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Minnesota's Leah's Law Online Petition
Wisconsin's Leah's Law Online Petition
OUR GUESTBOOK
Leah's Murder
Who Was Leah Gustafson?
Leah was a twenty-nine year old woman who lived in Superior, Wisconsin (born and raised), had attended college in Eau Claire at the UW-Eau Claire and graduated, worked at Cellular One in Duluth, and was a wonderful friend. Leah had beautiful long brown hair, she was very smart, she was carring, she was determined to accomplish something she put her mind to doing, she was helpful, she was honest, and she was absolutely hilarious. She also had a trademark laugh that could carry across a room. She had many friends because she was the type of person you just wanted to be around. As far as most of us knew, she had very few enemies because she was such a fabulous person.
She is deeply missed by everyone who knew her. Leah was friendly, kind, generous, big-hearted, hard working, law abiding, caring, and a trusting person. Her life was cut viciously short by her killer, Jason Borelli. A man Leah only knew as the neighbor across the street. However, the state of Wisconsin and his own mother knew he was a habitual violent offender, and no one gave any warning. Leah didn't have the opportunity to know what type of previous violent history the accused murder was capable of, and it cost her life. We're fighting to change the laws so that what happened to Leah doesn't happen to someone else.
What Happened To Leah?
On January 7, 2006 Leah was in her Superior, WI apartment and from all logical accounts sleeping (she worked at 8 a.m. the next day). At around 4:30 a.m., her murderer Jason Borelli used the security buzzer outside Leah's apartment building attempting to be let in by one of the residents to visit Leah's upstairs neighbor, by all accounts he was heavily intoxicated. Jason was a neighbor across the street from Leah's apartment and was an acquaintance of Leah's through her upstairs neighbor. She was not dating him, nor did she have any romantic relationship with him.
It is believed that Jason Borelli some how got into the apartment building and for some reason he viciously attacked Leah. It has been said that he Jason beat her, choked her, threw objects in Leah's apartment at her, and eventually used her art collector's samurai sword and stabbed Leah through the heart and lungs, and exited the apartment building leaving her to die alone. Leah had fought back, screamed for someone to help her, and tried to save her own life.
During her struggle she managed to call 911 but due to the call being placed on a cell phone and her struggle with Jason, authorities were unable to place her location. During the 911 phone call the dispatcher recorded most of the fighting and ultimately Leah's last breaths. Her last question, "Why are you doing this to me?" Leah was found dead on her apartment floor by her upstairs neighbors, and later authorities. They did try to revive Leah, to no avail.
Leah's neighbor (Brandi) had heard the screaming and objects in Leah's apartment being smashed around, and had allegedly watched Jason leave the apartment building and was able to identify him to the police. The police found Jason in his apartment, having showered, with bloody clothes and objects in his apartment. He denied being at Leah's apartment, but the police did arrest him and he was convicted for the FIRST DEGREE MURDER of Leah and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole, which was all we could ask or hope for. Leah's death was violent and brutal, and Jason Borelli was recently convicted and will spend the rest of his natural life in prison for hurting Leah in this way.
Leah was a peaceful and kind person, she didn't deserve to die this way. No one deserves to die this way. I cannot imagine how painful and horrifying her last few moments of life were, and for that I will never forgive the accused murder Jason Borelli, nor the legal system that failed to protect Leah and the other women this monster hurt.
Who Are The Members Of Leah's Law?
There are six active members of Leah's Law and several supportive members. Leah's parents are both actively involved as well.
The main group of women who are organizing the events, running the website, and petitioning to have Leah's Law passed in Wisconsin and Minnesota are: Melinda (a lifelong friend of Leah's), Parrot (a friend of Leah's), Kelly (another good friend of Leah's), Kristine (a friend), Nicole (a coworker of Leah's), Mary (another coworker of Leah's), and Denise (a friend of Leah's for over twenty years).
We work as a group closely together holding meetings, running the website, talking to local politians, and organizing interviews to try to gain community support. We are also each carrying Leah's Law books gathering signatures of Minnesota and Wisconsin residents that will be used in our petition to both the Minnesota and Wisconsin governors with a rough draft of Leah's Law bill, and our desires for what criteria would constitute the law. We have become close and through Leah's death and the idea of Leah's Law have become friends.
We also have several friends/coworkers who have helped us with parades, the rummage sale, gathering signatures, etc. Kris, Suzanne S., Brian, Artie, and the list goes on.
What Is Leah's Law Exactly?
We are in the process of drafting Leah's
Law and it's requirements for Minnesota and Wisconsin
governors. We are asking that both states design
Repetitive Violent Offender Registries online (and in the future
possibly a registry through
the U.S. Postal system) alert neighboring residents of a
REGISTERED violent offender of the person's location,
previous crimes, and a photograph identifying the
offender so that the community can protect their
households and businesses. We are also asking that both
states strongly consider longer jail sentences and less
chances to post bail, reduce sentences, and pay monetary
fines for violent repetitive offenders as will be
CLASSIFIED by either state. Only convicted violent FELONS would be required to register, first offense for fifteen years, multiple offenses thereafter for life.
We are gathering signatures of Minnesota and Wisconsin
residents to present with our draft of the Leah's Law bill
to both governors. We began the idea of
Leah's Law and have taken the necessary steps to make
this a reality after our friend Leah Gustafson was
murdered by what the state of Wisconsin had previously
classified as a repetitive violent offender on January 7,
2006 in Superior, Wisconsin. We need the community's
support and help to make Leah's Law a reality and that's
why we have created the website and are doing newspaper,
radio, and television interviews as well as participating
in highly attended local events (i.e.: parades, fairs,
etc).
Leah's Obituary
Leah R.
Gustafson, 29, of Superior died Saturday, Jan. 7, 2006 in
her home. She was born May 26, 1976 in Madison, Wisc.,
and lived most of her life in Superior. Leah graduated
from Superior Senior High School in 1994 and U.W. Eau
Claire in 2002. She was employed by Cellular One in
Duluth. He was preceded in death by her grandparents,
Mary and Adrian Gustafson, and Arnold and Josephine Wick;
three uncles, Richard Wick, Tom Doane, and James
Gustafson; aunt Audrey Strass and cousin Terri Lyn Doane.
She is survived by her mother, Sharon Gustafson of
Duluth; father, Richard (Sarah) Gustafson of Superior;
brother, Michael of Duluth; adopted sister, Melinda
Cooper of Superior; step sisters, Maija (Jason) Krueth
and their daughter, Tegan, and Hillary Simensen and step
brother, Cy Simensen, all of Duluth; three aunts, Patti
(Alan) Lawrence of Spring Hill, Tenn., Connie Doane of
Superior and Cheryl (John) Schimpf of Superior; cousins,
David, Mark and Shirley Wick, Jennifer, Janelle and Jamie
Wick, Tammi and Tanya Doane and Jonathan Schimpf.
VISITATION:5 p.m. Friday in the Downs Funeral Home.
Funeral service will be at noon Saturday in the Great
Lakes Gospel Church, 24th Avenue West and Fifth Street,
Duluth, where visitation will resume at 11 a.m. until the
service. Burial will be at Greenwood Cemetery.
Leah's accused killer, Jason Borelli, had a fan-tab-u-lously long court record in the Wisconsin Public Records. The records show he was supposed to attend court for 3 felony counts of failure to pay child support at the time of Leah's murder (1/7/06), but it kindly reads: No appearance by defendant. Held in Douglas Co. on new charges. Arraignment set for 01/30/06 at 10:30 a.m. How ironic!
Why Did This Happen?
Because of what we all went through when Leah died, we all have our own way of saying what happened, what we felt, what we were thinking, etc. Below is a blog I had posted on my MySpace account detailing my personal thoughts the day I found out about Leah's murder (the Monday after it happened).
The information below is only from my frame of mind and view point, and we will be adding the other group member's accounts of that horrible day when they are ready to go through all of that grief again. It's not easy to sit and think about what you need to say or even recalling all of the feelings and emotions you were going through, when it's still recent. It's still painful. It's still upsetting.
I only wrote about what I had been feeling that day out of pure anger considering the circumstances surrounding Leah's murder. -Mary Day
WARNING!! THIS IS A VERY GRAPHIC BLOG AND IF YOU DON'T WANT TO READ IT I SUGGEST YOU DON'T, I WISH THIS NEVER HAD HAPPENED AND THESE WORDS ARE ONLY MY OPINIONS, HOWEVER I AM LEAVING THIS PUBLIC BECAUSE I WANT EVERYONE TO KNOW WHAT HAPPENED TO MY FRIEND!!!!
My nerves
are completely shot. I feel numb right now, honestly.
My friend who sits across from me asks me if I heard the
news. I was a little confused so I asked what she meant,
she told me that our friend Leah Gustafson, and our
coworker, was rumored to be the slain victim in the
Saturday stabbing in Superior. I hadn't heard anything,
and I told her I didn't think it was Leah because my
stepmother heard the girl that was murdered was a young
twenty-something.
She told me that Leah was supposed to be at work on
Saturday and didn't show up, and she was supposed to be
to work today and again wasn't there. I thought the
entire situation was odd, but I knew that I could easily
find out if it was or wasn't Leah.
I called my older sister, who is friends with Leah's
cousin, and I left her a voicemail to see if she had
heard anything. I then proceeded to e-mail Leah and ask
her if she was here today. I called her cell phone, since
it was still on but I got her voicemail, "Hi you've
reached Leah, I'm either away from the phone or in the
bar without reception so I'll call you back..."
I thought it couldn't be her, because someone would've
called in and shut her phone off. I mean it just couldn't
be her!
I waited for my first break at 11 a.m., and I called my
older sister and she confirmed that the woman who was
murdered in Superior on Saturday was Leah, and her friend
had just been notified today. I was stunned. I was so
shaken I told my other coworker, who was a friend of
mine, and I asked what she thinks I should do. She said I
should tell the manager because at this point the
Superior Police Department and the press hadn't released
any names.
I logged into my phone and told my team lead to put me on
standby because I had to go talk to the manager, and I
walked to her office completely across the call center.
My legs were shaking and I felt like I was going to
vomit.
I was so upset I could barely gather the strength to
knock on the manager's door, but luckily she wasn't in. I
saw our other manager was in her office so I walked in
and she asked me what was going on, and I tried to tell
her. I said, "The girl who was stabbed in Superior
was...was..." and then I started crying like a
little baby. I got out the name "Leah" but the
rest was inaudible. The manager told me she kind of
suspected that was the right person considering Leah
didn't show up for work on Saturday, they knew she lived
in the building, and also she didn't show up for work
today.
She told me to take a few minutes and calm down and I
just wept. I had to use her Kleenex. I was so nervous my
blood pressure was spiked and my hands were shaking.
I went back to my desk and told a few people around me
who it was and what I knew of what had happened. We all
just kind of sat there, stunned. If you knew Leah at all,
you knew this couldn't possibly be true. I went from
sadness, into shock in a few minutes. I was in shock for
at least an hour, just sitting there rethinking things in
my head.
This cannot be true, it just couldn't. I had a class for
training with Leah on Tuesday, I had seen her and talked
to her during break on Thursday. I had a phone call from
her on Friday transferred to me. This just, wasn't. . .
and couldn't be. . .true.
Around noon, someone handed me a news coverage from the
Duluth News Tribune regarding Leah's murder. I read it,
and then I went and puked in the bathroom for a few
minutes. I was so disgusted and nauseated I couldn't even
drink water. I sat and stared at my computer, getting
very minimal work done. I wanted to get the heck out of
work and leave. I felt like screaming and throwing things
around the call center. I didn't want to be there.
Later in the day management e-mailed a statement to our
call center stating Leah had passed unexpectedly and the
Working 2 Win Committee (which I'm newly a member) would
have a meeting and collect funds to help Leah's family.
If we needed a few minutes to get up and walk around let
our supervisors know, or if we need help dealing with
this we could go talk to a counselor or the Human
Resources lady. That just sealed my day.
I went from being in shock and sad, to being down right
angry. I was so angry I could've . . . I don't know, I
was just livid. I went into the smoke room for my lunch
break and I unleashed an angry tongue lashing filled with
obscenities and derogatory remarks regarding certain drug
addict males who think it's okay to hurt people I cared
about, a Minster's daughter would've gasped in shock.
Why did this psycho do that? Why was he at her house at
4:30 a.m, how in the hell did he get her to let him in?
She wasn't stupid, she wouldn't have opened the door that
early in the morning when she had to be to work at 8
a.m., he must've told her it was an emergency.
How can he do something so heinous to someone he didn't
know and someone who was so nice, such a good person? How
could he do something so brutal? Why? Why? Why? Why
didn't the State Of Wisconsin imply the THREE STRIKES
YOU'RE OUT clause to their criminal justice system, had
they done this when he had FELONY CHILD SUPPORT FAILURE
TO PAY in Washburn County, and updated his address to
Superior on 11/20/05, they would've been able to call the
Superior Police Department and had him transferred to the
Washburn County Jail, and none of this would've happened.
Leah would still be alive.
She didn't deserve this. She was just about the nicest
coworker I know. I always had a fun time with her when
we'd meet up at a bar, she was almost always cheery, she
was a good customer service representative, she was
funny, and she had a strange sense of humor - just like
mine. I always enjoyed working with her, and on Tuesday
we had fun in our 8 hour long training class. She was
just such a great, kind, sweet, and fun person. She was
so kind to people I cannot imagine someone wanting to
hurt her.
I heard later on the news she tried to fight back, and
while doing so contacted 911 but due to the struggle for
her life with the attacker, they couldn't locate where
the call was coming from. He even used a sword to stab
her, can you even imagine?
I used to live about two blocks away in the HERITAGE
APARTMENT BUILDING in Superior with my roommate on Ogden,
I used to walk by Leah's house. I grew up in Superior.
MURDERS DON'T NORMALLY HAPPEN IN SUPERIOR!
Leah didn't deserve this, the only thing I can think of
is that he somehow tricked her into opening the door
claiming it was an emergency and then he tried to
sexually assault her and she fought back, and that's when
he went absolutely OVER THE LINE.
I know that I don't normally endorse the death penalty
and saying that I hope he fries right now would go
against my principles as a Democrat, but I was so close
to jumping over to "the other side" after I
read the murder's rap sheet on the Wisconsin Court
Records website. I wanted him to pay for what he did to
my friend, my coworker, and my friend's cousin. I wanted
him to suffer just the way she did, fearing for his life.
And then I realized that he will get what is coming to
him because he's going to get life in prison without the
possibility of parole, he will know fear.
I'm going to be going to the services on Saturday for
Leah, and for our family friend/her kids. I'm so upset
right now I cannot even imagine feeling worse right now.
I have been thinking about it all day, I cannot get the
images out of my head. I wonder where Leah is or what
she's doing now. It just won't stop and I cannot turn it
off.
I'm not saying she and I were best friends, but we were
friends and I will miss her. She was truly a wonderful
and delightful person full of spunk, fun, mischief, and
beauty. I thank God for letting us even get to know you a
little, Leah, and I pray that you are finally resting in
peace and kicking back with a pack of smokes and a load
of beer. I am truly sorry for what happened to you, but
your family, friends, and community will NOT let this man
get away with what he has done to you. We do love you,
will miss you, and I am going to continue to pray that
you're at rest with the many loved ones I've lost before.
I am so angry. I am so sad. I just wish this hadn't
happened to her.
