The Murder of Dorothy Leatherwood
For this case, per a request, I watched an episode of Murder Comes to Town. It’s season 4 episode 10, titled ‘Dorothy Did Right.’
A 72-year-old woman is found dead in her home.
Background
Dorothy Leatherwood was the oldest daughter out of nine children. When her parents had to work, she would help take care of her younger siblings. Dorothy even raised her nephew, when her sister couldn’t take care of him.
Dorothy was described as a fun-loving, church going lady. Church had always been her favorite pastime, she taught Sunday school and sang in the choir. She was well known and well liked around the small town of Georgiana, Alabama.
Dorothy Leatherwood
The Discovery
On November 14, 2012, Dorothy’s car pool for her bible study arrived around 7:15am. Dorothy didn’t answer the door, but her friend realized that the door was slightly open, so she walked inside.
Dorothy was found dead, lying on the floor of her bedroom, wearing only her bathrobe. Her throat had been cut, and later the police discovered that she had been sexually assaulted.
There was no forced entry into the home, but the police did find a few other bizarre items. Dorothy’s purse had been dumped out, and no cash or credit cards were found. They found that a piece of her comforter from her bed had been cut, and a note was found that said ‘I needed my money.’
The Investigation
When the police spoke to Dorothy’s friends and family, they all said that Dorothy lived on a fixed income. There was no way that she would have been throwing her money around.
The Georgiana police and Butler Co. sherrif’s office, canvassed the area, and spoke to potential witnesses.
Several neighbors that knew Dorothy well did tell the police that they noticed Dorothy’s light was on at a unusual hour, and that the door had been slightly open.
Another neighbor told the police that they might want to look at a home that belonged to a man named Eddie. The house was known to be involved in drug activity.
The police knew Eddie well. There had been several phone calls over to his house, due to fights and other illegal activities.
Eddie was questioned, and it turned out that he wasn’t home at the time of the murder. He had been in Montgomery, Alabama, with his girlfriend. They had taken pictures, proving their whereabouts.
A Family Feud?
The police spoke to Dorothy’s family, who gave them another potential suspect: a handyman named Shawn McClain. Shawn lived two houses down from Dorothy, and would often do yard work for her.
However, before the police looked into Shawn, they discovered that Dorothy’s nephew Frederick had been involved in another assault on a family member in the past.
When the family found out that the police were looking into Frederick, they revealed that he had actually been in prison on the day that Dorothy died. They also revealed that he and Dorothy never had any issues.
Dorothy was laid to rest on November 20, 2012, and the police were struggling to find the killer.
The Handyman
On November 21, 2012, the police received a tip from one of Dorothy’s neighbors. She had found a knife in the woods, and the police believed it could’ve been the murder weapon.
On December 10, the results came back. It was not the knife that killed Dorothy.
With another dead end, the police finally went to speak to Shawn, who lived with his mother. Shawn was described a little slow, and had learning disabilities.
Shawn’s mother said that Dorothy was a great friend to her son. They consented to a search of their home, where they found a work shirt with stains that appeared to be blood on it. Shawn allowed the police take the shirt for testing.
On December 13, the police received the information that they had been waiting for. The stains on the shirt was in fact blood, and the DNA came back as a match to Dorothy.
“I Needed Money”
Shawn was brought in for questioning. The police didn’t have a lot of evidence in this case, but the police hoped that Shawn would confess.
Shawn told the police that he didn’t kill Dorothy. He had originally told them that he had been at his dad’s house at the time of the murder. The police asked if he would take a polygraph test. Shawn said no, but asked if he could write a note to his dad.
The police agreed, and said that they would give it to him. Instead, they took the note to a handwriting expert to compare it to the note found on the day of the murder. On December 15, it came back as a match to Shawn’s.
Shawn eventually told the police that he went over to Dorothy’s on November 14, because she owed him money for his work. He said Dorothy told him that she didn’t have money. He became angry, she slapped him, and he pulled out a knife out. Shawn said he didn’t remember a lot because he blacked out.
The Conviction
It took several years for Dorothy’s killer to be brought to justice.
The judge in his trial, ruled that Shawn wasn’t eligible for the death penalty because he didn’t know what he had been doing on the day of the murder. His IQ was said to have been around 53.
On August 16, 2015, Shawn McClain pleaded guilty to murder and rape. He was sentenced to two consecutive life sentences.
Shawn McClain
Other
The police believe that Shawn’s motive was a sexual one, not financially motivated.
Shawn has tried to appeal his conviction, but in 2016, it was upheld by the Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals.
FINAL THOUGHTS
Shawn might have had a low IQ, but that is never an excuse to kill someone. He even said himself, that his goal that day was to get the money that he felt he was owed. Dorothy lived on a fix income, and was probably going to pay him at some point. She was never given the chance to make it right, instead she was brutally killed and sexually assaulted. That is another reason why I believe that Shawn knew exactly what he was doing.
Sources
https://www.imdb.com/news/ni62036076
https://www.greenvilleadvocate.com/2015/08/06/georgiana-man-pleads-guilty-to-murder-rape/
https://www.michigancriminallawyers-blog.com/murder-rape-conviction-upheld-alabama-appeals-court/
https://murdercomestotown.blogspot.com/2020/02/dorothy-did-right-shawn-mcclain.html
https://www.al.com/news/2016/03/rape_murder_convictions_upheld.html
https://www.alabamanews.net/2016/03/15/alabama-court-of-appeals-upholds-murder-and-rape-conviction/
