A man who fled to Central America after killing a Sky Valley woman nearly a decade ago pleaded guilty Friday to voluntary manslaughter and other counts and was immediately sentenced to 16 years in state prison.
Edward Lee LeBlanc, 39, stabbed Kristin Miner, whose remains were found burned and buried in a shallow grave in the desert north of Dillon Road in July 2008. Leblanc fled the country, but was captured in October 2016 in Cuyotenango, Guatemala.
[symple_googlemap title=”Guatemalan Fugitive Capture” location=”Cuyotenango, Guatemala” height=”300″ zoom=”6″]
Leblanc was facing a murder count filed against him in the summer of 2008, but pleaded guilty Friday to voluntary manslaughter, robbery and weapons allegations.
LeBlanc stabbed Miner in the stomach following an argument, according to court documents.
The documents also state that a female witness told police that on the night of Feb. 12, 2008, Miner, LeBlanc and another woman arrived at her house in Sky Valley and asked if they could leave some vehicles on the property for a short time. The woman agreed, despite having past issues with LeBlanc, who she alleged held a gun to her daughter’s head in a previous incident, according to a declaration in support of an arrest warrant.
Miner was stabbed outside the house the following morning. The woman did not witness the stabbing, but saw Miner walking around, bent over at the waist, holding bloody towels to her midsection, according to the declaration.
LeBlanc said he would take Miner to a hospital, and he drove away in her van, which was later found shot up and abandoned in the desert, with a bloody towel nearby, according to the document.
Miner’s disappearance led to months of turmoil for her family, as they hoped, fruitlessly, that she would turn up alright, Miner’s sister Kim Molina said in a court statement.
“My mother’s last 22 months on Earth were spent mourning for her daughter,” Molina said, addressing Leblanc directly.
Molina, who was joined by family and friends in court, said that ever since Leblanc was captured, she’s been “working on the stronghold of forgiveness” and pleaded with Leblanc to speak with her, face-to-face or through correspondence, to find out what happened that night.
According to court documents, several people told sheriff’s investigators that LeBlanc bragged to them about killing Miner in the months following her death. One of Leblanc’s associates guided sheriff’s investigators to the desert, where they found two burn sites, one of which contained Miner’s remains.
Eight years later, federal authorities said a tip about LeBlanc’s whereabouts was received by the FBI, leading to his arrest by federal agents and officers of the Guatemala National Civil Police.
At the time of his capture, federal authorities were offering a reward of up to $20,000 for information leading to his arrest.
–City News Service