An Oklahoma woman charged with stabbing and slashing her estranged boyfriend 52 times was sentenced to 35 years in prison on Monday for his violent April 2023 death.
Leah Cecelia Breuer, 38, pled guilty to murder for the killing of 44-year-old David Ralph Peeler at the Village Square Apartments, 3500 Meyers Lane.
In exchange for her guilty plea, the McLennan County District Attorney’s Office recommended 35 years in jail, which 54th State District Judge Susan Kelly agreed to.
Breuer’s sister, 34-year-old Joann Arey Cometsevah, was arrested in California and accused of Peeler’s death. She remains charged with murder and tampering with physical evidence. Cometsevah and Breuer were both scheduled for trial on Monday, and court officials claimed Cometsevah had also reached a plea agreement with the district attorney’s office. Cometsevah’s next court appearance was not scheduled until Monday.
Breuer must be given credit for serving half of her 35-year sentence before she can be granted parole.
Authorities suspect the sisters disposed of the murder weapon or weapons, as well as other evidence, in a trash can at the Kate Ross apartments. According to the arrest document for tampering with physical evidence related to Cometsevah, Breuer informed authorities in a taped interview that her sister removed a knife from the scene.
“At a later date, detectives spoke with a jail informant that was housed with Leah at the McLennan County Jail,” the affidavit states. “The jail informant advised that Leah also told said jail informant that the defendant (Cometsevah) had Leah assist the defendant in gathering the weapon by removing it from his neck, the victim’s phone and blood-soaked items from the scene and threw them in a garbage dumpster located near the Kate Ross Apartments, 937 S. 11th St.”
According to the affidavit, an Uber driver who transported the sisters away from the murder scene confirmed that she was directed to drop them off near the entrance of the Kate Ross apartment complex.
Bryan Cantrell, Breuer’s attorney, said his ability to reach a plea agreement was enhanced “because of some of the confusion in the case.”
“The facts of this case were brutal. He was stabbed 52 times. My heart is broken for this family,” Cantrell said. “I feel like my client got up there and accepted responsibility and I’m glad the case is over. There was another party involved for sure, and I think it would have been a struggle for the jury to believe which of those two is telling the truth. But there was a lot of forensic evidence that made the case against my client a little stronger.”
After Breuer was sentenced, two of Peeler’s sisters and his aunt delivered tearful victim impact statements.
His younger sister told the court how disappointed she was that she never got to tell her brother everything she wanted to, and she gave a tale about how her daughter and her “Uncle Bubba” became close friends.
“I wonder how alone, betrayed and scared he must have felt that day,” she said. “I wonder how many of the 52 stabs did he feel…There are no words to describe seeing your brother in his casket.”
She told Breuer she hoped she would suffer for the rest of her life, “just like my family will.”
Peeler’s older sister informed Breuer that her brother left “rehab” to be with her and that Breuer had violated his trust.
Kelly approved Breuer’s personal recognizance bond on the day she was indicted, stating that she was entitled to relief since the McLennan County District Attorney’s Office failed to bring an indictment against her within the constitutionally required 90 days of her detention. Breuer was indicted on the 93rd day following her arrest in Oklahoma.
Kelly required her to wear an ankle monitor and live with a family member in Weatherford, Oklahoma. Kelly revoked Breuer’s bond and ordered her to be held on a $500,000 bond after Recovery Monitoring Solutions, a business that tracks GPS ankle monitor activity, reported she never arrived in Oklahoma.
According to court records, Breuer attacked or damaged Peeler with a car key in October 2022. However, he declined to file charges because they were still in a relationship.
According to court filings, Breuer also used a knife to stab or cut a man’s arm in Tulsa, Okla., five days before killing Peeler in Waco.
“Initially, this case presented several challenges, but thanks to the excellent investigation conducted by the Lacy Lakeview Police Department, along with follow up interviews and case research conducted by our office’s investigators, we were able to secure a guilty plea by Ms. Breuer. With this final conviction we gained a lengthy prison sentence, a waiver of appeal, and ensured Mr. Peeler’s family had some closure without the difficulties of a trial,” said prosecutors Ralph Strother and Duncan Widmann.
