Dark Downeast - The Kidnapping of Leslie Buck (Connecticut)

Episode Date: August 28, 2025

In the spring of 2002, several urgent 9-1-1 calls came into the Stonington, Connecticut, police department from the same caller just two days apart. First, there was a report of a violent kidnapping, and then, the untimely death of the very same victim. When investigators arrived at the scene of Leslie Buck’s suspicious death fresh off the arrest of the person who kidnapped her, the circumstances didn’t quite add up. In the days ahead, questions about what happened to Leslie would grow more complex and far more unsettling. What began as a shocking crime would soon spiral into a mystery with far more questions than answers.View source material and photos for this episode at: darkdowneast.com/lesliebuckDark Downeast is an audiochuck and Kylie Media production hosted by Kylie Low.Follow @darkdowneast on Instagram, Facebook, and TikTokTo suggest a case visit  darkdowneast.com/submit-case

In the spring of 2002, several urgent 911 calls came into the Stonington, Connecticut Police Department from the same caller just two days apart. First, there was a report of a violent kidnapping, and then the untimely death of the very same victim. When investigators arrived at the scene of Leslie Buck's suspicious death, fresh off the arrest of the person who kidnapped her. the circumstances didn't quite add up. In the days ahead, questions about what happened to Leslie would grow more complex and far more unsettling.

What began as a shocking crime would soon spiral into a mystery with far more questions than answers. I'm Kylie Lowe and this is the case of Leslie Buck on Dark Down East. When Charles Buck walked into his home at 77 Mason's Island Road in Mystic, Connecticut, on the night of May 2, 2002, he expected to find his wife, 57-year-old Leslie Buck, home already. According to court records, Leslie was at an Alpha Delta Kappa meeting earlier in the night, which was an honorary sorority for teachers. Leslie was a long-time second-grade teacher at Dean's Mill School in Stonington. The meeting was supposed to end at 8.15, and Charles, who I'm going to call Charlie from here on out,

he knew that Leslie planned to stop into her mother's house on the way home to drop off a piece of cake she'd saved from the meeting. But it was almost 10.30 p.m. and Leslie still wasn't back. The first call Charlie made that night was to his mother-in-law to see if Leslie was still at her house. Not finding her there, he called a friend of Leslie's who also attended the meeting that night, but no Leslie. At 10.30 p.m., Charlie called the local police for the first time to see if there had been any accidents. The dispatcher told him it had been a quiet night since the start of her shift at 6 p.m. A little while later, Charlie called dispatch again. He told a new dispatcher that he'd called around and spoke to a few other people who went to the meeting that night, but he still couldn't find his wife.

Here is audio from that 911 call. This is not one with your car. He hasn't been home? I've been going to worry. Okay. She's driving a right 93-pill Park Avenue. You're on your way to the west? The door.

Okay. Hey. All right. Accent to her, though. Okay. Did you want to file missing person at her for it? Yeah, I think they would. Stonington police officer Timothy Thornton responded to the Buck's home to take the report,

and left shortly after. At 11.07 p.m., Charlie dialed 911 once more. He told the dispatcher they'd better send Officer Thornton back over. Leslie was home, but she was not okay. Hello? Stonington, Police Department. Hello? Stoney's up.

My wife's just in home and she's getting a kidnap. What's any discussion? Oh, my God! Hello? Yes. Oh, please. Oh, please. Okay.

We're here to get torn back, do you please? Do you all see that? Yeah. Oh. Oh, please. Oh, please. Oh, did you go? I've been bound up.

Oh, God. Oh, God. Oh, my got the right thing. Yeah. Oh. isn't the greatest, so let me decipher this for you the best I can based on transcripts of the call contained in court records. As Charlie speaks to the dispatcher, you can hear a female voice in the background clearly distressed. She says at the end of that clip, quote, oh my God, I told you

I never liked him, end quote. And then Leslie Buck took the phone and described for herself what she'd just survived. Oh, my wife is up there she's a mess here. Okay, any description of the people who did this? She knows who it is, she said. You still want to sound. Okay. Hello, I just, I came home and just put a friend that my husband was in the garage.

Did he have a son done? He brought me back and then he kept pulling me. He pushed me down. That finally he taught my hands and feet. When he gave me to his heart on, where? Did he up? What was his name? He pushed me in the stomach, and I tried to pull away.

And finally, we've been driving around in the car, and he just stopped on 95. And he had the keys when he had our house keys. Oh, God. Is it what? Ma'am? Yeah. Listen to me. What was his name, please?

Russell Kirby. The harrowing ordeal began around 8.30 p.m. when Leslie returned home from the meeting. She pulled her Buick into the garage, and when she pulled her Buick into the garage, and when she, She stepped out of the car she heard someone say her name. Leslie barely had a moment for the voice to register when she was struck in the neck. She turned to face her attacker and immediately placed his face. It was the Buck's handyman and former neighbor, 64-year-old Russell Kirby. Leslie struggled with Russell as he punched her in the stomach and pushed her on the floor.

He managed to overpower her and swiftly bound her hands and legs. He then got Leslie into her own vehicle and drove off. Leslie said that Russell brought her to his house and forced her to lay on the couch. After some time, he got her back into the car and proceeded to drive around the back roads of Ledyard, Groton, and Stonington until the car started acting up. He stopped on 95 in between. In your car? It's my car.

And he had your car. No, I'm at the car, okay. He untied me. I had an expertise in my path. And during the night, I got it out and had it by here, and when he got out of the car, and check something, I can shut the door, shut that in, and go where it could be home here. As Leslie described it, Russell pulled over to check what the issue was. Russell had loosened Leslie's restraints by that point, so when he was outside of the car, she seized her opportunity to escape. Leslie slid into the driver's seat, started up the Buick with a spare key from her purse.

and drove off. Do you need an ambulance there? No. Okay. The dispatcher asked Leslie if she needed an ambulance, and it's difficult to discern, and it's difficult to discern, but Leslie then responded, quote, I don't think so, but I got bad chest pains, end quote. The dispatcher asked for Russell's address, which Charlie and Leslie both said they didn't

know, and then Leslie said her assailant told her why he. he did this. No, if he wanted money, he needed about $10,000 if he told me. And I kept saying, please bring you home, Charlie. What was he wearing? What? What was he wearing, ma'am? An officer arrived at the Buck residence as the dispatcher collected more information

about Russell Kirby. Leslie was taken to the hospital for treatment that same night. According to court records, her injuries included an abrasion on the back of her neck from the stun gun, contusions, and swelling to her wrists and hands. and abrasions to her legs. She was not kept for an extended observation, as might be necessary or expected in instances of head injuries,

and she returned home with Charlie around 4 a.m. Almost simultaneously, police were knocking on the door of the person Leslie had identified as her kidnapper. An officer asked Russell Kirby if he knew why police were there, and Russell responded in the affirmative. According to the officer,

Russell admitted to the kidnapping and said he did it for the money, not to hurt Leslie. Russell was arrested around 4.30 a.m. that Friday morning, May 3rd, and was charged with kidnapping, robbery, burglary, attempted larceny and second-degree assault. When investigators searched Leslie's car that Russell had used in the kidnapping, they found a duffel bag filled with a bunch of questionable items. A hickory log, three pieces of rope, electrical tape, gloves, a Colt 45 handgun, an ammunition magazine with seven live rounds, bottles with a liquid in them later determined to be a martini, complete with olives, and two stun guns, although only one of them was operable. At Russell's house, police found another 120,000-volt

stun gun, a cleaning box for a Colt 45 and other objects. The investigation into the alleged kidnapping and assault was only just beginning. But according to reporting by Penelope Overton and Sudhun Tanawala for the Hartford Current, Leslie reported to work that morning, only hours after she left the hospital. She told her fellow teachers and administrators that she was tired and sore, but she wanted to be in the classroom where she felt most comfortable. When she left work later that afternoon, a colleague wished Leslie a good weekend. Things could only go up, he said to her. But that's not what happened at all. At 5.38 p.m. on Saturday, May 4th, another 911 call came into the Stonington Police Dispatch.

From the 911 call, quote, Her arms are so black and blue, and her lips are so black and blue. There's a big red mark on her neck where she must have hit something. There's a big cut on her forehead and blood is dried on her. She's been there for a while. There's no pulse. There's no carotid pulse at all. Her hair is all dried, and there's blood in the nose. Oh, sweetheart. Oh, she's cold. Her face is ice cold. Her wrists are ice cold.

End quote. It was Charlie Buck again. This time, he was calling to report that he found Leslie unresponsive at the bottom of their living room stairs. In the 911 call, he told the dispatcher that it appeared Leslie had fallen down the stairs and she needed an ambulance. At 5.42 p.m. a Stonington police officer arrived at the Buck residence and Charlie led him to the staircase landing where Leslie's body was lying. She was partially on her back with her feet on the bottom step of the staircase. She had some sort of wound on her head. The officer noted that there was a blood-like substance on Leslie's head and face and blood-like stains on her shirt. Some of the blood-like substance seemed to be partially dried and matted in her hair. There was

post-mortem lividity present, meaning there was a purplish-red discoloration visible on her skin indicative of blood-pooling. Her skin was ashen. When a paramedic arrived 10 minutes later, he too noted levidity in Leslie's extremities, especially evident on the lowermost portion of her arm and hands. She was cold to the touch when he checked for a radial pulse, and her arm was stiffening as it would with rigor mortis. The paramedic observed head injuries, but couldn't visually determine where the injury was because the area was covered with dried blood. On the topic of blood, the paramedic thought that there wasn't as much of it as he'd expect for a head injury. He also wasn't sure where she might have gotten the injury because he

didn't see any sharp objects in the area of the stairwell that could have caused such a wound to her head. The paramedic presumed her dead at 6.05 p.m. The first responders at the scene would later say that something about the circumstances seemed off. Before an autopsy was complete, before any lengthy questioning of witnesses or Leslie's husband, with her kidnapping and death happening so close together, police were already treating her death as suspicious. First responding officers at the scene on the night of Leslie's death took Charlie's sworn written statement within minutes of arriving. Charlie told the officer at the scene that he and Leslie went to visit Leslie's mother that day and returned home around 1.30 or 140 p.m. He backed into the garage and shut the door so Leslie would feel better,

given that's where she was attacked less than 48 hours earlier. Once in the house, Leslie opened the mail and they talked about where to go for dinner that night before Charlie said he had to stop into the office for a bit to do some paperwork. He was fairly well known around town as a firefighter. He also held an elected office and was the owner of an electrical business, Buck Electric Inc. in Stonington. While Charlie was out, Charlie said Leslie was going to sit in the backyard to get some sun. Charlie told police he left home at 205 p.m. and went to his office at 1.5 p.m. and went to his office at 126 Elm Street in Stonington, about four miles away. He said he called home at 3.30 to see if Leslie needed anything before he got on the road, but when she didn't answer, he left a message on

the answering machine. Charlie stated he left his office around 340 and stopped into a store to grab pepper spray for his wife, something to make her feel a little more secure after what she'd endured. Charlie then decided to go back to his office at 405 to finish paperwork, And then he said he left again a while later. As he drove by the fire department, he saw a friend's motorcycle parked outside, so he made a quick stop there before finally making his way home at 5.20 p.m. According to Charlie, he walked inside to a silent house at 5.30 p.m. Leslie didn't respond when he called out for her,

and that's when he found her in the living room at the bottom of the stairs. Investigators saw no signs of forced entry to the Buck's home, There's limited discussion in the source material of evidence at the scene, and maybe that's because there wasn't much to speak of. At least the answering machine proved to be helpful in developing a timeline because it had a log of recorded messages that resulted from missed calls to the Buck residents that day. The first was at 207 p.m. It was a message left by a man named Robert about a banquet for the fire district. At 3 p.m., another message from a different caller about the banquet. And then at 327 was Charlie's message. Quote,

Hi, sweetheart, about 3.30. I'm over here still working on my bookwork and getting my report for my meeting on Monday night and so forth. I was wondering how you are doing. Maybe you're sitting out in the yard, don't have the phone with you, which is unusual. Um, just wanted to check on you. I just wanted to make sure you're okay. All right, I'll be home a little later on. I still got more bookwork to do, and I want to get that mace you wanted or the pepper spray or whatever, and I'll be home, okay? And, you know, wherever you want to go eat tonight is fine. You know, we can go wherever you want, one south or whatever else, okay? I'll talk to you in a little bit. Bye-bye. End quote. There was one more message at 3.35 p.m. from a woman named Judy.

So, for whatever reason, no one at the Buck residents answered the call about the banquet at 207 p.m. Charlie had already told police that he left the house at 205 p.m., so if his recollection was accurate down to the minute, he wasn't home when the call came in. But Leslie should have been, so why didn't she answer? Leslie's autopsy was conducted by Dr. Malka Shaw at the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner on May 6, 2002. Dr. Shaw found that Leslie's cause of death was a laceration to her forehead and a basal skull fracture on the back of her head, which caused a subdural hematoma. Dr. Shaw determined that these injuries occurred on the day of her death, and the laceration likely occurred first, followed closely by the injury on the

back of her head. Dr. Shaw concluded that the laceration on the front of Leslie's head was likely caused by a blunt object with a definitive edge similar to a 90-degree angle. Her forehead had a horizontal laceration measuring one inch horizontally with a gaping of one-eighth inch and a full thickness laceration of the scalp. Another notable finding from the autopsy was scar tissue on Leslie's heart from a heart lesion that was an indicator of myocarditis. The condition, according to Dr. Shah, would have weakened Leslie's heart, but it would not have caused her death without the prior injuries to her head. File this detail away for later.

Dr. Shaw estimated that Leslie's time of death was earlier in the day, not the two to three hours before Charlie discovered her body. The final cause of death ruling was head injuries, according to Dr. Shaw. But the final manner of death could not be determined. More information was needed about the scene and the circumstances to make a manner of death ruling. With that, on August 2, 2002, investigators executed a search warrant at Lesoth. and Charlie Buck's home.

Part of the search warrant included examining the size of the staircase where she was found. Karen Floren reports for the day that the staircase was 12 feet long from landing to landing and four feet wide from wall to wall with 11 steps from bottom to top. During the search, investigators seized a curtain with a blood-like substance on it, they took photos of the stairway, and they used a chemical test to detect the presence of blood on the surfaces. Those tests came back negative for the presence of blood. There was no blood, no hair fibers or body tissue, or anything else to indicate a struggle or injury on the staircase itself. After reviewing the photos and measurements obtained during the execution of the

search warrant, Dr. Shaw determined that nothing in the stairway, not the railings, walls, window sills, or floor could have caused the laceration on Leslie's forehead. Dr. Shaw stated that Leslie was likely standing on the stairs when she received the blunt trauma injury to her forehead, and the laceration was caused by a force from above in a downward motion, which caused obvious undermining of the wound. Undermining meant that there was a space or cavity beneath the skin tissue that wasn't visible from the outside. The injury would have bled immediately, and since there wasn't much blood at the scene,

Leslie likely died quickly. In Dr. Shah's opinion, the fractured skull was consistent with a fall from an undetermined number of stares, but also noted that her death was most likely the result of an assault. Yet because there was only one blunt trauma injury to Leslie's head, Dr. Shaw couldn't be reasonably or medically certain of an assault. So, Leslie's manner of death remained undetermined. A few months later, on March 31, 2003, with the death investigation still underway,

the state of Connecticut Forensic Science Laboratory issued a report with further examination of the evidence. The front of Leslie's clothing had bloodstains, leading to the conclusion that Leslie was upright at some point after receiving the injury to her forehead. There were two bloodstains on the bottom of her right sneaker, so she was likely in a sitting position after receiving the wound, and some other bloodstains on her face were consistent with a natural gravity blood flow pattern

from the wound. She had other blood stains on her face consistent with contact transfer, and a blood stain on the floor near her head was indicative of her head moving or being moved from left to right after the injury. The amount of blood at the scene was minimal and there was no cast-off pattern. Almost a year into the investigation, no pathologist or medical examiner or any other investigator could conclusively determine that Leslie died at someone else's hands based on the evidence that was available. No one could say that this was a murder, but it sure was suspicious. And it turns out that Charlie Buck wasn't telling the whole truth about his movements on the day of his wife's death. His behavior in the hours and days afterward

raised some eyebrows too. Stonington Police learned that Charlie had eyes for another woman. A witness named Gage told police that he worked at a restaurant and lounge and mystic called The Drawbridge Inn, and he'd recently become familiar with a customer named Charlie Buck. Charlie was always visiting the restaurant when a certain bartender was working. Gage believed Charlie had given the bartender a bunch of gifts, and he even overheard Charlie telling her he was thinking about divorcing his wife and that they should be together. Gage also said he overheard Charlie telling the bartender.

that he was afraid Leslie would take half of his money. Gage wasn't the only one who spoke of Charlie's interest in this other woman. Multiple employees saw him talking to her on numerous occasions. So, investigators sought out this bartender for a formal interview on May 6, 2002. She was 33-year-old Carol Perez. Carol told police she met Charlie while he was doing some electrical work at the business a few months earlier, and then he started coming into the restaurant every single day. Then Charlie started to tell Carol that he loved her

and he gave her substantial amounts of money that she understood to be gifts. According to Carol, he gave her $3,000 for a down payment on a car, $468 for car insurance, a $1,500 laptop, a digital camera, two pairs of shoes, a $100 briefcase, and a $450 bed. The gifts just continued from there. Carol stopped short of saying that she and Charlie were in a romantic relationship. It wasn't like that. They both just needed someone to talk to.

Yet Carol also said that less than two weeks before his wife's death on April 24th while she and Charlie were out shopping together, he pointed to a pair of underwear with the words sexy bride embroidered on them. Carol said he commented that the underwear would look good on their honeymoon. The following day, Charlie told Carol he loved her again and told her he was going to get a divorce. As for the day of Leslie's death, May 4th, Charlie stopped into the inn twice to visit Carol that day. The first visit was in the early afternoon, though Carol wasn't sure of the specific time, and again around 5 p.m. as she was wrapping up her shift. Charlie walked her to

her car after she clocked out. Carol said that during their conversations that day, Charlie she asked her to run away with him. She declined. One of the next time she spoke to Charlie was two days after Leslie died. Carol said he called around 8.30 a.m. on May 6th and told her that he found Leslie at the bottom of the stairs. In her assessment, Charlie was unemotional delivering the news of Leslie's death. Carol said that Charlie explained how Leslie had been weak and someone else might have been responsible, but added he'd get over it and then asked what she wanted to do that day. Carol agreed to record a phone conversation with Charlie in the presence of investigators.

During that call, Charlie openly wondered how police found out about her. Carol disclosed to Charlie that she told police about all the gifts he'd given her. Charlie then specifically asked Carol to mislead police about the nature and amount of money he had given her. He wanted Carol to say that the money was a loan, not a gift. Police, obviously, had more questions for Charlie at that point and brought him in for a formal in-depth interview. Everything Charlie told police during the interview

was consistent with his earlier written statement until he got to the 3 o'clock mark. During his formal interview with investigators on May 7, 2002, Charlie said that on May 4th, he was driving through town in Mystic around 3 p.m. when a bus boy from the drawbridge in flagged him down and said some lights at the restaurant weren't working, so he pulled in to take a look.

Charlie said he didn't fix the lights at that point, but left and later returned around 410 or 415 to check the lights again and to take a look at an oven. Then he had a Diet Coke before going home. Now in Charlie's first statement, he said he left home around 205 and went to his office where he stayed until 3.40 when he left to buy pepper spray before returning to his office once more.

A stop at the Drawbridge Inn was not part of his original statement. Interestingly, that's supposed Bus Boy couldn't be accounted for during the investigation, so it's unclear if he existed at all, or if it was just Charlie's way of explaining his earlier visit to the Drawbridge Inn without mentioning Carol's name. Witnesses also confirmed that Charlie didn't go back to his office after buying the pepper spray and instead went to the Drawbridge Inn. Receipts show that Charlie purchased two pepper sprays,

from cash true value in Mystic at exactly 4 p.m. On the topic of Carol Perez, Charlie claimed she was just an acquaintance. He said he felt bad for her because she was going through a tough time with an ex-boyfriend, but when pressed, he admitted that he'd given her cash and gifts, but denied any sort of sexual relationship with Carol. When asked about his marriage with Leslie, Charlie said things were going great before she died, despite witnesses saying they'd heard him talk about divorce.

After several hours, and as the line of questioning delved deeper into the nature of his relationship with a woman who was not his wife, Charlie decided he didn't want to talk anymore and left the police station. On his way out, he told detectives that he had weapons in his house, including several firearms, and a piece of wire he kept in the bedroom that was big enough to be used as a club for protection. However, when police searched the buck residents, they were unable to locate the wire Charlie said he had. Now, this wasn't the first time police heard

about a hefty wire intended as a weapon. Before meeting with Charlie, for the formal interview, detective spoke with a witness who said that years ago, back in the 70s, Charlie had given him a length of heavy-duty electrical wire after he'd asked about a similar one Charlie kept. The witness turned over his length of wire to police a few days later. It was about 20 inches in length and an inch in diameter with a 90-degree edge at each end of the wire. When the witness heard that Leslie died from a head injury, he wondered if such a wire could have been used as a weapon against Leslie.

The topic of the wire surfaced again when on September 17th, detectives interviewed another witness, a former employee of Buck Electric, who recounted something Charlie used to say. Charlie would hold up a piece of 500 MCM circular mills wire and say that if he didn't like someone, he would show them the wire, adding,

if he wanted to hurt someone, you hit them in the head with this, meaning the wire. So Dr. Shaw, the medical examiner who performed Leslie's autopsy, examined the wire that the earlier witness had turned over to police and determined, quote, The diameter of the wire was consistent in measurement, as well as other objects with 90-degree angles, to the injury to Leslie Buck's forehead.

End quote. This reads to me, like, the wire is consistent with the cut on Leslie's forehead, But other things, with 90-degree angles, could also be consistent with the cut, too. The wire was not a smoking gun, by any definition, especially since there wasn't an actual piece of this wire found at the scene that could be tested for blood or tissue. All investigators had was a few witness accounts of Charlie talking about a wire used as a weapon, Charlie's own disclosure to police that he had a piece of wire at his house he kept for protection, that they couldn't find, mind you.

and a sample piece of wire from a witness that, if used as a weapon, could cause wounds similar to the ones Leslie sustained before her death. Further witness interviews only placed Charlie Buck under greater scrutiny by police. A guy named Michael, who worked at the Drawbridge Inn, told police that when he showed up for his shift on May 4th, around 415, Charlie was sitting at the bar and he seemed pretty nervous and preoccupied. He was rubbing his forehead and wringing his hands together. Michael said that a few minutes later, Carol took the stool next to Charlie. Michael overheard only bits and pieces of their hushed conversation, but he believes he heard Carol say something like, explain this to me

about the police. What can they do? Michael said the conversation didn't go further than that because Charlie and Carol realized other people could hear them, and then Charlie left the inn. a little after 5.10 p.m. At the one-year anniversary of Leslie's untimely and undetermined death, the investigation was very much still underway, not only into her death, but also into her kidnapping and assault by a guy Charlie Buck knew quite well. Was Russell's attack on Leslie and Leslie's suspicious death two days later related in some way? That's what investigators and Leslie's family were determined to figure out.

Charlie had known Russell Kirby since 1969. Before he was arrested on kidnapping and assault charges, Russell was the Buck's handyman hired to take care of odd jobs at their property. At one point, he also lived across the street from the Bucks, but as of May 2nd, 2002, Russell was living in the town of Ledyard. Witnesses told police they saw Charlie and Russell together at Russell's place in Ledyard two days before Leslie was kidnapped. Before Russell Kirby was prosecuted on the kidnapping charges,

Leslie Buck's estate filed a civil suit against him in August of 2003. According to Anne Baldelli's reporting for the day, Leslie's estate was seeking damages for her kidnapping assault, but the civil case was also seen as a strategic maneuver by Leslie's estate to keep the investigation into her death active. You see, Russell would have to testify in the civil proceeding which meant he could be asked questions about the night of the kidnapping that he otherwise might not be available or willing to answer

until his criminal trial later on. During Russell Kirby's testimony in the civil proceedings, he denied that he forcibly abducted Leslie, but admitted that he tied her hands and feet. He said that he used a stun gun against Leslie, but in one explanation, he said he only had it on him because he used it to jumpstart his vehicle. He testified that no one asked him to kidnap Leslie.

Now, Charlie Buck was also called to testify. With the victim of Russell's attack now unable to speak for herself, Charlie's recollections of that night would have been valuable to the civil case. But because Charlie had been a target of the investigation since day one, his attorney advised him to invoke his Fifth Amendment right to not incriminate himself. Charlie only answered one question. He confirmed that he was married to Leslie Buck but would not answer any questions

about the night she was kidnapped. A default judgment was entered in favor of Leslie's estate on the civil suit because Russell failed to respond to it in time. The ruling allowed Leslie's estate to attach Russell's property to the suit to collect damages. Back to the criminal case, Russell was offered a deal

by the state prior to his criminal. criminal trial, they'd give him 14 years in prison with the right to argue for less in exchange for guilty pleas to second-degree kidnapping, third-degree assault, and first-degree burglary. Russell did not take the offer. Before trial, Russell tried to get any statements that Leslie made to medical personnel, police, and hospital staff about the kidnapping thrown out, because now that she was deceased, Russell could not confront his accuser. He argued that the statements, which would be relayed mainly via testimony from the personnel who heard them, would be hearsay. Russell also wanted his own statements to police

and a set of car keys belonging to Leslie that police found at his house to be thrown out as evidence. In a key ruling, a judge decided that Leslie's statements were admissible, and so a jury would hear everything Leslie told first responders, police, and hospital staff about her kidnapping. The judge also did not suppress the car key evidence or Russell's statements made to police because the judge found that he said those things voluntarily. He was not in custody and he had invited police into his home. With that, the case proceeded to trial. But it was more than just a trial. The testimony of witnesses, including the defendant Russell Kirby himself, would prove to be another investigative avenue

for the detective still trying to find answers in Leslie Buck's suspicious death. The first thing the jury heard was the voice of Leslie Buck herself. Audio from the 911 call on the night of May 2, 2002 was played in the courtroom so everyone could hear Leslie's own words about what happened to her that night

and the description of her attacker. Some of the most powerful testimony was the stuff that the defense had tried to get thrown out before the trial. An officer told the jury that Leslie herself identified Russell Kirby as her attacker. Another officer testified that Russell admitted to the kidnapping because he needed the money. The jury also heard Russell's versions of events for the first time. His admitted use of a stun gun on Leslie, tying her up, driving her around, he claimed that was all self-defense. According to Russell's testimony, he walked

to the Buck's house that night from a nearby train station because he had car trouble and wanted to see if they could help him or if he might be able to find some tools in Charlie's garage. He claimed that Charlie had given him basically blanket permission to use his garage anytime he needed, so Russell said he let himself in. Russell was in the garage when Leslie pulled up and got out of her car. He said her name and suddenly, Leslie was attacking him with a heavy key ring that had a bunch of keys on it. Russell told the jury, quote, the only thing I could do is stop her." Russell admitted to hitting Leslie

in the back of the shoulder with a stun gun but he said it didn't do anything. He then admitted to tying her hands behind her back but he was upset as he did it because this was his best friend's wife and he'd worked for the Buck family for decades. Russell claimed that Leslie was yelling at him about a check from a joint bank account

that her husband used to pay him. He usually paid Russell from a different account. They only got into Leslie's car, he said, because Leslie insisted she demanded that Russell take her to see Charlie. Russell said he agreed to drive Leslie to see her husband, who was at a restaurant, but then he changed his mind on the way there because he didn't want Leslie to embarrass herself in front of Charlie. Instead, Russell opted to take Leslie to his house, where he encouraged her to take a load off and put her feet up while he collected the tools he needed to fix his truck, which was still on the side of the road somewhere. Russell testified that they got back into Leslie's car and they were on their way back to his own vehicle when Leslie's car started having trouble too.

Russell pulled over and got out to check the issue and that's when she sped off. Russell denied ever telling police that he kidnapped Leslie for the money. As for the bag of weapons and rope and other supplies that certainly looked like they could be used in a kidnapping, Russell said that he was doing some work at a job site and there was a dog there that attacked him once. He intended to use the items in the bag on the dog

should it ever try to attack him again. The stun guns, the firearm, even the martini, was intended to ward off the dog, he testified. Now Russell Kirby's defense attorney called Charlie Buck himself as a witness, but jurors would not hear from him in any meaningful way. When Russell's defense attorney asked

if Charlie ever made a plan with the defendant to abduct and murder Leslie, Charlie declined to answer that question and every question after. He repeatedly refused to testify after asserting his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination. The defense attorney argued that without Charlie answering any questions, Russell wouldn't get a fair trial. He wanted Charlie to be granted immunity so that the jury could hear from him.

State's attorney Kevin T. Kane was described as emphatic when he stated that there would be no offer of immunity for Charlie Buck. So the jury was released to deliberate without hearing from Charlie, and when they returned, they'd found Russell guilty of second-degree kidnapping and third-degree assault and not guilty of two counts of first-degree burglary. A judge later sentenced him to 21 years in prison in the maximum sentence. Immediate motions filed by Russell's defense attorney for a new trial were rejected.

Throughout the trial, Russell's defense attorney alluded to Charlie Buck's possible involvement in what happened to Leslie on the night of her kidnapping and assault. No doubt, the investigation hadn't moved past Leslie's husband either, and her suspicious death case was far from closed. Stonington Police Detective Sergeant David Knowles said of the continued efforts, quote, At some point in time we will try to have a conversation with Mr. Kirby. You can call this trial what you want, say chapter one, and say now that we're heading into the next chapter of this case.

This is not a closed case. We're not going to rest. I'm not going to rest. I know there's more out there. We just have to find it. End quote. Leslie's manner of death has not changed in the 23 plus years since she died. Undetermined. Her case has never been ruled a homicide. Yet seven. In years after Leslie's lifeless body was found at the bottom of the staircase in her own home, someone was arrested and charged with her murder. In the next episode of Dark Down East, the deeper investigators dug into Leslie's death, the more inconsistency surfaced in the story and timeline of a key witness. Circumstantial evidence piled up,

finally amounting to enough probable cause to make an arrest, only for the trial to become a battle of the experts, all with differing opinions about what ultimately ended Leslie's life. The state's medical examiner pointed to a head injury, but a new report changed everything and challenged the theory that investigators were trying to prove. Was the killer in this case, Leslie's own heart. There's so much more to cover.

It's coming next week on Dark Downey. Thank you for listening to Dark Down East. You can find all source material for this case at darkdowneast.com. Be sure to follow the show on Instagram at Darkdowneast. This platform is for the families and friends who have lost their loved ones and for those who are still searching for answers. I'm not about to let those names or their stories get lost with time. I'm Kylie Lowe, and this is Dark Down East.

Dark Down East is a production of Kylie Media and Audio Check. I think Chuck would approve.