Leroux v. State
| Decision Date | 05 June 1973 |
| Docket Number | No. S,S |
| Citation | 58 Wis.2d 671,207 N.W.2d 589 |
| Parties | Mark J. LEROUX, Plaintiff in Error, v. STATE of Wisconsin, Defendant in Error. tate 42. |
| Court | Wisconsin Supreme Court |
John E. Shannon, Jr., Stevens Point, for plaintiff in error.
Robert W. Warren, Atty. Gen., Robert D. Martinson, Asst. Atty. Gen., Madison, for defendant in error.
Because of the gravity of the offenses charged and the nature of the issues raised on appeal, we consider it desirable to set forth certain facts in detail.
The defendant was convicted of having murdered his parents, Eugene Leroux and Mary Leroux, on November 8, 1967. At approximately 3:50 a.m. of that day Sheriff Check received a call that the Leroux residence in the town of Lanark in Portage county was burning and it was thought that Eugene and Mary Leroux had died in the fire. He called the coroner, Joseph Bodzislaw, and they proceeded to the Leroux residence. Arriving there, they discovered that the house had burned down and had fallen into the basement, and they were informed that the Leroux children Mark, aged eighteen, and Jeannette, aged fifteen, were at the home of Frank and Beverly Budzbanowski, friends of the family who lived two miles away. The sheriff learned that the children, upon discovering the fire, had gone to the Budzbanowski residence for aid and to spread the alarm. After viewing the fire briefly, the sheriff and the coroner proceeded to the Budzbanowski home and on the way noticed that the children had passed nine other farm homes on their way to reach the Budzbanowski residence. One of these homes was almost in sight of the Leroux home.
Sheriff Check was acquainted with the defendant. In March, 1965, when the defendant was sixteen years old, he was apprehended by the Waupaca county sheriff and returned to the custody of Sheriff Check. The defendant was accused of reckless use of weapons. Investigation indicated that the defendant had pointed a .45-caliber pistol at one Frank Grulke to force him to drive the defendant and a companion from Amherst, Wisconsin, to Chicago, Illinois. When they stopped for gas at Sheridan in Waupaca county, the defendant gave the pistol to his companion and went into the station. Grulke scuffled with the other boy and succeeded in grabbing the boy and holding onto the weapon. The defendant, having returned, picked up a shovel and threatened to strike Grulke. The gas station attendant subdued the defendant and the boys were turned over to the Waupaca county sheriff, who reported the incident to Sheriff Check. Upon questioning the boys, the authorities were informed that the boys had committed twenty-one burglaries of homes, cottages and a store, in the area, from September of 1964 to March of 1965.
In the course of his investigation of the burglaries, Sheriff Check went to the Leroux home to recover some of the stolen property. In the company of Mrs. Leroux, he went to the garage and recovered some of the stolen property that was in sight over the door. At the hearing on defendant's motion for a new trial, the sheriff testified that Mrs. Leroux said,
Sheriff Check testified that, following defendant's juvenile apprehension, he recovered from the defendant a statement entitled, 'The Epitaph of an Unwanted,' written and signed by the defendant.
After the 1965 juvenile incident, the sheriff talked with the county supervising nurse, Mrs. Ruth Gilfrey. Mrs. Gilfrey worked in the Marshfield Clinic dealing with psychiatric problems. The sheriff showed Mrs. Gilfrey the statement written by the defendant. Mrs. Gilfrey told the sheriff at that time that the defendant had had a lot of trouble with his mother. She stated that the person who wrote 'The Epitaph of an Unwanted' was angry and needed help, and that he could be very quiet and peaceful at times, and at other times he could be angry and would want to destroy. The sheriff testified that, at the time of the fire and subsequent investigation, he considered the defendant to be dangerous and capable of hurting his mother.
When the sheriff and the coroner arrived at the Budzbanowski home, the sheriff asked to speak to the children, separately. He took the defendant to his car, and, in the presence of the coroner, advised him of his constitutional rights and questioned him about the fire. The defendant said he and his parents and his sister had been home until about 6:30 p.m., when his parents went to Amherst to a venison feed. He and Jeannette stayed home. The parents returned later, and all watched television until about 10 p.m. The defendant stated that first his father went upstairs and then his mother. Jeannette was sleeping in a downstairs bedroom, and the defendant went to sleep on a couch in the living room. He said he was awakened by Jeannette who screamed the house was on fire. He said the house was full of smoke and the parents were trapped upstairs. He tried to get upstairs but could not because of the smoke, so he yelled to his parents a few times. By this time Jeannette was hysterical, so he told her to grab some important papers and leave the house. They then drove to the Budzbanowski home and turned in the alarm.
The sheriff excused the defendant and got Jeannette into the car. He advised her of her constitutional rights and asked her what happened. Her story was identical in all respects to that told by the defendant, except she said her dog had awakened her.
After the interviews, both the sheriff and the coroner commented upon the fact that the children were very neat and their clothes did not smell of smoke. They both seemed very composed for having just lost their parents and home, and there was no evidence of hysteria about Jeannette. The sheriff said that it was strange that the children drove past so many houses where they could have turned in the alarm and that he thought the stories were remarkably similar and seemed 'pat.' The sheriff further indicated at that time that he felt it was strange that the children had had the time to save some guns and papers, but not their parents.
Upon returning to the fire, the sheriff directed operations to recover whatever bodies may be in the debris. Two charred bodies were recovered from the basement. No autopsy was performed at that time because of the difficulty the sheriff had experienced at the local level in getting them performed. The sheriff was informed that the fire had apparently started in the upstairs bedroom.
Later in the day, the sheriff and coroner discussed further questioning of the Leroux children, but because the Budzbanowskis had seemed so upset when they questioned them the first time, they decided to wait until after the funeral. The sheriff did call the state crime laboratory and arranged for the administration of lie detector tests to the children.
Eugene and Mary Leroux were buried on Saturday, November 11, 1967. Visiting at the Budzbanowski home for the funeral were Matthew Reinert, his wife, Geraldine, and their daughter Kathy. The Lerouxs and the Reinerts had been close friends. Jeannette considered Kathy her best friend.
The Sunday following the funeral, Jeannette and Kathy spent some time together talking. Jeannette said she had something to tell but wanted Kathy to keep it a secret, but if something happened to Jeannette, then Kathy should tell. Jeannette then told Kathy what happened on the evening on November 7, 1967. She said that she and the defendant were home alone watching television when the defendant suggested they should get rid of their folks by poisoning or shooting them. Jeannette told the defendant to shut up, but he persisted. After the parents had gone upstairs to bed, Jeannette went to sleep in the downstairs bedroom. She was awakened when she heard shots. Jeannette stayed in bed until the defendant came into her bedroom and told her he had shot their parents and that she should get packed. She said that at that time she was afraid of him. The defendant then went upstairs and started the fire in the parents' bedroom with the kerosene from some lamps. They then went to the Budzbanowski home. Jeannette also told Kathy that, before and after the funeral, Mark had mentioned to Jeannette that they had gotten away with a perfect crime.
Kathy told no one the story related to her by Jeannette until after the Reinert family had returned home to Carpentersville, Illinois. After Kathy told her parents the story, Mr. Reinert told Mrs. Reinert to take Kathy and go back to Wisconsin. That night Mrs. Reinert called Mrs. Budzbanowski and told her she was coming to see her the next day.
On Tuesday, November 14th, the day of defendant's arrest, Mrs. Reinert and Kathy returned to Wisconsin. Mrs. Reinert left Kathy at Jeannette's school to visit and then went to the Budzbanowski home. Mrs. Reinert related at length to Mrs. Budzbanowski the story Kathy had told her. The two women then told Mr. Budzbanowski the story. He left to see Roman Jungers, the funeral director who had been in charge of the burials.
Since the time of the fire, Jeannette had been living with the Budzbanowskis and the defendant had been living in his apartment in Stevens Point. The Budzbanowskis had invited him for supper on Tuesday night, sometime between 5:30 and 6 p.m.
Before leaving to see Mr. Jungers, Mr. Budzbanowski told the the women to talk to Jeannette as soon as she got home to assure themselves of what she was saying. He also said that she and Kathy should not be around when the defendant came for supper because he might get suspicious. They decided to send Kathy and Jeannette by school bus to a basketball game in Almond, Wisconsin.
After consulting with Mr. Jungers, Mr. Budzbanowski returned home to talk with his wife and Mrs. Reinert. By the time he arrived, Jeannette and Kathy had left for the basketball game. The...
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