On the evening of September 23, 1978, in Gary, Indiana, Lyman Wesley Bostock, a 27-year-old male professional baseball player for the California Angels, was killed. Following a game against the Chicago White Sox, Bostock had dinner with his uncle, Thomas Turner. Afterwards, they visited a woman Bostock had known since she was a teenager, Joan Hawkins. Turner then offered to give Hawkins and her sister, Barbara Smith, a ride to their cousin's house.
Turner was driving, with Hawkins in the front passenger seat, while Bostock and Barbara Smith were seated in the back.
As they were stopped at an intersection, a car driven by Leonard Smith, Barbara Smith's estranged husband, pulled alongside them. Smith, who had been arguing with his wife earlier that day, opened fire with a. 410 caliber shotgun into the rear of Turner's vehicle. The blast was intended for his wife, but instead struck Bostock in the right temple. He was transported to a local hospital where he died a few hours later, in the early morning of September 24, 1978.
Leonard Smith was arrested and charged with Bostock's murder. At his trial, his defense contended that his wife's alleged infidelity had driven him to insanity. The first trial resulted in a hung jury. In the second trial, Smith was found not guilty by reason of insanity.
Smith was subsequently committed to a state mental hospital. After seven months, he was deemed to be no longer mentally ill and was released. The verdict and Smith's quick release sparked public outrage and led to changes in Indiana's laws regarding the insanity defense. Leonard Smith passed away from natural causes in 2010.
