Leonard Maine

Case record

Identity

Leonard Maine was convicted in connection with multiple violent offences involving rape and killings committed with Thomas Eugene Braun.

Background

Thomas Eugene Braun was born in 1949 in rural Washington state. Braun lost his mother in early childhood as the result of a clumsy, illegal abortion. Leonard Maine was described as slow-witted.

While left in the care of his alcoholic father, Braun and his younger sister were frequently locked in a truck for safekeeping while the old man made his rounds of local taverns. Braun and his younger sister were beaten on occasion. When Braun’s dog was accused of stealing chickens, Thomas was forced by his father to shoot the animal.

The offence

On August 17, 1967, Braun left his job as a gas station attendant in Ritzville, Washington, and picked up his best friend, slow-witted Leonard Maine. The two 18-year-olds had two pistols, a car, and no clear destination in mind.

On August 18 in Seattle, the boys stopped at a rooming house, asked about lodgings, and then pulled their guns on the landlady. They fled in panic when she began to scream.

The next afternoon outside Redmond, they pulled over 22-year-old Deanna Buse, pretending that something was wrong with a tire on her car. Forcing the young woman into Braun’s vehicle at gunpoint, Braun drove on to Echo Lake with Maine bringing up the rear in Buse’s sedan. After arriving at their destination, Braun marched Buse into the woods, forced her to strip, and then shot her five times without taking time to molest her.

After dumping their old car in Seattle and keeping the new one, the killers pushed south into Oregon. On August 21, Samuel Ledgerwood saw them changing a flat tire and stopped to offer help. Ledgerwood was shot two times in the head. His corpse was left where it lay. The boys torched Buse’s car and drove off in Ledgerwood’s vehicle bound for California.

On August 23, they picked up hitchhikers Timothy Luce and Susan Bartolomei. The pair raped the girl several times before shooting both victims and leaving them for dead on the side of the road. Bartolomei was crippled for life but survived to describe her attackers. Police launched a massive search for the gunmen.

Investigation

Police launched a massive search for the gunmen after the August 23 attacks. Four days later, in Jamestown, California, Ledgerwood’s car was spotted outside a motel where suspects “Mike and John Ford” were registered in rooms 19 and 26.

Arrest

The killers surrendered without resistance when their names were associated with “Mike and John Ford.” They were packed off to Washington for trial.

Trial

Upon conviction, Braun was sentenced to death. Maine received a term of life imprisonment.

Sentencing

Leonard Maine was sentenced to life in prison in California.

Other details

Michael Newton - An Encyclopedia of Modern Serial Killers - Hunting Humans Thomas Eugene Braun and Leonard Maine arrest. home last updates contact