L.A. Police Officer Charged With 2 Contract Murders
A Los Angeles police officer, already charged in an insurance fraud and yacht theft ring, has been additionally charged with helping to arrange and carry out two contract murders, officials said today.
Dist. Atty. Ira Reiner and Los Angeles Assistant Police Chief Barry Wade said William E. Leasure, a 17-year veteran of the force, helped arrange and carry out the contract murders of Ann Smith, 41, in Highland Park in May, 1980, and Antonio de los Reyes, 63, in Sherman Oaks in September, 1981.
Leasure, 40, was charged by the District Attorney’s Office with two counts of murder and two counts of conspiracy to commit murder.
He was also charged with special circumstance allegations that qualify him for a possible death penalty if convicted.
Reiner and Wade said Leasure is further suspected of arranging a third murder in 1977, but he has not been formally charged in that case.
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