Niles man arraigned in wife’s slaying

By TIM YOVICH

VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF

NILES — Daniel A. Leet was charged with murder Monday in the weekend shotgun death of his 29-year-old wife outside their Difford Drive home.

Leet was arraigned Monday by municipal Judge Thomas W. Townley on the first floor of the city safety building, because Leet has a broken ankle. The courtroom is on the second floor of the building.

Leet, 29, was ordered held in lieu of a $500,000 cash or surety bond with a preliminary hearing scheduled for Dec. 5 before Judge Townley.

Leet is accused of hitting his wife, Angela S. Court Leet, with three 12-gauge shotgun blasts outside their ranch-style home at 1509 Difford about 10:15 p.m. Saturday. The gun was recovered, police said.

Capt. Kenneth Criswell said a motive for the shooting has not been established, and neighbors did not hear the couple arguing before the shots were fired. From all indications, he said, the dispute occurred outside the house. But it’s not known whether the gun was in the house, garage or car.

“We don’t know if we’ll ever know that,” he said.

He said the couple had been out for the evening, and Angela Leet still had her street clothes on when gunned down.

Criswell said that after neighbors heard the shots, one of them ran to the Leet home and tackled Leet and held him until police arrived. This is probably when Leet suffered the broken ankle, he added.

Police had received two 911 calls after the shooting — one reporting shots fired and the other that a man had a gun pointed at his head.

The wife, the captain explained, was struck in the back and twice in the neck and face. The couple married earlier this year.

Court records show that Leet was charged with assault in 1997, but the case was dismissed. In 1997, he was sentenced to eight months in prison for the 1996 firebombing of his former girlfriend’s home on Olive Street.

This is the third homicide in Niles this year.

Destiny Seybest, 14 months, died Sept . 20 after she was beaten. Her mother’s boyfriend, Jamie Champlin, 27, is awaiting trial on charges of murder.

The other is Ray Carroll, 28, who was stabbed to death at his Woodglen Avenue home where he was found two days later. His roommate, Michael McGrath, was indicted on a charge of aggravated murder.

yovich@vindy.com