Cold case reality show leads to charges in 26-year-old Texas murder

HUNTSVILLE, Texas –– With the help of a cold case reality show, Texas authorities have arrested the person they believe killed Mary Jane LeFlore more than two decades ago – her ex-husband, Larry LeFlore.

On July 19, 1991, Mary Jane LeFlore left her job as a Texas Department of Criminal Justice sociologist in Huntsville and, according to reports, went to West Hill Mall, where she said she had an appointment. When she did not return home later that night, her husband, Larry, said he went to look for her.

Earlier that day, Marcus LeFlore, who was 12 years old at the time, said he talked to his mother on the phone and everything seemed fine.

“She was supposed to pick me and my brother Brandon up and take us to the soda fountain when she got off work,” Marcus LeFlore said. “She called and said she would be running late, that she had to meet somebody at the mall. That was the last time I ever talked to her.”

Larry LeFlore reported that later that night he saw his wife in the passenger seat of a dark-colored, late-model Thunderbird or Cougar in the mall parking lot and followed the car. He turned around and went home, he said, fearing the worst — that his wife might be having an affair.

Mary Jane LeFlore did not return home, and Larry LeFlore filed a missing person’s report on Monday, July 21. Police investigated her disappearance but found no evidence of what happened to her until February 1993. A badly decomposed body was found scattered in a rural area off a state highway and dental records confirmed the remains belonged to Mary Jane LeFlore. 

Her death was ruled a homicide, but for the next 24 years, there was never any evidence to lead to a suspect or give law enforcement an idea of exactly what had happened to her.

That all changed when the reality crime show “Cold Justice” got involved in the case, said District Attorney David Weeks. On Thursday, Larry LeFlore was taken into custody and charged with the murder of his ex-wife, Mary Jane LeFlore. He was arrested on a warrant at the Walker County Courthouse after he was indicted by a grand jury.

Stephanie Stroud, Assistant District Attorney, said the break in the case came with the new perspective of the “Cold Justice” crew, which features Kelly Siegler, a former Harris County prosecutor and a team of experts who work with local law enforcement in an attempt to solve cold cases.

Having an outside source go back over the information and approaching the case from a different perspective was vital to identifying Larry LeFlore as a suspect, Stroud said.

“Cold Justice” representatives came to Huntsville in November and combed over Mary Jane LeFlore’s case file, which Huntsville Police Chief Kevin Lunsford said had grown “massive” over the years as the investigation continued and remained a priority, according to Lunsford.

“It was fresh eyes,” Stroud said. “It’s important to understand that 25 years ago, investigations into criminal cases were investigated a lot differently. The resources available now weren’t available then and the method used to investigate was different.”

Larry LeFlore had long been a suspect. He collected insurance money and sought and was granted a divorce before Mary Jane’s body was found, but Weeks said hard evidence needed to indict him was missing.

“It was always in my mind that he was the target of this investigation,” Weeks said. “There was a lot of work from the police department and other law enforcement officers over the years that kept this case going. It’s a relief to finally have an arrest in this case after all these years and we are thankful the grand jury felt there was now enough evidence to get an indictment.”

Weeks said Siegler’s resources as well, as well as the passage of time made it possible for them to finally get some answers. 

“That made it a lot easier for people to talk about what they knew, so we were able to learn things we did not know 26 years ago about [Larry and Mary Jane LeFlore’s] relationship. There was other evidence out there, but this gave us more of a direct connection and really made the case,” Weeks said.

Weeks said his office made sure to present LeFlore’s case to a grand jury before the show came out to avoid it possibly influencing grand jurors.

LeFlore was transported to the Walker County Jail on Thursday afternoon and booked on a $20,000 bond. Investigators did not disclose a motive for the slaying. “Cold Justice” premieres on the Oxygen channel on July 22 and the first episode focuses on LeFlore’s slaying.

Stark is the News Editor of the Huntsville, Texas Item.