From the moment investigators stepped foot into the home of Leslie and Charlie Buck in the spring of 2002, following a 911 call,

there was something off about the circumstances of Leslie's untimely death. Leslie had just survived a violent kidnapping two days earlier, and autopsy findings left the manner of her

death anything but clear-cut.

This episode is a continuation of Leslie's story, so I recommend starting with the episode

immediately before this one, before listening here.

I'm going to take you through the investigative findings and the evidence that amounted

to probable cause for an arrest, as well as the bombshell findings and the evidence that amounted to probable cause for an arrest,

as well as the bombshell report and supporting expert testimony that attributed Leslie's death to something

that had nothing to do with the prime suspect.

I'm Kylie Lowe, and this is the case of Leslie Buck Part 2 on Dark Down East.

In the final days of 57-year-old Leslie Buck's life, she survived the unimaginable.

A man once considered a friend of the Buck family,

Russell Kirby, attacked Leslie as she got out of her car on the night of May 2, 2002,

incapacitating her with a stun gun and violently assaulting her before he tied her limbs and kidnapped

her in her own car. Leslie's own quick thinking

and courage are to thank for her escape that night. When Russell loosened the restraints for a

brief moment and stepped out of the car to check on some car trouble, she used a spare key to speed

away from her assailant and to what she believed would be the safety of her own home.

But Leslie's home was not the sanctuary it should have been. Whether by accident or by someone

else's hand or some other unexplained cause, Leslie died less than 48 hours after her kidnapping.

The wounds on her head were indicative of some kind of blunt trauma.

But lacking evidence on the stairwell where she was found,

...