"The mutilated body of 31 year-old Leo Coleman, Jr. of Redding, California was found hanging from a tree in the nearby town of Anderson by two teenage boys November 24, 1997.
Police reports document that Officer Ochoa received three separate ' reports from three different people on November 24, that Leo Coleman, Jr. was the victim of hanging by adherents of so-called "white pride" elements in the local community. On the day after Leo, Jr.'s death was reported, someone made a drawing of a hanging man and put it on Bobbi Culver, Leo, Jr.''s girlfriend's, front door.
There is a tremendous push to stop drawing attention to this gruesome murder and those that are trying to reopen this cold case that never got the investigative attention it deserved.
Miracles can happen, cases like this after all these years can be solved. There is NO statute of limitations when in comes to what so many believe now is MURDER !·
This group is dedicated to shining the light on the murder / torture / mutilation / hanging of this young black man with the intent of reopening this brutal unsolved Shasta County case and bringing justice to Leo Coleman.
Oh the ignorance of a child, especially growing up during the 60s and 70s attending a school
with 2 black people.
One I barely remember, one I will never forget...
It was a common practice to draw names to exchange Christmas gifts, and I was excited to draw my buddy Mike F.
Now I thought it was at the time very strange that Mrs. Nistler took me aside and asked,.....No pleaded not to tell the class his last name.
My ignorance, my child like innocence still could not see why ? Mike F. was my friend, and he was quite funny which when I look back on it now I wonder was it a survival mechanism.
Never the less he was funny and comical and I was drawn to a wonderful friendship.
So it came time and I gave Mike F. a book that opened up and there were rows of Lifesavers inside, I wonder if they still make those?
Still not understanding, I blurted out his last name, and all hell broke loose.
Mrs Nistler wacked the hell out of a kid named "Elvers" who instigated the immediate ridicule Mike F. suffered at the hands of my ignorance.
Mike's last name was Fudge, and he was Black.
One of Two at Manzanita at the time,
one I can barely remember, one I will never forget...
It was a time when Redding's black community's enclave included a community inside the Mercy hospital canyon, complete with ABC Groceries and another buildings I vaguely remember.
Unfortunately, truth be told that area had a very ugly monicore for years in the white Redding Shasta County community,
We must heal the wounds of 23 years of black Shasta County injustice and oppression for a young black man found tortured and hung in an Anderson oak tree.. .Penis missing.
And then we will locally truly realize Martin Luther Kings dream of a "Beloved Community"
For only then will "Justice roll down as waters, and Righteousness as a mighty stream.”
Please call for the re opening of the Leo Colman case.
*UPDATE* Those Seeking more information on this story can present questions in facebook group setting here as it is a wealth of information and personal accounts of this horrible tragedy
Excerpts from "Strange Fruit Found Hanging From A Shasta County Tree"
"The mutilated body of 31 year-old Leo Coleman, Jr. of Redding, California was found hanging from a tree in the nearby town of Anderson by two teenage boys from the area who reported it to the police on November 24, 1997. The boys apparently told police they had seen the body November 3, 1997 but said nothing then, thinking it was a Halloween dummy.
"If I had known there had never been an autopsy, we would never have had the cremation as quickly. We were promised by the coroner it would be done," the senior Coleman said.
The coroner, Ray D. Bailey, later told Coleman he'd never done an autopsy on a negro.
On November 25, 1997, · Leo Coleman, Sr.' visited· the wooded area where his son's body was located. He reported finding swastikas and other racist Aryan symbols and graffiti carved nearby the tree from which Coleman, Jr. was found hanging. Yet, on December 18, 1997, Leo, Sr. and Ernestine Coleman went with Patricia Sansom, NAACP member and community activist, and attorney Paul· Arons, to the wooded hanging site, only to find all the traces of the swastikas and white power propaganda were gone, having been obscured.
Police reports document that Officer Ochoa received three separate ' reports from three different people on November 24, that Leo Coleman, Jr. was the victim of hanging by adherents of so-called "white pride" elements in the local community. On the day after Leo, Jr.'s death was reported, someone made a drawing of a hanging man and put it on Bobbi Culver, Leo, Jr.''s girlfriend's, front door. ·
The case of Leo Colemarn, Jr., was closed after a two-day, investigation' as police found "no evidence of foul play" although, according to police. reports, three witnesses told police officers that they had seen the victim alive four to seven days after November 3, and one witness claimed· to see Leo, Jr. alive November 19, 1997, and three other witnesses reportedly provided information the victim had been beaten and lynched.
— California Cop Watch (@CalCopWatch) June 9, 2020
There are 3 letters to the editor, here is one.
Excerpts from Editorial "She Saw The Body"
"At first, the coroner only wanted to show the face, but his mother wanted to see the whole body.
Just looking at the face, it did not look like "Little Leo." His mother needed· to see a tattoo so she could be sure it was her son. After opening the bag further, there was no foul odor coming from the body although it was said' to have been dead for eight to ten days. The coroner didn't want the bag all the way open. The nose looked like a piece was missing. The skin I color his forehead to his nose was very white, while the rest of his skin was very brown.
"In the penis area [ we saw] fresh looking blood. The penis did not appear connected, .but I did not touch it. The cuts on the wrist looked like fresh cuts. The blood was very red. The body was too firm and his hands so white.
I wondered why his face was so white and his body still so brown? We were told bugs and birds had gotten to the face, because it was uncovered. But the arms were not eaten. They were uncovered, too.
There was no swelling of the body "Little Leo" looked his normal size. His mother bent the fingers. They were [too] easy to bend for her son to have been dead for eight to ten days. The family wanted an open casket service, but were told that it would not be possible.
It was ~ suggested by the coroner that Leo be cremated.
