Bio

Robert L. Leach Jr. was born on June 17, 1962. Before the murders, Leach had a criminal history in Texas. He had been released on parole after a burglary conviction in Texas. He left Missouri and went to Nashville in June 1999. He said he moved to Nashville to try a music career and to avoid trouble with his Texas parole.

By early July 1999, Leach was living at an Econo Lodge in south Nashville. He was also working as a server at a nearby Denny’s restaurant. The Econo Lodge was located about a mile from Sarah McBride’s home. Only hours before the murders, Leach attacked an Econo Lodge employee named Dorianne Brown. Around 3:00 a.m. on July 8, 1999, he forced his way into her room and began choking her. He left after being interrupted. This incident later helped police identify him as a suspect in the double murder.

Sarah McBride was a 69-year-old widow. Her cousin, Jean Poteet, was staying with her at the time. Jean was 70 years old and had diminished mental capacity because of a stroke or blood clot at birth. She also had partial paralysis on her right side and wore a leg brace.

Murder Story

On the morning of July 8, 1999, Robert L. Leach Jr. went to Sarah McBride’s home in Nashville, Tennessee. Sarah was outside working in her yard when Leach approached her. He told her that his car had broken down and asked to use her phone to call his sister for a ride. Sarah allowed him inside the house.

At about 7:00 a.m., Sarah’s sister, Louise Howard, called her as part of their normal morning routine. Sarah told Louise that a man was in her kitchen drinking coffee while waiting for his sister to pick him up. Louise warned Sarah to have the man wait outside. Sarah replied that she would call back later, but she never did.

When Louise could not reach Sarah later that day, she became worried and went to the house. She arrived around 1:00 p.m. and found the garage door open, Sarah’s truck missing, and the back door open. Inside, she saw signs of violence, including Jean Poteet’s wig, scissors on the floor, and a trail of blood.

Louise found Jean Poteet lying face down near the bedroom area. Jean’s blouse had been pulled up and tied around her neck. Sarah McBride was found on the bed, partially unclothed, with a belt tightened around her neck. Louise called 911 from the kitchen.

Medical Examiner Dr. Bruce Levy determined that both women died from ligature strangulation. Jean had been attacked in the kitchen and dragged toward the bedroom while still alive. She also had blunt-force injuries to her face, defensive wounds, and stab wounds consistent with scissors. Sarah had blunt-force injuries, broken bones, defensive wounds, stab wounds, and evidence of sexual assault. Dr. Levy concluded that Sarah was alive when the sexual assault began and died during the attack.

The house had been searched. Drawers were open, jewelry boxes were disturbed, and Sarah’s purse, jewelry, and Dodge pickup truck were missing. Police later found Leach’s fingerprints on a coffee mug in the kitchen and his palm print on a wall. Bloody footprints in the house matched Leach’s shoes, and DNA testing linked him to the sexual assault of Sarah McBride.

After the murders, Leach drove Sarah McBride’s pickup truck to Missouri. That evening, he arrived in the Greenville, Missouri area and visited people he knew. Witnesses later said he behaved normally, drank, danced, played guitar, and claimed the truck belonged to him. He also gave some of Sarah’s jewelry to a woman he met there.

Police identified Leach as a suspect after connecting him to the earlier Econo Lodge attack and finding his fingerprints at the murder scene. Detective Mike Roland contacted Leach’s sister in Missouri. Leach later called the detective and denied knowing anything about the murders. During the call, he blamed his problems on the Texas prison and parole system and made threatening statements about wanting to commit more violence.

Authorities traced the call and alerted Missouri law enforcement. Officers found Sarah McBride’s truck outside the Friendly Tavern in Greenville, Missouri. Leach was inside the tavern playing guitar on stage. He was arrested there on July 13, 1999. After his arrest, he said he was sorry and claimed that he had “snapped.”

At trial, prosecutors also presented testimony from a jail inmate who said Leach had described the murders to him. According to that testimony, Leach said he entered the home by pretending he needed help, attacked both women, sexually assaulted Sarah, and took jewelry, lawn equipment, and the pickup truck. The inmate also testified that Leach said he wanted to be sent to a psychiatric hospital because he believed it would be easier to escape.

In February 2001, a jury convicted Leach of two counts of first-degree premeditated murder, two counts of felony murder, one count of aggravated rape, and one count of especially aggravated robbery. The felony murder convictions were merged into the premeditated murder convictions. The jury sentenced him to death for the murders of Jean Poteet and Sarah McBride.

The trial court also sentenced Leach to two consecutive 25-year prison terms for the aggravated rape and especially aggravated robbery convictions. Those sentences were ordered to run consecutively to the two death sentences.

On September 8, 2004, the Tennessee Supreme Court upheld Leach’s convictions and death sentences. The court rejected his appeal and affirmed the judgment of the Court of Criminal Appeals.