Numbers
Prologue
Precinct #46 Homicide Div
“You need to sit with him…”
“Are you okay.”
“You need to sit with him, I’m not going back in that room.”
“Um, are you ok, I’m calling the Captain…”
“You need to sit with him.”
“Why.”
“Why, I asked him how many people he has killed…”
“And…”
“He just looked at me, didn’t blink, he, he, he…he didn’t look up, he, he just stared at my breasts, he…”
“Come on sit down, sit down…”
“…then, then he slowly raised his head, his gaze, he, he, then he was just staring at me, eye to eye, then, then, he…”
“Here’s some water slow down just drink…”
“I can’t, can’t, shaking too much, he, he just looked at me, then, he, then…”
“What, what then what, what…”
“Then he said, said, ‘How many did I kill, that’s a tough question, tough you know.”
“And then I asked him why was it tough, did he know or not, then, then, he, he said, asked if…”
“What, asked what.”
“If I had a calculator handy.”
6/15/2000
Judicial District
Court Room #1
Docket: Murder 1
Anthony “Tony” Leonard
“…the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?"
“Depends.”
“Your Honor…”
“Mr. Leonard, please just answer the question.”
“Wouldn’t nothing but the truth be the whole truth.”
“Mr. Leonard, the question, just a simple Yes or No.”
“I won’t ask again Mr. Leonard, won’t ask again.”
“Of course I will…”
“Your HONOR…”
“That works counselor, that works just move on, just move on please.”
“Fine…okay Mr. Leonard, we’ve gone over these details before I just want to go through some of them one more time, want to make sure we have a factual account of your crimes. How old were you when you took your first victim.”
“Number one.”
“Yes.”
“Eight years and three months old.”
“Eight years old, a child, are you saying you killed someone when you were eight years old, that is hard for me to believe, do you mind telling the jury how an eight year old child could possibly kill someone…was the victim an adult…”
“Yes.”
“Man or Woman.”
“Woman.”
“Mr. Leonard, are you sure, do I have to remind you that you are under oath.”
“Positive, I’m positive it was a woman.”
“And so, I have this right you were 8 years old were you when you took your first victim.”
“Eight years and three months old.”
“Mr. Leonard…you honor…your honor…”
“Just answer the question please, Mr. Leonard.”
“I did, I was eight years and three months old, it was Christmas, Christmas night, December 25th, I was born on October 25th, 1952, I was eight years and three months old.”
“Ok, Mr. Leonard would you please explain to me how an eight year old child…”
“…and three months…”
“…excuse me, an eight year and three month old child could kill an adult woman, how do you explain that.”
“Explain what.”
“How a child, you, could manage to kill an adult.”
“Oh, oh…”
“Well, Mr. Leonard…”
“Um, it was kind of easy, I just hit her in the head with a hammer a few times…”
“Mr. Leonard are you saying you beat her with a hammer and she couldn’t fight back, fight back a child…”
“Yep, that’s what happened…”
“Please, your Honor would you please tell Mr…”
“…it was pretty easy to kill her with the hammer…”
“…and why was that Mr. Leonard.”
“…because she couldn’t move, she couldn’t move…”
“…why, why couldn’t she move, why couldn’t she fight for her life…”
“…she couldn’t move because my father had already tied her up, all I had to do was hit her in the head once my father wrapped the chains around her.”
“Excuse me, Mr. Leonard.”
“Excuse you for what.”
“You just said under oath that your father wrapped her in chains and you beat her head in with a hammer AND YOUR FATHER WAS INVOLVED AND LET YOU DO THAT.”
“Yep. But I had to follow the rules, had to always make sure to clean off the hammer it was my father’s hammer, never leave the hammer with blood on it, he told me, always clean the hammer afterwards, he told me.”
“Mr. Leonard, so on Christmas Eve you and your father beat a woman to death and then what did you do with the body…I mean the woman…”
“We put her in the bed of the truck and drove to the foot of Niagara Street and threw her into the Niagara River…no one was there, it was Christmas night you know.”
“Mr. Leonard you killed a woman on Christmas, may I ask you why you killed the woman.”
“Yes, you may.”
“So, Mr. Leonard, first of all how did you find the victim, especially on Christmas night.”
“Actually, pretty easy.”
“And how was that.”
I had to smile at this part, lead him right into it, I shuffled around in the seat, smiled at the judge, then did my best to turn toward the jury, coughed some to get the head juror to look my way, and when she did, I locked eyes on her…eye to eye even with the chains they put me in on…
“How was what.”
“How did you find your victim on Christmas night.”
“Easy.”
“How is that.”
And still looking deep into the juror’s eyes I explained the “How.”
“How, easy, really easy…she was my mother…”
And the juror lady suddenly sat back, I smiled, I knew she would.
“…both my father and I told her what we wanted for Christmas and…”
“…and, you are under oath Mr. Leonard…”
“…and she didn’t get either of us what we asked for, she ruined our Christmas.”
“Mr. Leonard, is your father still alive, does he live here, answer me…”
“No, he passed years ago.”
“How old were you when he passed.’
“Eighteen years and six months.
“May I ask was he ever arrested for the murder of his wife, your mother.”
“You can ask, no problem, no he was never arrested, ever, for anything.”
“And what was it that he passed from, do you remember.”
“Yes.”
“Well then, what.”
“He passed, yep, I was there with him.”
“What did he die of, if you don’t mind me asking once again.”
“No problem…”
“…so how did he pass.”
I moved up in the box as much as I could, made a noise so the lady juror looked my way, I smiled at her, she did not smile back so I blew her a kiss and looked back at the prosecutor…
“How did my father pass…”
“Yes, that’s the question I asked.”
“How did my father pass, how shall I explain it, oh, just the truth…”
“And the truth is.”
“…the truth is…he didn’t get me what I asked for at Christmas, so you know…”
1/2/2004
Maximum Security Prison
Execution Chamber
“State your name.”
“Robert Paul Leonard”
“Mr. Leonard do you have any last words.”
“Yes.”
“You may speak now before I put the hood over your head, what say you.”
“46.”
“Excuse me.”
“46 and…”
“Excuse me…and…and what?”
“…climbing.”
1/2/2004
Maximum Security Prison
Execution Chamber
12:06 PM
Robert Paul Leonard: Deceased.
6/15/2016
Wine & Dine Groceries…Portage, NY
Meat Department
“You got this.”
“Uh huh.”
“Hey man I just want to say thank you, I have to tell you this girl is hot, I mean HOT!”
“Uh huh.”
“Well thanks for taking my shift tonight, I’ll fill you in on all the juicy details of our date on Monday.”
“Uh Huh.”
“See ya Tony, don’t slice off any of your fingers now.”
“Uh Huh.”
“Hey Tony…”
“Yeah boss…”
“…it should be quiet tonight, midnight tonight the new deli and meat specials go up just make sure all the prices are right and that the butcher case is well stocked for tomorrow, Saturday, ya know Saturday, all the single ladies, all the single ladies…”
“Yeah boss.”
“…see ya in the morning…”
“Yeah boss.”
And for the rest of the night, while some swept the floors, while some spritzed the lettuce section with a fine mist of water, while some lined up all the boxes of cereal, Tony pushed out a big, tall metal cart from back inside the meat department…
…and started to carefully lay out the freshly butchered steaks…
…and those who saw him organize the meats smiled, he was very good at his job, very precise…
…with each freshly cut and wrapped steak they would hear…
“…264…
…265…
…266…
…267…”
“Hey Tony, nice job cutting those steak, they look great put a couple aside for me for after my shift, love how they fire up on the grill, juicy…”
“Uh huh.”
Then, “…268…”
“…269…”
“Nice work tonight, the deli and meat counter look great, pack up what you didn’t put out and put it back in the cooler for the day guys…”
“Uh Huh.”
“…gotta say I love it when all the steaks and meat look so fresh, going be a hectic day behind the counter here, go on take a steak home, make sure to write it down on the employee sheet…”
“Yeah boss.”
7/4/2024
It is Monday, the 4th of July and yellow crime tape is draped across the Wine & Dine Groceries and Spirits supermarket front door.
No one is allowed in.
Not even the local police.
Just the feds.
Inside, the meat department is being taken apart, all the steaks are counted, weighed and put in large evidence coolers. The brown paper the steaks are all wrapped in only have numbers written on them…
…301…302…303…
“You are the manager right, let me ask you this one more time, think, be damn sure, when was the last time you saw him.”
“Um, I think…I think…7am…yep 7am yesterday, maybe the day before that, I think that’s when he punched out…”
“Punched out, does that have a date and time stamp.”
“Yes.”
“Get it, let me see it.”
It was a beautiful 4th of July morning, birds were singing, the flowers had bloomed, children playing in their front yards, Little League games going on just down the street from the supermarket but...
...on this morning no one who lived in town had any idea that their small town…
…was about to become famous…
…worldwide.
“What, speak up, English doc, English, you did a quick test of what and what did you say you found.”
“I said I just tested three random steaks, one in the meat cooler and two out in the meat section of the store, over there in the ‘Chop Shop’ as they call it here.”
“Yeah ok, they all look good, what did your testing find, did your testing find you should have a cook-out tonight for the neighbors.”
“No.”
“So, what did you find with your testing.”
“Um, it, it’s, you know it seems from the testing that the meat is you know… it is not actually what it is advertised to be…”
“Oh great, truth in advertising, that’s not my problem.”
“Um, actually it is about to become your problem.”
“What the hell are you talking about.”
“The steaks, you see, they are, um, they are, the meat is, not, you know, not from cows…the steaks, all the meat actually not from cows…”
“Ok big deal, sort of a thumb on the scale kind of thing, huh, so what kind of meat is it, where does it come from.”
“Um, like I said the PCR testing I did, and I tested a lot of the meat, all kinds, and, and…”
“AND what for Christ’s Sake…”
“…and all the meat I tested, all of it, the PCR DNA results came back in a couple of hours and…and the results came back as…
…human.”
07/05/2024
Pittsburgh Airport
International Terminal
“Good morning, Sir, welcome to National Airlines, it is such a lovely day to fly, may I ask what’s your destination this beautiful day.”
“Paris, Paris, France.”
“Oh, I’m so jealous. Fun or for work.”
“Both.”
“How nice, what may I ask is your work.”
“Wholesale, I sell wholesale U.S. Grade A meat to the finest restaurants in the world.”
“Well Paris is a great place to do that…here’s your boarding pass Mr., Mr. Tony Leonard, Jr., have a nice flight.
“I will.”
Paris, France
Avenue Montaigne
Le Pavillon Restaurant
Prep Kitchen
“Utilise ce steak enveloppé là-bas.” (Use that steak over there)
And with that the chef reaches over to the small brown paper wrapped parcel…
…takes the business card attached to it off and reads the note written on the back of it and takes the meat out of the wrapping: “savourez la meilleure viande fraîche que je puisse vous offrir.” (enjoy the finest fresh meat I have to offer) and then takes the card over to show the restaurant owner the inscription…
…leaving the meat from the American exporter on the carving table…
…the meat with a white sticker on the package that simply says…
