomer with this TikTok, you guys. I'm a constant lurker on TikTok. I've never posted anything, so coming soon to a TikTok. I have faith in her. My dog

Dani 58:23

has a TikTok account. She can do this. I don't know if my dog can do this. Okay, well, he is kind of special. He's a very special dog. I taught him how to do it. No, I'm just kidding. Gordy, post your TikTok, sweetie. Alrighty guys, have a good night. Bye.