'Passion' Movie Leads Man To Confess To Murder
Murder Originally Ruled Suicide
POSTED: Thursday, March 25, 2004
UPDATED: 10:22 am CST March 26,
2004
HOUSTON -- A controversial movie led a man to confess to killing his girlfriend, Fort Bend County deputies told News2Houston Thursday.
Daniel Leach, 21, was charged with murdering Ashley Wilson, 19.Wilson's death was originally ruled a suicide. Investigators thought she hanged herself on Jan. 19 in her Richmond-area apartment.On Sunday, Leach and his parents went to the Fort Bend County Sheriff's Office, where Leach confessed to the murder, officials said. He was indicted by a grand jury and arrested Tuesday.Authorities said that Leach confessed to the crime after seeing Mel Gibson's controversial movie, "The Passion of The Christ" and he decided to seek redemption. He told investigators he staged the killing to look like a suicide."It makes me really annoyed because I don't want him to use that excuse. I don't want him to hide behind all of that," Wilson's mother Renee Coulter said.Coulter said she lived with the pain and anguish of her daughter's death being ruled a suicide for two months."We knew from the very beginning that (her death) was not a suicide," Coulter said.
The victim's mother told News2Houston she was upset that the Fort Bend County Medical Examiner's Office said Wilson killed herself.Wilson's family told News2Houston they always doubted her death was a suicide because she was excited about being eight weeks pregnant."It is unfortunate but mistakes are made. As you get someone who's clever enough to disguise it and it gets by the people who should catch it, then (the person) gets by with it," Fort Bend County Sheriff's Department Chief Deputy C. Brady said.Detectives said Leach planned Wilson's killing so well he was able to make it appear as a suicide, fooling investigators and the medical examiner.Leach is being held on a $100,000 bond. He was charged with one count of murder.Coulter told News2Houston that she thinks Leach should be charged with two counts of murder since her daughter was eight weeks pregnant.
Copyright 2005 by Click2Houston.com. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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Parent Pained By Killing Confession Of Daughter's BoyfriendThe victim's mother told News2Houston she was upset that the Fort Bend County Medical Examiner's Office said Wilson killed herself.Wilson's family told News2Houston they always doubted her death was a suicide because she was excited about being eight weeks pregnant."It is unfortunate but mistakes are made. As you get someone who's clever enough to disguise it and it gets by the people who should catch it, then (the person) gets by with it," Fort Bend County Sheriff's Department Chief Deputy C. Brady said.Detectives said Leach planned Wilson's killing so well he was able to make it appear as a suicide, fooling investigators and the medical examiner.Leach is being held on a $100,000 bond. He was charged with one count of murder.Coulter told News2Houston that she thinks Leach should be charged with two counts of murder since her daughter was eight weeks pregnant.Copyright 2005 by Click2Houston.com. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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