The father of an autistic boy who was killed when his mother set fire to her Fleming home has constructed a Web site to inform people on the history surrounding the disturbing case.
Leroy Leubner, a sergeant at Auburn Correctional Facility, has posted a paper trail on the Web (www.justicefordanny.com) of the child custody case that took place before the fire, the subsequent murder trial and sentencing of his former wife and letters he has sent various local and state officials over the years.
"I have done this to alert the public that my son's murderer is about to be released," Leubner said.
Thirteen-year-old Daniel Leubner was asleep in his bedroom on the night of Sept. 4, 1999, when his mother, Michelle Davis, lit a bundle of nail-polish-soaked wrapping paper beneath the stairs of the family's West Lake Road home.
Daniel died of smoke inhalation. Eighteen days later, Davis was charged with two counts of second-degree murder and a count of second-degree arson. A Cayuga County grand jury handed down a five-count indictment, one that included a count of first-degree murder, but before the trial began, Davis took a plea bargain and pleaded guilty to first-degree manslaughter and second-degree arson.
Davis claimed she was raped by Daniel the night of the fire and that she killed him to protect her two daughters. Judge Peter Corning believed her story and issued a reduced, six-year sentence because he felt Davis was under extreme emotional distress. Cayuga County District Attorney James Vargason said at the time he was stunned by the sentencing.
Davis is scheduled to be released from Westchester County's Bedford Hills Correctional Facility in May.
Leubner is hoping his Web site can motivate people to contact Vargason and State Attorney General Eliot Spitzer, requesting that they extend Davis' sentence.
"Her plea bargain is predicated on fraud; it's a conjured up story," Leubner said. "Danny never raped her, it was never proven. So how can a fraudulent statement be used as a plea bargain?"
Leubner said for the last five years, he's turned himself into a legal bookworm, reading case documents and mounds of paper work on protocol. He's written Vargason a number of letters (all of which are posted on the Web site), been in contact with Sen. Hillary Clinton's office and corresponds with journalists from 60 Minutes, 20/20 and 48 Hours.
"They have all said they're interested in doing something on the case, but they are waiting for something new to happen," he said.
Leubner has said he's put "1,000 or more hours" into research and building the Web site, where below three pictures of Daniel in various stages of childhood, Leubner has written a mission statement asking people to spread word of his site. He has posted police documents, newspaper articles, family court minutes, evidence suppression minutes and any other document in his possession pertaining to the event.
Leubner has also filed a formal complaint with Spitzer's office claiming that Corning should not have been presiding over the trial because he was the judge who had heard his and Davis' child custody case after their 1994 divorce.
Vargason and Corning did not return phone calls for comment. Vargason, who has said in the past that Davis could not be brought to trial again for the same crime, cited the double jeopardy rule when Leubner has requested that Davis' jail term be extended.
Leubner hopes at the very least, he can speak with Spitzer.
"I'm trying to force the attorney general's office into some sort of action, either they will state officially that there's no basis for my complaint, or they will act on the complaint," he said.
"Michelle used the rape as an excuse for what she did, and a lot of people turned their backs," he said. "It keeps going up the chain, and anyone who turns their back on it is guilty. I will document the people who haven't acted."
There was talk after the fire that Leubner was not around to help Davis raise Daniel and their two daughters, a claim that was backed up by Melissa, the couple's oldest daughter, in an editorial that ran in The Citizen in February of 2002. But Leubner says that Corning's ruling in the child custody case gave him very little time with his children. He said he often suggested to Davis to seek outside help for Daniel.
Leubner, who says he's never gotten over the loss of his son but has learned to live with it, believes it's a long shot that Davis's sentence will be extended. But he's optimistic that his Web site can spur people to take a stand.
"I'm just trying to put an instrument out there so people can make up their own minds themselves," he said.
Staff writer Benning W. De La Mater can be reached at 253-5311 ext. 237 or ben.delamater@lee.net
"I have done this to alert the public that my son's murderer is about to be released," Leubner said.
Thirteen-year-old Daniel Leubner was asleep in his bedroom on the night of Sept. 4, 1999, when his mother, Michelle Davis, lit a bundle of nail-polish-soaked wrapping paper beneath the stairs of the family's West Lake Road home.
Daniel died of smoke inhalation. Eighteen days later, Davis was charged with two counts of second-degree murder and a count of second-degree arson. A Cayuga County grand jury handed down a five-count indictment, one that included a count of first-degree murder, but before the trial began, Davis took a plea bargain and pleaded guilty to first-degree manslaughter and second-degree arson.
Davis claimed she was raped by Daniel the night of the fire and that she killed him to protect her two daughters. Judge Peter Corning believed her story and issued a reduced, six-year sentence because he felt Davis was under extreme emotional distress. Cayuga County District Attorney James Vargason said at the time he was stunned by the sentencing.
Davis is scheduled to be released from Westchester County's Bedford Hills Correctional Facility in May.
Leubner is hoping his Web site can motivate people to contact Vargason and State Attorney General Eliot Spitzer, requesting that they extend Davis' sentence.
"Her plea bargain is predicated on fraud; it's a conjured up story," Leubner said. "Danny never raped her, it was never proven. So how can a fraudulent statement be used as a plea bargain?"
Leubner said for the last five years, he's turned himself into a legal bookworm, reading case documents and mounds of paper work on protocol. He's written Vargason a number of letters (all of which are posted on the Web site), been in contact with Sen. Hillary Clinton's office and corresponds with journalists from 60 Minutes, 20/20 and 48 Hours.
"They have all said they're interested in doing something on the case, but they are waiting for something new to happen," he said.
Leubner has said he's put "1,000 or more hours" into research and building the Web site, where below three pictures of Daniel in various stages of childhood, Leubner has written a mission statement asking people to spread word of his site. He has posted police documents, newspaper articles, family court minutes, evidence suppression minutes and any other document in his possession pertaining to the event.
Leubner has also filed a formal complaint with Spitzer's office claiming that Corning should not have been presiding over the trial because he was the judge who had heard his and Davis' child custody case after their 1994 divorce.
Vargason and Corning did not return phone calls for comment. Vargason, who has said in the past that Davis could not be brought to trial again for the same crime, cited the double jeopardy rule when Leubner has requested that Davis' jail term be extended.
Leubner hopes at the very least, he can speak with Spitzer.
"I'm trying to force the attorney general's office into some sort of action, either they will state officially that there's no basis for my complaint, or they will act on the complaint," he said.
"Michelle used the rape as an excuse for what she did, and a lot of people turned their backs," he said. "It keeps going up the chain, and anyone who turns their back on it is guilty. I will document the people who haven't acted."
There was talk after the fire that Leubner was not around to help Davis raise Daniel and their two daughters, a claim that was backed up by Melissa, the couple's oldest daughter, in an editorial that ran in The Citizen in February of 2002. But Leubner says that Corning's ruling in the child custody case gave him very little time with his children. He said he often suggested to Davis to seek outside help for Daniel.
Leubner, who says he's never gotten over the loss of his son but has learned to live with it, believes it's a long shot that Davis's sentence will be extended. But he's optimistic that his Web site can spur people to take a stand.
"I'm just trying to put an instrument out there so people can make up their own minds themselves," he said.
Staff writer Benning W. De La Mater can be reached at 253-5311 ext. 237 or ben.delamater@lee.net
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