Kirkland Catches Slaying Suspect

KIRKLAND - A fugitive wanted in connection with a murder in Eastern Canada was arrested in a routine traffic stop here last night and is being held in the King County Jail pending extradition proceedings.

The man, Leo Henry Pilotte, 41, is charged with first-degree murder in the slaying of a business associate in February 1995 in Ontario. He also is charged with "indignity to a dead body" and trafficking in drugs.

Kirkland police Cpl. Rick Krebs said Pilotte was with two other men in a car when it was stopped by Officer Kevin Ouimet in the 100 block of Third Street shortly after 9 p.m.

Krebs said Pilotte gave a false name at first, but Ouimet thought he was acting suspicious and questioned him further. Pilotte finally disclosed his real name, Krebs said, and a computer check found there was an outstanding felony warrant for him. The warrant also warned that Pilotte might be armed, but he was arrested without a struggle, Krebs said.

Superintendent Fern Kingsley, of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police's Southern Regional Office, said by telephone today that Pilotte is accused of killing Gerald Leveille, 40, of Sudbury, Ont., and of taking his body to a remote farm and burning it.

Kingsley said Leveille disappeared after leaving his home in Sudbury on a business trip to Toronto, about 250 miles south. A year-long search for him concluded when an informant, who said he knew about the slaying and felt guilty about not telling police, came forward.

The informant directed investigators to the farm, where police dug up several teeth and bone fragments, Kingsley said. Leveille's identity was confirmed through dental records.

"Pilotte was nowhere to be found," Kingsley said. "We charged him in Marchand sent out bulletins for his arrest. We suspected he might be in Vancouver, where his sister lived, and had information he could be hiding in Puerto Rico."

Extradition papers are now being prepared, Kingsley said.

Police said Pilotte has been working in construction in the Kirkland area for several months. The driver and the other man in the car, both fellow workers, knew nothing about Pilotte's past, police said.