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In May of 2003, Ejaz Ahmad was shot, stabbed, and decapitated by his wife Leah Ward. His body was discovered in a shed behind his house in Memphis, Tennessee. Leah admitted to murdering Ejaz, but said it was in self-defense. Her trial was in 2005, and the jury did not believe her story. She was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison.
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RECAP: Ejaz Ahmad and Bonnie had a son together, named Jordan. The marriage was great at first, but over time, Bonnie realized that she didn’t want to convert to the Muslim religion. She had no problem going to mosque with Ejaz, but she was Christian. After 7 years together, Bonnie filed for divorce, but they remained very close and continued to take care of their son. He met a woman named Leah Ward and we were discussing her behaviors when she was younger. She had a very close, personal relationship with the police because they were called to her home so often. Leah was sneaking out, drinking alcohol, smoking marijuana, she stole and smashed up her grandmother’s car, stole checks from her mother, she skipped school, and so much more. It got to the point where her parents just didn’t know what to do with her anymore and she was making claims that her father was abusing her.
Leah went through a series of tests, and she was diagnosed with adjustment disorder and the doctors said she wasn’t able to cope with changes and this could result in serious consequences. She was later diagnosed with a Conduct Disorder “Solitary Aggressive Type” with an alcohol and drug abuse problem. She also had features of a borderline personality disorder. Once she was released from treatment, she stopped taking her prescribed medications and she was about to move out of her family’s home because she was getting married.
Larry Ward and his family attended the same church as Leah and her family. Larry was best friends with Leah’s brother, and Leah was friends with Larry’s sister. It was one of those situations where they knew about each other, but the two of them didn’t actually know each other. In 1994, Leah was hanging out with Larry’s sister. Leah sat down on the couch near Larry and they had a good conversation. He was dating another girl, but apparently it was a GOOD conversation because as he put it, they started “monkeying around.” Leah soon announced that she was pregnant and Larry felt trapped. He didn’t necessarily want to be with Leah, but he felt that he needed to do the right thing.
Some of his family members warned him not to marry her because she was trouble, but he said he had to give her a chance since he was going to be a father. Leah claims they got married because her parents forced her into a loveless marriage. She claimed that Larry was abusive and that during one beating, she was forced to flee to a local hospital to get help. Larry denied all accusations. After they got married, the two of them moved into a rented trailer, but Larry knew he had made a mistake. He got a good taste of Leah’s tantrums, and he believed she was on drugs. Three days into the marriage, he took off in his truck and tossed his wedding ring out the window. He did eventually go back and try to work things out though.
In March of 1995, Leah went into labor, and she gave birth to baby Christopher. She later admitted during one of her hospital stays that for a few months, in 1995, so this is while she was pregnant, she was doing both cocaine and meth. One night, while Larry was showering, Leah came in the bathroom and was holding a kitchen knife in one hand and a carving knife in the other. She yelled, “I’m going to kill you, motherfucker!”
Larry said that Leah would just disappear for days and leave him to care for the baby on his own. He knew she would always come back and when she did, the next fight would begin. He started piecing things together and realized that Leah may not be telling the truth about things. When she was 13, she claimed that a black man had raped her, but Larry later learned that this guy that she accused, was a friend of hers and they were still in the same social circle. They were still hanging out together. So, that’s not saying it’s impossible, it just made him wonder if she lied. Why would she continue to hang out with a man that raped her when she was a child?
In July 1996, Leah gave birth to baby Sallie and it was time for Larry and Leah to move their growing family into an apartment. Larry always said the same thing, he would just keep trying. He hoped that Leah would settle down. One day, Larry was leaving the house and Christopher was crying at the door. Leah’s father and Larry’s cousin were standing by the car and they both witnessed what happened next. Little Chrisopher was inside the door with his hands against the screen crying. Leah walked up behind him, swung the door open nd put her foot against Christopher’s back and shoved him out the door. He landed on the pavement and started crying out in pain. His hands and knees were all skinned up.
Larry’s cousin said if Larry didn’t kill Leah, he would. The men were all fuming. Larry took off after Leah and she went screaming out the back door. As Larry scooped up Christopher, an officer arrived, and Larry was arrested for domestic violence. Larry had a job that he loved, and it paid well. He worked on a tugboat that pushed the barges up and down the Mississippi river. He was gone from home a lot and he would receive calls from people telling him he needed to get the kids away from Leah. Friends and family would see lots of people going into the apartment and it looked suspiciously like drug deals.
During one of the times that Larry was actually home, he got the scare of his life. BAM BAM BAM! Larry jumped from his chair and ran to the door. A man was standing outside the door and Larry told him he had a gun and there were children in the apartment. The man said, “I don’t give a damn about your gun or your kids. I just want my fuckin’ money. The bitch done stole from me one last time. I’m not leaving til I see her.” Larry threw open the apartment door and pointed to Leah and told the man, she’s right there. He grabbed the kids and went to another room and he watched the man yank Leah up and he screamed at her. She promised to get him his money and the man left.
Larry was disgusted by this, and Leah whispered to him, can you loan me money? He said no. He wasn’t giving her money for drugs and that was final. In February of 1999, Leah got a job as a CNA at a nursing home. She stayed there until December, then she worked for Murray Lawnmowers. The family moved to Crump, Tennessee, hoping for a fresh start. Larry wanted to keep the family together for the kiddos and he thought that if they started over in a new area, he could get Leah off drugs.
Larry said he lost all respect for Leah after she kicked their son, Christopher, but this next incident is when he decided to call it quits. He arrived home from the boat and found a group of strangers in his home. They were talking to Leah about Sallie’s adoption. That’s right, Leah was letting someone adopt their daughter without telling Larry about it. He moved her out, he kept the kids, and he moved a family member in to help. Larry discovered that Leah filed a restraining order against him. How did he find out you ask? Leah called him to chat and soon after they hung up, the police were at his door, and he was under arrest for violating an order of protection. He was able to show the officer the caller ID that proved Leah called him, so they didn’t arrest him, and the restraining order was dismissed.
Leah needed somewhere to go, and she met a man named MacArthur Borner. She told him she was determined to get clean and sober, and he moved her into his house. The interesting thing here is that MacArthur was a drug dealer, but he didn’t do any drugs himself. He didn’t sell in front of Leah because she was trying to stop, and she got herself a part-time job as a CNA in a health care center.
One day, Lance Tuck needed a little favor from Macarthur and Leah agreed to help too. Lance’s business was a popular meeting spot for people to buy and sell drugs. Lance asked MacArthur to pick up his van and some illegal drugs, then meet back at Lance’s business with the goods. MacArthur and Leah had no problems getting the van and the drugs. Leah was in the front seat, smoking a cigarette, and MacArthur rolled up to the café and parked the van. They two of them got out, dropped the drugs, and suddenly, the police had them handcuffed.
MacArthur had spent time in prison before, but this was new for Leah. MacArthur realized that this was all a set up and his friend, Lance Tuck, was probably the one that snitched. After consulting with their attorneys, they both pleaded guilty, and their sentences were reduced. On November 13th, 2000, Leah received 27 months with probation and since this was MacArthur’s second charge, he received 188 months. MacArthur was transferred to prison, and he never saw Leah Ward again.....that is, until she made headlines in the newspapers for a much more serious crime.
In January 2001, Leah was transferred to the Federal Prison Camp in Texas. She was released on parole in October 2001 and she was almost 21-years-old. She got an apartment in a Memphis halfway house, and she was assisted in job searches. She was supposed to stay there for four months, no drugs or alcohol allowed, and there would be random drug tests and curfews. A few months after her release, Leah stopped taking her medications and got a job at Kmart. Larry began talking to her again and brought the kids to her apartment so they could visit.
She quit her job at Kmart and soon had no place to live. Willie Jackson showed up at the home of Ejaz Ahmad and he had Leah Ward with him. He told Ejaz that she didn’t have a place to live, nothing to eat. Ejaz told Willie that he couldn’t live with a woman that wasn’t his wife, it was against his religion. Leah introduced herself to Ejaz and explained that she wanted to be a nurse and she needed someone to believe in her. He felt bad for her, and he wanted to help. He decided to go against everything he believed in to help the young woman.
Ejaz said Leah could stay in one of his homes, rent free, until she got on her feet. He actually had a rental property that was open, and it wasn’t in a great neighborhood, but it was better than nothing. Leah left out many details of her life when she spoke to Ejaz and she happily moved into his rental property. It was really bothering him that he put a single woman in an area that was less than ideal. After wrestling with his morals, he finally decided that it just wasn’t safe, and he moved Leah into his home, and he said he would go stay with a friend.
Ejaz had no idea that Leah was addicted to drugs and he just made things very simple for her, especially when she was living there for free. He gave her money and she was able to start school, attending classes in between work. Ejaz wanted to give her every opportunity he could, so he paid her tuition. It appeared that she had a very hectic schedule between school and work, but it was later discovered that when she “left for school” she was getting high. She left each night with a bookbag and do want to guess what was in there? She was stealing Ejaz’s items and would pawn or sell them.
When Ejaz was married to Bonnie, he obviously grew very close to her family and they all remained good friends. His ex-mother-in-law, Ernestine, would bring Jordan over to visit his father and she thought it was so strange that Ejaz had a woman living in his house. They knew that this wasn’t like him. WHen they met, Ernestine felt that something was off right away. Leah wouldn’t look in her eyes, but Ejaz said she was just tired from working so much. Remember, Ernestine was a cop previously and she knew something was very off, but she reminded herself that she was no longer in the business and it’s possible that Leah was just shy.
At this point, Ejaz was very lonely and he wanted to help Leah, so he felt like the solution to both of their problems, was.....can you guess? Marriage. Leah was still living in his home and he was living with friends while they waited for their wedding date. In October of 2002, Jordan was in school and he got a note saying he needed to report to the principal’s office. Ejaz was waiting for him, he wanted Jordan to be there for the wedding. Jordan told him that he had an important test that day, he couldn’t go. Ejaz was disappointed, but told him to go back to class.
Ejaz and Leah were married on October 5th, 2002. Ejaz looked very happy, but observers felt that Leah didn’t appear to be emotionally or mentally available. She wasn’t smiling and appeared sad, maybe even depressed. Ejaz immediately moved into his home with his new bride and Ejaz had no idea that the wedding was a sham. Leah had never divorced her first husband, Larry Ward.
When Ejaz showed up to his ex-wife Bonnies house, he was excited for her to meet his new bride. She hadn’t even heard of Leah and suddenly he was married? She was shocked, but she extended her hand to greet her. After this encounter, Bonnie went inside her home and told her husband that Leah was evil, she just felt it. So, both Bonnie and her mother, Ernestine, had a very bad feeling when they met Leah.
One of Ejaz’s friends, Walid (Wall-eed) Salam had a first impression of Leah that he would never forget. He worked at an auto repair shop and Ejaz bought a few vehicles from him. Walid, Ejaz, and his female secretary were having lunch one day and Leah stormed in and demanded to know who the woman at the table was. Ejaz was super embarrassed and told her that the woman was his friend’s secretary. He was just having lunch with friends.
He soon found out that Leah was stealing from him. She had withdrawn a thousand dollars from his account without asking. They were married, but maybe they didn’t have joint accounts? Or perhaps, they are supposed to tell each other when it’s over a certain dollar amount. Ejaz asked Leah why she took a thousand dollars, and she said it was to purchase gifts for the children. First, that’s a lot of money on gifts. Second, she didn’t pay attention to her kids anyways, so this was strange. Ejaz confided in others about this situation, and they all agreed that something was suspicious.
When Leah’s two children visited, which was rare, they seemed to enjoy their time together. One of them straight up asked Ejaz why he would marry their mommy when she’s married to their daddy. More money went missing from Ejaz’s account and again, he spoke to a friend. What should I do? Should I tell her to leave? Get out of my house? His friend Johnny sighed and told him he needed to follow his heart on this one.
When Johnny would visit, he would often stay with Ejaz for a few months, and that meant he got to see a lot of fights. When Ejaz was working late, Leah would call him, demanding to know if he was with another woman or not. When Jordan would stay with them, his mother, Bonnie would call to check in, and Leah would get upset and say she had no right to call their house.
Ejaz explained that she had every right. Jordan was her son. Well, Leah took that to mean he was cheating on her with Bonnie. Ejaz’s friend was watching from the window as Leah was hitting Ejaz and his eye swelled up. Johnny tried to speak with Leah and calm her down. She said he made her so angry, “I could just kill him.”
Johnny didn’t think much of the comment at the time....she was just upset, right? He moved in with family member, and he had a dream that he says still haunts him. He dreamed that he was watching Ejaz and Jordan standing on a riverbank. As he stepped closer to join them, Johnny felt shock and fear. The water was gone from the river, and it was full of mud. The shoreline where Ejaz stood began to turn a deep color. Then, the riverbed turned a deep red color which had begun leaking out of the earth. Johnny watched as the riverbed filled with blood. That was the end of the dream.
Leah continued to work as a home health care aid, but she began making bizarre calls to Ejaz when she was with male patients. She would say she couldn’t be alone with them. They were flirting with her, and she was scared of being raped. She also called the Coordinator of the Health Care Company that employed her and told the woman, Destiny Reyes, that she was alone with a man, and she was scared. Destiny asked if something happened that made her feel uncomfortable and she said no. Ejaz genuinely believed that his wife was in danger, so he began calling Destiny as well. She was bouncing back and forth between calls from Ejaz and Leah. There was no one that could take Leah’s shift on such short notice, but it spiraled so quickly and Ejaz even called the client’s family and told them they needed to get home because there was an emergency.
Ejaz thought he needed to protect his wife, so he drove to the client’s house and waited outside the home and yelled at the client’s family when they got home and apparently called them so many times that they had to turn their phones off. Leah was reprimanded for her behavior, and she was placed on a 30-day probation. We’ll get to this later, but Leah actually used this event when she was trying to appeal her criminal defense case. She obtained a copy of the incident report to show how dangerous Ejaz was. Leah was able to graduate with a degree in the PCA program in April of 2003. She may have passed school, but she didn’t pass the random drug test that was mandatory for her parole.
She was notified that she violated probation and now she was forced to admit this to Ejaz because she had to appear in court. She was sentenced to serve 6 months. Ejaz had no idea that his wife was on probation and now she was heading to prison. It was during this time that Jordan was present for a physical fight between Ejaz and Leah. They were arguing and Leah punched Ejaz in the chest and stormed off. He slowly turned his head towards his 11-year-old son and asked him if he wanted him to leave Leah. Ejaz was so torn up because he didn’t want to get another divorce, all he ever wanted was a family, but it wasn’t working, and he valued Jordan’s opinions. If he had known she had been incarcerated for drugs, he wouldn’t have gone through with the marriage.
Ejaz had a prized silver dollar coin collection in his home at one point, but it was gone now. Leah stole each piece and spent it. He finally found out that she was on medication and that she didn’t take it regularly like she was supposed to. All of her lies were slowly bubbling to the surface, and it was taking a toll on Ejaz. Every time he would meet up with Bonnie to pick up Jordan, she thought he looked worse and worse. His clothing and hair weren’t clean, there were circles under his eyes, and he just looked sad. He kept saying he was trying to give Leah a chance. Bonnie told him he looked sick, she was worried. She asked if he was happy, and he immediately said no. He knew Leah was on drugs and he was starting to believe she was cheating on him. Bonnie wasn’t surprised because this wasn’t the first time she had heard this.
One of Bonnie’s family members owned a string of hotels, and they weren’t in the best areas. A family member had seen a photo of a woman that was a sex worker near the motels, and they recognized her, it was Leah. Bonnie’s family began noticing many things that were worrying them, so they started comparing notes. They still considered Ejaz part of the family. In mid March, Ejaz called Bonnie and he told her he just couldn’t take it anymore. He told Leah he was leaving his house for a while and he was giving her time to get herself together. Bonnie couldn’t believe it. It was his house, why did he need to leave? Ejaz said he couldn’t allow her to live on the street. He said he was done though, he was going to end things.
Just a few days later, Ejaz and Jordan were together. Ejaz called Bonnie to say they were running late, he had to stop at the store. She said no worries and thanked him for letting her know. This was the last time they would ever speak. Ejaz finally had the talk with Leah. He told her that she needed to change her ways or move out. She packed her bags and said she was moving out. Ejaz drove her to the most expensive hotel in Memphis. He gave her money and wished her the very best.
Leah later told family members that the real reason he brought her to the hotel was to fill out a job application, but this doesn’t make sense. Leah was attending nursing school, and he was paying for her tuition. Why would she suddenly walk away from that career to get a job at a hotel? In late March of 2003, Ejaz called his ex-mother-in-law Ernestine, and he was so upset. He was crying as he told her that Leah had gone back into his home when he wasn’t there. She made a copy of the key, broke in, stole his belongings and took money from his account. Ernestine told him to get a restraining order. Before they hung up, the very last words he said to Ernestine were, “That woman is evil. She is evil.”
On March 28th, Ejaz tried to sell a car, but the dealership wouldn’t pay him what he needed. He asked a friend to sell his car at an auction on April 2nd, but he wasn’t able to help him. Around this time, his best friend Johnny called him several times, but he couldn’t get through. He called again and Leah answered to say that Ejaz was in Pakistan, then she hung up. Johnny knew this simply wasn’t true. Since the attacks on September 11th, 2001, Ejaz refused to travel to Pakistan. Travelers to and from the Middle East were closely scrutinized and he felt safter staying in the US.
On April 1st, Leah sold a car, then she began selling all of the furniture that was in Ejaz’s home. Neighbors asked what was going on and she explained that Ejaz was in Pakistan. A short time later, a moving truck showed up at the home. On April 10th, Ejaz’s friend Yared (Yah-red) spoke with him, and they met in person. They agreed to discuss business further and spoke the following day. They were going to meet up at 4 PM, but Ejaz never showed up. Yared called the house and Leah answered. She said Ejaz went to Pakistan.
It was around April 14th when Ejaz and Leah went to see Jordan. Ejaz asked if he wanted to stay with him for the weekend, but he couldn’t go. A friend that worshipped at the same mosque had a conversation with Ejaz and he said he was very unhappy with his wife, and he was beginning to believe their marriage wasn’t legal. He said he needed to get away from her.
On April 17th, Leah Ward entered a Cash America pawnshop around 1 PM. When you pawn items, they enter your driver’s license into the system, and they even take fingerprints. Leah presented a ring that she wanted to pawn for cash. It was a man’s ring of 22 karat yellow gold, the diamond total weight was 5.6 carats. The employee offered $40 and Leah agreed. Her ID had a Tennessee address which she hadn’t been at for years. She signed a document saying the ring was hers, but it really belonged to Ejaz Ahmad. He had it custom made and it had been promised to Jordan. He was supposed to get it when he got a little older.
Ejaz didn’t have a cellphone, so people had to call his house phone if they wanted to reach him. Leah did have a cellphone and on April 23rd, she called Jordan to say she was going to pick up her kids, Christopher and Sallie. Jordan asked if he could talk to his dad, but Leah said he was out of town. The next day, Leah called Jordan and said his dad was in Little Rock, picking up a car. Jordan said he could call him later, but Leah said he would be gone for a few days. On April 25th, Leah called Jordan and he put it on speakerphone. His grandma, Ernestine could hear Leah telling him that his dad was in Pakistan, and she was thinking about going to Florida, shaving her head and just getting lost. Jordan didn’t know what to say, so he handed the phone to his mom. Bonnie got on the phone and asked where Ejaz was and Leah said he was in West Memphis, picking up a car, he’d be gone for two weeks.
On April 26th, Leah signed a rental agreement for a van from Budget and she would return it on the 28th. She burned through all of her cell phone hours talking to Jordan and Bonnie. She was the one calling them, and she would talk to Jordan for long lengths of time. She called Bonnie and said that she had a fight with Ejaz, and he left and went to Pakistan. Bonnie couldn’t believe this, he would never leave without telling them. Leah said Ejaz wanted a divorce, and he wanted her out of his house by the time he got back home. Leah claimed that she was so worried about him.
She started saying really weird things. She was like, I’m very insecure and I know I’ll never measure up to the kind of woman you are in Ejaz’s eyes. You’ll always know him better than I will. Bonnie said that’s bullshit. Leah responded with, when I see him, I’ll tell him that. She hung up on her. Jordan was hesitant to tell his mother something, but he chose this moment to say that Leah didn’t want her to know, but she was pregnant.
RESOURCES:
'She Is Evil!': Madness And Murder In... by Yates, Judith A (amazon.com)
Histrionic Personality Disorder: Causes, Symptoms & Treatment (clevelandclinic.org)
Self-Determination Theory Of Motivation (simplypsychology.org)
