Ex-husband of DelVal murder victim now charged with assault of his new wife - Updating a 2020 article in [Delaware Valley Life]
In July of 2020, I wrote the article: A possible new use for Steem: Citizen investigation of unsolved crimes, which described the unsolved murder of a local teacher, named Susan Ledyard. Today, I thought I'd do a search for her name to see if there were any updates. I found some surprising (and - at first - confusing) results.
Public domain painting of "Gilpin's Mill on the Brandywine": Source
So, first and foremost, Ledyard's murder remains unsolved and there are apparently still no named suspects.
But, there's some recent news about her former husband, Ben Ledyard. It remains to be seen whether this news is relevant to Susan Ledyard's murder case or not.
To recap - Susan Ledyard's body was found on July 23 of 2019. Her husband, Ben, told NBC's Dateline that he went to a movie on the night of the 22nd, and when he came home at 11pm his wife had been sitting on the back deck drinking wine and texting. He said that she was still doing so when he went to bed.
Police added that the woman was active texting and calling people until 2:45 AM, and there was nothing alarming about any of her messages. Shortly after that, at 3:02 AM, her car was observed leaving the house, and her body was found in the Brandywine River at 7:30 AM on July 23. Investigation revealed that her death was caused by blunt force trauma and drowning, and it was ruled to be a homicide. That's where things stood when I wrote the previous article.
And that's more or less what I knew about the case until tonight's web search led me to articles from January 4, 2023 like, Delaware man, whose wife was murdered in 2019, arrested for allegedly assaulting new partner. According to the article, the current wife alleges that she was hit over the head with a small statue; Sgt. Tracey Duffy further alleges that Ledyard bit off the victim's finger tip (in a separate incident, last summer) and that the victim was also threatened with something like a pool cue. Court documents also state that he slammed her head into hardwood floors in their home.
(Ben) Ledyard is now in custody, charged with "felony assault charges, making terroristic threats, and menacing charges", and there is a $50,000 reward for information leading to an arrest and conviction in the death of his former wife. Sgt. Duffy cautions that it is important to keep the two incidents separate and let the Delaware State Police continue the investigation into the death of Susan Ledyard.
Here's hoping that after all these years, the Delaware State Police can turn up some evidence that finally brings closure to Susan Ledyard's family and friends.
Thank you for your time and attention.
As a general rule, I up-vote comments that demonstrate "proof of reading".
Steve Palmer is an IT professional with three decades of professional experience in data communications and information systems. He holds a bachelor's degree in mathematics, a master's degree in computer science, and a master's degree in information systems and technology management. He has been awarded 3 US patents.
Pixabay license, source
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It turned out to be a rather strange murder story. I had a lot of questions when reading this article. Why Susan Ledyard went somewhere by car at night when her husband was sleeping at home. it's very strange. For our country, it is not acceptable for a married person to leave home at night. the exception is going to work.
Unfortunately, many crimes remain unestablished. We hope, as you say, that this is not the case and that the investigations yield results.
Oh, what a strange complicated story! It is a pity that more than 50% of crimes remain unsolved for many years, even sometimes they are never solved by handing them over to the archive. I hope the killer will be found soon.
You've got a free upvote from witness fuli.
Peace & Love!