Police Track, Arrest Costa Mesa Man in Murder-for-Hire Plot

An apparent murder-for-hire scheme was foiled this week when a 58-year-old ex-con from Costa Mesa was arrested near Santa Cruz with a gun and the address of the intended victim, police said Thursday.

Patrick Michael O’Neill was being held Thursday in the Santa Cruz County Jail on suspicion of attempted murder and possession of a firearm by a felon after officers, working on an anonymous tip, followed him to Capitola and watched as he checked out his victim’s apartment building, officials said.

The intended victim--identified only after police found an apartment number scrawled on a map in O’Neill’s car--was “jittery, shocked and grateful” when investigators told him a hired killer was after him, according to Capt. Joe Granada of the Capitola police.

David M. Leeland, 47, of Capitola told police he has been locked in an acrimonious divorce and custody battle for his 8-year-old son, but could think of no other reason anyone would want him killed. Leeland, a marketing writer for Seagate Technologies in Scott’s Valley, could not be reached Thursday for comment.

Investigators have interviewed Leeland’s estranged wife, Robin Miner, but do not consider her a suspect, according to Costa Mesa Police Lt. Ron Smith. Other Miner family members in Newport Beach will be interviewed today, he said.

Court records show O’Neill has been convicted of bank robberies and a Los Angeles bar shooting that left a bartender wounded. Smith described O’Neill as a “third-strike candidate,” meaning if convicted of a felony he would face a minimum sentence of 25 years to life in prison.

“He’s a heavy-duty, career criminal,” Granada said.

An anonymous phone call last week from a patron or employee at the Stag Bar in Costa Mesa tipped off police to the apparent murder conspiracy. The tipster told police that O’Neill had been asking around about getting a gun to use in a murder, Smith said.

O’Neill, who had been living out of his car, in recent weeks moved into a small room next to the bar and had been doing odd jobs, Smith said.

Tuesday afternoon, investigators with the Costa Mesa police and Orange County district attorney’s office trailed O’Neill as he loaded his black Labrador, Charlie, into a white 1988 Dodge Daytona and took Pacific Coast Highway for a nine-hour trip to Capitola, a seaside city of about 10,000 just south of Santa Cruz.

“It was a torturous trip,” Smith said. “I guess this guy never heard of the freeway.”

Police in Capitola, alerted by their Costa Mesa counterparts, joined in the surveillance, following O’Neill as he drove throughout the city, stopping at doughnut shops and, at one point, visiting the neighborhood where his apparent victim lives.

“He was definitely sizing it up,” Granada said. “If he had a chance to confront the victim at that point, he probably would have tried to kill him. We didn’t know at that point who his victim was. It’s walking a razor’s edge. We wanted him to be in a spot where the victim was, to help the case against him, but you also don’t want to let the situation get dangerous.”

An hour later, about 7:30 a.m. Wednesday, O’Neill parked on the Esplanade, a busy beach-side strip of restaurants and shops. With morning traffic increasing and more people on the street, officers decided they could wait no longer, Granada said.

Fifteen officers swarmed the car, arresting O’Neill without incident and turning his dog over to Santa Cruz Animal Control. Inside the car, police found a chrome .38-caliber handgun and a map with a city block circled and an address written nearby.

“The intended victim was very grateful after he heard there was this guy with a gun who drove up to kill him,” Granada said. “He was upset but grateful.”