How did Edward LeClair die? Pedophile, 57, drinks sodium nitrate in court after being found guilty of child abuse
Disclaimer: This article mentions child sexual abuse which could be triggering to some readers. Discretion is advised.
DENTON, TEXAS: It has been revealed that the cloudy liquid cocktail consumed by a sexual offender in a Texas court after a jury convicted him of sexually abusing a child was "sodium nitrate." On August 11, 2022, Edward LeClair, 57, began guzzling the beverage after the jury declared him guilty on the first count and kept doing so while the remaining charges were read.
LeClair and his attorney were waiting to hear the decision in the 16th District Court in Denton, Texas when LeClair began gulping the water without anyone aware in the courtroom as to what he was actually drinking. Although the toxicology report was awaited, the Tarrant County Medical Examiner's office told the Daily Mail on Tuesday, February 7, that the manner in which LeClair died was suicide.
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LeClair was charged with five counts of child sexual abuse
As per Denton County Jail, the outlet mentioned that LeClair had been charged with five counts of child sexual abuse against a single victim that happened in 2016. It is unclear how much sodium nitrate was ingested.
Leclair was taken into custody in 2018 with a $30,000 bail. Monday saw the start of jury selection at the Denton County Courts Building. First Assistant Attorney Jamie Beck from the Denton County District Attorney's Office claimed that things seemed regular at first.
"The jury comes in and takes a seat," Beck said, describing how the incident started to WFAA. "The defendant and his counsel stand. The jury hands the verdict to the judge, which she then starts to read."
'He had a bottle of water with him'
Leclair had been found guilty on all five charges of child sexual abuse, according to Judge Lee Gabriel who was filling in for Judge Sherry Shipman in the 16th District Court.
"It's during this process that he had a bottle of water with him at the counsel table, and he chugged it," Beck told the outlet. "It wasn't like he was just taking sips of water. He was literally throwing it back, so to speak." Before that Leclair had not drunk from the bottle but only after Judge began reading the guilty verdict.
"I looked over and noticed him drinking," his attorney, Mike Howard, told NBC News. "His hand was shaking. At the time, I thought it was shaking because of the verdict. Then he kept drinking and drinking."
The issue was 'peculiar,' but the individuals in the courtroom didn't think this was unique either. After escorting the jury out of the courthouse and returning Leclair to his custody holding cell, the detectives decided to check on him due to his unusual behavior in the courtroom. Leclair was found looking "gray," according to Beck and was soon pronounced dead as per a report. Beck said Leclair's water bottle has been taken in as evidence.