Alleged O.C. Hitman Caught

First, the investigators told a stunned David M. Leeland that his address was found in the possession of an alleged hired killer from Costa Mesa. Then, they told him it was a good day to buy a lottery ticket.

“They said it was my lucky day, that this guy was in custody only because they got a tip,” Leeland said Friday. “They told me I could have died, and they told me I should buy a lottery ticket. It’s all just now sinking in.”

Two days after police arrested Patrick Michael O’Neill, 58, of Costa Mesa, about a mile from Leeland’s home in Capitola, the potential victim was still wrestling with the concept that he was in mortal danger. “It’s all a little unbelievable,” he said.

O’Neill, who has past bank robbery convictions, is being held in Santa Cruz County Jail on suspicion of attempted murder and possession of weapon by a felon, according to Costa Mesa Police Lt. Ron Smith.

An anonymous tipster told police that O’Neill was asking around a Costa Mesa bar for a gun to use in a murder, and, a few days later, investigators tailed the suspect as he drove north to Capitola, just south of Santa Cruz, Smith said.

“It’s so weird to be going along with your life, and then find out somebody was going to kill you or try to kill you,” said Leeland, a marketing writer for a Scott’s Valley company. “I had zero idea that anyone was after me.”

Smith said investigators were still trying to determine a motive in the case.

Leeland told investigators that, although he has been locked in a bitter child custody and divorce battle, he could think of no other reason he would be targeted by a hired gunman. Police have said they do not consider his estranged wife, Robin Miner of Watsonville, a suspect.

An attorney for Miner and her parents said that he has begun his own investigation. Attorney Paul Meltzer said police should be skeptical of the motive theory offered by Leeland.

“If there was in fact a contract on Mr. Leeland’s life, it came about because of circumstances that have nothing to do with this custody dispute,” Meltzer said. He added that his clients have “never met or known of Mr. O’Neill.”

Meltzer said the family feels it has been cast in a suspicious light because of the custody dispute.

“They are experiencing the shock that any hard-working citizens would feel when false allegations like this are made,” Meltzer said.

O’Neill’s arrest occurred the day before a scheduled court hearing in Santa Cruz County to determine the custody of Leeland’s and Miner’s 8-year-old son, their only child during an eight-year marriage that ended in August 1996. That hearing has been postponed pending the ongoing police investigation, Meltzer said.

The boy’s parents have joint custody of him, but Leeland is fighting to block Miner’s plans take the boy with her in a move to Orange County to live closer to her family, according to Leeland and Meltzer.

Miner did not return phone calls Friday, and her parents referred all queries to Meltzer.