Backwoods
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I happened across this very sad and mysterious case while I was doing some reading about presumed serial killer James Mitchell "Mike" Debardeleben; there is a commenter on the linked site who feels strongly that Leota's murder was Debardeleben's doing. He/she makes a pretty good argument, and, to me, the sketch does somewhat resemble MD -- but I am certainly not "convinced". Interesting, though.
At any rate -- I checked and didn't see Leota's case in Cold Cases here at WS.
My heart goes out to her then-very-young two oldest children, who found their mother bound and stabbed on her bed while their infant sister sucked on a freshly-prepared bottle nearby.
http://iowacoldcases.org/case-summaries/leota-camp/
One detail about this case reminds me of another case I've seen -- on WS, I'm pretty sure -- but I can't remember the victim/state. Leota had just hung out some laundry on the clothesline, then returned to the house, where she was soon attacked. In the other case I'm thinking of, the wife/mother also had been hanging clothes -- but in that case, as I recall, she disappeared, possibly abducted, and was never found. I remember that in that other case, there was something about a large withdrawal from a banking account ... leading some to speculate that the woman left of her own free will, I believe, and perhaps also leading some to suspect her husband. I didn't get either of those feelings, myself, IIRC. (Anyhow, thinking that if by chance Mike Debardeleben WAS involved in Leota's murder, it might be interesting to look back at this other case I'm speaking of...considering MD's penchant at times for extortion, banking scams, etc. Can anybody point me to that other case?)
ETA: I found the missing person case I was thinking of -- it's here:
http://www.websleuths.com/forums/sh...lingham-30-Aug-1978&highlight=hanging+laundry
Going to review it.
At any rate -- I checked and didn't see Leota's case in Cold Cases here at WS.
My heart goes out to her then-very-young two oldest children, who found their mother bound and stabbed on her bed while their infant sister sucked on a freshly-prepared bottle nearby.
http://iowacoldcases.org/case-summaries/leota-camp/
One detail about this case reminds me of another case I've seen -- on WS, I'm pretty sure -- but I can't remember the victim/state. Leota had just hung out some laundry on the clothesline, then returned to the house, where she was soon attacked. In the other case I'm thinking of, the wife/mother also had been hanging clothes -- but in that case, as I recall, she disappeared, possibly abducted, and was never found. I remember that in that other case, there was something about a large withdrawal from a banking account ... leading some to speculate that the woman left of her own free will, I believe, and perhaps also leading some to suspect her husband. I didn't get either of those feelings, myself, IIRC. (Anyhow, thinking that if by chance Mike Debardeleben WAS involved in Leota's murder, it might be interesting to look back at this other case I'm speaking of...considering MD's penchant at times for extortion, banking scams, etc. Can anybody point me to that other case?)
ETA: I found the missing person case I was thinking of -- it's here:
http://www.websleuths.com/forums/sh...lingham-30-Aug-1978&highlight=hanging+laundry
Going to review it.