An accused sex offender who rapidly ingested some mystery liquid in court at the end of his criminal trial subsequently died at a local hospital.

Edward Leclair, 57, reportedly was listening to the jury render its verdict on multiple counts of child sexual assault when he reached for the plastic water bottle in the Dallas-Fort Worth-area forum.

Denton County, Tex, prosecutor Jamie Beck told CNN, “As these verdicts were being read, he chugged a bottle of water he had at counsel table. Our investigator noticed him chug the water. He told the bailiff he might want to go check on him. The bailiff did. He was unconscious in the holding cell.”

Beck described the liquid as appearing cloudy.

“It wasn’t like he was just taking sips of water. He was literally throwing it back, so to speak,” he asserted, according to WFAA.

Sheriff’s deputies rendered aid to Leclair until paramedics arrived at the Denton County courthouse.

LeClair’s lawyer Mike Howard said his client began throwing up in the holding cell adjacent to the courtroom.

“I saw him being taken out on the gurney. His color and pallor didn’t look good — gray — and then he was taken to the hospital. Beyond that, that’s all I can say,” Howard  added to the Denton Record-Chronicle.

“The jury had been sent out of the room so the judge could decide when the punishment phase of the trial would begin,” the Fort Worth Star-Telegram noted.

The cause of death is yet to be officially determined. An autopsy is pending. Authorities also retained the water bottle in question as evidence.

“Howard said he did not see whether the liquid was cloudy but was told that at least two people in the courtroom noticed it was cloudy or yellow, like lemonade,” the Dallas Morning News explained.

After less than four hours of deliberation on Thursday afternoon, a jury found the defendant guilty on all charges that related to the sexual assault of the same victim.

The alleged crimes had occurred in June and July of 2016. Authorities arrested the suspect in July 2018, and he subsequently bonded out and was reportedly free all this time.

He had faced up to 100 years behind bars at sentencing.

As alluded to above, Leclair was pronounced dead at Medical City Denton hospital later that day.

“We have had people who faint, have heart attacks and had a shooting, but never in my 27 years have we had something like this happen,” Beck recalled.

“Leclair, a former Navy mechanic and corporate recruiter, was indicted two years ago on five counts of sexual assault on a person between the age of 14 and 17. He said he was innocent of the charges, Howard said,” NBC News reported.

Get the latest BPR news delivered free to your inbox daily. SIGN UP HERE

• Author
• Recent Posts

Robert Jonathan

Staff Writer
[email protected]

Robert Jonathan is a staff writer for BizPac Review. He is a longtime writer/editor for news aggregation websites and has also developed content in the legal and financial publishing sectors as well as for online education. He earned a Juris Doctorate from the University of Connecticut School of Law, “a law school the basketball teams can be proud of.”

Latest posts by Robert Jonathan (see all)

• ‘Petty heffa’: The View’s Ana Navarro skewered for cracking on Marjorie Taylor Greene’s appearance - December 4, 2022
• Women’s college volleyball game features incredible rally complete with diving, table-crashing safe - December 4, 2022
• Wild brawl breaks out at Fitness Connection gym, takes deciding turn when woman enters picture - December 4, 2022

Comment

We have no tolerance for comments containing violence, racism, profanity, vulgarity, doxing, or discourteous behavior. If a comment is spam, instead of replying to it please click the ∨ icon below and to the right of that comment. Thank you for partnering with us to maintain fruitful conversation.