DA: Man stabbed family to "silence" them over sex abuse charges
QUARRYVILLE, Pa. - A Pennsylvania man accused of sexually molesting two teen girls allegedly killed one of the girls and her mother in a stabbing attack Thursday.
Leeton Jahwanza Thomas, 37, was charged in April with assaulting 16-year-old and 13-year-old sisters at his home in December 2013, according to case documents.
Lancaster County District Attorney Craig Stedman told 48 Hours' Crimesider that Thomas's wife was friends with the girls' mother. According to Stedman, the family had testified May 22 in the ongoing sexual abuse case against Thomas, who goes by the nickname "Pie."
Early Thursday morning, Stedman says, Thomas broke into the family's home by cutting a screen and lifting a window latch. Once inside, he is accused of stabbing the 16-year-old and her mother to death, and wounding a 15-year-old girl who ran upstairs to neighbors for help.
The 13-year-old who had allegedly also been molested by Thomas was not at home.
The neighbor who called 911 said the 15-year-old immediately identified Thomas as the culprit, according to an affidavit of probable cause.
"Pie did it," she said, according to the neighbor.
The girl told the neighbor she had known Thomas her whole life and they had spent time at each other's homes.
"It's not a coincidence he targeted this residence," Stedman said. He believed the motive to be "retaliation - to silence them."
Troopers said they were called to the home in a rural area about 70 miles west of Philadelphia at around 2:20 a.m. and found the injured 15-year-old hysterical and covered in blood.
They found the two dead victims while searching the home's basement. The hardwood stairs were covered in blood, and a window was pushed up with the screen removed and propped up against the outside of the home, according to the affidavit of probable cause.
"There appeared to be evidence they tried to escape," Stedman said.
Police arrested Thomas at his home a few minutes later. He was wearing a green bathrobe, and it appeared that the shower had recently been used, they said.
A K-9 unit tracked Thomas' scent from the basement window back to his home, about a five-minute walk away, authorities said. The mother and daughters had lived in the home for about three years, a neighbor said.
"It's an absolute attack on the system, which is an attack on all of us," DA Stedman said at a news conference Friday. "Clearly one of the most disturbing crimes we've had. It's a nightmare."
Thomas, 37, is charged in Thursday's alleged attack with two counts of criminal homicide, and one count each of attempted homicide and burglary. He is jailed without bail pending a June 22 preliminary hearing.
A lawyer representing Thomas in the sexual assault case was said to be out of town and did not immediately return a telephone message. No lawyer was listed for him in online court records in the homicide case Friday.
Stedman vowed to consider seeking the death penalty despite Gov. Tom Wolf's moratorium on executions. The prosecutor left the crime scene Thursday to testify at a state house hearing on capital punishment.
"It was a difficult day and hard for me to see some things. I wish some politicians who are considering things in Harrisburg, maybe they should take a step back and look at those things," Stedman said.
Court records showed that Thomas posted $5,000 bail on April 18 while facing charges of aggravated indecent assault involving children. The case was sent to a trial court May 22.
A formal arraignment in that case was scheduled for June 26.