Bio

Leroy L. Linden was an American offender from Aurora, Illinois. He was born on September 3, 1919. 

Murder Story

On October 23, 1953, Clarence Dodd, a carpenter from Lancaster, California, was driving home after visiting his mother in Winnemucca, Nevada. During the trip, he picked up Leroy L. Linden and Frank A. Pedrini, who were hitchhiking.

Dodd drove west on Highway 40, which later became part of Interstate 80. Near Mustang Station in Washoe County, Nevada, Linden and Pedrini forced him off the highway and into an isolated canyon area. The crime was linked to robbery after Dodd gave both men a ride.

Dodd was killed by strangulation. Linden and Pedrini used a 30-inch piece of binder twine to strangle him. After the murder, they covered his body with rocks. Hunters found Dodd’s body in December 1953.

Linden and Pedrini gave different versions of what happened. Linden claimed he had gone to buy beer at Mustang Station and returned to find Pedrini and Dodd on the ground. He also claimed the plan was only to tie Dodd up, leave him behind, and take his car to Reno. Pedrini gave a different account and said both men pulled on the twine used to strangle Dodd.

After the body was found, the investigation led to Linden and Pedrini. In January 1954, Linden confessed and named Pedrini as part of the crime. Linden was later arrested in Los Angeles by FBI agents. The exact arrest date was not clearly verified.

Linden and Pedrini were tried in Washoe County, Nevada. The jury found both men guilty and sentenced them to death. The exact conviction date was not confirmed, but the conviction happened in 1954 before their execution.

On July 15, 1954, Linden and Pedrini were executed together at Nevada State Prison. They were placed in separate chairs inside the gas chamber. Cyanide gas was released at 6:10 a.m. Linden’s heart stopped at 6:18 a.m., and Pedrini’s heart stopped at 6:19 a.m.

Their execution became part of Nevada death penalty history because it was the first double execution in the Nevada gas chamber. Linden died by lethal gas on July 15, 1954, less than nine months after Clarence Dodd was murdered.