Leon Dorsey: The Blockbuster Killer
Overview
Leon David Dorsey IV, a Texas serial killer also known as "Pistol Pete," was responsible for the murders of three store employees during two separate robberies in 1994. His crimes were marked by a cold-blooded efficiency and a complete lack of remorse that shocked even seasoned law enforcement officials. The first attack, a double homicide at a Dallas Blockbuster video store, remained a high-profile cold case for four years, a delay caused by a crucial investigative error. Dorsey was only brought to justice for those killings after he was arrested and imprisoned for a third murder. His subsequent chilling confessions to the media, in which he expressed a profound disregard for his victims' lives, sealed his fate. He was executed by the state of Texas in 2008.
Early Life and Background
Born in Dallas, Texas, on November 17, 1975, Leon Dorsey exhibited violent tendencies from a young age. In a pre-trial interview, he boasted of a disturbing childhood, claiming he stabbed a pee-wee football teammate when he was just ten years old and also tried to burn down his babysitter's house. His mother was in the Air Force, and at age 12, Dorsey was sent from her station in Germany to live with his grandparents in Waxahachie, Texas.
His violent behavior escalated as a teenager. At 14, he brought a gun to school and discharged it in a classroom. At 16, he fired a gun at a couple in another car and threatened them. A former prosecutor noted that Dorsey had a reputation for walking the streets with a sawed-off shotgun hidden under his coat, which he would suddenly reveal simply to see the fearful reactions of passersby. By the time he committed his first murder at age 18, he had a juvenile record for property theft and unauthorized use of a motor vehicle.
The Blockbuster Murders
Around midnight on April 4, 1994, 18-year-old Leon Dorsey entered a Blockbuster Video store in the Casa Linda Plaza shopping center in East Dallas. The two employees on duty, assistant manager James Armstrong, 26, and Brad Lindsey, 20, were preparing to close for the night. Dorsey, armed with a 9mm pistol, robbed the cash register of $392.
He then forced Armstrong and Lindsey into a back office. The store's security cameras, which recorded still images every few seconds, captured much of the event. When Armstrong apparently had trouble opening a time-locked safe, Dorsey shot him. Lindsey attempted to flee and was shot in the back. Dorsey then shot Armstrong a second time before leaving both men to die. The brutal and seemingly random nature of the crime, occurring in a familiar neighborhood business, stunned the Dallas community.
Murder of Hyon Suk Chon
Five months later, on September 11, 1994, Dorsey struck again. He entered a convenience store in Ennis, Texas, a city about an hour south of Dallas. There, he confronted 51-year-old Hyon Suk Chon, the store's manager. Dorsey forced her into a back room and, without any apparent struggle, shot her once in the back of the head, killing her. He fled with an unknown amount of cash. Texas Department of Criminal Justice records list an "Alejandro Sierra" as a co-defendant in this offense, but details of his involvement are not publicly available, and court records for a Hugo Alejandro Sierra from that period pertain to a different capital murder case.
The Victims
- James Lloyd Armstrong, 26 — Killed on April 4, 1994, in Dallas, James was the assistant manager at the Blockbuster and had been with the company for about two years. He attended Corsicana High School and Nimitz High School in Irving, where he was active in a cappella choirs. His mother remembered his love for singing and described him as a "gentle man."
- Brad Vale Lindsey, 20 — Killed on April 4, 1994, in Dallas, Brad had been working at the Blockbuster for only a few weeks. He had attended Bryan Adams High School until shortly before his death, leaving school to work full-time to help support his mother.
- Hyon Suk Chon, 51 — Killed on September 11, 1994, in Ennis, Hyon was the manager of a local convenience store. She was a Korean immigrant who was working when Dorsey entered her store and ended her life.
Investigation and Capture
In the initial investigation of the Blockbuster murders, police received a crucial tip. Dorsey’s girlfriend, Arrietta Washington, told detectives that he had confessed the killings to her. When investigators questioned Dorsey, he denied everything. They then compared him to the grainy surveillance footage and made a critical error, concluding that Dorsey, at 5' 11", was too tall to be the perpetrator seen in the video. He was dismissed as a suspect.
The Blockbuster case went cold. Five months later, after the murder of Hyon Suk Chon in Ennis, police arrested Dorsey on September 14, 1994. The 9mm pistol he possessed was a ballistic match for the weapon used to kill Chon. Dorsey confessed to her murder and in 1995, he pleaded guilty to murder with a deadly weapon. He was sentenced to 60 years in prison.
In 1998, a Dallas police cold-case squad reopened the Blockbuster homicides. They sent the original surveillance tape to the FBI for an updated forensic analysis. The FBI's new height-estimation technology indicated that the killer's height was consistent with Dorsey's. Armed with this new evidence, detectives went to the prison to question Dorsey again. This time, he confessed, providing details that only the killer could have known.
Days after confessing to police, Dorsey granted a two-hour interview to *The Dallas Morning News*. In the recorded conversation, he showed a stunning lack of remorse. "They're dead," he said of his victims. "That's over and done with. Why are you going to sit there and worry yourself about that? Move on." He compared the families' loss to losing money in a craps game. Of his violent past, he stated, "I've done cut folks; I've done stabbed folks; I've killed folks, but it don't bother me."
Trial and Sentence
Leon Dorsey's first capital murder trial for the Blockbuster slayings ended in a mistrial when a single juror held out for acquittal. At his second trial in 2000, the prosecution's case was bolstered by his multiple confessions and the chilling audio from his newspaper interview.
During the trial, James Armstrong's mother, Nanci, addressed Dorsey directly in court. "Our son was a gentle man," she said. "I believe you're an evil, vile creature. You didn't kill for survival, you killed for pleasure."
In June 2000, the jury convicted Dorsey of capital murder. He was subsequently sentenced to death. His appeals through the state and federal courts were all denied.
Aftermath and Execution
While on death row, Dorsey was classified as a Level 3 inmate, a designation for the most troublesome and dangerous prisoners. He amassed 95 disciplinary infractions, including assaulting staff and starting fires. In one incident, he stabbed a corrections officer 14 times with a homemade shank; the officer was protected from serious injury by his body armor. Just two weeks before his execution, another shank was found in his cell.
On August 12, 2008, Leon David Dorsey IV was executed by lethal injection at the Huntsville Unit in Texas. The parents of both James Armstrong and Brad Lindsey were present to witness the execution. In his final statement, Dorsey looked toward the witness room and said, "I love all y'all. I forgive all y'all. See y'all when you get there." He then told the warden, "Do what you're going to do." He was pronounced dead at 6:27 p.m.
In a statement released after the execution, Gerald and Nanci Armstrong wrote, "Losing James has been, and will always be, painful. It doesn't get any easier, but we've gotten stronger."
