Laurie ANDRADE CASE Bound TO GRAND JURY
Sep 04,2008 00:00 by Paul B. Hayes
An Adair County Grand Jury will hear evidence and make the determination if Laurie Andrade will be charged with the fatal shooting of her husband, Leonardo “Leo” Andrade, Jr., and what exact charge she will face if she is indicted.
Following a preliminary hearing in Adair District Court yesterday morning, Judge Mike Loy moved that the case should be bound over to the grand jury for consideration.
Fifty-eight-year-old Laurie Andrade was arrested early on the morning of Aug. 27 after law enforcement officers and the Adair County EMS were called to her and her husband’s mobile home residence on Sand Lick Road in the Cundiff community and discovered that Leo Andrade had been shot and killed. Laurie Andrade was charged with reckless homicide.
At yesterday’s preliminary hearing, Kentucky State Police Det. Israel Slinker, the lead investigator in the case, was the only person who testified.
Det. Slinker stated that he was called to the residence after Adair County Deputy Sheriff Mike Burton and the Adair County EMS had already arrived on the scene.
He said that he found Leo Andrade lying partially on the front steps of the mobile home. He said it appeared that Andrade had been shot once on the right side of his body in the chest area.
Laurie Andrade was already in Deputy Burton’s Cruiser, and Slinker said that Deputy Burton told him that he had located a .22 caliber pistol in the residence, which Laurie was the weapon with which she shot her husband.
He further stated that Laurie Andrade said at the scene that the shooting was an accident.
After the scene was processed, Det. Slinker stated that Deputy Burton took Andrade to the Adair County Regional Jail, and after they reached the jail, he requested an interview with her.
“Laurie said that there had been incidents of domestic violence which had occurred over the past couple of days, and that there had been verbal abuse right up until the point of the shooting,” Slinker stated.
The detective said that Laurie Andrade stated that she had retrieved the gun from the bedroom, but that it “went off accidentally,” and she didn’t mean to shoot her husband.
Slinker said that at one point in the interview, Andrade told him that her husband told her to go to the door and shoot the gun up into the air, but she refused to do so. At this point, Leo Andrade, who had been out in the yard, started back toward her in the trailer.
The detective stated that Andrade said that she was backing up as her husband came toward her, and the gun accidentally went off, shooting him.
“She said she just wanted him to stop,” Slinker testified. “But, she didn’t say stop what.”
Slinker also made reference to the tape of the 911 calls that Laurie Andrade made to the 911 Emergency Control Center.
“Toward the end of the call, she makes reference to ‘If he hadn’t been so abusive,’ and ‘I told him the next time he laid his hands on me,” before she quits talking,” he stated.
The detective said that while they have the preliminary results from the autopsy on Leo Andrade back, they are still awaiting the results of further tests, including tests on the shirt the victim was wearing to determine if has gunpowder residue on it.
While Laurie Andrade is charged with reckless homicide at the present time, Det. Slinker said a more serious charge could be brought against her.
“If the final findings are consistent with the preliminary findings, I will attempt to pursue a higher charge when it comes before the grand jury,” he stated.
Laurie Andrade’s attorney, Public Defender Sandra Downs, asked only a few questions on cross examination.
When she asked the detective what Andrade’s demeanor was like when he was questioning her, Slinker stated that “she was upset at times.”
Downs also asked if Andrade’s story was the same each time he questioned her, he said that there were some differences.
Laurie Andrade remains lodged in the Adair County Regional Jail under a $25,000 cash bond.