RICHLAND COUNTY, SOUTH CAROLINA: Well-known restauranteur and convicted killer Greg Leon died in prison one week into serving his term. The South Carolina Department of Corrections informed that just after lunch on Friday, Leon was found hanging from his cell at Kirkland. He was immediately rushed to the hospital but he died just before midnight.
The South Carolina Department of Corrections tweeted, “Inmate Gregorio M. Leon, 56, died at a local hospital late last night. Leon was found unresponsive in his cell at Kirkland shortly after lunch yesterday. The death is being investigated as a suspected suicide.” While Leon had a cellmate, he was alone when he hung himself. The police also informed that an autopsy will be conducted.
Leon’s friend and attorney Eric Bland tweeted giving a tribute, “Life keeps delivering blows. My good friend and friend to so many Greg Leon passed away at 11:56 last night. I am really hurting. He left a legacy for sure. 2023 has not been a great year for me so far. Maybe even years are better. Greg lived a full life. He was super religious. I met with him on Thursday and he saw I was distraught. He told me God has a plan for him and that somehow he believed some good will come to him. Here is a photo of Greg praying to Mother Mary during his trial. Pretty special. EB.”
Who was Greg Leon?
As per The Post and Courier, on July 6, Leon was sentenced to 30 years in prison for killing 28-year-old Arturo Bravo Santos, who was found in an intimate position with Leon’s wife Rachel in the backseat of a pickup car. The murder happened on Valentine’s Day, 2016. Leon was also charged with the possession of a weapon while committing a violent crime.
In the 1970s, Leon moved to the US from Mexico where he and his wife Rachel ran a Mexican Restaurant chain by the name of San Jose Mexican. They had seven children together. However, their lives changed on the night of February 14, 2016. The couple went out for a family dinner and later parted ways for the night.
During his previous court testimony, Leon revealed that he had placed a tracker in Rachel’s Mercedes car. He reasoned that he was worried about Rachel as she was looking depressed and distant. He further claimed that tens of thousands of dollars were missing from their safe over time. He said that he thought Rachel was probably taking drugs and felt it was necessary to install the tracker.
On February 14, 2016, after Leon and Rachel parted ways, he went to his restaurant and checked the tracker only to find the location pinpointing Interstate 26 and US 378. He went there immediately and found a brand new Toyota Tundra parked right beside Rachel’s Mercedes. The footage from the surveillance camera shows he walked around the car and pulled out his revolver. He said that he heard a scream. Leon then fired three shots through the open door of the car killing Santos. Santos’ body fell face down on the parking lot wearing nothing but socks.
Rachel was the only witness to the murder but she didn’t testify in court. After seven years of trial, Leon was sentenced to 30 years, which he started serving in Kirkland before his death.
'I shot my wife and her lover'
During the trial, Leon said that he killed Santos in self-defense, while the Eleventh Judicial Circuit Solicitor Rick Hubbard said, “He had malice in his heart when he pulled the trigger and killed Mr Santos,” which is the basic criteria to prove a killing to be a murder. He further said it was about Leon’s “pride and manhood.” He added, “He took steps leading up to Valentine’s Day ... to catch them,” Hubbard said. “His plan was to kill two people — his wife and her lover.”
Hubbard also provided a piece of evidence to back up his argument. Before calling 911, Leon called his friend Eric Bland, where he was found saying, “I shot my wife and her lover,” and added, “They were sitting in the car messing around and I pulled up, and I found them and I shot `em.”
