Leslie Dale Martin
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Leslie Dale Martin (April 24, 1967 – May 10, 2002) was an American convicted murderer who was executed by the state of Louisiana for the June 1991 rape and murder of 19-year-old Christina Burgin. He remains the most recent person executed involuntarily in Louisiana.


Early life

Martin was born on April 24, 1967, in
Shreveport, Louisiana Shreveport ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Louisiana. It is the third most populous city in Louisiana after New Orleans and Baton Rouge, respectively. The Shreveport–Bossier City metropolitan area, with a population of 393,406 in 2020, is t ...
. In 1984, he pulled a knife on his 14-year-old sister and forced her to have sex with him. He was convicted of sexual battery and was sentenced to ten years in prison. He was released in early 1990.


Murder

On the evening of June 20, 1991, Martin and a friend, Michael Roland, went to a lounge in
Lake Charles, Louisiana Lake Charles (French: ''Lac Charles'') is the fifth-largest incorporated city in the U.S. state of Louisiana, and the parish seat of Calcasieu Parish, located on Lake Charles, Prien Lake, and the Calcasieu River. Founded in 1861 in Calcasieu ...
. At the lounge, they met 19-year-old Christina Burgin, a student at
McNeese State University McNeese State University is a public university in Lake Charles, Louisiana. Founded in 1939 as Lake Charles Junior College, it was renamed McNeese Junior College after John McNeese, an early local educator. The present name was adopted in 1970. ...
. Roland and Burgin knew each other and he introduced her to Martin. The two were seen dancing together that night and sharing alcoholic drinks. In the early hours of June 21, Burgin asked Martin for a lift home and they were last seen leaving the lounge together. Burgin was not seen alive again after. Martin drove with Burgin in his truck and parked up on a dirt road in
Iowa Iowa () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States, bordered by the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west. It is bordered by six states: Wisconsin to the northeast, Illinois to the ...
. Burgin, who was heavily intoxicated, was then raped by Martin in his truck. After the sexual assault, Burgin threatened to report him to the police for rape. Fearing a return to jail, Martin then choked her in his truck with his hands. He then pulled her out of the vehicle and strangled her with a rope, placed a board over her neck, and jumped on it several times until she died. He then cut her eyes out with a knife so she could not identify him. Two weeks later, the decomposed body of Burgin was discovered in a shed in Iowa. She was found with a rope around her neck and a wooden board with blood on it was found nearby.


Trial

Martin was charged with first degree murder in the killing of Burgin. At his trial, several witnesses testified against him after Martin confessed to them details of the crime. He was accused of raping and murdering Burgin. Due to the condition of Burgin's body, there was minimal physical evidence. However, blood was found on Martin's clothes, truck seat cover, and the wooden board recovered near Burgin's body. In May 1992, Martin was found guilty of killing Burgin and was convicted of first degree murder. He was sentenced to death.


Escape attempts

In November 1999, Martin and three other inmates on
death row Death row, also known as condemned row, is a place in a prison that houses inmates awaiting Capital punishment, execution after being convicted of a capital crime and sentenced to death. The term is also used figuratively to describe the state of ...
attempted to escape from prison. Using smuggled hacksaw blades, the four men cut through their cell doors and a steel-barred window. The men were caught about two miles from their cells and were returned to death row. The group had paid a corrections officer to bring them the blades they used in their escape. Ultimately, two guards were fired and another two were demoted following the escape attempt. In January 2002, Martin was overheard talking with another inmate by two death row corrections officers about another escape attempt. In this escape attempt, Martin planned to take hostages and would commandeer a vehicle which he would use to ram through the prison gates. Because of this, Martin was moved to a cell right next to the execution chamber where he would be unable to take hostages and would only have a single guard to talk to.


Execution

In January 2002, Martin was scheduled for execution on February 8, 2002. On January 9, 2002, due to prison officials overhearing Martin's plan of a possible prison escape, he was moved to the death house in the execution building early to await the date of his execution. On February 8, less than thirty minutes before he was scheduled to be executed, the execution was called off by the U.S. Supreme Court, as they wished to consider whether they wanted to hear an appeal by Martin. On March 28, the entire court refused to act on the request and Martin was rescheduled for execution on May 10. On May 10, 2002, Martin was executed at
Louisiana State Penitentiary The Louisiana State Penitentiary (known as Angola, and nicknamed the "Alcatraz of the South", "The Angola Plantation" and "The Farm"Sutton, Keith "Catfish".Out There: Angola angling. ''ESPN Outdoors''. May 31, 2006. Retrieved on August 25, 2010. ...
by
lethal injection Lethal injection is the practice of injecting one or more drugs into a person (typically a barbiturate, paralytic, and potassium solution) for the express purpose of causing rapid death. The main application for this procedure is capital puni ...
. His
last meal A condemned prisoner's last meal is a customary ritual preceding execution. In many countries, the prisoner may, within reason, select what the last meal will be. Contemporary restrictions in the United States In the United States, most states gi ...
consisted of boiled crawfish, crawfish stew, a garden salad with Italian dressing, oatmeal cookies and whole milk with chocolate syrup. He did not make a final statement before his death but did mouth the words "You're fired" to his defense attorney after the lethal injection drugs were injected. He was pronounced dead at 8:16 p.m. Martin was executed on the same day as convicted murderer
Lynda Lyon Block Lynda Cheryle Lyon Block (February 8, 1948 – May 10, 2002) was an American convicted murderer.Executions
"
, who was executed in
Alabama (We dare defend our rights) , anthem = "Alabama (state song), Alabama" , image_map = Alabama in United States.svg , seat = Montgomery, Alabama, Montgomery , LargestCity = Huntsville, Alabama, Huntsville , LargestCounty = Baldwin County, Al ...
. Martin remained the last person to be executed in Louisiana for nearly eight years, until
Gerald Bordelon Gerald James Bordelon (February 19, 1962 – January 7, 2010) was an American convicted murderer and sex offender who was executed in Louisiana for murder. Bordelon was sentenced to death for the kidnapping and murder of Courtney LeBlanc, his 12- ...
was executed in early 2010, after waiving all his appeals and voluntarily going to his execution. Since then, no one has been executed in Louisiana, making Martin the most recent person to have been executed involuntarily in Louisiana.


See also

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Capital punishment in Louisiana Capital punishment is a legal punishment in Louisiana. Despite remaining a legal punishment, there have been no executions in Louisiana since 2010, and no involuntary executions since 2002. Execution protocols are tied up in litigation due to a ...
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Capital punishment in the United States In the United States, capital punishment is a legal penalty throughout the country at the federal level, in 27 states, and in American Samoa. It is also a legal penalty for some military offenses. Capital punishment has been abolished in 23 s ...
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List of people executed in Louisiana The following is a list of people executed by the U.S. state of Louisiana since capital punishment was resumed in the United States in 1976. A total of 28 people convicted of murder have been executed by the state of Louisiana since 1976. Of the 2 ...
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List of people executed in the United States in 2002 This is a list of people executed in the United States in 2002. Seventy-one people were executed in the United States in 2002. Thirty-three of them were in the state of Texas. Two (Lynda Lyon Block and Aileen Carol Wuornos) were female. One (Lynd ...


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Martin, Leslie Dale 1967 births 2002 deaths 21st-century executions by Louisiana 21st-century executions of American people American people executed for murder American rapists People convicted of murder by Louisiana People executed by Louisiana by lethal injection People from Shreveport, Louisiana