Local Area Solved Cases
Leah
Freeman, June 2000, Age 15 Murder Victim, Coquille, Oregon
Leah Freeman was reported missing on June 28, 2000, when she failed to return home after visiting a friend. Her body was found on August 3, 2000, approximately 9 miles from her home, near the Fairview area east of Coquille.
The case was not investigated properly from the outset. It wasn't initially treated as a missing person by the Coquille Police Department. More than a week elapsed before the police department began a proper investigation, giving whoever committed this crime ample time to dispose of any evidence that might link them to the crime.
In
August of 2008 Mark Dannels was hired to become the new Police Chief
for the City of Coquille. Dannels was previously employed by
the Cochise County Sheriff's Department in Arizona. Chief
Dannels was eager to reopen and attempt to solve some of the area's
more serious cold cases, with the Leah Freeman case being the first
priority. Chief Dannels is pictured to the right, standing in
front of the volumes of evidence developed during the decade old investigation
as he addresses a news conference in August of 2010.
Nick
McGuffin (left), Leah's boyfriend at the time of her disappearance
in June of 2000,
was indicted by the Coos County Grand Jury for murder and was
arrested in August 2010. McGuffin's trial began in July 2011.
Closing arguments were completed on
July 18, 2011. The jury was instructed to consider the charge
of Aggravated Murder (Oregon's highest form of murder)
or the lesser charge of
First Degree Manslaughter.
On July 19, 2011 the jury returned with a verdict of Guilty of the charge of First Degree Manslaughter thus ending more than 11 years investigation. First Degree Manslaughter carries a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years and a maximum sentence of 20 years. Sentencing is scheduled for August 1, 2011. More information concerning this case can be found at the Leah Freeman Website and on Facebook.
