A man who once belonged to a radical polygamist cult has been sentenced to five years in federal prison for killing a Houston man and his young daughter as revenge for leaving the sect.
Richard LeBaron pleaded guilty in October to charges of murder-for-hire and conspiracy to tamper with a federal witness and has cooperated fully with federal authorities.Now 22, LeBaron was 17 when he shot Duane Chynoweth, and his 8-year-old daughter, Jennifer, at point-blank range outside a vacant Houston home on July 27, 1988.
At almost the same time, Chynoweth's brother, Mark, was gunned down at another site in Houston, and Ed Marston was gunned down in a Dallas suburb.
The three men had abandoned the Church of the Lamb of God, a polygamist cult that believed in killing those who disavowed its teachings.
In May, William Heber LeBaron, Patricia LeBaron and Douglas Lee Barlow, were sentenced to life in federal prison without parole for their part in the slayings.
Richard, William and Patricia were among more than 50 children of the late Ervil LeBaron, who founded the Church of the Lamb of God. Barlow was a stepson.
Another former cult member, Cynthia LeBaron, was granted immunity and testified against her half-siblings in that trial. Two other cult members have been indicted in the slayings, but they are believed to be in Mexico.
Prosecutors said the men were killed because they left the sect, while the girl was killed because she was a witness.
In sentencing Richard LeBaron on Wednesday, Lake took into account the fact that he had been virtually enslaved and brainwashed by the cult since he was a child.
Lake said Richard LeBaron was instrumental in "putting an end to this reign of terror" by helping other family members separate themselves from the remnants of the cult.
"I want to be a good person," Richard LeBaron told the judge. "I know I can be. I just need a chance to prove it."
When Lake asked him what he was thinking when he shot the two, Richard LeBaron said, "I was scared to death. At the time I just did what I was told."
Richard LeBaron also was ordered to pay $46,000 in restitution. He is expected to enter the federal witness protection program.