James, better known as Jim Leslie was a journalist in Shreveport (SH-REE-VU-PORT) Louisiana. He was also born there all the way back in 1937. He attended public schools before graduating, and immediately went to work for the Shreveport Times as a reporter. He had a wife, Carolyn, and two sons, Scott and Mickey.
He worked for the Shreveport Times, which includes about 12 distribution areas in Northern Louisiana and three counties in Texas. He also went on to work in Public Relations as well as an advertising executive. Most of his background there was in political communications and he applied that background into his work on political campaigns; which is where our story really begins.
In 1974, George D'Artois, the Public Service Commissioner in Shreveport since 1962, hires Leslie to work on his communications plan for reelection. In 1970 D'Artois faced a greater challenge from a Republican competitor, but manages to gain reelection. All the while a team of reporters from the Shreveport Times is starting to work on a new investigation series about D’Artois. One tip leads to Leslie, who still had two checks from D’Artois’ previous campaign. D’Artois had tried to pay him with city funds for his services rather than from a campaign account, which was the only legal way to handle the situation. Leslie tells his friend and former co-worker Elliot Stonecipher that he was told to cash the checks; and he had been warned not to say anything.
Fast forward to the summer of 1976. Leslie is still involved in advertising at this point, but this time it’s for a right-to-work bill under consideration in the State Legislature. Leslie’s in Baton Rouge, while the bill is being considered. It’s very controversial, and labor unions strongly oppose it. The bill passes, Leslie celebrates the victory with his colleagues and returns to his Inn, the last place he’s seen alive. He parks in one of the few remaining spots, but is shot and killed in the parking lot before he can even make it there.
His family is devastated, and detectives can’t seem to make sense of how it was done. It’s from that point referred to as a professional hit. Sheriff Harold Terry of Caddo is the one who has to inform them, and reporters from the Shreveport times said his eyes were red from weeping as soon as he left his office to inform them.
There’s speculation that George D’Artois is involved in the murder/assassination; and that he murdered Leslie as a result of his activities on the right-to-work bill and shaming his campaign; but the East Baton Rouge Police department said there was no evidence to support that theory at the time. He’s arrested in August of 1976 to face charges related to Leslie’s murder; and is forced to resign from office. But it’s not quite over there, he ends up being released at the time for a lack of evidence; but was going to be tried again for stealing city funds—over 30,000 dollars to be exact.
D’Artois’ trial was repeatedly postponed because of his poor health, but he was later arrested again in April of 1977 on charges of first-degree murder; this time the warrant was signed by the District Judge of Baton Rouge. D’Artois panics, attempts to barricade himself inside of his attic and refuses to come out; arguing that he refuses to be taken to the Caddo County Jail and wants to be taken to Baton Rouge instead. Regardless, because of his poor health condition, D’Artois has to undergo open heart surgery in June of the same year and dies on the table; leaving the murder of Leslie never fully solved. No one is convicted, but Leslie is commended for making the state of Louisiana a better place to live and work.
Fast forward to July 5, 2012; and a mister Elliot Stonecipher returns to publish an article simply titled ‘The Murder of Jim Leslie.’ He references that he’s surprised by how many people don’t know what happened to Leslie; and says he believes the right-to-work campaign had nothing to do with Leslie’s death. In fact, he alledges that the only reason Leslie is dead is because he quote, “refused to be intimidated by D’Artois.” He says he was actually in a meeting with Leslie shortly before his death, in which Leslie took his last phone call from D’Artois. Stonecipher says that D’Artois was still trying to get Leslie to settle everything without involving anyone else. When Leslie hangs up to the phone, Stonecipher said that his words seemed to freeze time and all else. Leslie says, “The man’s gonna have me killed.”
No one responds, and Stonecipher said that his biggest regret was not doing so.
"Josiah Lee "J. L." Wilson, III". The Shreveport Times. Retrieved December 23, 2015.
Bill Keith (2009). The Commissioner: A True Story of Deceit, Dishonor, and Death. Gretna, Louisiana: Pelican Publishing Company. p. 28. ISBN 978-1-58980-655-9.
AP, Monroe News-Star, 19 April 1977
"Jim Leslie Memorial Scholarship". aafsb.org.
https://realshreveport.com/the-murder-of-jim-leslie/
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