A Texas man convicted on five counts of sexually assaulting a child died after chugging a bottle of mystery liquid in the courtroom as a jury convicted him, Peoplereports.
Edward Leclair, 57, was on trial in Denton, Texas, facing charges of five counts of sexual assault on a person between the age of 14 and 17. He pleaded not guilty, but was ultimately found guilty on all charges, and was facing up to 100 years in prison. Leclair’s lawyer, Mike Howard, told NBC News his client began chugging a plastic water bottle filled with a cloudy liquid while the jury was reading the first count.
“I looked over and noticed him drinking,” Howard said. “His hand was shaking. At the time, I thought it was shaking because of the verdict. Then he kept drinking and drinking.”
He added that Leclair appeared, “dejected and in shell shock — all the things you would expect” during a guilty verdict reading.
“Our investigator noticed him chug the water,” Prosecutor Jamie Beck later told CNN. “He told the bailiff he might want to go check on him. The bailiff did. He was unconscious in the holding cell.”
Howard added that after Leclair’s time in the holding cell he started vomiting, and that’s when emergency services were called.
Leclair was pronounced dead at the Medical City Denton hospital at 3:21 p.m. on Thursday, according to records from the Tarrant County Medical Examiner’s Office. While it remains unclear what was in the water bottle, an autopsy to determine the cause of death has been ordered.
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