Mark Leroux -Convicted of Killing his Parents

When 18-year-old Mark Leroux is blamed for killing his parents near Stevens Point, he does what any accused murderer would do: he blames his sister. Is Mark the killer, or is it his sister?

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On November 8, 1967, at 3:50 am, the Sheriff’s Office received a call that the Eugene and Mary Leroux residence was burning, and that the couple had likely died in the fire. Sheriff Check called the coroner, Joseph Bodzislaw, and they went to the Leroux residence where they discovered that the house had burned down and had fallen into the basement. Eugene and Mary’s children, Mark, 18, and Jeannette, 15, had escaped the fire, and went to the home of Frank and Beverly Budzbanowski, friends of the family who lived two miles away. (Their oldest daughter, Alice, was not living at the Leroux residence at the time of the fire.)

Eugene and Mary’s charred bodies were recovered from the basement. It was initially thought that they had died as a result of the fire, but an investigation revealed that they were shot to death. At trial, in January 1968, Jeannette and Mark pointed the finger at each other. Ultimately, their son, Mark, was found guilty of murdering his parents, and he was sentenced to two consecutive life terms in prison.