Defendant Enters Guilty Plea, Ending Murder-for-Hire Trial

A Twentynine Palms man accused of helping to kill a woman in her Hawthorne apartment nearly eight years ago in a murder-for-hire plot pleaded guilty Tuesday to a single count of second-degree murder.

Paul Leach, 27, will be sentenced to 16 years to life in state prison when he appears Aug. 23 for sentencing in Torrance Superior Court, Deputy Dist. Atty. Mike Duarte said. He already has been in jail nearly seven years awaiting trial.

The first witness in Leach’s trial took the stand last week and was still testifying when attorneys reached agreement on the plea bargain. Leach could have been sentenced to life without possibility of parole if convicted of the charges originally filed against him.

Leach’s older brother, Peter, was convicted in the case two years ago and is serving a sentence of life without possibility of parole.

During his opening statement, Duarte charged that the Leach brothers shot Catherine Stroup, 46, at the behest of her son-in-law, Michael Seawright, who allegedly promised the brothers $80,000 if they would kill both Catherine and her husband, James. Seawright co-owned a Twentynine Palms water delivery company with the Stroups and wanted them out of the way, prosecutors contend.

Although Seawright was arrested and jailed briefly in 1984, he was released for lack of evidence. Charges have never been filed, and Seawright repeatedly has denied any involvement in the shooting.

After James Stroup found Catherine dead in their apartment, police arrested him, believing he had killed his wife during a domestic dispute. He spent seven months in custody before a Torrance Superior Court jury acquitted him of the charges.

Duarte declined to explain why he decided to accept Leach’s plea to a lesser charge. Defense attorney William MacCabe called the plea a compromise.

“At least this is better than his brother’s situation,” MacCabe said. “This way, at least, he’s got an opportunity to get out of prison someday. That’s why we accepted it.”