TX - Leah Martin, 22, Graham, 29 May 2015 *Arrests*

[steelman]

The report describes in detail the physical state of Martin’s corpse. A plastic bag was found over the woman’s head and plastic was wrapped around her neck, indicating death was caused by asphyxiation, also known as suffocation, the report says.

The report cites the manner of death as homicide and the cause of death as homicidal violence.


Martin’s body showed “marked” decomposition from being buried and “abundant” dirt was found on the corpse and clothing, the physician conducting the autopsy wrote. Martin’s pants were pulled down past her buttocks and a rock was extracted from inside her mouth during the procedure.

There were no observations in the report that state or imply sexual assault. A toxicology screening done on urine and chest fluid found in Martin’s body showed no drugs in her system.

The report notes that Martin’s skeleton and skull do not appear to be broken, though the corpse was missing bones in its left hand and also missing its right foot. A ring had been removed from the middle finger of one hand and the necklace Martin was wearing had a broken chain.

http://www.timesrecordnews.com/news...-martin-likely-killed-by-suffocation_72728346


Highlighted area #1---- I think the pants being pulled down was probably due to how she was handled while tossing her into the grave. I can't explain the rock in her mouth because it sounds as though her entire head and neck was wrapped in plastic. At first glance I thought the rock may be a result of backfilling the pit, but if her head was wrapped in plastic, that wouldn't make any sense.

Highlighted area #2---- I don't have any idea what in the hell to think about that. Did they torture her ? Bones missing from her hand and a foot missing ?


We've got some sadistic fu@!^%ers at work here folks. They need to round up everybody involved and get a needle in their arm as quickly as possible. This is like something right out of horror movie.

It definitely appears to be a torture / murder, and only God knows how long they tormented her before they finally left the bag on her head for good. I'm inclined to agree with a previous poster that there may be a woman involved, or at the very least, it was orchestrated by a woman. There seems to be a lot of jealousy and rage associated with it.

 

[Everyday Grace]

"homicidal violence"

Umm, ah, yeah.

Knowing that these autopsy results are in hand suggests to me that other forensic test results that fall into the active criminal investigation exceptions to the Open Records Act are also in hand or will be in a foreseeable future.

We'll see where it goes.

These autopsy results are stunning.

 

[steelman]

I'd say it's more important now than ever before to establish who was on the surveillance video at the shop that night. Was it two males, or a male and a female ?

How long were they all present before the lights were turned off ? Did this entire event take place there at the auto body shop, or was it done elsewhere ?

 

[Everyday Grace]

Cellphone records should be interesting.

DPS Rangers handle that and they're good at it.

Seems like this would be a time for Graham PD and even the DA's office to say something to the community about the investigation into the horrifically cruel violent death of Leah Miller.

 

[steelman]

Graham Leader newspaper Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/grahamleader

People are becoming aware of the autopsy results now, comments starting to flare up.


Graham Police Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/Graham-Police-Department-117147318322512/timeline/

Note: nothing new posted about the autopsy results on the police Facebook page.


Autopsy results: http://www.timesrecordnews.com/news...-martin-likely-killed-by-suffocation_72728346

 

[BlkMtnGirl]

Also found a reference to rocks in the mouth of ancient corpses of people thought to be vampires or to keep the body from returning as a zombie. If this were in Louisiana, I might follow that line of thought a little ways. But probably not in Texas.

 

[missyb]

The rock in my mouth could be a message to someone else to keep their mouth shut about something they know. Especially if the prominent man in town was involved. Which can't be a coincidence, that he commits suicide (supposedly) after the body is discovered. I think the details in this case are really deeply covered up and will never surface completely. Money and power are major influences.

 

[Everyday Grace]

Leah Martin's father speaks to the media about the autopsy results.

"It started up some emotions that were kind of put to rest a little you know." Leah's dad Billy Martin said. "They were easing up and now they're back again."

http://www.texomashomepage.com/news/local-news/leah-martin-family-reacts-to-autopsy

He also tells the station that they (presumably the family) think more than two or three people were involved.

 

[roadrunnermt]

I'm just so speechless trying to sink in the horrific details poor Leah went through. Interesting about mafia and rock. I recall chatter on GL mentioning Mula gang but I never got much info in my search. I had thought perhaps the rock was to keep her quiet and from screaming like a cruel way to silence her but maybe it wasnt. What did Leah know that someone wanted silenced? I also found on Google along same voodoo/zombie article it said often they would dismember the corpse to prevent returning. It's very odd and incomprehensible.

I think pants are telling. Would evidence of an assault exist @ 2+ months buried/decompsed?

Which bones of hand weren
missing? Was it broken? Cut? Damaged from retrieval? Ring finger? How did they know a ring had been removed?

This screams a scorned, jealous person involved for this crime to be this extreme. I'm betting at least one female if not two involved in planning. Why oh why couldn't they have not tortured her so bad. Horrific. Speechless. Thank goodness I'm local enough. I want to watch these perps fry!

 

[Everyday Grace]

Physical evidence like DNA (like say from semen) usually continues to exist even long after a burial occurs.

Leah's body has a story being told.

'Local enough.' I hear ya.

This has me somewhat speechless, too.

For now.

 

[Everyday Grace]

The missing ring could be something her family knew she wore and treasured, maybe like an heirloom or a gift from a special person. Rings in particular often have a deep personal meaning.

Possible, too, that the last (other than surveillance footage) known photo of Leah might show she was wearing a ring the night she was taken. the ring. The photo I'm thinking of is the one taken at the graduation ceremony where her family last saw her.

Could be, too, that any other photos taken of her by her family that might show the ring and/or other details law enforcement held back for investigative reasons. I don't recall mentions of any jewelry she might have been wearing the night she was taken in the Missing flyers, but not-at-all certain about that.

The TRN 《graphic forewarned》story on the autopsy does not say on which hand she wore the ring. That bit of information may well be in the autopsy itself.

And then there's the broken necklace. An image that occurs is that of a personally enraged person yanking it off and taking what was on the chain. Again, something symbolically special about what was on the chain?

Or the jewelry items taken as part of a proof package in a "pay you $X to do this and this is how I want it done and bring me..." scenario.

It would be nice if the jewelry turned up at a pawn shop or other local places where stolen goods appear. Not smart on anyone's part to do so, but also not unheard of.

We'll see what story the jewelry tells.

Occurs to me that since the autopsy report itself isn't online (that I've found yet) that there is still more now-public information out here to learn.

I'm p-o'd as all get out about this.

Enough is enough.

 

[steelman]

I think the newspaper that printed the most graphic details about the autopsy still toned it down a whole lot and left a bunch of the autopsy findings out of the article. We got the "user friendly" version.

Basically, they printed what the public could stomach. I'm sure the actual report from the ME goes into a lot more detail and has much more information than what was published in the local newspaper.

I'm sure most of the questions being asked in here were detailed in that report, including which hand the ring was on, which hand bones were missing and why, which foot was missing and how the foot appeared to have been removed, the size and type of the rock in her mouth, along with a whole bunch more.

This was simply the autopsy report, performed way back after she was found. All of the testing being done by the forensic labs still isn't in yet.....or I should say, hasn't been made available yet. The biggest question is whether they will find any traces of DNA at the crime scene other than hers, and who it belongs to. If this crime was carried out at the behest of or on the orders of a third party, then the DNA is going to be far from all they need to round up all the people involved.

http://www.timesrecordnews.com/news...-martin-likely-killed-by-suffocation_72728346

 

[Everyday Grace]

Going back to the issue of who owns the land where Leah Martin's body was found....

Link to searchable Young Co. Appraisal records:

http://www.youngcad.org/(S(cerkyl45ebstnz55vabfbm55))/search.aspx?clientid=youngcad

A search for 5658 FM 209 yields a deed to that property in the name of FS, a woman who died some years ago.

Sleuthing done earlier in this thread established that the woman on the deed was the grandmother of RH's wife, K(S)H.

RH and K(S)H are identified by name in the RH and BM arrest warrants and affidavits released by GPD to the Wichita Falls newspaper under an Open Records Act request for public documents related to the Leah Martin investigation.

In the affidavit, the location where Leah Martin's body was recovered was said to be under "the care, control and custody" of RH and his wife.

Back to the property records...

The assessed value of the property at 5658 FM 209 is 33,600. Way too low if any acreage is involved. Looking at the search result -- 0.000 acres.

Up under the Legal Description is "IMPS ONLY" -- Improvements only.

So okay, KH's grandmother's name is on the deed to the house and other improvements on the property, but not the land.

Using the records for former owners, the deed to the house and improvements came to FS from her husband RS (KH grandfather) in 2005, presumably some time after his death.

RS acquired the deed in 1986 from Cobra Oil Company. Presuming the owners RS and FS lived in the residence from 1986 on, I make an assumption that whoever owns/owned the surface land are/were okay with the structures existing on their property.

So who owns the land where somebody -- or somebodies -- tried, but failed, to hide evidence of the murder of Leah Martin?

Good question and I don't have an answer.

I do have some decent candidates I've been looking at that include a property management company, but nothing solid yet.

 

[roadrunnermt]

Very true! I bet it was a lot more detailed. I bet parts purposefully withheld pending investigation.

Could a lay person as on say myself also obtain the full autopsy via the same open records act the TRN did in person? If so, could also see if an autopsy on supposed landowner where burial was found was performed and his cause of death also. I didn't look up land but saw info linking JB to the land in which his son was in charge of the land. I seem to recall a fence line between the house and pasture area shown on media, I believe.

"Local enough" - yes I'm about a 4 hr drive from Graham and I'd definitely make a trip for this trial and hopefully DP one day.

I have a lot of hope for DNA with the various items including ring, necklace, rock, bag, plastic on neck, pants down, etc. Surely there will be some DNA lingering. I don't feel these potential suspects were smart enough to cover all those tracks well and I honestly think they thought she would never be found. Hopeful those 2 behind bars will roll on other parties involved if indeed there are more.

 

[Everyday Grace]

Very true! I bet it was a lot more detailed. I bet parts purposefully withheld pending investigation.

Could a lay person as on say myself also obtain the full autopsy via the same open records act the TRN did in person?

Public information is the same for everyone.

The law does not distinguish any difference between the general public and journalists when it comes to documents in the public record like the autopsy report.

I am not sure, but I think the place to start for the autopsy report is the Justice of the Peace office. JP's also maintain an Inquest Record for their jurisdictions that contain some information on causes of death of persons who died in said jurisdictions.

I think the inquest book has to be examined in person, but autopsy reports can be requested in writing and the actual document provided to the requestor. A clerk in the JP office should be able to help as to making a records request.

 

[Everyday Grace]

Graham PD 9-18 statement regarding autopsy report:

Out of respect for Leah Martin, her family, and the ongoing investigation, no other details will be discussed or released at this time by either the Graham Police Department or Texas Rangers.
We ask for continued prayer for Leah, her family and friends at this time.

https://m.facebook.com/story.php?st...147318322512&ref=m_notif&notif_t=feed_comment

 

[steelman]

The Graham PD and the Texas Rangers have had that autopsy report for a long time now. This statement is simply a stall tactic. The newspaper filed an Open Records request in order to get the information released publicly, which takes time. LE didn't have to go through that process, nor should they.

To give the impression they just received it at the same time as everybody else is misleading. Not to mention, a whole bunch of the investigators were probably present when the autopsy was being done anyway. They've known these details for a while now.

 

[roadrunnermt]

What's thought on hold up then? Cost $100 to get copy lol. Too much for me.

 

[BlkMtnGirl]

So, I think it's interesting that the sawed off shotgun was not the actual weapon used to kill poor Leah. Wonder what was in the bag of clothes, since she was found clothed? We're these red herrings for some reason?

 

[missyb]

It was a surprise that the gun wasn't the actual murder weapon. But RH being held on a felon in possession charge does keep him in jail and I think LE thought he would talk by now. I guess being in jail is nothing new for him so apparently that tactic hasn't worked yet or more arrest would be made already. Give him a murder charge and I'm sure he'll start giving up information. Or his wife, who was vocal in the beginning, will.

The "bag of clothes" is a mystery. No real credible talk about it. Were they turned over with the gun, discarded or given to someone else? The affidavits mention them but no details. With the torture this young lady went through perhaps it was the clothing worn by someone at the scene of the murder. But if so, why show it to someone who wasn't involved? Lot of questions, still few actual answers to why Leah was murdered.