American Family Voice
Address: P. O. Box 127, Russellville, Arkansas 72811
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NIGHTMARE IN ARKANSAS:
CANINES DID NOT KILL LEIGH ANN COX
August, 2003 - By Jane Williams

On May 3rd, when Leigh Ann Cox was found brutally killed and mutilated in the Chimes community, many individuals jumped to the conclusion that dogs were responsible for her death. "American Family Voice" reported in July that our research indicated that Leigh Ann had been killed by a mountain lion and not by dogs. Official documents relating to the death of Leigh Ann have still not been forthcoming; however, additional information has been provided to AFV that indicates that a lion not dogs killed her. Our concern is that once a lion kills a human, it will most likely kill other humans because it learns people are easy prey and are tasty. It is the belief of this writer that beginning on May 4th serious steps should have been taken by Van Buren County "public servants" to put down this killer before it had the opportunity to kill again. A killer lion can usually be trapped the second day after a kill. As time passes, it becomes more difficult to locate such a lion and trap it. As far as we know, no official attempts have been made to dispose of the killer or acknowledge a lion as the killer. As of today, July 8th, Ken and Barbara Davison have still not been granted a Depredation Permit to legally kill the lion that they believe killed Barbara’s sister. A permit can easily be issued in less than 24 hours. Why have they not been issued this permit?

When Barbara called 911 on May 3rd, after Ken had found Leigh Ann’s remains, she asked them to inform George Morton, a neighbor, that they needed him to come to their farm as soon as possible. George received the 911 notification at 9:57 PM and immediately rushed to the Davison farm. George is a veteran who had received military training on tigers. He has owned land in the Chimes Community for many years and he has seen lions and their tracks on his farm. He is also a trained, certified and licensed Emergency Medical Technician. Most probably, he is more knowledgeable about cat attacks and body mutilation than any person who was present that night. When he arrived at the farm, he immediately realized the Davisons were in shock. Ken had already killed 2 of their dogs and was attempting to kill the other 3, since he had jumped to the conclusion, without any investigation, that the dogs had killed Leigh Ann. Fortunately George stopped Ken from killing the remaining dogs and conducted a preliminary investigation of the dogs and the death scene.

At the time of the preparation of the July article about Leigh Ann's death, George did not want his name used in the article. In the article, he was referred to as a neighbor, and his eyewitness testimony was not included. He has since determined that his knowledge and testimony may help identify Leigh Ann's killer and that it may help "public servants" direct their efforts toward preventing another needless death. When George examined Leigh Ann, he determined that she was dead and that rigormortis had set in. He estimated the time of death to have been between 4:00 and 5:00 PM. He and his wife had heard a muffled scream sometime between 3:30 and 5:30 PM, but they had not paid much attention to it since it sort of sounded like a sound made by someone who had been goosed. They had assumed some adolescents were playing around in the forest.

He also determined that Leigh Ann's neck had been broken. He observed little blood at the sight, that the body had been dragged at least 30 feet, that clothing had been ripped from the body, that the head had been scalped, that there was a cut about 2" deep, ¾ to 1" wide and about 5 inches long on the thigh as well as other damage to the body. He also observed animal tracks, that he believed to be lion tracks, around the body. He examined the dogs and found no blood or indications that they had participated in Leigh Ann's death. Since the job of an EMT is to assist the living, he turned his attention to helping the family because they were in shock and needed his help. He did not conduct a thorough examination of the body, since he assumed that law enforcement would conduct a very thorough investigation of the body and the death site.

When asked if sandpaper type abrasions or rough, reddened spots were present on the body, George indicated he could not be sure, but that he believed he had seen such areas on the body. [Such marks are usually left by a lion as it licks blood from its kill.]

On May 5th, a large lion ran across the road in front of George. This was about 300 yards from the kill site. [It has been the experience of farmers in Fourche Valley that lions return to their kill about every other day. The lion was probably returning to the kill site to feed.] On the evening of May 3rd, after law enforcement had departed the Davison farm, George and Ken had photographed the tracks and the kill site with a digital camera. The tracks in the photographs were identified by Houston Wimbigler, Assistant Curator at the Memphis Zoo, as tracks of Felis concolor, western mountain lion. On May 5th, in an effort to assist law enforcemnt with the investigation, George took the disc containing the photographs to the Sheriff's Office in Clinton. The CD disappeared from the Sheriff's Office. Fortunately George had saved negatives and had safely stored them away from his home. George believes the evidence that he saw the night of May 3rd indicates that a lion killed Leigh Ann Cox.

At the request of Ken and Barbara Davison, Darren L. Huff, Director of Tactical Lead Inc., analyzed photographs of the death scene. Mr. Huff is often called upon to testify in court as an expert witness on dog attacks. He operates a law enforcement canine academy where he trains dogs for police work. In the presence of Stephen James, Deputy Prosecutor, he examined the photographs taken the night of May 3rd of the remains of Leigh Ann Cox and explained his findings to Prosecutor James.

Huff's report states:

It is of my professional opinion that the fatal injuries sustained were not that of a canine. This is evident by:
1. The marks that appear to be scratch on the dorsal aspect of her lumbar region can not be that of a canine because, canines can not retract their claws to form a pattern that which is conducive of the wounds found on Ms. Cox.
2. The lacerations on both legs appear to be very clean cuts, no tearing, ripping or punctures of the flesh which are typically characteristic of a canine attack were apparent.
3. A canine will not typically bite a hard area to gain control, such as the skull.
4. Typically a dog's prey will die of blood loss. After viewing the photos, in this incident, there were no obvious signs of massive blood loss.

As stated in the July article in AFV, it is the opinion of this researcher that Leigh Ann Cox was not killed by dogs but by a western mountain lion. Evidence continues to surface indicating that this research and conclusion are correct. Why are "public servants" not making efforts to pursue the truth and the killer of Leigh Ann Cox? Must another human die to get their attention that a killer is loose in the Ozarks?

Click For July Article: NIGHTMARE IN ARKANSAS: WHAT KILLED LEIGH ANN?

Return to my Leigh Ann Cox report online

Go to my Lion Pages Introduction