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Sheriff: Lake Wales Attacker Killed Gas Station Workers

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By BILLY TOWNSEND | The Tampa Tribune

Published: December 15, 2007

Updated: 12/15/2007 04:11 pm

Photos Of Press Conference | Witness Recounts Horror | Video

Lake Wales Burn Victims Knew Attacker, Police Say

Leon Davis, Jr.

The five names were mostly unknown to the public and among themselves before last week.

Pravinkumar Patel and Dasrath Patel. Juanita Luciano and Yvonne Bustamante. Brandon Greisman.

Now they're linked forever by one other name, Leon Davis Jr., who investigators say is the author of one of the worst crime sprees in recent Polk history, the man who shot or burned each of them.

Polk Sheriff Grady Judd on Saturday named Davis as the man who shot and killed the Patels execution-style during a Dec. 7 robbery at the gas station where they were working. On Thursday, Judd said, Davis used the same gun in a fiery robbery and shooting in Lake Wales that left the two women and a newborn baby fighting for life and Greisman with a gunshot wound to his face.

Davis, 30, was arrested Thursday night in the Lake Wales incident, for which he faces attempted murder and arson charges.

"He left carnage throughout our community," Judd said during a Saturday morning press conference. "But he shall not hurt anyone else." Judd vowed that Davis will "never spend another day outside the state prison system or the county jail."

The key break in the case came Friday night, when technicians with the Florida Department of Law Enforcement matched ballistics on bullets found in the Patels with a bullet found at the scene of the Lake Wales robbery, Judd said.

Detectives have not recovered the gun used in the crimes. But Judd said they know it was a .357 Dan Wesson revolver, and they know who sold it to Davis, who was a convicted felon and not permitted to own a weapon.

Detectives are not releasing the name of the seller, who is considered a witness in the case, Judd said. A $5,000 reward is being offered for recovery of the gun. But Judd said his deputies don't need the gun to prove Davis' guilt in the Patel killings.

In addition to the ballistics matches, a witness has placed Davis's Nissan Altima at the BP station on the night of the killings. Judd said his office will formally seek first degree murder charges against Davis next week.

Immediate Suspicion

Lake Wales police say Davis walked into the front door of the Headley Nationwide Insurance Co. on Central Avenue and pulled a gun on employees Juanita "Jane" Luciano, 23, and Yvonne Bustamante, 26. He demanded money and then used gasoline or some other accelerant to set fire to the office and the two women, one of whom was pregnant.

The women barely escaped and are in Orlando hospitals. Luciano was about six months pregnant. Her baby was delivered by Caesarian section. All three are in critical condition, according to police.

When Greisman, who lives nearby, approached the insurance company, police and a witness say Davis fired at him, hitting him once across the bridge of his nose. The injury was not life-threatening. He was treated and released from a Lake Wales Medical Center.

Before they were flown to Orlando, both burn victims were able to identify Davis as their attacker, police said. He had been a customer with the insurance office, police said.

After a manhunt, Davis turned himself in about 7 p.m. Thursday at the sheriff's Lake Wales-area sub station.

Judd said sheriff's detectives immediately began to suspect Davis in the killing of Pravinkumar Patel, 33, and Dashrath Patel, 50, during the failed robbery at the BP store. At 6-4 and more than 200 pounds, Davis, who is black, resembled the description of the unknown killer. And the sheer viciousness of the two crimes suggested a connection, Judd and detectives said.

The two men were changing numbers on a gas price sign outside the store when a man ran up and shot them in the head at close range. Autopsy reports indicate that the gun barrel was pressed against their heads when they were killed. Surveillance video shows the men had their hands raised as the killer approached.

The clerk inside escaped harm because the killer was unable to break in to the locked store.

Saturday, Judd said that Davis had parked his car north of the store on an unpaved spot along C.R. 557 and approached stealthily and then left to north after killing the Patels.

Mysterious Burst Of Violence

Nothing in Davis' significant, but non-violent criminal background suggested he might be capable of his alleged crime spree, Judd said.

"If you were looking at 100 criminal histories, he'd be in the bottom 10 of any you'd ever look at for this," Judd said.

Davis is five months into a three-year probation term on a grand theft charge. He was arrested on Nov. 30 on a new grand theft charge and booked into the Polk County Jail.

During a court hearing the day after his arrest, Circuit Judge James Yancey granted a bond of $5,000. Davis was released on bond two days later.

Yancey said he had no choice but to grant bond because Davis hadn't yet been charged with formally violating his probation when he appeared before him.

The Nov. 30 arrest appears to have cost Davis his job with the town of Eagle Lake, where he had been hired in October as a $9-per-hour maintenance worker.

On Thursday, Fran Branch, a neighbor of Greisman, said Davis, who lives in Winter Haven, has been a regular in her Lake Wales neighborhood.

"Everyone around here knew Leon," she said.

Syrant Henry, a Davis friend, said Davis often came to Lake Wales to visit his young son.

No one interviewed for this story said Davis was known to be violent.

After his arrest, Lake Wales police said, Davis told investigators: "I swear I hurt somebody but I don't know." But other than that, Judd said he's not cooperated with investigators.

Billy Townsend can be reached at (863) 284-1409 or wtownsend@tampatrib.com.

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