Wife Charged In Counselor's Fatal Shooting -- Woman's Workers `Heartbroken'

EVERETT - A first-degree-murder charge was filed yesterday against the estranged wife of Everett middle-school counselor Charles "Chuck" Leonard, who was found shot to death outside his home nearly two weeks ago.

The charge was filed against Teresa Leonard in Everett District Court.

Leonard, 33, was charged two days after she was arrested at the Snohomish County Courthouse, where she had agreed to surrender to detectives from the Sheriff's Office.

"It doesn't mean she confessed. It means she didn't try to run," said George Cody, Leonard's defense attorney. "She has not made any admission whatsoever to the police of in any way of being involved in Chuck Leonard's death."

Teresa Leonard will plead not guilty, Cody said.

The district court, where a judge on Sunday decided there was probable cause to hold Leonard in jail for $500,000 cash-only bail, now has jurisdiction to hold her for two more weeks.

By then, prosecutors must refile the case in Snohomish County Superior Court, along with an affidavit of probable cause that details evidence against her, or Leonard will be released.

"It's just a way of allowing a little more time," said Michael Downes, a deputy prosecutor, of the District Court filing. "When police are investigating a case like this, it takes a while to get all the information in one place."

Chuck Leonard, 53, was found dead outside his home on Lake Goodwin, south of Stanwood, about noon Feb. 20 by a North Middle School teacher who'd gone to check on him after he did not report to work that morning.

Leonard, a longtime Everett School District employee, was a popular counselor known for his wit and ability to deal with troubled children. Friends knew him as a fun-loving guy.

On Monday, at Teresa Leonard's consignment shop in Marysville, a shop employee dabbed at her tears with a tissue as she talked about how unbelievable it was that her employer would be in such a fix.

"She's just the sweetest little thing," said the woman, who declined to give her name. "She was just a nice girl. She still is."

Ann Wheaton, another employee, said she and others would keep the shop open and do whatever they could for Teresa Leonard, who has no family in the area.

"I'd love to talk to Teresa and let her know we're here for her," Wheaton said. "The whole situation, gosh, it's just heartbreaking."

The Leonards were married in Seattle in June 1990, after meeting in New Orleans, where Teresa Leonard was a hotel concierge and Chuck Leonard was attending a teachers conference. It was her first marriage, friends said, and his second.

The two became parents of a girl in December 1991, according to their Snohomish County Superior Court divorce file.

Three years later, Teresa Leonard and her daughter moved out of the family's home and into an Everett apartment. Teresa Leonard initiated divorce proceedings in July 1995.

But neither of the Leonards pursued the matter. In January, the court informed them it would dismiss the case because no action had been taken in the past year.

Chuck Leonard then filed a request to keep the case open.

According to Chuck Leonard's statement in the divorce file, the couple was more than $46,000 in debt.

He attributed part of that to starting up his wife's consignment shop and said that with her business degree, she should've been doing well. Chuck Leonard offered to pay $334 a month in child support.

But Teresa Leonard, who in the divorce papers said she earned $300 a month from her business while her husband had a lakefront home, rental property, a $2,000 boat, a $20,000 car and a $52,000 annual salary, asked that he pay $825 a month.

The two apparently worked out the money matter and were amicable for their daughter's sake, said friends of Teresa Leonard. The girl is staying with Chuck Leonard's parents in Concrete, Skagit County.