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NIGHTMARE IN ARKANSAS:
WHAT KILLED LEIGH ANN?
July, 2003 - By Jane Williams

When Ken and Barbara Davison returned to their remote country home on Hefner road in the Chimes area in Van Buren County, Arkansas on May 3, 2003, neither was prepared for what they would find in their front yard. As a former policeman Ken had seen just about everything, and Barbara as an emergency room nurse had seen more than her share of tragedies. As they drove up, they had the feeling that something was wrong. The front door was wide open, and the lights were not on in the house.

They had never been concerned about leaving Barbara's sister Leigh Ann Cox alone since their home was so remote, and they had 5 dogs that adored Leigh Ann because she lavished them with attention. During the month that she had been living with them, she had taken to country life like a duck takes to water. Everything was new and exciting. She liked gardening and loved all the animals, especially the goats and chickens. Even when she found baby mice, she insisted on protecting them. After popping corn, she would cradle the bowl in her lap as her 5 canine friends gathered round. Each would wait its turn and gently take a piece from her hand, and then she would pop a piece into her own mouth. She often wondered why the bowl emptied so rapidly. A large plastic container holding about 50 pounds of dog food was always kept full, and a bucket of water sat beside it so the dogs could eat and drink whenever they chose, but Leigh Ann loved giving them little treats even though the dogs really didn't need them.

One of Leigh Ann's favorite activities was using the Weed Eater. She would trim awhile and then shut down the machine and pile the sticks and weeds so they could be burned. Even though she was 41, owned a car and could drive as well as read and write, she functioned at about the emotional level of a 13 year-old and needed to live with a loving family. On her own, she just couldn't make enough money to survive because of her disability. She was happy and in love with the world, and the world loved her.

As Ken and Barbara entered the dark house, they assumed Leigh Ann must have gone to bed early since it was about 9:45. Yet, when they peeked into her bedroom, they found her bed empty. Ken got a flashlight and went outside to look for her since she hadn't answered their calls. Her car was there and to Ken's horror Leigh Ann was there too about 150 feet from the front porch. She was lying on her side with her arms sort of stretched out at her head as if sleeping. She had been scalped and her shirt and shorts ripped from her back. Ken could see what appeared to be claw marks on her back and what appeared to be a cut on her thigh. Her body had been mangled and pieces of flesh were strewn about on the ground. What seemed strange was that there really wasn't much blood on Leigh Ann's body or on the ground. He and Barbara just couldn't bring themselves to carefully examine her cold body. They assumed the sheriff's department would do that. The Weed Eater was out of gas and leaning against a support, so Leigh Ann had probably been going around bending over as she picked up sticks to carry to the burn pile when she was attacked from behind.

While Barbara called 911 in Clinton, Ken covered what was left of Leigh Ann with a bathrobe. Barbara told the 911 operator what they had found and also asked 911 to inform a neighbor. All of this had taken about 10 minutes. In their grief stricken states, both seemed to have forgotten all their training and were probably in shock. All they could think of was, "What could have done this?" After completing the call, Barbara went outside to be with Leigh Ann. Ken went into their bedroom where two of the dogs were lying on the floor. He suddenly decided they were the guilty parties and with no investigation grabbed his 45 and shot both dogs in their heads right there in the bedroom. The other dogs were outside so he grabbed his shotgun and went outside to find them. When he told Barbara what he was doing, her response was, "Kill them all."

Fortunately about that time the car lights of the neighbor 911 had contacted came down the road, and the dogs eagerly went to greet a friend who calmed Ken and stopped him from killing the dogs. With a cooler head, he convinced Ken to check the dogs for any signs of blood on their feet, claws, heads, and coats. No blood was found. There was no blood on the steps leading into the house or on the floor. Had Ken and Barbara jumped to the wrong conclusion that the dogs had killed Leigh Ann? Could a bear or a lion have been the brutal killer? They had seen a lion in the area, and the year before one of their dogs had been brutally ripped to pieces by something.

By this time cars with neighbors and what seemed like the entire fire department were bumping down the rough one lane road after fording 2 creeks to get to the farm. People were milling all over the yard and staring in shock at the severely mutilated remains of what had once been such a vital loving person. Every step made by these well-intentioned people was destroying evidence that would have helped determine what had killed Leigh Ann. The most important evidence apparently was not recognized as such by the county officials who investigated the scene of the tragedy. This evidence included the lack of blood, western mountain lion (Felis concolor) tracks around the body and in the yard and portions of Leigh Ann's scalp buried under some of the sticks she had piled to burn. The deputy coronor was reported as saying that it looked like she had been cut up with a knife or a machette. Van Buren County Sheriff, Scott Bradley, and Arkansas Game and Fish Commission officer, Corporal Jay Hagans, said they believed the dogs had killed her.

Leigh Ann's remains and the bodies of the 2 dogs Ken had shot were transported to the State Medical Laboratory in Little Rock. No effort was made to cover and protect the scene so it could be investigated better in the daylight. In spite of a light rain that night and the many feet that had tramped about, Ken was able to take pictures of tracks with splatters of blood and pieces of flesh near the tracks. He was also able to make some molds of the tracks and collect many pieces of Leigh Ann that law enforcement had left behind, including more of her scalp which he found under a pile of sticks. On Sunday afternoon it began to rain and over the next few days 13 inches poured down, probably destroying any other remaining evidence.

Finding Leigh Ann's body was just the beginning of Ken and Barbara's nightmare that will undoubtedly haunt them forever. Being firmly convinced that a mountain lion, not their dogs, had killed Leigh Ann, they began talking to neighbors because they were afraid the cat would kill again. A neighbor reported hearing a short muffled scream on the fatal afternoon of the 3rd. Barbara called 911 on May 5th, when a lion was sighted about 300 yards from the kill site, but a Game and Fish officer did not make it out to the farm until the 9th. [Had the cat come back to feed?] At least 9 individuals in the area have reported seeing lions and others have reported hearing lion yowls. Written accounts of lion sightings in the area have been sent to friends of the Davisons and reports of many citizens calling Prosecuting Attorney Stephen James to confirm lion sightings have been made. Various reports have surfaced of fences down and missing or killed livestock.

Houston Wimbigler, Assistant Curator at the Memphis Zoo studied the pictures that Ken had taken of tracks in the yard and around the area where he had found Leigh Ann's body. On May 19th, Mr. Wimbigler signed the following statement, "I believe that these are photos of a puma's tracks. While in Central America, I observed tracks of an ocelot, a puma, and a jaguar. These photos are, I believe, those of the puma, Felis concolor."

On May 8th, the Davisons took their dogs to their vet where what country folks call hog holders and what city folks probably call animal control sticks were used to handle the dogs. The dogs went wild with these choking devices around their necks and the vet decided they were vicious. A rumor was circulating that a broken tooth had been found in the body, and the vet was trying to examine the dogs' mouths with the aid of the holding devices. The medical examiner had found a piece of gravel in the body, not a tooth as some newspapers had reported. Davisons brought the dogs home on the 10th. On the 14th they were served with a warrant for the dogs. Lt. Jimmy Thomas drove with one dog while Barbara hauled the other 2 to Mays Veterinary Clinic in Clinton. The dogs were there until the 20th. The bill for their stay was about $410.00. As of June 9th, the Davisons have not been reimbursed by the county for this expense that emanated from the warrant. As rumors circulate that Prosecuting Attorney Stephen James is considering bringing charges against the Davisons, their nightmare intensifies.

On June 6th, Sheriff Bradley stated he had not yet received a copy of the medical examiner's report and that he did not know if Mr. James planned on bringing charges. He stated that he was not an expert on lion or dog attacks but that it was his belief that, "Everything is consistent with a dog attack." He further stated that there was not a lion problem in the area. Corporal Jay Hagans of AGFC stated, "It was dogs." He stated that he observed dog tracks around the body, that the body had multiple bites on the back, no visceral damage, no damage to the front of the body, no damage to the neck, not much blood on or around the body and no blood on the dogs. This writer has been unable to make contact with the medical examiner. That report should be available by the time you read this article. [It still wasn't officially available as of 08/07/2003. - Linda Lewis]

Memorial services were held for Leigh Ann in Atlanta, Georgia, on May 18th. She had been cremated at the suggestion of the mortician because her body was so damaged that it could not be embalmed.

[As a researcher I have serious reservations about the investigation into the death of Leigh Ann Cox. Based upon my research, I believe Leigh Ann was killed by a mountain lion. This is what I believe happened. While Leigh Ann was cleaning up the yard, the cat came down a game trail behind the house. It probably jumped the fence and came around the end of the house. Her bending over to pick up sticks probably triggered the attack. Leigh Ann, being further down the hill, probably did not know what hit her when the lion sprang, grabbed her head in its powerful jaws, drove its forepaws and claws into her shoulders and its hind legs into her lower back. As she went down, its claws probably ripped down her back as her scalp was torn away by the lion's mouth. Since tracks were found around the pond, it probably got a drink after burying some of her under the burn pile. It probably then exited the property near the driveway where more tracks were found near the fence. The variance in track sizes indicates to me that there may have been 2 cats of different sizes. I have found no evidence indicating the Davison dogs as the killers.

If Sheriff Bradley was convinced that dogs had killed Leigh Ann, why weren't the dogs immediately taken into custody and tests made on their feces, claws etc. for evidence? Why was a thorough examination of the death scene not made during the day on May 4th? Why was the death scene not protected? Has the medical examiner's office used experts in the areas of dog and lion attack to assist in their investigation? Who is creating rumors about reports from the medical examiner's office and why are these rumors making it into the newspapers? After making arrangements with the Sheriff and traveling to Clinton, why was an expert on dog attacks not allowed to see pictures of Leigh Ann's body? Even with all they have gone through, the dogs are so gentle that I was able to look into their mouths and see old, worn down, chipped teeth as I petted them. I have not been able to see the body or photographs of the body to make a judgement based on the mutilation inflicted. Based upon body parts being buried under sticks, track photographs identified as Felis concolor by an expert, scalping and comments attributed to the deputy coroner of a knife or machette damaging the body (cats cut flesh, dogs tear flesh), I believe a lion attacked and killed Leigh Ann Cox. Let us hope it does not kill again. An independent DNA analysis of the scalp and body remains that Ken found should prove if dogs or a lion killed her.]

BREAKING NEWS: DARREN HUFF, EXPERT ON DOG ATTACKS, HAS EXAMINED PHOTOGRAPHS OF THE REMAINS OF LEIGH ANN COX. IT IS HIS OPINION THAT THE INJURIES INFLICTED TO HER BODY ARE INCONSISTENT WITH INJURIES INFLICTED BY DOGS. Results of his examination will be printed in the next issue of AFV.

Click For August Article: NIGHTMARE IN ARKANSAS: CANINES DID NOT KILL LEIGH ANN COX

Return to my Leigh Ann Cox report online

Go to my Lion Pages Introduction