Leiby v. State

• Decision Date: 13 February 1951
• Citation: 50 So.2d 529
• Parties: LEIBY v. STATE.
• Court: Florida Supreme Court

Page 529

50 So.2d 529

LEIBY v. STATE.

Supreme Court of Florida, en Banc.

Feb. 13, 1951.

Richard M. Smith, Bronson, for appellant.

Richard W. Ervin, Atty. Gen., and Phillip Goldman, Asst. Atty. Gen., for appellee.

CHAPMAN, Justice.

The record in this case discloses that the body of Leonard Applebaum was by a bridge inspector of the State Road Department found under Bridge #98 of the Tamiami Trail in Collier County, Florida, shortly after the noon hour on March 15, 1949. It was in a state of decomposition and the odor therefrom attracted the attention of the inspector. The body was removed and examined, when several .22 caliber pistol ball wounds were found in the body and one pistol ball penetrated the skull and brain and lodged in the opposite inside wall of the skull of Applebaum. About the bridge spots of blood were found and a newspaper under the head of the deceased was saturated with blood and bore the date of March 8, 1949.

Applebaum, at the time of his death, was about 26 years of age, weighed around 160 pounds and was by profession a pharmacist and a resident of the State of Maryland. In early March of 1949 alone he drove his Mercury Coupe automobile for a short vacation from his home in Maryland to Miami, Florida, and registered at a hotel in that city. The wearing apparel needed for the trip was in a bag in his car; he obtained Travelers' Checks, and he wore some rings. The automobile had a Maryland license tag.

The appellant, Merlin James Leiby, alias Bill Jordan, alias Jimmie Scanlin, was arrested by the police of Jacksonville in the City of Jacksonville, Florida, on suspicion around the 20th or 21st of March, 1949, and carried to the police station. The automobile driven by him at the time was seized by the Jacksonville police. He was closely interrogated at the police station, and the appellant admitted to the officers of the City of Jacksonville the killing of Applebaum and placing his body under Bridge #98 in Collier County, Florida.

The Jacksonville police communicated with the Sheriff of Collier County about the arrest and subsequent confession of the appellant, and, upon the Sheriff's arrival in Jacksonville, the appellant made a similar confession to the Collier County officer. The appellant was taken to Miami, Florida, where he was identified by several people. A dealer in second hand automobiles identified the appellant as the man from whom he purchased the Mercury Coupe bearing a Maryland license. The car had a bloody spot near the center of the car seat. The appellant sold the Mercury Coupe to the dealer under the name of Leonard Applebaum. He obtained cash on one of the Travelers' Checks under the name of Leonard Applebaum. He formed the acquaintance of some young people at a skating rink under the name of Jimmie Scanlin. He exhibited to them large sums of money. He had in his car a .22 caliber pistol. The appellant made contradictory statements about the 'bloody spot' on the seat of the Mercury Coupe.

As a part of the appellant's confession, he stated to the officers that he made appellant's acquaintance at his hotel in Miami, Florida, and, after a visit to a bar for drinks, they shot crap in a hotel room, resulting (according to Leiby's story) in the appellant winning everything Applebaum had, inclusive of his Mercury Coupe, and a further indebtedness Applebaum was financially unable to pay but had friends in New Orleans from whom Applebaum, according to Leiby, could get the money necessary to pay Leiby the balance due on his (Applebaum's) dice game indebtedness. So the two left Miami on March 11, 1949, for New Orleans in the Mercury Coupe to get the money to pay Leiby. After traveling a considerable distance on the trip, Applebaum changed his mind, a dispute arose, and Applebaum attacked Leiby and he (Leiby) was forced to shoot Applebaum in self defense. After Leiby shot Applebaum six times with the .22 caliber pistol, he placed his body, late in the afternoon of March 11, 1949, under Bridge #98, where it was later found by the inspector.

The record further discloses that the appellant, after admitting killing Applebaum and placing his body under a bridge in Collier County, voluntarily drove with the Sheriff over the portions of the road alleged to have been traveled by the appellant and Applebaum and purported to point to inportant spots or incidents about their tour. One was a mail box at the bus station at Sarasota where cards written by Applebaum to his relatives in Maryland were posted. Another was near Lake Wales where the appellant drove the Mercury Coupe into another car then on the highway, and the traveling bag of the deceased was later found near the scene of the accident. This bag had in it shirts, underwear, socks, etc., of the deceased. On the occasion of the automobile collision, the appellant was heard to say he 'was in a hurry to get back to Miami'. The appellant failed to point out the exact spot en route where he shot Applebaum nor where he changed his bloody clothes after shooting him.

The appellant tole the...