Leon Means

Serial Killer

Leon Means: Four Murders Across Twenty-Five Years

Overview

Leon Means is an American serial killer responsible for murdering four women in Muskegon Heights, Michigan. His known crimes occurred in two distinct periods separated by approximately twenty-five years. The first two victims, his estranged wife and her mother, were killed together in June 1989. Means then remained free from prosecution for those murders until October 2014, when he killed two more women in their homes only a few blocks apart. The 2014 investigation moved rapidly because the two victims were discovered within hours of one another and appeared to have been attacked under similar circumstances. After Means was taken into custody, he confessed not only to the recent killings but also to the long-unsolved 1989 murders. His admissions finally connected him to four deaths that had caused grief and uncertainty in the Muskegon Heights community for decades.

Confirmed Victims

• Cynthia Lou Herrera Means, 30 Killed on June 15, 1989, inside her mother's home in Muskegon Heights, Michigan. Cynthia, Leon Means's estranged wife, was stabbed repeatedly.
• Linda Lou Herrera, 48 Killed on June 15, 1989, inside her home in Muskegon Heights, Michigan. Linda, Cynthia's mother, was shot and stabbed during the same attack that killed her daughter.
• Judy Kay Bushman, 62 Killed on October 13, 2014, inside her home on Wood Street in Muskegon Heights, Michigan. She was discovered the following morning with a cord or rope around her neck.
• Anna "Red" Lawson, 63 Killed on October 13, 2014, inside her home on East Sherman Boulevard in Muskegon Heights, Michigan. She was strangled and stabbed, and her body was concealed beneath household items.

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Confirmed Victims: (4)

Cynthia Lou Herrera Means Age: (30), Date of Death: 1989-06-15

Leon Means spent most of life in prison