Man on trial in Denton swigs mysterious liquid and dies after being found guilty

A Frisco man collapsed during his jury trial in Denton and died Thursday afternoon shortly after he learned he’d been found guilty of child sexual assault, according to people familiar with the case.

Edward Peter Leclair, 57, was facing five counts involving one victim. According to Denton County Jail records, the offense had occurred in July 2016. Leclair, a former corporate recruiter, was arrested two years later on the charge of attempt to commit sexual assault, and bail was set at $30,000. He posted bond in late July 2018. Jury selection for his trial began Monday at the Denton County Courts Building off McKinney Street.

“We have had people who faint, have heart attacks and had a shooting, but never in my 27 years have we had something like this happen,” said First Assistant Attorney Jamie Beck from the Denton County District Attorney’s Office.

At the trial on Thursday, Leclair had a large water bottle containing what appeared to be cloudy water, which Beck said Leclair hadn’t been drinking. When the jury’s guilty verdict was read, Leclair “just chugged it,” Beck said; his Dallas defense attorney, Mike Howard, said Leclair took a “prolonged drink.”

An investigator assigned to the courtroom also noticed Leclair chugging the drink and thought it was unusual, Beck said.

Judge Lee Gabriel, who was sitting in for Judge Sherry Shipman in the 16th District Court, had Leclair taken into custody and sent to the holding cell, which is right next to the courtroom, so they could determine when the punishment phase of the trial would take place. The jury had been sent out of the courtroom.

The investigator, Beck said, alerted the bailiff to what Leclair had done and suggested that he go check on him.

“He was very much either dying or dead,” Beck said. “Once the ambulance came, they weren’t in a hurry. He was gray.”

Denton Police Department media relations confirmed that they did receive a medical call for an unconscious person at the Courts Building. Denton Fire Department Battalion Chief David Boots said he wasn’t able to comment on the timeline until he could read the report Friday morning, but he did offer another perspective on why paramedics may not have been in a hurry, as Beck had mentioned.

“We have protocols that we follow to give our patients the best chance of survival,” Boots said. “What may seem like a ‘lack of haste’ may actually be deliberate steps being taken in a protocol to increase survivability.”

Denton County sheriff’s deputies, Howard said, responded quickly and gave Leclair medical attention and aid until EMS arrived.

The Denton County Sheriff’s Office didn’t respond to requests for comment by late Thursday night.

“After EMS transported him, I saw him being taken out on the gurney,” Howard said. “His color and pallor didn’t look good — gray — and then he was taken to the hospital. Beyond that, that’s all I can say.”

The Denton Record-Chronicle contacted Medical City Denton, but they said they had no one named Edward Leclair brought there. The Tarrant County Medical Examiner’s Office couldn’t be reached for comment by late Thursday.

Beck, however, did confirm that Leclair’s water bottle was collected as evidence.

As for the victim of Leclair’s crimes, Beck said the victim had flown in to testify at his trial. Beck was in the office with an advocate when she learned what had happened and that he was dead, Beck said.

Howard told the Record-Chronicle those involved in the case were scheduled to reconvene at 8:30 a.m. Friday in Shipman’s courtroom. He said he figured the judge would have to release the jury and “declare a mistrial.”

“His family is obviously going through a lot and deserve respect and privacy,” Howard said. “I ask for people to respect it at this point.”

Beck pointed out that Leclair had been found guilty on all five counts by a jury of his peers.

“It’s over and done,” she said.