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Pedophile dies after ‘chugging’ mysterious cloudy liquid in Texas court as jury found him guilty of child sexual assault
- Edward LeClair, 57, collapsed in a holding cell after drinking the liquid from his water bottle
- He started ‘chugging’ after the jury found him guilty on the first of five counts of sexually assaulting a child
- Officers found LeClair looking ‘gray’ in the jail after the judge ordered them to check on him
- Texas Rangers are now investigating his death, with Tarrant County Medical Examiner’s Office looking into the cause of his death
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A sex offender died after ‘chugging’ a cloudy liquid from a water bottle in a Texas court after being found guilty of sexually assaulting a child.
Edward LeClair, 57, started drinking the liquid after the jury found him guilty on the first count and continued glugging as the other counts were read on August 11.
He had been facing five counts of child sexual assault against one victim, which took place in 2016 according to Denton County Jail.
LeClair had been waiting to hear the verdict at the 16th District Court in Denton, Texas, alongside his attorney.
First Assistant Attorney Jamie Beck from the Denton County District Attorney’s Office said that initially the situation had been normal.
But when LeClair heard that he had been found guilty on the first count, he grabbed his bottle and ‘chugged’ the cloudy liquid down as he was found guilty on the other four counts.
Edward LeClair, 57, died after chugging a ‘cloudy’ liquid from a bottle as he was found guilty of five counts of child sexual assault
LeClair had been waiting to hear the verdict at the 16th District Court in Denton, Texas, alongside his attorney when he started glugging the water
Beck told WFAA: ‘The jury comes in and takes a seat, the defendant and his counsel stand.
‘The jury hands the verdict to the judge, which she then starts to read. It’s during this process that he had a bottle of water with him at the counsel table, and he chugged it.
‘It wasn’t like he was just taking sips of water. He was literally throwing it back, so to speak.
Beck explained that while those in the courtroom felt his actions were odd, they thought it was just his way of dealing with the situation.
LeClair was taken back into a holding cell after the verdicts were read, before officers decided to check on him because of his strange behavior.
An autopsy is set to take place to find out what the cause of death was, and investigators have taken his bottle into evidence
He was found unconscious, with witnesses saying he had ‘gone gray’ and was rushed to Medical City Denton where he was pronounced dead.
Beck added: ‘Our investigator noticed him chug the water. He told the bailiff he might want to go check on him. The bailiff did.
‘He was unconscious in the holding cell. Shortly after entering the holdover cell, he started vomiting, and emergency services were called.’
Tarrant County Medical Examiner’s Office is set to undertake an autopsy to find LeClair’s cause of death.
Texas rangers are also investigating the incident, and have taken the bottle into evidence.