The same year Nelson was robbed at knifepoint in Philadelphia, and in response purchased a handgun. In 1987 he was arrested for felony possession of a weapon and dum-dum bullets. He served sixty days, received probation and had to have psychological evaluation. It was now illegal for him to possess a firearm.
He contemplated suicide. He resumed taking estrogens, and had breast augmentation. Leslie completed the sex change in 1992, despite a sex therapist declaring that psychological problems remained, although she was at risk of suicide if denied the change. The transgender program at Pennsylvania Hospital rejected her because she had a depressive disorder, and they felt that she did not feel like a woman in a man's body.
On returning to her warehouse job, Leslie was severely harassed and quit. She tried to be an exotic dancer, but was clumsy, and also failed to pass as female. She became a hooker in Camden, New Jersey.
On April 20, 1995, Nelson shot and killed two police officers, John McLaughlin and John Norcross, and wounded a third, Richard Norcross, John's brother, in a shootout at her parent’s home at Haddon Heights, New Jersey. She had refused to produce her gun, an AK-47 assault rifle on the policemen’s first visit after a neighbor had suggested that she had fondled her niece, and when they returned with a warrant she opened fire.
Leslie Nelson, with public defender Joe Krakora, |
The New Jersey Supreme Court twice ruled that executing ‘such a mentally ill and psychologically disturbed person’ would be cruel and unusual punishment., and with the agreement of the prosecution, she was sentenced to three life sentences, with a 65-year bar on parole. This permitted her to be transferred to the Edna Mahan Correctional Facility for Women, in Clinton, New Jersey.
She was Inmate of the Month at the Edna Mahan Correctional Facility in August 2005 for tutoring other inmates.
*Not Leslie Nielsen, the Hollywood comedy actor.
- John Nordheimer. "Shooting Suspect Surrenders After 2 Officers Are Killed". The New York Times, April 22, 1995. www.nytimes.com/1995/04/22/nyregion/shooting-suspect-surrenders-after-2-officers-are-killed.html.
- John Way Jennings. "Accused Killer Of Lawmen Faces Death Penalty Leslie Nelson Was Indicted Yesterday. The Standoff In Haddon Heights Left Two Officers Dead, One Hurt.". Philadelphia Inquirer, June 22, 1995. http://articles.philly.com/1995-06-22/news/25691554_1_murder-of-police-officers-leslie-nelson-gas-mask.
- Aamer Madhani. "No Change Of Venue In Murder Case Leslie Nelson Pleaded Guilty To Killing Two Officers. Jury Selection Is Set For Jan. In A New Sentencing Trial.". Philadelphia Inquirer, Dec 13, 2000. http://articles.philly.com/2000-12-13/news/25580462_1.
- J. Zazzali. “State vs Leslie Ann Nelson”. New Jersey Court Cases. www.romingerlegal.com/new_jersey/supreme/a-29-01.opn.html.
- "A Question of Death". South Jersey.com, May 2005. www.southjersey.com/articles/?articleID=12827.
The Edna Mahan Correctional Facility for Women quite sensibly employed only female guards. The following is from the Wikipedia page:
A class action lawsuit was filed on behalf of male correctional officers alleging that the policy of only employing female officers was discriminatory. In 1991, the state entered into a consent agreement allowing male correctional officers to work at Edna Mahan.
The addition of male officers resulted in problems leading to additional legal action. Officers were disciplined, fired, or criminally prosecuted for offenses including exchanging sexual favors for gifts or money.
Nelson was at first sentenced to death by lethal injection for one murder and life in prison with thirty years of parole ineligibility for the second. Would that be concurrent or subsequent?
ReplyDeleteYou mean consecutive?
DeleteLeslie was not harassed at her warehouse job. I worked with her. She was harassed by her neighbors. She was wrongfully accused her of many things. As a reporter you are to check the facts, not make them up.
ReplyDeleteI know Leslie she's such a quiet and pleasant person always staying too herself
DeleteI agree with the above poster
DeleteTina, you fail to mention which trans history or encyclopedia, book or on-line that you think is better fact-checked. The fact checking on this site is higher than most, if not all. You come across as the kind of person who on encountering something that is 98% right, ignores the 98% and only criticizes the 2%. Please tell us where we can find your writings so that we may apply the same approach to your work.
ReplyDeleteYou can start with interviewing people who have a first hand account. The people who worked with her. She worked there pre and post op. You're saying she was harassed at work. I am telling you I was there and she was not harassed at work. Her lovely Neighbors are the people who harassed her. Is it your opinion that she was harassed at work? Because how I read it, it was spoken as fact. I'm not going to debate the sight and it's fact checking. I'm telling you the information is wrong.
ReplyDelete
ReplyDeleteYou could start by being polite. 22 years after the events, you are wanting to add a witness statement at variance to the published record, and you start by impuning my summary of what was published.
To start with: are you offering to pay airfares and hotel bills for me to fly around the world to interview people? Because I certainly do not have such money!
As per the written record, State v. Leslie Ann Nelson (A-29-01) online at http://caselaw.findlaw.com/nj-supreme-court/1119811.html
"Nelson encountered severe harassment on returning to her warehouse job after her sex change operation. Specifically, the warehouse's officer manager stated that the other employees “avoided Leslie whenever possible, ridiculed her behind her back[,] and the really bold and curious ones would ask her questions about the operations and one even asked Leslie if he could feel her breast implants.” Defendant left that job in May 1992".
As per the account in Crime Library:
"When she returned to work at the warehouse, Nelson found that she was more isolated than ever. Now calling herself Leslie, Nelson was again subjected to ridicule and harassment. According to Nelson's manager at the warehouse, most of the other employees tried to steer clear of Leslie altogether. "The really bold and curious ones asked her questions about the operations and one even asked Leslie if he could feel her breast implants," the manager said. By May of that year, Leslie Nelson decided that she couldn't take it anymore. She quit her job at the warehouse."