I went through Lake Elmo, on Thursday to drop off a banner at the Lake Elmo library for my Tuesday, May 7, presentation. The library was closed, but there was a State Farm office next door, and the staff offered to deliver my poster to the library when it opened. I guess I can say, “Like a good neighbor, State Farm was there."
Addressing The I-94 Murders at the Beaver Island Brewing Company was a huge success! All the seats were full, plus some standing. A great time was had by all. Thank you everyone! The Beaver Island Brewing Company event was amazing! The seats were full, and people were standing. The beverages were cold and everyone had a great time. Thank you! A special thanks to Mike & Deb, Paula and Roberta, for helping me pack up after the big event. And of course, thank you Beaver Island for being great! I am presenting on addressing mental illness to police officers on Thursday at Central Lakes College. I’m looking forward to sharing some insight about this. I want to talk about a little about Sherry Leighty. Domestic abuse cases are the most dangerous situations police officers enter. Sherry Jean Leighty was born on September 30, 1976 in Altoona, Pennsylvania. She was the third of four children. Her older sister, Shelly Nagle, was instrumental to her missing person investigation. Sherry’s mother left the family when she was just 5 years old, all of the Dumm children were raised by their father, Sheldon. He worked at a bakery in town. Sherry started dating Aaron Leighty when she was just 14 and Aaron was 17. At 16, she had her son, Travis, and then had two more children with Aaron, both girls, named Kieran and Rachel, respectively. At 19, Sherry and Aaron were married and had 3 children. They lived in an inexpensive rental apartment with their young family. The couple was initially inseparable and constantly doted on each other and their children. Over time Aaron became verbally abusive to her and once he started working as an over the road truckdriver became cruelly jealous. He began to accuse Sherry of cheating on him. One day, Sherry called her sister Shelly and told her that she and Aaron had gotten into a very bad argument and that she needed to get out of the house. Shelly advised her sister to take the kids and find somewhere else to live. Sherry’s father was dying, her mother wasn’t in the picture, and Sherry didn’t have any money, so she moved in with her in-laws. Sherry Leighty disappeared shortly after this, in 1999. Her husband, Aaron, believed she had left with a new boyfriend. The police accepted this story, even though Sherry’s siblings didn’t believe Sherry would ever abandon her children. Finally, 13 years later, an investigation was opened up into her disappearance. When investigators reviewed the day of Sherry’s disappearance, they realized that she was last seen by her husband’s father Ken, who drove her to town, when he went to work. But Ken never went to work that day. Sherry’s son, Travis, began looking for her, which infuriated Travis’ paternal grandfather, Kenneth Leighty. Her ex-husband, Aaron, agreed to have a phone call with his father Ken, recorded. When Aaron confronted his father over his estranged wife’s disappearance, his father responded, “It was an accident.” When Ken was interviewed by police, he attacked the officer. During Ken’s incarceration he reported that he pushed Sherry and she hit her head on the rearview mirror. Ken stated he was angry that she was dating someone other than his son. But Ken was an abusive jerk who intimidated everyone in the family. There were reports that Ken was fascinated with his son’s wife, Sherry, and Ken was caught looking in her windows, and sneaking into her bedroom when she was sleeping and lifting the covers. Ken Leighty was offered a plea to Murder in the 3rd degree if he produced Sherry’s body. Ken led them to her body, which he had buried on his land. Her skull had been crushed with a hard object. Investigators believe that Ken likely tried to sexually assault her, and when she resisited he beat her to death. As a result of his plea deal, Ken received a sentence of 7 to 14 years and will be eligible for parole in 2020. It is stories like Sherry’s that emphasize the importance of helping out people who struggle and demonstrating love to those close. She was a poor kid who had nowhere to go. Pictured below is Sherry (on the far right) months before her death, with her older sister and 3 children. The movie Inside/Out is a great movie to help youth understand how emotions work. My 5-year-old granddaughter explained to me that she was upset because “anger was in the headquarters” which is an understanding taken from this movie. Here’s a voiced over summary of the movie. Thanks for listening, Frank The Midwest Book Awards offers award to books printed in 12 midwestern states, including Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota and Wisconsin, The I-94 Murders was selected as “Best Romance” of 2018. Here is Frank receiving the award. I enjoy living in a community that has “drive your tractor to school day.” I also respect the wonderful people who test their skills in various endeavors.
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AuthorFrank F. Weber is a forensic psychologist specializing in homicide and sexual and physical assault cases. He uses his unique understanding of how predator’s think, knowledge of victim trauma, actual court cases, and passion for writing true crime thrillers. His Award Winning books include "Murder Book" (2017) "The I-94 Murders" (2018) "Last Call" (2019) and "Lying Close" (September 2020). Archives
April 2024
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