Marcella Leach

Marcella Nicholas Leach (August 15, 1929 – March 16, 2015) was an American victims' rights advocate based in Southern California and the mother of technology entrepreneur and victims' rights leader Henry Nicholas.[1] After the murder of her daughter, Marsalee (Marsy) Nicholas in 1983, she helped build Justice for Homicide Victims, one of California's early victims' rights organizations.[2] Her late daughter is the namesake for Marsy's Law, the California Constitutional Amendment and Victims' Bill of Rights, which appeared on the November, 2008, ballot as Proposition 9.[3]

Marcella Leach
Born(1929-08-15)August 15, 1929
DiedMarch 16, 2015(2015-03-16) (aged 85)
NationalityAmerican
OccupationVictims' Rights Advocate
Children2
Websitehttp://www.justiceforhomicidevictims.net
http://www.marsyslawforall.org

Victims' rights advocacy

On November 30, 1983, Marcella Leach's daughter, Marsalee Ann (Marsy) Nicholas, was murdered by her ex-boyfriend, Kerry Michael Conley.[4] Marsy, then 21, was a senior at UC Santa Barbara and had come home to Pt. Dume, Ca., for Thanksgiving[5] when Conley, with whom she had broken up, shot her to death.

Conley was subsequently convicted of second-degree murder and sentenced to 17 years to life in prison, where he died in 2007.[6][7] In the nearly 2-year interim between the murder and the trial, Conley remained free on bail, a fact that was particularly painful to his victim's family, as he was frequently seen around the neighborhood where Marcella Leach and her husband, Bob Leach, still lived.[2] In one particularly wrenching incident, Marcella Leach recalled being shocked when she encountered Conley in a neighborhood grocery store shortly after the murder.

Among those who comforted the Leach family was Ellen Griffin Dunne, the mother of actress Dominique Dunne, who had been strangled to death by a spurned ex-boyfriend the year before Marsy's death.[8] When Dunne decided in late 1983 to create a local support organization for the survivors of homicide victims,[9] the Leaches were among the founding members, along with Marcella Leach's son Henry Nicholas.[10][2] The California Center for Family Survivors of Homicide was formed as a nonprofit, with a subgroup, Justice for Homicide Victims, as its public face.[11]

The Leaches assumed leadership of Justice for Homicide Victims in 1990, after Dunne, who suffered from multiple sclerosis, moved to Arizona, where she died in 1997.[12] Bob Leach served for many years as the president of Justice for Homicide Victims,[10] and Marcella Leach was its longtime executive director.[2]

During the 1990s, the organization continued to push for improved law enforcement and longer penalties for convicted felons, including California's Three Strikes Law.[13] By the late 1990s and early 2000s, with Leach as executive director, the group claimed some 10,000 members.[13]

The organization grew and was refocused as an educational non-profit.[14] In 2008, Marcella Leach was a signatory on the Marsy's Law ballot initiative,[15] which was led and sponsored by her son.[16][17] The constitutional amendment was enacted by voters in November 2008 and became law.[18][19]

In addition to various awards by three governors, the Los Angeles District Attorney's office and the Los Angeles Sheriff's Department, the Leaches were honored by the National office of Victims of Crime and two Presidents.[5] In 2005, Marcella Leach was awarded the National Crime Victim Service Award from the U.S. Department of Justice.[2] She died on March 16, 2015.[20]

Earlier life

Leach's first marriage was to an attorney with the IRS named Henry Nicholas Jr. They had two children (Henry III and Marsy) and lived in Glendale, Ohio. She was a teacher and later an administrator and theater instructor. They were divorced around 1963 and she moved with her children to Los Angeles and married Bob Leach, who was an American journalist and Hollywood screenwriter.

References
  1. Nicholas, Henry. "Marsy's Law should be every American's right". The Orange County Register. Retrieved 2010-07-26.
  2. "Justice For Homicide Victims". Archived from the original on 2017-06-11. Retrieved 2010-08-03.
  3. About Marsy's Law – Marsy's Law
  4. "Man sentenced in slaying of ex-girlfriend". Los Angeles Times. 1985-05-16. Retrieved 2010-07-26.
  5. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2009-02-27. Retrieved 2010-08-03.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  6. Los Angeles Times
  7. Greene, Robert. "The two Henry T. Nicholases". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2010-07-26.
  8. Nelson, Valerie (2008-04-23). "Screenwriter and advocate for the rights of victims". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2010-07-26.
  9. Arnold, Roxanne (1986-12-03). "Strangled Actress Did Slayer's Penalty Fit His Crime?". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2010-07-26.
  10. Nelson, p1
  11. "Congressional Record". 1999-06-08. ISBN 9780160730542. Retrieved 2010-07-26.
  12. Simon, Stephanie (1996-07-03). "Backers of Three Strikes Unflinchingly Defend Law". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2010-07-26.
  13. Simon, p1
  14. Discover Justice For Homicide Victims
  15. Mickadeit, Frank (2010-04-21). "Slain sister gone but not forgotten". Orange Country Register.
  16. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2010-01-09. Retrieved 2010-08-03.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  17. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2011-07-20. Retrieved 2010-07-01.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  18. Victims' Bill of Rights Act of 2008: Marsy's Law | State of California - Department of Justice - Kamala D. Harris Attorney General
  19. Thompson, Don (2008-11-05). "2 California crime initiatives fail at polls, 3rd survives as count continues". Associated Press.
  20. Pioneering victims’ rights advocate Marcella Leach dies at age 85
  • - Justice for Homicide Victims website
  • - Marsy's Law for All website
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