Maryland Man Spends 40th Birthday Restraining, Torturing, and Murdering Woman in Bathtub

September 2, 2024

DELAWARE: Leonard "Buddy" Church, a 43-year-old Maryland man, has been sentenced to 65 years in prison for the brutal murder of Jennifer Leyanna. The incident occurred on Church's 40th birthday, when he restrained, tortured, and killed Leyanna in a bathtub after accusing her of stealing his wallet.

According to court documents, Church became enraged under the influence of PCP and tied Leyanna down in the bathtub with tape. He then stuffed foreign objects down her throat and choked her to death with a belt. Church and his accomplice, Esther Wright, buried Leyanna's body in the backyard of Church's home in Henderson, Maryland.

Leyanna's family went without answers for over a year, prompting them to start a Facebook page in hopes of finding her. The case went cold until Wright confided in someone about the location of the body, leading police to discover Leyanna's remains.

During the sentencing, Leyanna's family delivered emotional victim impact statements. Her mother described the experience as "one of the most traumatic" and said that "when death occurs at the hands of another human being...there never really is closure, just more questions." Leyanna's daughter, Natalie Dehorty, remembered her mother as a loving person who struggled with drug addiction, saying "My mother was nowhere near perfect, but she was mine...You took that from me."

Church's attorney claimed that his client was out of his mind due to drugs and would never have committed such a violent act otherwise. Church apologized to Leyanna's family during the sentencing.