Leah’s Long Path To Justice

Leah Freeman disappeared on June 28, 2000 after a mile long walk from her friend Cherie’s house to where she was last seen in front of the Coquille High School. Five weeks later her remains were discovered where she had been dumped, without ceremony or respect or any regard for her family, off a 15′ embankment next to the Coquille River.

The prime suspect was her 18-year-old  boyfriend, Nick McGuffin. Theirs was a passionate courtship that showed all the hallmarks of an emotionally and physically abusive relationship.

It would take ten years, a mother’s dogged persistence and a new police chief to bring her suspected killer to trial and a successful conviction.

After serving more than nine years of a mandatory ten year sentence for manslaughter, a circuit court judge overturned the conviction.

Was an innocent man wrongly imprisoned or has a killer been set loose?

Taken from witness testimony, police records and recorded interviews Part I lays out the five weeks between Leah’s disappearance and the discovery of her body.

Part I is available now. $3.99

10% of net proceeds will be donated to area women’s shelters and domestic violence prevention. Donations will be made proceeds equal $100 or at the end of each month, whichever comes first.

Part II details the investigation and trial that lead to McGuffin’s conviction for Manslaughter I. Part II also discusses violence against women and how law enforcement don’t always take crimes against women seriously.

Part II will be available February 15

Part III examines the court decision to overturn the conviction based upon trace DNA found on one of Leah’s shoes.

Part III will be available February 29