Cache County man arrested after allegedly threatening to kill family members

Charles Leff. Photo Courtesy: Cache County Jail

CACHE COUNTY, Utah, Jan. 26, 2020 (Gephardt Daily) — A Cache County man has been arrested after he allegedly threatened to kill multiple members of his family.

A probable cause statement from the 1st District Court of Logan said Charles Leff, 64, is facing charges of:

  • Five counts of attempted aggravated murder, a first-degree felony
  • Four counts of purchase, transfer or possession of a firearm by a restricted person, a third-degree felony
  • Possession or use of a controlled substance, a class B misdemeanor
  • Use or possession of drug paraphernalia, a class B misdemeanor
  • Drive with measurable controlled substance, a class B misdemeanor

On Friday, the arresting officer was told that a patrol deputy had stopped a vehicle and had detained the driver, Leff, who had reportedly been in a fight with his wife at their home in Perry, and told her he was going to go to her son’s house in Mendon and kill him and his family, the statement said.

“Charles’ wife contacted her daughter-in-law by phone and told her Charles was on his way over to her house with a gun to kill her and her family,” the statement said. “The daughter-in-law called 911 and reported that she saw Charles drive past her house. She told dispatchers that Charles was driving a yellow Chevy Cavalier. When the deputy arrived at the daughter-in-law’s address he saw Charles in the yellow car in front of her house. He made a traffic stop and detained Charles.”

Deputies on scene found guns, marijuana, and drug paraphernalia.

“Post Miranda, I asked Charles to tell me what had happened today,” the statement said. “He described himself as being a very mean person who had served in the Vietnam War as a Marine and didn’t feel like he needed to apologize for anything. He admitted that the argument was very heated between him and his wife, so he packed a suitcase with his clothing and medications and was going to move out. He said he had a trailer house parked on some property in Oregon and he was going to go there to live.”

Leff told the officer he had also taken four handguns from his house and put them in his car along with the suitcase during this argument with his wife. He said he had a 410 pistol and a .357 handgun in the cab of his car when he was pulled over, along with a .22 pistol and a 9mm High Point handgun in the trunk of his car near his suitcase.

“Charles told me he never said he was going to go and kill his daughter-in-law and his grandchildren, but told his wife he was going to go to their house and take care of it,” the statement said. “Charles admitted that he could see how his wife may have believed he meant he was going over to kill her son and his family, but he said he was on his way over to apologize to the daughter-in-law.”

An interview was also conducted with Leff’s wife.

“Charles’ wife was very afraid for her life as well as her son and his family’s lives,” the statement said. “She said they had been in a fight, at their home in Perry, a few days before Thanksgiving 2019 where Charles had pinned her up against the wall and had strangled her by grabbing her by the esophagus and squeezing until she could not breathe. She also told him that Charles had held a loaded gun to her head at another time in the past and had threatened to kill her.”

She also described the argument with Leff before he left for the house in Mendon.

“At some point during the argument Charles told her he was leaving and would not see her again,” the statement said. “He started packing his suitcase with clothes and his medications and put the suitcase in his car. He came back into the house, got a gun out of the nightstand, opened it, and checked to make sure the gun was loaded. He did this in front of his wife, showing her the gun was indeed loaded. Charles’ wife tried to calm him down and Charles stated, ‘If those b—— children step in my house again, I will blow them away.'”

Leff also allegedly said to his wife: “If you get in my way, I will blow you away too,” the statement said.

“As Charles was heading to the door to leave the house he stated, ‘I’m going to blast everyone away, that way you will know how it feels,'” the statement said. “Charles then left the house and his wife eventually called the daughter-in-law and warned her that Charles was on his way over with a gun to kill her and her family.”

Williams told officials he had at least four other guns that he had left in his home. He described these guns as being two shotguns, one assault rifle, and one .270 hunting rifle.

The suspect was transported to the Cache County Jail where he is being held without bail.

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here