Investigators in Denton County say a man convicted of the sexual assault of a child apparently took his own life by drinking poison in the courtroom.
A jury had just convicted Edward Leclair, 57 Frisco, of five counts of sexually assaulting a child. State District Court Judge Lee Gabriel began reading the verdict.
“The defendant was standing to accept that verdict and he started to chug a water bottle that he had on the desk in front of him. He wasn’t just drinking it he was chugging it,” said First Assistant District Attorney Jamie Beck. “At that point the judge was finished reading the verdict. He was then taken into custody.”
Gabriel ordered Leclair to be put in a holding cell while lawyers discussed the timing of the punishment phase of the trial.
“Our investigator that he had chugged that bottle of water and said to the bailiff ‘Hey, you might want to go check on him in the holding tank.’ And sure enough he was passed out and clearly in distress.”
Leclair was taken to a local hospital by ambulance where he was pronounced dead.
Nobody is suspected of giving Leclair the water bottle.
“He was on bond throughout the trial. And then only after receiving a guilty verdict to take them into custody,” Beck said.
An autopsy will be conducted by the Tarrant County Medical Examiner, which performs autopsies for Denton County. A toxicology test could take weeks. The Texas Rangers have taken over the investigation and are analyzing the contents of the water bottle, a news release from the Denton County Sheriff’s Office said.
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