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Delivering Death: The Leaflet Lane Murders · 10 Minute Murder | Bingeable True Crime Stories

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: A guy shows up to a house in Texas dressed
• 0:03
  Speaker 1: as a FedEx driver. Harmless enough, right, we all get packages,
• 0:08
  Speaker 1: Except he's not delivering a package. He's delivering a grudge.
• 0:12
  Speaker 1: Behind that uniform is a man with a long fuse
• 0:15
  Speaker 1: that finally burned out, a restraining order in the rear view,
• 0:18
  Speaker 1: and a target in mind. But what he didn't count
• 0:22
  Speaker 1: on was a fifteen year old girl who refused to
• 0:24
  Speaker 1: die quietly. This is a story about control, survival and
• 0:29
  Speaker 1: what happens when someone who thinks he's the main character
• 0:32
  Speaker 1: runs headfirst into someone who's not playing along before we
• 0:36
  Speaker 1: dive in. If you like your true crime brief and bingeable,
• 0:39
  Speaker 1: you're in the right place. Hit follow right now for
• 0:42
  Speaker 1: at least two new episodes every week. This is ten
• 0:46
  Speaker 1: minute murder. Let's get into it. On July ninth, twenty fourteen,
• 1:04
  Speaker 1: a man in a FedEx uniform knocked on the front
• 1:07
  Speaker 1: door of seven eleven Leaflet Lane and Harris County, Texas. Inside,
• 1:13
  Speaker 1: fifteen year old Cassidy's Stay was holding down the fort.
• 1:16
  Speaker 1: She was a student at Kleine Collins High School, oldest
• 1:20
  Speaker 1: of five kids, and just trying to survive the Texas
• 1:22
  Speaker 1: summer without losing her mind or her patience. Bigots real
• 1:26
  Speaker 1: hot in Texas. The man at the door smiled and
• 1:29
  Speaker 1: asked her if her parents were home. Cassidy said no,
• 1:33
  Speaker 1: they were out, and so were her four younger siblings.
• 1:36
  Speaker 1: He nodded, said he'd come back later, and walked off
• 1:39
  Speaker 1: like it was just another delivery stop on just another day.
• 1:43
  Speaker 1: Except it wasn't, and he wasn't. That man was Ronald
• 1:47
  Speaker 1: Lee Haskell Junior, and he wasn't a stranger at all.
• 1:50
  Speaker 1: He was family adjacent, deeply so, and Cassidy had no
• 1:54
  Speaker 1: idea that she'd just opened the door to a nightmare.
• 1:57
  Speaker 1: Wearing a Courier uniform. Ronald Lee Haskell Junior was born
• 2:02
  Speaker 1: in nineteen eighty and bounced around a bit. Started off
• 2:05
  Speaker 1: in San Marcos, California, then landed an Eagle River, Alaska,
• 2:09
  Speaker 1: where he finished high school. And if you asked his
• 2:12
  Speaker 1: classmates who the funny, likable guy was, that would have
• 2:15
  Speaker 1: been Ronald. Voted class clown and prom king twice. Apparently
• 2:20
  Speaker 1: you could be both hilarious and homecoming royalty, and Ronald
• 2:24
  Speaker 1: pulled it off. He had the kind of personality people
• 2:28
  Speaker 1: remembered charming, talkative, just the right amount of confidence to
• 2:32
  Speaker 1: make it work in a room full of strangers. That
• 2:35
  Speaker 1: followed him back to California, too, where he took a
• 2:37
  Speaker 1: job as a private postal contractor for a company working
• 2:41
  Speaker 1: with FedEx, so technically not real FedEx, but close enough
• 2:45
  Speaker 1: that people didn't question the uniform. One day, while out working,
• 2:49
  Speaker 1: Ronald crosspaths with Melanie Lyon, and from there things moved fast.
• 2:54
  Speaker 1: The two of them clicked, both devouts, shared the same values,
• 2:58
  Speaker 1: and didn't waste time second guessing what felt like fate.
• 3:02
  Speaker 1: Within a few years, they had packed up and started
• 3:04
  Speaker 1: a new chapter in Logan, Utah, one child already, another
• 3:08
  Speaker 1: on the way, and a picture perfect life, at least
• 3:11
  Speaker 1: from the outside. But whatever version of Ronald was winning
• 3:15
  Speaker 1: prom crowns in Alaska didn't fully make the trip to Utah.
• 3:19
  Speaker 1: The charm still there, but when the doors were closed,
• 3:23
  Speaker 1: that cheerful version of Ronald gave way to something much darker.
• 3:27
  Speaker 1: Two years into their new life in Utah, everything fell apart.
• 3:31
  Speaker 1: An argument between Ronald and Melanie spiraled into a screaming
• 3:35
  Speaker 1: match right in front of their two young kids, who
• 3:38
  Speaker 1: were five and three at the time, and then Ronald
• 3:40
  Speaker 1: crossed a line that there's no walking back from. Melanie
• 3:44
  Speaker 1: was sitting on the bed when Ronald came at her.
• 3:46
  Speaker 1: He grabbed her by the hair, yanked her from the bed,
• 3:49
  Speaker 1: dragged her across the room, and hit her. Not behind
• 3:53
  Speaker 1: closed doors, not when no one was looking, right there
• 3:56
  Speaker 1: in front of their children. That wasn't just a man
• 3:59
  Speaker 1: with the temp This was violent, and it was enough.
• 4:03
  Speaker 1: Melanie called the police filed for a restraining order. Ronald,
• 4:07
  Speaker 1: in classic abuse or fashion, downplayed it, said he'd only
• 4:11
  Speaker 1: pushed her. But when it went to court, he pled
• 4:13
  Speaker 1: guilty to assault and managed to secure a plea deal,
• 4:17
  Speaker 1: which meant he walked free to go, free to stew,
• 4:22
  Speaker 1: free to hold a grudge. The only thing standing between
• 4:25
  Speaker 1: Melanie and a man she now feared was a single
• 4:28
  Speaker 1: piece of paper, a restraining order. And she knew it.
• 4:32
  Speaker 1: That paper didn't erase a marriage, It didn't stop him
• 4:35
  Speaker 1: from being angry, It didn't make her feel safe. As
• 4:38
  Speaker 1: long as they were still legally married, she knew Ronald
• 4:41
  Speaker 1: wouldn't really be gone. By twenty thirteen, Melanie had enough.
• 4:45
  Speaker 1: She filed for divorce and asked the court to renew
• 4:48
  Speaker 1: her expired restraining order. But even with a restraining order
• 4:52
  Speaker 1: in place. Things weren't simple. Ronald was still the father
• 4:55
  Speaker 1: of their four kids, and legally that meant he could
• 4:58
  Speaker 1: still request visitation, something that didn't sit well with anyone
• 5:03
  Speaker 1: who had seen how bad things had gotten. The judge
• 5:06
  Speaker 1: agreed after reviewing Ronald's behavior. The court laid it out
• 5:09
  Speaker 1: in black and white. His parenting time would be supervised
• 5:13
  Speaker 1: and only after a therapist determined that he was no
• 5:16
  Speaker 1: longer a threat to the children. The word threats wasn't
• 5:20
  Speaker 1: tossed around lightly. This wasn't just about Melanie anymore. Ronald's
• 5:25
  Speaker 1: instability was affecting the kids too, and with that ruling,
• 5:29
  Speaker 1: Melanie finally had the space to move forward. She and
• 5:32
  Speaker 1: Ronald signed a mutual restraining order, meaning that neither one
• 5:35
  Speaker 1: could come near or contact the other, and Melanie took
• 5:39
  Speaker 1: the chance to start over. With the help of her sister,
• 5:42
  Speaker 1: Katie Stay, Melanie and her kids relocated to Houston, Texas
• 5:47
  Speaker 1: new place, new chapter, the kind of reset you hope
• 5:50
  Speaker 1: actually sticks. Meanwhile, Ronald didn't reset. He redirected back in Utah.
• 5:57
  Speaker 1: With no wife and no children to fixate on. Ronald
• 6:00
  Speaker 1: moved in with the only people who were still willing
• 6:03
  Speaker 1: to give him a roof over his head, his parents,
• 6:06
  Speaker 1: and when a storm inside him needed a new target,
• 6:09
  Speaker 1: that's exactly where it landed. Just over a week before
• 6:12
  Speaker 1: he showed up at cassidy Stays door. Ronald Haskell snapped again.
• 6:17
  Speaker 1: This time and his mother, Carla Haskell. There were no
• 6:20
  Speaker 1: kids watching this time, no bed to drag someone from,
• 6:24
  Speaker 1: but the violence hadn't gone anywhere. Ronald shoved Carla into
• 6:28
  Speaker 1: the garage, forced her into a computer chair, and duct
• 6:32
  Speaker 1: taped her wrists for nearly four hours. He held her there,
• 6:36
  Speaker 1: why because she'd been in contact with Melanie. When he
• 6:40
  Speaker 1: finally let her go, Carla did what Melanie had done
• 6:43
  Speaker 1: before her, called the police and filed a restraining order.
• 6:47
  Speaker 1: But this time Ronald disappeared before it could be served,
• 6:50
  Speaker 1: and when he resurfaced, it was at the home of
• 6:53
  Speaker 1: the Stay family. Cassidy answered the door alone. It was
• 6:57
  Speaker 1: Ronald in the FedEx's uniform again, asking if her parents
• 7:01
  Speaker 1: were home. Cassidy told him no, they weren't, and he left.
• 7:05
  Speaker 1: That honest answer bought her time, but not much. When
• 7:09
  Speaker 1: Ronald came back later, Cassidy wasn't alone. Her younger siblings
• 7:14
  Speaker 1: were there with her. This time, he told her exactly
• 7:17
  Speaker 1: who he was. Cassidy knew his name, and she knew
• 7:20
  Speaker 1: he meant danger. She tried to close the door, but
• 7:23
  Speaker 1: Ronald forced his way inside. He tied Cassidy up, laid
• 7:27
  Speaker 1: her face down on the floor, and did the same
• 7:30
  Speaker 1: to her four younger siblings. When her parents arrived home,
• 7:33
  Speaker 1: he restrained them too. With everyone held at gunpoint, Ronald
• 7:37
  Speaker 1: demanded to know where Melanie was. He knew Katie Stay
• 7:41
  Speaker 1: had helped her sister start over in Houston. Now he
• 7:44
  Speaker 1: wanted directions. The Stays didn't give him what he wanted,
• 7:48
  Speaker 1: not even when he began executing them one by one.
• 7:52
  Speaker 1: Ronald left the house thinking his job was done, but
• 7:55
  Speaker 1: one person survived. Cassidy, just fifteen years old, had lifted
• 8:00
  Speaker 1: her hand in the split second before Ronald pulled the trigger.
• 8:04
  Speaker 1: The bullet tore through her finger and grazed her head,
• 8:07
  Speaker 1: but it didn't kill her. She played dead until Ronald
• 8:10
  Speaker 1: was gone. Then she got up, called nine one one
• 8:14
  Speaker 1: and told the dispatcher everything who he was, what he
• 8:17
  Speaker 1: had done, and where he was going next, straight to
• 8:21
  Speaker 1: her grandparents' house to do it again. That call saved lives.
• 8:26
  Speaker 1: Police located Ronald's vehicle just four houses down. He fled
• 8:31
  Speaker 1: a brief car chase ended with a spike strip, armored vehicles,
• 8:34
  Speaker 1: and a stand off that lasted nearly three hours. Ronald
• 8:38
  Speaker 1: held a gun to his own head, but eventually he
• 8:41
  Speaker 1: gave up. Ronald Haskell was charged with six counts of
• 8:45
  Speaker 1: first degree murder for the execution style killings of Stephen
• 8:49
  Speaker 1: and Katie Stay and four of their children. The trial
• 8:53
  Speaker 1: was long, and Ronald milked it for all it was worth, fainting,
• 8:57
  Speaker 1: claiming confusion, rolling into court in a wheelchair like he
• 9:01
  Speaker 1: was the one who needed sympathy. In the end, he
• 9:04
  Speaker 1: was found guilty and sentenced to death by lethal injection.
• 9:08
  Speaker 1: He's still right now on death row. Cassidy Stay made
• 9:12
  Speaker 1: a full physical recovery, and in the wake of everything
• 9:15
  Speaker 1: she endured and everything she did to protect the rest
• 9:18
  Speaker 1: of her family, people stepped up a GoFundMe and her
• 9:21
  Speaker 1: name raised over four hundred thousand dollars. Because bravery like
• 9:25
  Speaker 1: that deserves more than headlines, It deserves support. Thanks for
• 9:43
  Speaker 1: listening to ten minute Murder, Grief and Bingeable True Crime.
• 9:48
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• 9:51
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• 10:00
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• 10:03
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• 10:05
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• 10:09
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• 10:13
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• 10:17
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• 10:20
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• 10:23
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• 10:27
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• 10:30
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• 10:34
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• 10:38
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• 10:41
  Speaker 1: to read you an email that I got recently. This
• 10:44
  Speaker 1: is from Angie. She writes, I stumbled upon your story
• 10:47
  Speaker 1: about the Rivera murders. I just wanted to say thank
• 10:50
  Speaker 1: you for mentioning my sister Melissa. There are lots of
• 10:53
  Speaker 1: articles and shows and whatnot, and I feel like her
• 10:56
  Speaker 1: life and death was the least of the discussion in
• 10:58
  Speaker 1: all of them know if it was because her part
• 11:01
  Speaker 1: of the story wasn't as extreme, or because we were
• 11:04
  Speaker 1: poor and she was a teen, but she was my
• 11:06
  Speaker 1: only sister and best friend. Losing her changed the entire
• 11:10
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• 11:14
  Speaker 1: to know who she was and that she was not
• 11:16
  Speaker 1: just a body found off an interstate. She had a story,
• 11:19
  Speaker 1: and had Rivera not been arrested, we would have never
• 11:22
  Speaker 1: found her. Because her case was closed and she was
• 11:25
  Speaker 1: marked as a runaway, no one cared. I say all
• 11:28
  Speaker 1: of that to show the magnitude of how grateful I
• 11:31
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• 11:33
  Speaker 1: story of tragedy.