Charles Leppan, the former Twentynine Palms Marine who last month pleaded guilty to the 2004 murder of his ex-wife, 33-year-old Jean Leppan, was sentenced Friday. Following the reading of impact statements calling for maximum punishment from the victim’s family Joshua Tree Superior Court Judge Rodney Cortez sentenced the 46-year-old to 13 years in state prison with credit for time served. Reporter Mike Lipsitz has more on the case and Friday’s court proceedings…
Judge Rodney Cortez admonished Leppan for allowing the family of his ex-wife to suffer the anguish of not knowing what happened to her for so long. The couple had divorced in June 2003. Investigators believe Charles Leppan killed his wife Jean at the home they still shared in January 2004. In February he remarried another woman. The date of Jean Leppan’s death is unknown since she was never reported missing. That April, a man walking his dog off Ironage Road in Wonder Valley found her body buried in a shallow grave. Leppan was not charged with the crime until 2013 when he gave contradictory statements to cold-case investigators who had reopened the case. He was then extradited from Michigan and has remained in custody on $1 million bail for the past six years. Last month, he pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter and two counts of assault as part of a plea bargain agreement. In a statement to the court, Leppan expressed remorse for the murder and the pain it caused for their children and her family.
He also said he never stopped loving Jean and that he apologizes to her daily.
“This has been something I’ve been living with all these years. It was an accident that happened in a panic. I should have done something different or walked away.”
County prosecutor Lisa Crane read from victim impact statements submitted by Jean Leppan’s brother and sisters who reside in Texas.
Jean Lappan’s younger sister Angelyna Farrias wrote that her sister’s death has given her nightmares for years. “My sister was left in the desert as if her life didn’t matter… My daughters will never get to meet their aunt Jean. For him to receive anything less than a life sentence is injustice.”
Another sister, Justine Robinson, expressed that their family would never be able to heal from Jean’s murder, writing, “Her body was on ice for years. We could not have closure.”
Leppan has credit for 2,408 days already served. He will go to state prison to serve out the rest of his sentence after which he will be on probation for three to four years.
