Death row inmate commits suicide

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COLUMBUS (AP) — A man who had no criminal record before he fatally shot his former girlfriend has killed himself on death row, the state prisons agency said Monday.

Patrick Leonard died Sunday night of an apparent suicide at Chillicothe Correctional Institution, the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction said in an email to The Associated Press.

Leonard was sentenced to death for the 2000 killing of 23-year-old Dawn Flick in Hamilton County.

The 47-year-old Leonard was angry at Flick for ending their relationship and refusing to reconcile, according to court records. Records say Leonard handcuffed Flick, tried to rape her and shot her three times.

Leonard came from a good family and didn’t smoke, drink or do drugs, the Ohio Supreme Court noted in a 2004 decision upholding his death sentence.

“Prior to this incident, Leonard was not considered violent and had not been in trouble with police,” the ruling said. “The fact that Leonard had committed these crimes was described as shocking and extremely out of character.”

Leonard didn’t have a scheduled execution date. His attorney declined to comment, as did the Hamilton County Prosecutor’s office.

This undated photo provided by the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction shows death row inmate Patrick Leonard, convicted of the kidnapping, assault, attempted rape and aggravated murder of his former girlfriend Dawn Flick on July 29, 2000, in her home in the Hamilton County village of New Baltimore, Ohio. Leonard died of an apparent suicide Sunday, March 5, 2017, on death row in Chillicothe, Ohio, according to the Ohio prisons agency. (Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction via AP)
http://aimmedianetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/47/2017/03/web1_115438441-ed4c361d20a045b3905cea422e6ff8e7.jpgThis undated photo provided by the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction shows death row inmate Patrick Leonard, convicted of the kidnapping, assault, attempted rape and aggravated murder of his former girlfriend Dawn Flick on July 29, 2000, in her home in the Hamilton County village of New Baltimore, Ohio. Leonard died of an apparent suicide Sunday, March 5, 2017, on death row in Chillicothe, Ohio, according to the Ohio prisons agency. (Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction via AP)

By Andrew Welsh-Huggins

Associated Press

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