Ricky L. Leer Charged With Beheading Homeless Man Who Knocked Over Grill

Three homeless men barbequing steaks and drinking rum in the Sarasota County woods ended with one man decapitated, one man in jail, and one man serving as the police eyewitness.

According to a probable cause affidavit by Sarasota Police, a man called 911 on Tuesday at 1:30 a.m. to report that he had just witnessed a man killing another man by chopping off his head.

The witness, Donald Mann, said he, suspect Ricky L. Leer, and the unidentified victim were having a rum-soaked cookout in the woods where they lived.

Over the course of the night, Leer and the victim began to argue. Mann reports that their fight finally escalated when the victim accidently knocked over the grill. According to the affidavit, Leer then knocked the victim to the ground and used a machete-like knife to decapitate him.

Mann told police he tried to kick Leer off the victim, but when he was unsuccessful, he fled and called 911. Mann led deputies to the woods where they found the body of the deceased 53-year-old victim.

After canvasing the woods, deputies eventually found Leer, still drinking rum and leaning against a tree. He was charged with second-degree murder.

Comments

[Bev Spires]

07:16 PM on 02/23/2012

What is wrong with you people? A man was killed over something trivial and you think "gee it's time to make a funny because they were homeless"? If you want to talk about a lack of humanity then look no father than some of these posts.

[Aubreyautumn]

08:32 PM on 01/08/2012

Apparently, there are very specific penalties for knocking over a homeless man's grill.

[TheInconvenientTruth]

03:25 PM on 01/06/2012

Damn!

[Colonel Ingus]

10:03 AM on 01/06/2012

Florida is a freak show.

[lightist]

05:16 AM on 01/06/2012

That musta been some machete. I'd like to know how many 'hacks' it took to cut all the way through? Did he even bother to cut through the medula oblongata? I'm guessing it took a while to cut through. Can you imagine the amount of blood flying all every which direction. Machete guys clothes must have been just a bloody mess. I gotta say, that's one scene I would have liked to see live. I mean, I gotta know, was he hacking real fast all the way through? Did he start all crazy and then settle into a mellow rhythm?

[Bartmadness]

09:25 AM on 01/06/2012

I'd pay to see that!

[pepper1311]

07:02 PM on 01/05/2012

Homeless grilling steaks and drinking rum while camping out. How does that work?

[helmheadwwii]

07:30 PM on 01/05/2012

well the camping out part is kinda obvious but as far as the steaks and rum goes...wonder if any dogs are missing in the neighborhood.

[ethelmertzrules]

06:29 PM on 01/05/2012

Wow, there is a witness and the murder was grisly but only a 2nd degree murder charge?

[afeuer78]

07:29 AM on 01/06/2012

You need premeditation for 1st degree. It has to be planned out in advance.

[Iamthx1138]

05:19 PM on 01/05/2012

I could understand chopping the guy's head off if he had deliberately knocked the grill over, but he did it by accident. For that, he should have recieved nothing more severe than having all his teeth knocked out with a hammer.

[stndngbr]

01:38 PM on 01/05/2012

OOOOPS - Didn't mean to post that twice - LOL

[stndngbr]

01:33 PM on 01/05/2012

To anyone who has the stance that "guns kill" - well - as soon as you see a "gun pull its own trigger" - would you kindly let me know.

[ethelmertzrules]

06:30 PM on 01/05/2012

That is a stupid criteria to advance your argument.

[helmheadwwii]

07:31 PM on 01/05/2012

Plenty of cases where guns have accidently discharged without the trigger being pulled. And what does that have to do with this man cutting another mans head off?

[stndngbr]

01:30 PM on 01/05/2012

To all who think "guns" kill - well, as soon as you see a gun pull it's own trigger - would you please let me know?

[Angioplasm]

12:52 PM on 01/05/2012

Wonder where they stole the steaks?

[Ted Cantu]

12:31 PM on 01/05/2012

Man, what was the argument about?

[pepper1311]

07:04 PM on 01/05/2012

Stakes undercooked

[helmheadwwii]

07:32 PM on 01/05/2012

the steaks were still barking.

[munki]

12:15 PM on 01/05/2012

AWFUL!!!
Nothing else left to say...
AWFUL!!!!

[Richcrafter]

12:00 PM on 01/05/2012

Why do we ever speak of humanity. It's too rare.

[afeuer78]

07:31 AM on 01/06/2012

Just like the steaks that got knocked off the grill too early.

[Bartmadness]

09:26 AM on 01/06/2012

Too Funny!!