Murders Of Patti Hubbert, Norman Leighton And Gerald Morris: Where Is Richard Covington Now? |All Social Updates

In late 2006, law enforcement officers in Billings, Montana were dealing with the aftermath of a series of horrifying crimes that included the discovery of three bodies. In the end, it turned out that they were all connected to a single robbery at an apartment complex. Murder by Numbers: Dog Days of Murder is a documentary series airing on Investigation Discovery. The series focuses on the murders of Patti Hubbert, Norman Leighton and Gerald Morris. So if you’re curious as to what happened and who committed the murders, worry no more as we’ll let you know.

Murders of Patti Hubbert, Norman Leighton and Gerald Morris

How did Patti Hubbert, Norman Leighton and Gerald Morris die?

Patti Hubbert was born in January 1952 and has called Billings her home for almost twenty years. She and then 69-year-old Norman Leighton were roommates in the apartment. On September 22, 2006, sometime after 6:00 am, a call was made to authorities reporting a fire at Patti and Norman’s home. After the flames were brought under control, the remains of Norman and Patti, who was 54, were found in the bedroom.

While Norman sat on the floor, Patti sat on the bed. Both had wire hangers, duct tape and a telephone cord wrapped around their bodies. Patti’s mouth was also taped shut and had a cloth slipped inside. An autopsy determined that blunt force trauma was the cause of death for Norman, while asphyxiation was the cause of Patti’s death. They were attacked for several days, and then a fire was set to cover up the fact that the crime had been committed.

On September 23, 2006, the family made the unfortunate decision to report their neighbor Gerald Morris missing. On October 4, almost two weeks later, a worker discovered a decomposing body just a few yards off the road south of Billings; The body belonged to Gerald. According to the show, he was dragged to the location and a gun with a .44 caliber bullet was used to shoot him in the back and neck. Authorities quickly made the connection between the three murders, prompting an intense investigation.

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Who killed Patti Hubbert, Norman Leighton and Gerald Morris?

When investigators went to Patti and Norman’s home, they found that a large sum of money had been stolen in addition to a .44 caliber revolver. The living room looked devastated, with clothes strewn all over the floor. The fact that there was no sign of forced entry led authorities to suspect that Patti and Norman had let the killer into the home, where he then chained them, tormented them for days, and eventually killed them.

According to the show, police initially thought Gerald was a likely suspect; However, their investigation into him was dropped when his remains were discovered two weeks after the murder. One of the fibers of the fabric, which appears to have come from the upholstery of a pickup truck, was discovered on his clothing. A single dog hair was also discovered on the towel Patti had clamped in her mouth. Marcia Whiteley, Gerald’s girlfriend, eventually gave a statement to authorities. She told police that the last time she saw Gerald was when he was walking out with a friend named Richard Covington. She said so in her statement to the police.

Authorities had previously been keeping a close eye on Richard. Patti and Norman’s home was the target of a burglary in June 2005, and the fire that broke out there was staged to appear like an accident. According to the episode, Richard was investigated as a possible suspect but was never charged with anything. Interestingly, he also owned a dog as a companion animal. In the end, authorities were able to determine that the dog’s hair matched that on the rag. The fiber found on Gerald matched the fiber found on Richard’s car seat, providing further incriminating evidence.

Also, a janitor at the apartment complex told authorities that he bought a .44 caliber handgun from Richard. Norman was determined to be responsible for Gerald’s death as the serial number on the gun matched a card discovered in Patti and Norman’s apartment. Authorities were under the impression that Richard had been torturing Patti and Norman, and that Gerald had been murdered around the same time he attempted to intervene in the situation.

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Where is Richard Covington today?

Richard Covington was tried in February 2010. At the trial, prosecutors presented evidence that Richard had not denied the murder of the three victims while speaking to a witness. Richard had also stated that he would not be caught until authorities investigated crimes better. In the end, the jury returned a verdict of guilty on all charges against him, including murder, robbery, arson and theft. Richard entered a guilty plea a year before the incident, admitting to robbing a woman in a parking lot in April 2007.

Richard, who was 47 at the time, was sentenced in June 2010 to five life sentences without the possibility of parole. These were scheduled to begin concurrently with the existing 40-year sentence for the robbery that occurred in 2007. As a result of his previous criminal history, Richard had been convicted of robbery in 1981 and charged with another robbery in 1994, all of which added to the length of his sentence. According to inmate records, he is still being held at the Crossroads Correctional Facility in Shelby, Montana.

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