Word of Life Defendant Bruce Leonard Enters Guilty Plea 24 Hours Ahead of Trial

By Joleen Ferris
WKTV
June 22, 2016

http://www.wktv.com/news/Word_of_Life_defendant_Bruce_Leonard_enters_guilty_plea_24_hours_ahead_of_trial.html

[with video]

Twenty-four hours before his trial on murder and other charges was set to begin, Word of Life defendant Bruce Leonard entered a guilty plea in Oneida County Court. Before Leonard, the father of the two teen victims, could plead guilty to two charges of assault, he had to make a plea allocution, where he detailed his involvement in the beating death of Lucas, 19, and the assault of Christopher, 17. The process was clearly painful for Leonard, who faltered at the podium, having to sit down several times.

"How many times would you estimate you whipped Lucas?" asked Oneida County District Attorney Scott McNamara, the prosecutor. "I'm going to say 20," replied Leonard. "It was forceful."

Leonard acknowledged that he and Word of Life Pastor Tiffanie Irwin were upset that Lucas had gone with his sister to another church. McNamara revealed Lucas' punishment from Irwin.

"Assignment, write 700 times, 'I will not lie. I will not be rebellious. The rebellious will be cast out. Psalms 5.10,'" said McNamara.

The prosecutor tried to establish how much control Tiffanie Irwin, still facing murder and other charges, had over Bruce Leonard.

"Would it be fair to say that Tiffanie Irwin had a lot of control over you and your family?" asked McNamara. "On that particular....um, substantial influence. I don't know if you could say a lot of control but substantial influence," replied Bruce Leonard. McNamara read several text messages from Leonard to Irwin, where he tells her how much time he spent reading the Bible that day and what parts he'd read.

Leonard claims the reason for the October 11 "counseling session"/beating of his sons was to punish them for alleged sexual abuse of children in the family-allegations McNamara has said were unsubstantiated. McNamara pointed out in court that Leonard and other defendants didn't wait to see if the allegations were true or not.

"So the punishment was inflicted upon these boys before anyone even checked the children to see if they'd even been molested?"asked McNamara. "Yes," replied Leonard.

Leonard clearly did not like the idea of waiving his right to appeal his plea. He also had an issue with the word, "depraved" being used as part of his plea, challenging its accuracy. Leonard became emotional when the prosecutor asked him if he regretted his actions the night his sons were assaulted.

"You don't know..." Leonard uttered between violent sobs.

"Bruce, if you could say something to Lucas right now, what would you say?" asked McNamara. "He's gone; how could I say anything to him?" asked Leonard. "If you could, would you say you were sorry?" prodded McNamara. "If I could? Yes...yes..." sobbed Leonard.

Leonard pleaded guilty to first-degree assault in the death of his son, Lucas; second-degree assault for the beating of his son, Christopher. D.A. McNamara said he's spent the past eight months trying to figure out what amount of prison time is sufficient for taking the life of a 19-year-old man. He said the agreed-upon 15-16 years in prison would likely be a life sentence for Bruce Leonard, and that he had no doubt that Leonard did not intend to kill his son. Then, McNamara gripped the podium, sighed heavily, and with his face flush, said,

"Last, probably most importantly. I believe Mr. Leonard is truly remorseful."

As part of his plea deal, Leonard must testify against the other defendants, including Sarah Ferguson, whose trial begins on Thursday. Leonard will be sentenced in September.