When Suicide is Murder
Dan Leach was an asshole with a problem…
62.5%
The Percentage of murders and non-negligent manslaughters solved by American law enforcement agencies in 2012, according to the FBI’s Uniform Crime Report.
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Houstonian Dan Leach made headlines worldwide when he walked into the Fort Bend County Sheriff’s office to confess to murder. The crime itself didn’t draw attention for the grisly details. It was interesting because of the reason behind the confession.
Leach claimed he experienced overwhelming guilt after watching Mel Gibson’s Passion of the Christ.
The news made headlines around the world. It was generally featured in crime sections as something bizarre. In the waxing commentary on the impact of Gibson’s film, few writers noticed that Leach successfully framed murder as suicide.
It’s almost impossible to tell how many people have gotten away with murder by making it look like a suicide. A British dentist successfully killed his wife and his lover’s husband by making their deaths look like a murder-suicide pact. He wasn’t caught until he informed members of his church almost two decades later. Perhaps the most ironic aspect of the case is that one of the victims was an expert crime scene investigator.
