Handsome Killer

By B. J. Loft

Sacramento, California 1989. Leon Sherwood arrives home from high school at the end of his junior year and discovers his parents are dead. After the funeral, a court order makes him live with his aunt, Lilly Furman, who is a spinster and considers Leon an annoyance in her life. He began his senior year at a new high school and he dreamed of going to Purdue and majoring in Engineering.

Leon meets Darlene Leftish and they become lovers. When it became time to go to the senior prom, Darlene chose to go with someone else. In a fit of rage, Leon kills her.
His aunt was sure he was guilty of the murder and told the police as much. Leon kills his aunt and leaves town in her car. Over the next six years, he murders twenty-one women.
His handsome looks and charisma lure women to him.

While Leon crisscrosses the country, he commits more murders. The FBI and state law enforcement agencies are hunting for him.

Charlie Evans and Rita Davis went through the FBI Academy together. Charlie helped her get in shape for the physical test. Charlie was assigned to Atlanta and Rita went to Los Angeles. Soon after, Charlie marries his fianc. When his wife gets pregnant, they are ecstatic. But the baby was stillborn and his wife died of heartbreak and cancer. Charlie resigned from the FBI, became a lawyer, and moved to Sacramento. Charlie often flew to Los Angeles on business. On one of those trips, he meets up with Rita. Rita invites Charlie to a meeting with West Coast agents that are looking for a pattern to determine where Leon will strike next. Charlie reads the map and looks at the pins that identify Leons murders. He concludes that there is no answer as to where he will strike next, but he does say that Leon will return to Sacramento.

It takes time for Charlie to overcome the loss of his wife and child, but over the following years, he and Rita become lovers.

• Language: English
• Publisher: iUniverse
• Release date: Oct 19, 2012
• ISBN: 9781475953336

Book preview

Chapter 1

It was a mild June afternoon and there was only one more week of school before summer vacation. Leon Sherwood rode his bike home looking forward to a planned trip to Perdue University. He was good in math and science, and he had already made up his mind to major in engineering.

His father and mother planned to drive him to Lafayette, Indiana to see the campus. Since none of the family had been to the Midwest they decided to make the trip a vacation.

Leon’s day had gone well. He ate lunch with his friends and when he met Lea, he asked if she would like to go to a movie Saturday night, and she said yes. However their date didn’t happen.

When Leon entered his home after school, he found his mother and father dead. He called 911 and between tears and a sobbing voice, he reported what he had found.

The next door neighbor reported that when the police entered the house, they put hands over their faces. Some used handkerchiefs.

The house smelled like a butcher shop.

When I saw Leon’s face, the neighbor said, it was red and tears were running down his cheeks. He appeared to be in shock. I heard him trying to speak to the police, but his words were muddled. One officer put his hand on Leon’s shoulder and told him that he didn’t have to explain because he understood.

Friends and neighbors spoke highly of the Sherwood family. Everyone on the block was perplexed by the tragedy. The neighborhood was stunned. Leon struggled to overcome what he had seen when he had entered the house on Harkness Street.

The detectives learned that the three of them belonged to the YMCA. They liked to go camping and during the summer their family spent weekends in Santa Cruz. Leon’s father, Edward, drove a garbage truck for the city, and Mary Sherwood was a homemaker. There were no money problems and very little debt. The question the police asked was why?

They spoke to the priest at the church where the Sherwood’s attended.

Even though Ed rarely attended Sunday Mass, Leon and his mother attended every Sunday. She worked to instill religious values in her son. He was an only child. He had plans to be the first in the family to graduate from college.

* * *

The detectives interviewed Norman Roberts who worked with Ed Sherwood. He told the detectives that Edward had a younger brother named Dubby who had been sent to prison for car theft. Ed’s wife, Mary, never liked Dubby, because she didn’t like her son associating with a criminal. When Ed learned that Dubby had been killed in a prison beat down, he turned irate. I followed him home to intervene and calm him down, but as I was getting out of my car, I heard the shots.

Did you call the police?

Yes.

Neighbors who knew the family well talked to police for hours.

The coroner ruled the deaths a murder suicide.

For Leon, their deaths brought on a sense of dread, and it was the biggest tragedy that he had ever experienced.

As he stood outside, he watched the police stretch the yellow tape around the crime scene. They directed the curious onlookers to move to the opposite side of the street and told news crews to be patient.

Friends, neighbors, and men whom Leon’s father worked with attended the funeral. Leon’s cousin Sheila, her husband Ted, and his Aunt Lilly Furman, attended as well. They were his only remaining relatives.

Sheila stood next to him trying to comfort him.

A week after the funeral, juvenile court, based upon Child Services’ recommendation, ruled that Leon would live with his aunt, his mother’s sister.

He loaded his belongings in the trunk of her car and left the biggest part of his life behind. He would have to complete his senior year at a hew high school in the northwest part of town. Aunt Lilly lived on Exeter Square Lane in Sierra Oaks and the closest high school was Crestmont Park High School.

Leon found a job that summer at Best Western motel located next to the expressway. It was within walking distance of his aunt’s house. His job was to vacuum carpets in the hallways, the lobby, and breakfast area.

That’s where he met Darlene. She worked in the laundry room. She arrived after lunch when housekeeping had finished cleaning the rooms.

Darlene’s parents gave her an allowance, but it wasn’t enough to buy the clothes she liked to wear and to have money in her purse when she needed it.

Things went so well, he left the house early and returned late. He would do anything to stay away from his aunt. He set up the breakfast area in the morning and helped Darlene with the laundry in the evening.

His aunt had been given legal responsibility to manage Leon’s trust. Even though there was plenty of money for college with some left over, she was miserly. Working at the motel helped him earn spending money.

At the start of his senior year, he was cautious going to a new school. He knew it would take time to make friends, and he had a run-in or two and a few fights.

* * *

Leon and Darlene dated and occasionally had sex in one of the Best Western rooms. They dated up until the last few days of their senior year. When Leon asked Darlene if she would be his date for the senior prom, she said no.

That night Leon wanted to talk to her before he went home. He knew the route she took to her house and walked to the edge of the park.

When she walked up to him he asked, Why don’t you want to go to the prom with me?

Because I decided to go with Andy Deerfield. He and his parents have money and they own a farm. I won’t ever have to work in a motel again.?

Leon was hurt and told her, But we have been friends and lovers.

I’m sorry Leon, but our relationship is over.

In desperation he killed her.

Chapter 2

After spending the day investigating the death of Darlene Leftish, Detective Leann Marcus from the Sacramento Police Department finished her preliminary report dated June 1989.

It was an unusually hot day. Normally it would be in the high eighties, but by one o’clock it was 109, just three degrees below the record set at 112 in 1934. Being a police officer in uniform was no fun on days like this.

Darlene’s body had been discovered by a jogger, Alexandria Houser, who ran around McClatchy School Park each morning before going to work. Alexandria liked the cool morning air and always believed the park was safe. Her daily routine included running three laps. Then she would jog home, shower, and go to work feeling refreshed.

On that morning when she discovered Darlene’s body, she froze and looked around to see if she would be next. She coughed up some of last night’s dinner, and then started to run toward home.

Out of breath, she stopped at the first house she came to on 5th Avenue, and pounded on the door. An elderly man answered.

What the hell is going on? Why the fuck are you pounding on my door before daylight?

Her face was pale and there were tears in her eyes.

Call the police! I found a dead girl in the park, she said, pointing in the direction of the school park.

Uniformed police officers were the first ones on the scene. They cordoned off the scene and notified homicide. The crime scene investigators arrived with their cases and cameras. They were responsible for recognition and collection of evidence. The body would be photographed and sketched. If any evidence was found, it would be photographed. The exact position of the body would be measured and noted; and the evidence would be logged, marked, and packaged to establish a chain of custody. And all the while the Darlene’s body would lie where it was found, waiting for the medical examiner.

A prosecutor from the DA’s office watched the investigation.

Outside the yellow crime scene tape people from the neighborhood had gathered to watch.

The crime scene was considered a coroner’s case. Crime scene investigators found no evidence at the scene, and the neighborhood had been canvassed. There were no witnesses to the murder. When the deputy coroner investigator arrived, he searched the scene around the body for any evidence that may have played a role in Darlene’s death. He confirmed her death a homicide. Darlene’s throat had been cut.

The pictures taken showed that her right hand was at her throat as if she had been trying to stop the bleeding, and her left arm was splayed out away from her body. There was the expression of surprise in her eyes.

The body was sent to the morgue and identified, photographed, and given an accession number. The accession number along with her name was recorded on a tag and placed on her big toe.

She was a slender blonde with blue eyes, tall at five-foot-nine.

Detective Arlan Timms spoke with Darlene’s parents. They were overwhelmed with grief. Their daughter’s death had ripped their world apart.

They followed Detective Timms to the morgue and identified their daughter’s body. They looked like their nerves were frayed, and the look on their faces showed their suffering.

Darlene was Bruce and Aldine Leftish’s only child. They loved her dearly, but at times she could be uncooperative. She had just turned eighteen. She received an allowance, but it wasn’t enough, so she went to work after school and weekends at the Best Western.

The police department had mentioned that a man by the name of Leon Sherwood was a person of interest. Now they wondered if he had killed their daughter.

Darlene’s parents remembered that she had mentioned the man’s name a year earlier, after they had read his tragic story in the Sacramento Bee. The article indicated that he had everything going for him, he was a good student, and planned to go to college. The Bee article stated that Leon had arrived home one week prior to summer vacation and found his parents dead. Everyone had felt empathy for him. They knew he would never forget that afternoon, but they hoped he would seek counseling and hold onto his dream of studying engineering at Purdue University.

The cause of Darlene’s death was determined to be from a knife wound. The manner of death was a homicide. The time of death was determined to be between 10:00 p.m. and midnight.

Detective Leann Marcus and Detective John Finney, along with uniformed police officers continued to canvass the neighborhoods surrounding the school park. They took note of their interviews, but there was no evidence traceable to anyone.

Detective Marcus bit her lip when she saw the body. Darlene’s autopsy confirmed she had not been sexually violated, but she had had sex during the last eight hours of her life.

Her killer had drawn a knife blade across her throat, cutting the carotid arteries and the trachea, which caused immediate death.

They tracked down her friends and schoolmates. Her friends were fearful. They learned that Darlene had been dating Leon Sherwood, but she had broken up with him. Her new boyfriend was Andy Deerfield.

One person said, She told him she was going to the prom with Andy.

They asked, Could Leon or Andy have killed her? If not, then who?

Rumors and accusations were traded among them. Their young minds were cluttered with various theories.

Darlene’s picture was on the front page of the Sacramento Bee. The article described an ugly scene. Her friends were stunned after reading about her death.

The detectives picked up both men, drove them to the station, and put them in separate interrogation rooms. The two detectives asked Andy about his relationship with Darlene, and where he was between 10:00 p.m. and midnight.

He said, "We had sex in the back seat of my car. Afterward I planned to drive her home, but she wanted out at the park. After that I drove home. We had made plans to go to the senior prom together.

The detectives drove out to the Deerfield farm and spoke to Andy’s father. His alibi checked out; he was home when Darlene was murdered.

Leon Sherwood became their prime suspect, but there was no evidence, even circumstantial, found to connect him to Darlene’s murder. He never admitted seeing her in the park the night of her death.

* * *

Sherwood remembered hunting with his father. Thinking about Darlene, he remembered as she was sprawled out on the sidewalk, that she had the bewildered look of a dying deer.

Seconds before leaving the scene, Leon had looked down at Darlene’s body and said he was sorry.

He ran to his aunt’s house, his heart pounding, and he was winded. His face reddened, and he was mad at himself for losing control of his emotions. He was stressed and worried about the consequence of what he had done.

He hid the knife in a woodpile behind his aunt’s house. Since it was so late, Leon snuck in through the back door knowing his aunt would be asleep. He removed his clothes and had a shower. He wrapped the bloody clothes and tennis shoes in a plastic bag.

The next morning, he stuffed the bag inside a Best Western laundry bag and tossed it in the Dumpster behind the motel.

He caught a bus to the mall and bought new Reeboks that were identical to the pair he wore the night before. He purchased a pair of Levis and an Ocean Pacific shirt. Before returning home, he removed the labels and tossed the shoe box and labels in a trash can in the men’s room at the mall.

He returned to the motel and stashed the clothes he had worn to the mall and an older pair of tennis shoes that he used to mow the lawn in the laundry room.

People had seen him the afternoon before the murder wearing new Reeboks and new Levis. He had bought them at the mall just a few days before. After vacuuming and cleaning the motel, he put the old clothes and shoes under his arm and walked home.

He hid the clothes and shoes near the back door and then walked around the house and entered through the front door.

Aunt Lilly walked into the kitchen and warmed Leon’s dinner. She set his plate on the table. They shared a few words, but he did thank her for his dinner.

After Aunt Lilly went to bed, Leon retrieved the clothes and shoes. He put the old shoes in the garage near the lawnmower, folded the T-shirt and placed it in his chest of drawers and hung his older pair of Levis in his closet.

Chapter 3

It was the job of the Sacramento Police Department to find out who murdered Darlene and why. It was a puzzle they had to solve.

The police questioned Leon’s Aunt, Lilly Furman. They were surprised to learn that she suspected her nephew in the murder. She was adamant that somehow he was involved.

She offered to let them search Leon’s room, but since he was eighteen, they thought it better to obtain a search warrant.

* * *

Crime scene investigators did a thorough search of Leon’s room and the garage, but they found no evidence linking him to the murder of Darlene Leftish.

Police Captain David O’Shea asked the two detectives if they had found a motive for the murder.

Detective Marcus answered, We think she had a boyfriend that she had broken up with. According to some of the kids in school, he was evidently pissed. But, there’s no evidence to suggest that she had a date or met with him the night of the murder.

No one saw them together in the park, Detective Finney reported. Three of the girls said they liked him because he was so handsome and cool. They doubted that he killed Darlene.

Detective Marcus revealed that the search of the house, his room, and the garage turned up no evidence.

O’Shea had a tense grip on his pen tapping it on his desk. Keep looking.

As he continued to give them orders regarding solving the case, he continued to fiddle with his pen.

* * *

When Aunt Lilly asked Leon again about Darlene, he didn’t answer. He took his time sipping his coffee and watching her. He listened to her accusations. It had been two weeks since Darlene’s death. Leon set his coffee cup down and walked into the kitchen. He picked up a butcher knife and murdered his aunt, stole her car, and left Sacramento.

Her body was discovered the next day by Rosa Kemp, one of her longtime friends.

A second police investigation began. This time they were sure that Leon had committed both murders. Lilly Furman had her throat cut with a kitchen knife. When Leon left, he took his clothes, money from her purse, and his aunt’s car.

His aunt had been found lying on her side between her bedroom and the bathroom. She was fully clothed; her glasses lay near her head. Her throat had been sliced through her jugular vein and right carotid artery.

The first six hours after a murder is critical. Evidence must be found and parameters established to catch the killer. Leon had a day’s head start.

In checking with the court records, there was no evidence of past criminal activities or juvenile issues.

Fingerprints obtained from his room were entered into the Automated Fingerprint ID System (AFIS). There was no record of his fingerprints or criminal history.

* * *

Detective Finney submitted Leon Sherwood’s identity into the National Crime Information Center (NCIS) establishing his initial record. Information about the murders was entered into the National Law Enforcement Teletype System (NLETS). NLETS was developed to be a nationwide interstate communications system allowing for the transmission of critical information between law enforcement agencies.

* * *

One of Lilly Furman’s friends came forward two days after Lilly’s murder. She entered the police department and sat in front of the chief’s desk.

You know I never had any kids, but I don’t think you know that I was very critical of Lilly for the way she treated that boy. I couldn’t imagine how he felt, and I felt sorry for him. On the days we played Bridge, she sent him to his room or kicked him out of the house. I knew little about him because she never talked about him.

Based upon interviews with Lilly Furman’s friends and neighbors, the police concluded that Leon had killed her in revenge for her manipulative treatment. The police report described the circumstances of her death.

The police photographer, Dennis Byron, who had taken pictures of the two murders, had a complicated mix of emotions. Photographs of the bodies flashed frame-by-frame in his mind. One by one their faces, the blood, and the violence registered in his memory. They were his first two homicides.

* * *

Homicide detectives canvassed Sacramento, spoke to friends and neighbors in the neighborhood where Leon and his parents had lived and asked if they had seen or heard from Leon. All of the responses were negative. The police assigned two unmarked cars to patrol the Sierra Oaks area and another car to patrol Harkness Street in Land Park.

* * *

Despite his good guy reputation, detectives were still asking questions.

A neighbor reported, Mrs. Lilly Furman was never married, living the life of a spinster. She had few friends. Those close to her gathered twice weekly at her house to play bridge.

Edith Koch, one of her bridge partners, told police that Lilly Furman was flustered. Leon would wake her up in the middle of the night screaming.

There was no getting used to having Leon in her house. Her nostrils flared over the least little thing involving Leon. He was an annoyance to her.

I’m sure Leon felt trapped. His aunt provided no emotional support or a caring atmosphere. She was pessimistic. Leon probably had had enough, and in desperation, he killed her.

Reading Sherwood’s file, Detective Archer knew that most murders resulted from dysfunctional families. Sherwood didn’t.

His high school counselor stated that his performance was well above average.

He came and talked to me a few times about living with his aunt. His problems of living with her overcame him. He was subjugated into isolation in her house. He told me the bright star in his life was Darlene Leftish, until she let him know he wasn’t up to her standards.

He had murdered two people now, and he had the reputation of being one of the youngest killers on record. There were eight that were younger.

When friends of his family in the old neighborhood read the paper, they were perplexed.

All outward appearances led those that knew him to see him as being judicious. He planned to go to Purdue University and major in engineering. They never suspected he would become a killer.

Detectives drove to the high school. Aunt Lilly had said no to Leon getting a yearbook. The detectives were disgusted that there was a yearbook but no picture of Leon Sherwood.

Chapter 4

After killing Darlene and his aunt, Leon was on the run. His aunt’s car was found at the Baltimore, Maryland airport. He stole a different car and drove west.

He was disgusted with himself and wondered why he let his emotions get the best of him.

When he arrived in Vegas, he called Sheila. She invited him over for dinner, and he said he would drop by in a day or two. He watched their house before calling back and accepting their invitation.

He stayed two days before leaving. Leon knew that if Sheila didn’t know what he had done by now, she would be finding out soon. He moved into a motel on the west end of the strip, and later that evening, he went to the Desert Inn. He stood back and watched men and women play craps.

What are you standing around for, awaiting a turn?

He turned around and saw a lady standing just a few feet away.

I’ve heard so much about this game. I’m watching these people play until I figure it out.

What’s your name? she asked.

Leon Sherwood. What’s yours?

My name is April, April Nevins.

Do you work here?

No, I like to come down sometimes and play craps, she said.

You know how to play this game?

Sure.

Can you show me how to play?

April was about four inches shorter than Leon. She had light brown, curly hair, brown eyes, a tan, and a slender body. She wore brown shorts, a white blouse, and Birkenstocks.

April walked a few feet away from the table. She didn’t want to be rude speaking too close to the table while players were concentrating.

She motioned Leon to come closer. She spoke in a soft voice explaining that there are a variety of bets. The player who rolls the dice is the shooter. If the shooter rolls a seven, he wins. If he rolls a six, followed by a seven, he loses.

She went on explaining the idiosyncrasies of the game.

My philosophy is to wait until the shooter rolls the dice, and if he rolls a six or an eight, then I bet the odds bet. Betting on those two numbers gives you the best chance of winning.

April lived in an upstairs apartment two blocks off the strip. She was three years older than Leon, but he was four inches taller with the muscular body of a full-grown man.

She invited Leon to walk her home and invited him to stay.

That night, April came to him as he slept. At first, he thought he was dreaming, and then he felt the pressure of her body against his. He wrapped his arm around her and she kissed his cheeks and lips.

He felt himself go hard against her. When she felt it, she drew in a gasp of air.

April peeled off her T-shirt and rolled over, naked on her back.

Their lovemaking began. She had small breasts, but she had an unusual amount of bushy pubic hair.

She slipped down and kissed his chest, then ran her tongue along the inside of his thighs. She took him in her mouth. Within seconds, he had come. She swished her tongue in her mouth, lay back, and let him in.

He stayed hard long enough for her to have an orgasm.

Through the day, they went back to the casino and played dice. Later that night, he lay awake in her apartment waiting for her to return.

He heard her car door when she pushed it shut and listened to her steps as she ascended the stairs.

She set bags of groceries on the table. Then she put away the items that needed to be refrigerated. The rest remained in the bags.

She walked to the couch and sat beside him.

He kissed her and moved his hand under her T-shirt until he reached her breast. They lay back on the couch, and when he entered her, she arched her back, and then, relaxing, she wrapped her legs around him.

Later that night, and just before he left, she told him, I don’t really know who you are, but you don’t have to worry. You’re welcome to come back and stay with me anytime.

She didn’t realize that she had just saved her own life.

Leon agreed to meet April at the Sahara.

As Leon was leaving, she answered her ringing phone.

Hi, Mom, she said,