MOSCOW, ID – A 39-year-old Moscow man was arrested on multiple felony charges late last night after allegedly injuring two family members and cutting himself with a knife. According to a Probable Cause Affidavit, James Curtis Leonard was charged with Domestic Battery with Traumatic Injury, Aggravated Assault, Attempted Strangulation, and Felony Injury to Child following the incident in the 600 block of Palouse River Drive.
Leonard has a previous criminal history which includes 2nd-Degree Murder for the June 2007 shooting death of Tyler Pace Lee near Genesee. He was 24-years-old at the time he shot the 25-year-old Moscow man multiple times after an argument. Leonard pled guilty to the charge and was sentenced to prison, but was released early on probation according to reports.
The document states the reporting party walked out of the home when law enforcement arrived and an officer “could see [the woman] had blood on her nose and mouth, and multiple areas of [her] head were covered in blood. She also reportedly had blood on her vest and a large part of her left hand was covered in blood.
Leonard was in a bedroom still armed with a knife.
“Based on the report of James acting violently while armed with a knife, and based on [the female] being covered in blood, I drew my pistol and entered the house. I loudly identified myself as Moscow Police and told James to come out of the bedroom with his hands up. After a short time, James walked out of the bedroom. I could see blood on his face and head, a long bloody cut on his left forearm, and blood on both hands,” the affidavit says.
Leonard did as instructed and was placed in handcuffs. The officer checked him for weapons and found two knives in his right pants pocket.
“I removed both of these and felt two more hard objects in the pocket. I removed a lighter and a commercially packaged marijuana joint from his pocket,” the document states.
One of the alleged victims told law enforcement that Leonard was heavily intoxicated, having consumed around half of a bottle of gin during the evening.
“He had been working on his truck in the driveway and [the woman] was in the living room on the phone with the internet company. James walked into the living room, saw [her] on her phone, and began accusing her of cheating on him. James slammed his phone on the ground and began screaming at [her],” the document says.
A young adult female and teen female were in the living room at this time, along with a young adult male and baby.
“After yelling at [the woman], James began yelling at others in the living room. After a period of time, James made a statement implying he was going to kill himself and walked into the bedroom. [She] went into the bedroom to check on James, who had a history of cutting himself, and she found James actively cutting his wrist with his green automatic knife,” the affidavit says.
The woman sat down next to Leonard, who allegedly turned and struck her in the head with his closed fist. The woman later reportedly told an officer that Leonard’s knife was in the closed fist when he allegedly struck her, which officials say “reinforced” his hand as he struck the woman.
“James then began to choke [the woman] from behind, wrapping his arm around her throat and applying pressure with a chokehold. [She] said she had difficulty breathing and, for a second, she could not breathe. [The teen] entered the room at this time and she tried to hit James with a lamp to prevent him from strangling [the woman]. [The young woman’s] boyfriend…entered the room and while holding [the baby] and pulled [her] out of the room,” the affidavit states. They then left the home and went to a neighbor’s house.
After Leonard was reportedly hit with the lamp, the main victim was able to free herself from his grasp, but he allegedly pushed her back onto the bed, “climbed on top of her, and continued striking her in the head with his fists. As [she] was trying to fight James off, he bit her on the hand, drawing blood. He then pinned her down on the bed by pressing his forearm against her throat,” the document says.
The teenaged female then entered the bedroom, jumped on the bed, and tried to push Leonard off the woman while screaming for him to stop. He then allegedly grabbed her, threw her against a dresser, and began striking her with his closed fists,” officials say.
“I later spoke with [the teen] and she told me James punched her with a closed fist in the face, head, and arms around 12 times. James also kicked her and pulled her by the hair. [She] complained of severe pain all over her body, especially her left arm and side where she was thrown against the dresser,” according to the PC Affidavit.
Around this time, Moscow Fire Department medics arrived on scene and treated the individuals for their injuries.
After being arrested and placed in the back of the patrol car, Leonard allegedly told an officer that the gas tank on his truck fell on top of him, which is how he got the large cut on his arm.
“I pulled out the green automatic knife which I took off his person, opened the knife, and showed him the blood on the tip. James said the blood was his, but denied cutting himself. He also denied striking the adult female, the affidavit says.
Leonard was booked into the Latah County Jail.
