In a tragic turn of events stemming from a domestic dispute, Gerrit Van Leeuwen, a 59-year-old white male, was killed on May 11, 1979, in Cobb County, Georgia. The series of events that led to his death began when he accompanied his daughter, Linda Gilreath, to the home of her estranged husband, Fred Gilreath, to retrieve some of her personal items.
What should have been a simple errand escalated into a violent and fatal confrontation.
Fred Gilreath, who was 41 years old at the time, was angered by the ongoing divorce proceedings with his wife. This anger boiled over on that fateful day, resulting in the deaths of both his wife and his father-in-law. Gerrit Van Leeuwen suffered multiple gunshot wounds from three different firearms: a. 30-30 rifle, a shotgun, and a. 22 caliber weapon. The attack was brutal and left no chance for survival.
Immediately following the double homicide, Fred Gilreath was arrested on the same day. He was subsequently charged with the murders of his wife and father-in-law. The investigation revealed that the murders were premeditated, as Gilreath had previously made threats against Linda, her mother, and Gerrit Van Leeuwen. The motive was determined to be his anger over the separation and the pending divorce.
Fred Gilreath stood trial for the murders and was found guilty. The court sentenced him to death for his crimes. After a lengthy period of appeals and legal battles that spanned over two decades, the sentence was ultimately carried out. Fred Gilreath was executed by lethal injection on November 15, 2001, finally bringing a close to a case that had brought so much pain and loss to the Van Leeuwen family.
