Sarah Foxwell (left) Thomas Leggs, Jr. (right)

Convicted sex offender Thomas J. Leggs, Jr. appeared in Wicomico County Circuit Court today in front of a judge who granted him an automatic change of venue for his murder trial.  Leggs is facing the death penalty for the kidnapping, rape and murder of 11-year-old Sarah Foxwell.  A trial date has not been set, and the judge is consulting and doing research to figure out the best courtroom for a fair trial to take place.  

The State’s Attorney for Wicomico County issued a release on February 9, 2010 stating, “The Grand Jury for Wicomico County indicted Thomas Leggs, Jr. for the First Degree Murder of Sarah Foxwell, in addition to First Degree Burglary, Kidnapping, Kidnapping of a Child, and First and Second Degree Sexual Offense.”  Leggs is currently being held without bond.  According to the press release, “The State will file Notice of Intent to Seek the Death Penalty and the Notice of Intent To Seek Life Without Possibility of Parole before the end of February.”  

I spoke with Sheriff Lewis of the Wicomico County Sheriff’s Office early on in the case and asked him about other victims of Leggs. Sheriff Lewis says, “We have had many people call us with their own personal relationships or run ins with Thomas Leggs.  We believe Thomas Leggs committed this alone.  We will be seeking the death penalty.  All he has to do is request a change of venue (regarding a courtroom), and a judge cannot deny him of that.”

BACKGROUND: The Sarah Foxwell case came to a tragic end on Christmas morning, just a couple weeks ago.  The 11-year-old child was allegedly abducted from the bedroom she shared with her 6-year-old sister in the middle of the night. Convicted sex offender, Thomas Leggs, is the prime suspect. Police say Leggs knew the family because he dated Sarah’s aunt, who is Sarah’s legal guardian.  Police believe Sarah was snatched around 1 a.m. on December 22, 2009.  Her 6-year-old sister told police she woke up to “Mr. Tommy” in their bedroom talking to Sarah. Investigators were called at 10:02 a.m. and, based on the information they compiled, police were able to arrest Leggs and charge him with abduction and burglary within two hours.  Sarah’s aunt told investigators that she had not seen Leggs since 32 days before the abduction. On Christmas morning, thousands of volunteers, including parents and children, gave up opening gifts to search for Sarah. Sheriff Lewis of the Wicomico County Sheriff’s office told me that one little boy even emptied his piggy bank, put it in a baggie and handed it to the Sheriff to donate to the fund to find Sarah.

Sadly, Sarah’s body was found on the Maryland-Delaware line later that day.  Her autopsy is complete, and the Sheriff told me Sarah had many causes of death, all related to the homicide, but he is not ready to release details about the struggle at this point. Leggs is not only a sex offender in two states, (Maryland and Delaware), but he is also facing charges out of Ocean City, Maryland for an incident that occurred on September 11, 2009. During that incident, police say a woman woke up in the middle of the night to a naked Leggs standing at the end of her bed masturbating.  If Leggs is, in fact, guilty and responsible for Sarah’s death, (and Sheriff Lewis thinks he is), there is an obvious escalation in sexual attacks between the alleged September 11, 2009 incident and the abduction of Sarah. Either before, or in between, police fear there may be other victims who have not yet come forward.  Sheriff Lewis told me on February 8, 2010 that Leggs appeared in an Ocean City, Maryland court and requested to have a jury trial for that case.  An official date has not yet been set.

To me, the most interesting part of this case is that out of the 171 convicted sex offenders living in Wicomico County, Sheriff Lewis says high risk offender Leggs was one of the few offenders they checked on regularly, though they didn’t have to.  According to the law, Leggs only had to register two times a year with the Wicomico County Sheriff’s office, and the Sheriff’s office wasn’t required to check on him – but they did.  Sheriff Lewis says in 2009 alone they visited the residence Leggs shared with his parents seven times.  They found Leggs living in an 8×14 portable shed in the backyard, and doing cabinetry work for his family’s business. Investigators also found Leggs’ sister and her three children living on the same property.  This information has launched a new investigation to see if those children are victims as well. On a side note, Sheriff Lewis says he frequently visits the school that Sarah’s younger sister, Emma, attends, to have lunch with her. He says the child is doing well. 

We need to reach out to the public right now, and we need to know if there are other victims.  We encourage you to come forward.  Please contact the Wicomico County Sheriff’s office at:  (410) 548-4891