Leslie Dale Martin was born on April 24, 1967, in Shreveport, Louisiana.

On the evening of June 20, 1991, Leslie Dale Martin and his friend, Michael Roland, went to a lounge in Lake Charles, Louisiana. There, they met 19-year-old Christina Burgin, a student at McNeese State University. Roland introduced Burgin to Martin, and the two were seen dancing and drinking together. Burgin later asked Martin for a ride home, and they were last seen leaving the lounge together.

Martin drove Burgin to a dirt road in Iowa and parked his truck. After realizing that Burgin was heavily intoxicated, he assaulted her. Burgin threatened to report him to the police. In response, Martin choked her in the truck and then pulled her out, where he continued to strangle her with a rope. To ensure she could not identify him, Martin cut out her eyes.

Two weeks later, Burgin's decomposed body was discovered in a shed in Iowa. Authorities found her with a rope around her neck, and there was a wooden board with blood on it nearby.

Martin was charged with first-degree murder. During the trial, multiple witnesses testified against him. Some had heard Martin confess details about the crime. There was limited physical evidence due to the condition of Burgin's body, but blood was found on Martin’s clothes and truck.

In May 1992, Martin was found guilty of first-degree murder and sentenced to death. In November 1999, while on death row, Martin attempted to escape from prison with three other inmates using smuggled hacksaw blades. They were caught just two miles from the prison. Martin planned another escape in January 2002 but was overheard and placed close to the execution chamber.

Martin's execution was scheduled for February 8, 2002. However, it was called off less than thirty minutes before it was supposed to happen. After a delay, he was rescheduled for execution on May 10, 2002. That day, he was executed by lethal injection at Louisiana State Penitentiary. His last meal included boiled crawfish, crawfish stew, a garden salad, oatmeal cookies, and milk with chocolate syrup. He did not make a final statement before his death but mouthed the words "You're fired" to his attorney afterward. Martin was pronounced dead at 8:16 p.m. He became the last person to be executed in Louisiana for nearly eight years.