William Leslie Arnold, alias John Vincent Damon (August 28, 1942 – August 6, 2010) was an American murderer. In 1958, at the age of 16, he murdered his parents and buried them in the backyard of the family home in Omaha, Nebraska. He was sentenced to life in prison in 1959. In 1967, he and another inmate escaped from prison. He was the last inmate to successfully escape from the Nebraska State Penitentiary.
William Leslie Arnold | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Arnold's 1959 mugshot. | |
| Born | August 28, 1942 |
| Died | August 6, 2010 (aged 67) Tamborine Mountain, Queensland, Australia |
| Other names | John Vincent Damon |
| Criminal status | Deceased |
| Criminal charge | Life imprisonment |
| Escaped | July 14, 1967 |
He moved to California, Florida, and eventually New Zealand in 1978. In 2010, he died in Tamborine Mountain, Australia, where he had been living under the alias John Damon. His identity was revealed in 2023 using DNA evidence.
Early life and crimes
editWilliam Leslie Arnold, known as "Les," was born on August 28, 1942.[1][2] His father, Bill Arnold, owned the Omaha region office of Watkins Products, a direct-sales company, while his mother, Opal, was a homemaker. Neighbors described him as "high strung" and stated he had a temper, but also that he was intelligent and talented. He was in the ROTC and was a B-average student.[2]
In 1958, at the age of 16, he murdered his parents and buried them in the backyard of the family home in Nebraska. This came after a fight with his mother over usage of the family car to drive to a date.[3][4] He hid their bodies in the basement and took his younger brother, who did not know about the murders, to a neighbor's house before digging a trench and burying their bodies.[4] He then took his girlfriend to the movies with the car.[5][2] After the killings, Arnold lived at the house, still attending school and telling others his parents had merely gone on a sudden trip.[4]
After leading the police to his parents' bodies, on October 11, he pled guilty, was sentenced to life in prison in 1959, and was sent to the Nebraska State Penitentiary.[6][4][7] He was described as a "model prisoner" who could have qualified for early release.[2][7]
Escape
editOn July 14, 1967, Arnold and another inmate, James Harding, escaped from prison, cutting through the bars in a prison music room and climbing a 12-foot barbed wire-topped fence.[8][7][9] Harding was recaptured the next year, but Arnold could not be located.[8][3] He was the last inmate to successfully escape from the Nebraska State Penitentiary.[2][4] The fellow escapee told investigators he and Arnold had gone to Chicago but split up from there.[8] The case was investigated by the FBI into the 1990s, and then turned over to the Nebraska Department of Correctional Services before being turned over to the U.S. Marshals in 2020.[3]
He moved to California, then to Florida, and eventually to New Zealand in 1978. In 2010, he died in Tamborine Mountain, Australia, due to complications from blood clots. He had been living under the alias John Vincent Damon.[3][5][10] During his lifetime, he married twice and fathered two children.[3] He told his children he was an orphan.[10]
Discovery
editArnold's son, who had been 19 when his father died, only knew that his father was an orphan, and decided to learn more about him. The son visited Chicago in 2018 and was told that his father's birth certificate was falsified.[10] In 2022, he decided to take a DNA test from Ancestry.com,[11] and was contacted by the Marshals.[10][12]
References
edit- ^ Cordes, Henry J. (April 30, 2023). "Timeline: Leslie Arnold's life". The North Platte Telegraph. Retrieved March 8, 2024.
- ^ a b c d e "More coverage: The Mystery of Leslie Arnold". Omaha World-Herald. September 8, 2017. Archived from the original on May 10, 2023. Retrieved March 5, 2024.
- ^ a b c d e Jiménez, Jesus (May 6, 2023). "In Australia, He Was a 'Great Father.' Secretly, He Was an Escaped Convict". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on May 6, 2023. Retrieved January 23, 2024.
- ^ a b c d e Jones, Sheritha (October 11, 2022). "Back in the day, Oct. 11, 1958: Leslie Arnold confesses to killing parents and leads police to bodies". Omaha World-Herald. Archived from the original on June 2, 2023. Retrieved March 5, 2024.
- ^ a b Whiteman, Hilary (May 9, 2023). "Loving father exposed as a convicted killer who lived life on the run". CNN News. Retrieved January 23, 2024.
- ^ Coffey, Kevin (September 7, 2017). "1958 Omaha murder, prison escape story inspires new song by Lincoln band". Daily Nonpareil. Archived from the original on March 7, 2024. Retrieved March 5, 2024.
- ^ a b c Helmore, Edward (May 14, 2023). "DNA evidence reveals family man in Australia was teenage killer who escaped Nebraska jail". The Guardian. Retrieved January 23, 2024.
- ^ a b c "A look at prison escapees who got away with it". 12news. June 19, 2015. Retrieved March 5, 2024.
- ^ "Back in the day, July 14, 1967; Leslie Arnold escapes from prison". Omaha World-Herald. July 14, 2022. Archived from the original on March 7, 2024. Retrieved March 5, 2024.
- ^ a b c d Cordes, Henry J. (April 30, 2023). "Leslie Arnold mystery solved: Man who died in Australia was enigmatic Nebraska fugitive". Omaha World-Herald. Archived from the original on May 31, 2023. Retrieved March 6, 2024.
- ^ Kleeman, Jenny (September 18, 2023). "Episode 2: Justice". The Gift (Podcast). BBC Radio 4. Retrieved March 8, 2024.
- ^ Westover, Matt (May 1, 2023). "U.S. Marshals in Nebraska Use DNA Evidence to Close 55-Year-Old Cold Case". U.S. Marshals Service. Retrieved January 23, 2024.