On a cold December day in 1998 in Caribou, Maine, the life of four-year-old Cortina Cousins was tragically cut short in a devastating act of violence that also claimed the lives of her mother and brother. The young female, along with her two-year-old brother, Cote, and their thirty-year-old mother, Tina Marie Saunders Cousins, were killed by their husband and father, Leigh Cousins, in a horrific murder-suicide.
The tragic events unfolded on December 7, 1998, when authorities were called
to the family's home, which had been set ablaze. Inside the charred remains of their cabin, investigators discovered the bodies of Cortina, her brother, and her mother. Further investigation revealed that all three had been shot and killed by Leigh Cousins, who was thirty-four at the time. After murdering his family, he set fire to their home and then took his own life with a fatal gunshot.
In the aftermath of the fire and the discovery of the bodies, police located two identical suicide notes left by Leigh Cousins in vehicles parked outside the family's cabin. The contents of these notes confirmed the incident as a triple murder-suicide, leaving no doubt as to the perpetrator of the violent act. As Leigh Cousins was deceased, no arrests were made in connection with the deaths of Cortina, Cote, and Tina Cousins. The case was closed with the identification of the father as the sole suspect and perpetrator of the tragedy that ended the lives of his entire family.
