BF charged with murder of 15 yo Leah Freeman in decade-old case(Solved)

[MuffyBee]

http://www.kpic.com/news/local/101336449.html
Boyfriend charged with murder in decade-old case
August 23, 2010


Leah Freeman


COOS BAY, Ore. - The boyfriend of a girl found dead a decade ago has been charged with her murder.

Nick McGuffin, 28, was charged with the murder of 15-year-old Leah Freeman. McGuffin was her boyfriend at the time she disappeared.

A grand jury hearing evidence in the case indicted McGuffin on a charge of murder. He was taken into custody Monday afternoon at 2:15 p.m. and is being held on $2 million bail.

The Coos County District Attorney and the Coquille Police Department plan a 7 p.m. press conference Monday night on the arrest.

Freeman vanished from the Coquille area on June 28, 2000.

Her body turned up a month later. Cause of death: homicidal violence.

Coquille police and the Coos County district attorney re-opened the Leah Freeman case in January.

With a decade's worth of evidence lined up in thick binders behind them, Coquille Police Chief Mark Dannels and Coos County District Attorney Paul Frasier held a press conference in Coquille on Friday, June 25.

The news: Frasier would take the case to a grand jury and ask for an indictment.

"If they feel an indictment against someone should be returned, they'll do that," he said. "If they don't, they'll let me know that, too. If they want other stuff done, we'll do it. But at this point, I think, the grand jury is where we need to go in the case."

Frasier warned that the grand jury process can be a lengthy one, particularly with the amount of evidence in this case.

Frasier expected to call 100 witnesses to testify before the grand jury. He expected the process would take two to three months to complete.
 *******************
I hope there will be justice for Leah Freeman.  

[MuffyBee]

This is an older article than the OP, but has information:

http://abcnews.go.com/2020/leah-freeman-oregon-teen-murder-vidocq-society/story?id=11374958
(with video)
C[b]old Case Squad: Modern-Day 'Sherlock Holmes' Team Takes on Oregon Slaying[/b]
Killing of Leah Freeman, 15, Was Cold Case for 10 Years. Then the Vidocq Society Got Involved.
August 11, 2010


In the summer of 2000, 15-year-old Leah Freeman went missing in Coquille, Ore. For almost a week, the Coquille Police Department, led by Chief Mike Reeves, treated it as a missing person case, believing that the teen had run away.
Yet on the night the teen disappeared, an ominous discovery was made. A man picked up a shoe by the side of a town road. He thought it belonged to his daughter. It was not until days later, after the town's search for Leah had grown increasingly anxious, that he turned the shoe over to police.

The police identified the shoe as Leah's. On it they discovered blood.

Six weeks passed before Leah's mother, Cory Courtright, got the call from police that would end her hopes that Leah was still alive. Another discovery had been made.

"I still let the denial take over," Courtright said. "I wanted to... I wanted to go back in time. I didn't want, I didn't want to go home. I didn't want to hear the final news. I didn't want to hear it."

A search team had come upon a macabre scene just off an isolated lumber road about five miles outside of town.
Leah Freeman's decomposed body lay on a steep hillside, apparently dumped from the road above.

Case Goes Cold for 10 Years

For 10 years, the case went unsolved. Authorities say circumstantial evidence pointed to Leah's 18-year-old boyfriend. But there was no hard evidence to link him to the crime.

Then a new police chief, Mark Dannels, took an aggressive approach to the case. A room at the police station was devoted to the unsolved mystery.

What Dannels did next would finally open a possible way forward. He called The Vidocq Society.

The Vidocq Society

Known as the heirs of Sherlock Holmes, the Philadelphia-based Vidocq Society gathers ace detectives from around the world to solve the world's most perplexing cold cases. The group -- formed by freewheeling forensic sculptor Frank Bender, FBI and U.S. Customs agent William Fleisher and preeminent forensic psychologist and profiler Richard Walter -- has pledged itself to a grand quest for justice.

"People think of them as wizards who sort of peep and mutter and go into a back room and come out and say, 'He did it,'" said Philadelphia crime writer Michael Capuzzo, who profiles the group in his book, "The Murder Room."

Dannels said he did not hesitate to call for outside help.

"In a cold case, I'll take any resource I can to help solve this case," Dannels said. "And when we have something of that magnitude offer up services, we're all over it. ... And when you bring all this expertise together... it's one stop shopping. You got all the expertise in one room at one time."
Vidocq Society: Famous Cases

The society is named after Eugene Francois Vidocq, Napoleon's chief detective and the father of modern criminology. Vidocq was practicing rudimentary police science 100 years before the FBI or Scotland Yard was even formed.

(There is some background/history of Vidocq and cases discussed)
(snipped)Vidocq Takes Leah Freeman Case

Back in Oregon, Police Chief Dannels was impressed with the Vidocq Society's track record of solving the unsolvable. The society, in turn, thought they could help find out what happened to Leah Freeman. They took the case, with Richard Walter as point man.

Dannels flew to Philadelphia to meet the team.

"I've been in law enforcement 26 years," said Dannels. "But sitting in the room that day with these experts, I felt like it was my first day on the job."

Can they solve the mystery of who killed Leah?

Watch the full story Friday on "20/20" at 10 p.m. ET (Remember, this article is from 8/11/10)

[MuffyBee]

http://kezi.com/news/local/186144
Arrest Made in Leah Freeman Murder Case
August 23, 2010


Coos County, Ore. -- Police have made an arrest in the case of Leah Freeman, a Coos County girl who went missing 10 years ago.
Police arrested Leah's former boyfriend Nicholas James McGuffin, 28, without incident Monday afternoon.  He is being lodged at the Coos County Jail on $2 million security.
The Coos County Grand Jury's indictment alleges McGriffin intentionally caused Leah's death on or about June, 28, 2000.  Leah was 15-years-old at the time of her death.
The Coos County District Attorney's office will hold a press conference Monday night in Coquille to give an update on the case.

[Nut44x4]

How very sad....... 


Leah Freeman and Nicholas McGuffin at Prom

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-504083_162-20014697-504083.html

[trimmonthelake]

http://abcnews.go.com/2020/leah-freeman-cold-case-decade-oregon-killing-solved/story?id=11871048
Justice for Leah Freeman: Hunt for Popular Oregon Teen's Killer
Ten Years After 15-Year-Old's Body Was Found, Suspicion Surrounds Then-Boyfriend Nick McGuffin
Post a Comment By ROB WALLACE and LAUREN EFFRON
Oct. 15, 2010
More than a decade after 15-year-old Leah Freeman's body was found dumped a few miles from her home in Coquille, Ore., a trial date has been set for the man accused of killing her.

Nick McGuffin, who was Leah's boyfriend at the time of her death in 2000, is expected to stand trial for her murder on May 10, 2011.

ABC News' "20/20" was given exclusive access during the re-opening of this decade-old cold case with a fresh investigative team, including on the day police went in to apprehend McGuffin, the person they had suspected from the beginning.

Watch the full story on special two-hour edition of "20/20" tonight at 9 p.m. ET

After a grand jury's indictment was handed down, police arrested McGuffin on Aug. 24, 2010 and charged him with murder.

When police arrived at McGuffin's home, he was retrieving his mail and still wearing a uniform from his job as a short-order cook. He stood quietly as police read him his rights and handcuffed him.

"I didn't do it. Love of my life, man," he told "20/20" at the time of his arrest. "They have nothing else to go on, and I'm the boyfriend."

McGuffin pleaded not guilty and continues to maintain his innocence. His bail was set at $2 million.

Leah was a high school freshman when she disappeared in August 2000 after leaving a friend's house. Police initially treated the disappearance as a runaway teen case. Weeks later, the girl's decomposing body was found on a wooded roadside slope a few miles outside town.

Authorities said circumstantial evidence initially pointed to then-18-year-old McGuffin. But there was no hard evidence to link him to the crime.

Leah's best friend, Cherie Mitchell, said she thought Leah's relationship with the high school senior was bad for her.

"I think that he was kind of dangerous and, you know, maybe she liked the danger side of him," Mitchell said.

Leah's mother, Cory Courtwright, said that she did not approve of her daughter's relationship either.

"I found out that they were being sexually active, and that was disturbing for me," Courtwright said.

On the night of Leah's disappearance, Mitchell confronted her friend and told Leah she should break-up with McGuffin. Furious, Leah stormed out. She last was seen walking alone near a gas station in downtown Coquille, but she never made it home.

 

[trimmonthelake]

http://www.columbian.com/news/2010/oct/15/may-trial-set-in-slaying-of-coquille-teen/
May trial set in slaying of Coquille teen.
Friday, October 15, 2010

COQUILLE, Ore. (AP) -- A murder trial has been set for May in Coquille for the man accused of the killing 10 years ago of 15-year-old Leah Freeman.

The Register-Guard reports there were extra deputies on hand for Thursday's appearance in Coos County Circuit Court for 28-year-old Nicholas James McGuffin because harsh words had been exchanged between his supporter's and Freeman's family at his arraignment.

McGuffin was arrested in August in a cold case investigation. He's charged with first-degree murder.

McGuffin was Freeman's boyfriend at the time she disappeared in June 2000. Her body was found five weeks later.

___

Information from: The Register-Guard, http://www.registerguard.com

[trimmonthelake]

http://www.leahfreeman.com/documents.htm
Case Developments, Information & Leads
Available legal documents listed a t link.

[Sister]

http://www.leahfreeman.com/documents.htm
Case Developments, Information & Leads
Available legal documents listed a t link.

Thanks Trimm, it's odd what causes more of an interest in one case over the other.  Lived in LA as a child and knew a Leah Freeman . . . not this girl . . . yet I've prayed for justice for Leah for a long time . . . even before I was on this board.

[trimmonthelake]

http://www.leahfreeman.com/documents.htm
Case Developments, Information & Leads
Available legal documents listed a t link.

Thanks Trimm, it's odd what causes more of an interest in one case over the other.  Lived in LA as a child and knew a Leah Freeman . . . not this girl . . . yet I've prayed for justice for Leah for a long time . . . even before I was on this board.

I know what you mean Sister.
I have a mental list (and one on paper now)of people that I always wonder about,and say a little prayer for. 

[trimmonthelake]

http://mgx.com/blogs/2011/01/05/nick-mcguffin-accused-killer-in-the-ten-year-old-murder-of-leah-freeman-beaten-in-jail/
Nick McGuffin accused killer in the ten year old murder of Leah Freeman beaten in jail
January 5th, 2011 • Related • Filed Under
Don’t know how I missed this one but Nicholas McGuffin, charged with the decade old murder of Leah Freeman, is presently housed at the Coos County Jail in Coquille, Oregon awaiting trial, May 10, 2011. Last month, December 12, in a day room scuffle, fellow inmate, Joshua R. Halaapiapi, with a history of assault whacked McGuffin in the back of the head and continued pummeling him until restrained by deputies.

No reason was provided for the assault.

McGuffin suffered minor scrapes and a bump on the back of the head. McGuffin’s trial is expected to last about nine days. The grand jury heard from more than 100 witnesses over several weeks before bringing the indictment charging McGuffin with murder.

McGuffin’s arrest was filmed by the ABC news program 20/20

[trimmonthelake]

http://theworldlink.com/news/local/article_3c685b3f-dd0c-532f-b74f-c81b17755e24.html
The Resolution: Verdict brings 10 to 20 years
Guilty of manslaughter  By Jessie Higgins, The World | Posted: Wednesday, July 20, 2011 11:00 am

COQUILLE -- The moment overwhelmed her. Cory Courtright, mother of homicide victim Leah Freeman, needed help walking from the courtroom where a jury had just convicted Nick McGuffin of manslaughter.

Eleven years of struggle culminated in a single word: Guilty.

Jurors found Nicholas James McGuffin guilty of manslaughter, but not murder. Ten of the 12 jurors voted for the conviction, which indicates McGuffin recklessly killed his 15-year-old girlfriend in June 2000, but not necessarily intentionally.

'I kind of lost control," Court-right said. 'I've fought so hard for so long."

McGuffin will be sentenced Aug. 1. Manslaughter is a Measure 11 crime, so he will face a minimum of 10 years in prison and a maximum of 20. Any sentence will include time served, in this case one year.

District Attorney R. Paul Frasier chose to include manslaughter as a lesser included charge for the jury to consider if it found McGuffin not guilty of murder.

Read more: http://theworldlink.com/news/local/article_3c685b3f-dd0c-532f-b74f-c81b17755e24.html#ixzz1SlwwHBAc

[trimmonthelake]

http://www.kmtr.com/news/local/story/McGuffins-attorneys-will-appeal-conviction/nmJJASkSW0q38H0xnhOvPQ.cspx
McGuffin's attorneys will appeal conviction
At a press conference Tuesday, District Attorney Paul Frasier said his team was very satisfied by the verdict, and called it the toughest case he's ever worked on.  Prosecutors had little concrete evidence, no "smoking gun," and no eyewitness to the crime.  Frasier said, "You had to lay circumstance on top of circumstance on top of circumstance to get to the ultimate conclusion."  Frasier thanked law enforcement for the countless hours of work put into the case, "Every agency—police agency—in this county had something to do with this case at some point or another."

The D.A. says he will not be prosecuting anyone else for involvement in Freeman's disappearance, or covering up her death.

Nick McGuffin is due back in Coos County court August 1st for his sentencing hearing.  His attorneys have 30 days after that to file notice of appeal.  As for the $10,000 reward offered for the successful prosecution in Leah Freeman's murder, police say no one has inquired yet.

[AmandaReckonwith]

Case archive album for Leah Freeman:

http://s296.photobucket.com/albums/mm166/crankycrankerson/Leah%20Freeman%20-OR-/

[NM]

 

Circuit Court Judge Richard Barron sentenced McGuffin to 10 years in prison, minus one year for time served.

'It is tragic that a 15-year-old girl is dead and her body disposed of the way hers was," Barron said to McGuffin after declaring the sentence. 'It is also tragic that someone your age is sentenced to prison."

First-degree manslaughter is a Measure 11 crime, which means it has a mandatory 10 year sentence -- plus three years of parole -- with no opportunity of early release.



Read more: http://theworldlink.com/news/local/article_1eed029e-a7ec-5ab0-bbef-d4bf37c8cfb1.html#ixzz1UInK9ea0

[MuffyBee]

 ::justice2NJ::    There's nothing that can being Leah Freeman back, but at least putting McGuffin behind bars for nine more years with no chance of early release, plus three years probation brings a measure of justice.  I'm moving this on over to "Solved".