Murder charges dropped against 74-year-old. His wife was stabbed to death in Kennewick

Family members tried for years to get help for Leroy N. Martin.

They took the aging Kennewick man to doctors, filed reports with the state and helped him with therapy, according to a new report from state psychologist Jessica R. Hart.

Still, the 74-year-old’s paranoia and delusions continued to mount until late last summer when he killed his wife of 46 years in a violent confrontation.

And after three months in treatment at Eastern State Hospital, Hart says Martin shows no signs of improvement and he’s not competent to face a murder trial.

The retired mechanic’s psychosis is so severe he continues to believe his wife, Susan, is still alive, that her “boyfriend” is going to kill him and that he hears voices through his cochlear implant.

Hart determined it’s unlikely Martin’s competency can ever be restored, and, as a result, Benton County Deputy Prosecutor Kristin McRoberts said the second-degree murder charges have been dismissed.

But that doesn’t mean Martin will be leaving the hospital, she told the Tri-City Herald.

State psychologists are continuing to evaluate him and plan to ask a judge to have him civilly committed to a state psychiatric hospital.

Hart said in her report that Martin presents a moderate to high risk of committing another crime if freed.

The Washington State Attorney General’s Office will handle the civil hearing, McRoberts said.

Depending on the outcome, Martin may spend the rest of his life receiving treatment.

Leading to murder

Leroy Martin grew up in Bakersfield, Calif., and lived in Eugene, Ore., before spending most of the last 30 years in Washington state.

He and Susan Martin had three grown children and lived together in a small building with an apartment in the backyard of 3904 W. Seventh Avenue.

But as Leroy Martin aged, his family grew worried about his mental state.

Hart’s report confirmed the Kennewick man suffered from dementia leading to “late onset psychosis” for more than a year before Susan Martin was killed, according to medical records included with her report to the court.

It was a condition his family had been worried about as early as December 2019 and they had been looking for a safer place for him to live, but weren’t able to find a place.

For two years, Leroy and Susan Martin had filed complaints totaling about 700 pages against each other with Washington state’s Adult Protective Services, said Hart’s report.

In December 2020, Susan Martin had wanted him admitted to a dementia care unit and she became upset when emergency room staff couldn’t do that.

A few months later in July 2021, a neurologist found Leroy Martin suffered from “mild frontal and temporal cerebral atrophy,” and diagnosed him with dementia and “late onset psychosis ... often associated with neurodegenerative cognitive disorders.”

The same month Susan Martin told Adult Protective Services officials that he had been showing signs of dementia, paranoia and disruptive behavior for about a year.

Leroy Martin’s calls to Adult Protective Services focused on beliefs that his wife was cheating on him and trying to poison him.

In April 2022, he told state officials he had started nailing his door shut to prevent his wife from leaving to have an affair. He also said the neighbors were putting cameras in his house and GPS tracking devices on his truck.

Investigators were told that the couple’s relationship had turned more turbulent, including arguments and screaming, in the weeks before the deadly attack.

“They report Susan has lived in fear of Leroy, and a family friend had told them that she believed that Leroy was going to kill Susan,” court documents stated.

Aug. 30 murder

Susan Martin’s daughter found her 66-year-old mother unconscious in the apartment’s bathroom on Aug. 30, 2022.

She and her boyfriend pulled Susan Martin out of the bathroom and started CPR.

The first officer to arrive found Susan Martin didn’t have a pulse and took over efforts to resuscitate her. Kennewick medics also tried, but weren’t able to revive her.

They reported she had two stab wounds, and they saw a knife with blood on it. Police officers also noticed a frying pan nearby.

Leroy Martin was still at the home and told police his wife stole a valuable coin from him.

He said his son-in-law had given him a 1943 penny worth $1.7 million and that it was missing.

“The defendant stated that he possibly got carried away and that ‘stealing from me after 47 years of marriage, I guess I snapped. I don’t know,’” according to court documents.

Leroy Martin was arrested on suspicion of second-degree murder and sent to Eastern State Hospital for a competency evaluation.

State psychologists determined he was not competent but perhaps could be helped by medication.

Treatment

Leroy Martin’s belief that his wife was still alive did not change even after adjustments to his medications.

He frequently said his family, his attorney and his wife were speaking to him using his cochlear implant.

“When I asked if his wife was still alive or if she was talking to him from beyond death, he responded, ‘She’s alive. They know it down there. The judge knows it. She’s waiting outside right now. They’re supposed to release me,” said Hart’s report.

He said he was being framed.

At other times, Martin said he believes the charges were dismissed.

Leroy Martin didn’t have a history of mental health issues before the last two years, said Hart, who noted it’s highly unusual for a psychotic disorder, such as schizophrenia, to suddenly develop when someone is in their 70s.

She wrote that it’s more likely the symptoms were the result of his brain deteriorating.

“It is my opinion that due to these symptoms, he currently does not possess sufficient capacities to rationally understand the proceedings against him or to assist counsel in his defense,” Hart wrote.