United States teen killed in church attack wanted out

Police knock on the door of the Word of Life church while serving paperwork on a church member on October 15 in New Hartford, N.Y.

In addition, four of the couple’s fellow parishioners were charged with assaulting the teenager’s younger brother, Christopher Leonard, 17.

Police say the Deborah Leonard told an investigator she hit him with a cord because of “things that he had said”. Leonard and her husband, Bruce Leonard of Clayville, N.Y., were charged with first-degree manslaughter in the beating death of their 19-year-old son, Lucas.

Deborah Leonard didn’t anticipate how vicious the “intervention” would become and didn’t “have the mental toughness to stand up and say, ‘Wait a minute – this is going too far, ‘” said her lawyer, Devin Garramone, The AP reported.

But the police spokesman, Lt. Timothy O’Neill of the New Hartford Police Department, said the Oneida County Child Advocacy Center had thoroughly investigated suggestions of sexual abuse by the teenagers and deemed them “completely unfounded”.

Inserra said, “There is no evidence these brothers did anything”. In the past, police told the Wall Street Journal, the church was so secluded that when a fire broke out several years ago, members tried to turn away firefighters and opted to beat the blaze themselves. The other son, Christopher Leonard, 17, suffered serious injuries to his stomach, genitals, back and thighs and has been hospitalized. Lucas’ brother, Christopher, was hysterical, Irwin said. He said his client, Deborah Leonard, had been helpless to stop the violence, as congregants in thrall to church leaders watched as the brothers were beaten. Their beliefs can lead to strong resistance when a member wishes to leave, he said. “It’s not their place”.

Daniel Irwin spoke Friday at a preliminary hearing for Bruce and Debra Leonard, who are charged with manslaughter in the death of their 19-year-old son, Lucas.

The church, which began in 1984, has about five families, or about 35 members, including children, according to the former member. Ms Irwin and her mother, Traci, said to be a founder of the church, have not been charged.

The Irwins, who have posted advertisements online for Parti Yorkies they have bred, could not be reached for comment. All have pleaded not guilty, according to the New York Times, and an attorney for Deborah Leonard has claimed there was reason to suspect that the brothers were molesting children in the church.

Four other church members, including the teenagers’ half sister, Sarah Ferguson, 33, were also arrested and appeared in court on felony assault charges. McNamara said he expected to ask a grand jury to consider additional charges. “The bruising, the contusions on their body is something I hope I never have to see again”, said Chief Michael Serra with New Hartford Police. Gerace also said the beating had not lasted 10 hours.

When the session ended at about 10 a.m. Monday Irwin’s brother, who also is a defendant, came to him in a panic, he said. Irwin said he wasn’t told what the session was about and didn’t participate.

Family members drove Lucas Leonard to nearby St. Luke’s Hospital on Monday afternoon, after discovering that he was not breathing, the police said. One told the Associated Press that Lucas and his younger brother weren’t allowed to have sleepovers and were required to read the Bible for two hours every day. Lucas was taken to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

“They had now life”, said Mr Constantine, who was taking food for the Leonards’ animals.

Another neighbour, who asked not to be named, said Mr Leonard had occasionally taught him at the local high school “They kids were really well behaved”, he said.

Gerace said Bruce and Deborah Leonard have been married for more than 20 years; for the past eight years, he said, the two have attended the church.

“It looks like she went along with it, and it spun out of control”, he said.

However eccentric Bruce Leonard may have seemed, his behavior did not cause alarm.

Bruce Leonard’s attorney said prosecutors hadn’t proved the couple intended serious injuries to their son. But, he said, an investigation had not yet shown that to be true.