Donald Leroy Evans

Case record: Donald Leroy Evans

Background

Donald Leroy Evans (born July 5, 1957) was an American serial killer who murdered more than 15 people from 1970 to 1991. He was discharged from the United States Marine Corps in 1970. He was known for sexually assaulting and brutally killing victims at parks and rest areas across 20 states. He was a drifter, a drug addict, a convicted rapist and a white supremacist.

Evans was arrested in Louisiana for the kidnapping of a ten year old girl and he confessed to the killing, leading authorities to the girl's body. He also confessed to killing more than 60 other people in over 20 different states. Most of the murders and rapes took place at rest stops and public parks.

The authorities were originally skeptical of Evans' claims, but many of his descriptions were perfect matches to unsolved cases across Florida and Illinois.

Evans escaped from the Harrison County Jail and was recaptured a short time later.

In 1993, Evans was tried and convicted for the kidnapping, raping, strangulation, and murder of 10 year old Beatrice Routh. In 1995, Florida authorities tried and convicted Evans for the strangulation death of Ira Jean Smith.

Evans requested a name change to "Hi Hitler" during the trial.

Evans’ execution was never carried out. He was stabbed to death in 1999 by a fellow death row inmate at the Mississippi State Penitentiary.

Evans’ confessions later came to be treated as a hoax in some accounts, and authorities stated they found no positive links to Evans in the Galveston area.

Investigation

Federal officials in Mississippi formed a multiagency task force to investigate Evans’ claims that he killed more than 60 persons in a 10-year spree in 17 states after his release from the Marines because of mental problems.

Galveston authorities checked records of unsolved murders in the area and found no positive links to Evans. Capt. Earnest Boyd said there were no reports that Evans confessed to murders in the Galveston area.

Evans told authorities that during a 10-year period beginning in 1977 he killed dozens of people, most of them women. Federal officials said they were taking it seriously.

A revealing account of Evans’ early history was included in a court-ordered evaluation by Dr. John W. Goodman of Galveston, who conducted three 1986 interviews in pretrial mental evaluation in the rape case.

Arrest

Evans was arrested in Louisiana on Aug. 5 and was charged in federal court with kidnapping.

Evans had been paroled to Galveston after doing time in a Texas prison for sexually assaulting a Galveston woman in 1986.

At the time of his arrest, Evans also lied about his age, adding six years.

Evans was arrested in Louisiana for the kidnapping of a ten year old girl described as homeless.

The offence

Evans was charged with capital murder in the death of Beatrice Louise Routh, a 10-year-old homeless girl.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Jay Golden said in court that Routh’s mother, Tami Jean Giles, let Beatrice go with Evans to buy food to barbecue, and that Evans bought duct tape which he later used to bind the girl.

Evans kidnapped Beatrice Louise Routh from a park in Gulfport, Miss., on Aug. 1.

On Aug. 11, Evans led police to Beatrice Routh’s body.

Evans confessed to taking Beatrice to Louisiana, raping and killing her there and then dumping her body in Mississippi.

Evans pleaded guilty to kidnapping in federal court.

In addition to the Beatrice Routh case, Evans was tried and convicted in Florida for the strangulation death of Ira Jean Smith after a 1995 proceeding.

Evans later pleaded guilty in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., to the 1985 killing of Ira Jean Smith and received a life sentence.

Trial

Evans pleaded guilty to kidnapping a 10-year-old girl in federal court.

Evans appeared before U.S. District Judge Walter Gex III in U.S. District Court in Biloxi, Miss., to plead to the kidnapping charge. His court-appointed lawyer, Fred Lusk of Biloxi, was at his side. Lusk and Evans had appeared before U.S. Magistrate John Roper minutes earlier for arraignment on the kidnapping charge.

Gex ordered a pre-sentencing report from probation officials on the kidnapping plea and set a sentencing date of Oct. 24.

Jay Golden spoke in court regarding the duct tape Evans bought and used to bind the girl.

Evans was also charged with capital murder in Mississippi in the death of the child.

During the Florida proceedings for the strangulation death of Ira Jean Smith, Evans requested a name change to "Hi Hitler".

Sentencing

Evans was sentenced to death in 1993 in the strangulation death of Beatrice Louise Routh.

Previously, he had been convicted on a federal kidnapping charge and was sentenced to a life term.

In July 1995, Evans pleaded guilty in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., to the 1985 killing of Ira Jean Smith. He received a life sentence.

Appeals

No appeal outcome was described in the provided material.

Outcome

He was stabbed to death on 5 January 1999 by fellow death row inmate Jimmie Mack at the Mississippi State Penitentiary.

Corrections Department spokesman Ken Jones said Evans was attacked with a makeshift knife, known in prison parlance as a "shank," while being led back to his cell after a shower.

Ken Jones said:

"He was stabbed to death by Jimmie Mack, another death row inmate. Mack was being taken by corrections officers to the shower when the stabbing occurred,'' Jones said."

Evans was 41 at the time of his death.

Harrison County District Attorney Cono Caranna said:

"We don't mourn him. We simply close his file,'' said Harrison County District Attorney Cono Caranna, who prosecuted Evans in the 1991 rape and strangulation of Beatrice Louis Routh.

Caranna also said:

"Most people you'd be able to say something good about them," he said. "Everything I saw in his life was pure self involvement and as close to evil as I've ever seen.''"

Caranna said Evans was "incapable" of remorse and delighted in leading federal authorities on the multistate search for victims and said:

"He was just running a scam."

Aftermath

After Evans’ 1991 arrest, he generated media interest by declaring himself a serial killer and white supremacist, and by claiming to have information on slayings around the country. He later admitted he misled authorities.

Mack was on death row for the 1990 beating death of a Gunnison man.

Timeline

• July 5, 1957 — Donald Leroy Evans was born.
• 1970 — Evans was discharged from the United States Marine Corps.
• 1970 to 1991 — Evans murdered more than 15 people, according to the provided material.
• 1977 — Evans stated a 10-year period beginning in 1977 during which he said he killed dozens of people.
• 1984 — Evans had lived off and on in Galveston since about 1984; his name first turned up in Galveston police records when he was arrested in July 1984 for stealing a bottle of wine.
• December 1985 — Evans was arrested in Galveston County deputies for public urination on the Bolivar Ferry.
• March 1986 — Evans was accused of assault by his girlfriend, Gail Stewart.
• Sept. 30, 1975 — Evans joined the Marines in San Antonio at the age of 18.
• Less than a year later — Evans was discharged from the Marines.
• July 14, 1976 — Evans was listed as a patient in Philadelphia until his discharge on Sept. 2, 1976.
• Aug. 1 — Evans kidnapped Beatrice Louise Routh from a park in Gulfport, Miss.
• Aug. 5 — Evans was arrested in Louisiana; federal kidnapping charges followed.
• Aug. 11 — Evans led police to Beatrice Routh’s body.
• April 18 (year stated in the material context) — Evans was paroled to Galveston after doing time in a Texas prison for sexually assaulting a Galveston woman in 1986.
• Late July (as stated) — Evans stole a car and fled to Mississippi.
• June 1993 — Evans escaped from Harrison County jail.
• Short time after June 1993 (as stated) — Evans was recaptured about a mile away.
• 1993 — Evans was sentenced to death in the strangulation death of Beatrice Louise Routh.
• 1995 — Florida authorities tried and convicted Evans for the strangulation death of Ira Jean Smith.
• January 5, 1999 — Evans was fatally stabbed by Jimmie Mack at the Mississippi State Penitentiary.

Other details

Evans’ confessions included videotapes recorded about the kidnap, rape and murder of Beatrice and about other alleged victims. Gex ordered the Beatrice tape sealed and said he did not have the second tape and could not control it; the second tape was sent to the FBI in Jackson, Miss.

Evans threatened to quit talking about more than 60 other murders unless he was allowed to tell his story to the world. He asked:

"How can you hurt my case?" he asked U.S. District Judge Walter Gex III. " I'm going to death row. What are you going to do? Kill me?"

Evans said he wanted to "get the truth out" because there had been misconceptions about how people like him were allowed to slip through the system.

Evans acted as his own co-counsel and insisted on direct access to the press, including telling Gex he would stop talking about the 60-plus murders if he did not get direct access. Lusk said Evans:

"directed me to reveal to the press about this case and the others around the country."

Lusk said:

"His beliefs (about talking directly to the press) are strong. He doesn't want to use me and I don't want him to use me."

Evans told Gex if he did not get direct access to the press, he would stop talking about the 60-plus murders. Gex said out-of-state murders had nothing to do with Evans’ kidnapping plea and that he would consider press access if Evans submitted a request through Lusk in writing.

Evans’ girlfriend from Galveston, Texas was allowed to visit him as part of an arrangement described in court.

Evans’ application for a motel desk clerk job included that Evans said he graduated from high school in Brownsville, studied business accounting and English composition at DePaul for a year, and took design and drafting classes at a college in the east Texas community of Athens, near Tyler, and listed research and study in theology and church history.

Galveston parole officials ordered Evans to leave the motel job because the potential for his committing another sex offense in the motel setting was increased, and he was fired by his employer.

Maj. Rick DeChaineau confirmed Evans joined the Marines in San Antonio on Sept. 30, 1975 at the age of 18 and was discharged less than a year later.

DeChaineau said:

"My reading is that Evans was dumped in the CCP because he was a whacked-out jerk," DeChaineau said.

DeChaineau could not tell from Military Personnel Center information if Evans was a member of the platoon for disciplinary reasons or if he was a staff member assigned to handle other platoon members.

Goodman found Evans only marginally competent to stand trial for the sexual assault in January 1987, but a jury later found him competent to stand trial.

Evans told Dr. John W. Goodman that he was from a large family with five brothers and three sisters, and that one sister died of cancer at age 6.

Evans told Goodman he completed elementary school in Michigan and middle school in Ohio.

Evans told Goodman that he attended a year of high school in Brownsville but dropped out because of "difficulty with teachers and other students."

Evans told Goodman that he attempted suicide at 16 by using roach poison and drugs.

Evans told Goodman he later joined the Marine Corps but was discharged because of psychiatric problems.

Galveston's acting police chief Capt. Earnest Boyd announced authorities were checking records of unsolved murders in the area and had found no positive links to Evans. Boyd said there were no reports that Evans confessed to murders in the Galveston area.

Evans did not claim any Galveston murders.

Jimmie Mack was described as black, while Evans was described as white.

Cono Caranna said about Evans:

Cono Caranna said:

"Everything I saw in his life was pure self-involvement and as close to evil as I've ever seen."