Stabbing suspect tells police ‘voices’ made him kill
A McKeesport man told police the voices in his head told him to kill his upstairs neighbor.
So Jeffrey Leisten said he went into Gordon Danielson Jr.’s room early Sunday with a knife he stole from another resident of McKeesport Downtown Housing and stabbed him to death, according to a criminal complaint.
Mr. Leisten, 52, told police he then stole $400 from Mr. Danielson to spend on drugs, hopped on a bus to Pittsburgh and went to the Light of Life Rescue Mission on the North Side.
It was there on Sunday evening that Gabriel Andrews flagged down two city police officers and told them that his friend wanted to turn himself in. Mr. Leisten told the officers that he had fatally stabbed someone at the old McKeesport YMCA, the complaint said.
The officers checked out Mr. Leisten’s story.
McKeesport police were dispatched to check the 84unit, four-story apartment building on Sinclair Street that caters to people at risk of homelessness.
There they found Mr. Danielson’s body in Unit 303. The 57-year-old had been stabbed multiple times in the chest and torso.
Pittsburgh police officers took Mr. Leisten into custody and said they seized the knife that he claimed was used in the killing.
Investigators with the Allegheny County Police Department said Mr. Leisten confessed.
He told detectives that he had met Mr. Danielson, whom he knew as “J.R.,” recently and had spoken to him a few times.
“When asked if he had a problem or a recent altercation with Danielson, Leisten stated that he had not. When asked why he stabbed Danielson, Leisten stated that he was hearing voices in his head that told him to kill Danielson,” the complaint said.
Surveillance video showed Mr. Leisten entering the victim’s room around 1:32 a.m. and leaving 20 minutes later before returning to his room, according to the complaint.
Mr. Leisten is charged with homicide, burglary and robbery.
He has been arraigned and is in the Allegheny County Jail. Bail was denied.
Kyle Webster, general counsel for ACTION-Housing, which is the parent company of the building owner and property manager, called the situation an “anomaly.”
He described the staff at the building as “devastated” by the death of Mr. Danielson, a longtime tenant, and said that no one reported hearing any commotion.
“He was a part of the community,” Mr. Webster said of the victim. “Our staff knew him and enjoyed him as a tenant. We don’t have answers to what happened.”
The building screens new residents such as Mr. Leisten, takes security precautions, and staff conduct hourly patrols, according to Mr. Webster.
“There’s 24/7 desk security,” Mr. Webster said. “Each unit has individual locking. There are cameras throughout the inside and outside of the building. And there are a number of security protocols in effect. The building is as safe as a building can be.”
Mr. Webster said he was not aware of any reports of conflict between Mr. Leisten and anyone else, including Mr. Danielson.
Many residents in the building have been sheltering in place during the pandemic, and it would not be unusual for someone, such as Mr. Danielson, to not be seen for a long period of time, Mr. Webster said.
He also noted that the stresses caused by the COVID-19 crisis could be exacerbated among the building’s residents.
“One of the things about [single-room occupancy] buildings is they are often places where there are a lot of both addiction and mental health issues that can have different impacts on our tenants’ experiences,” Mr. Webster said.
“We do everything we can to insure the safety of the tenants.”