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Who Killed Leno & Louise?

Boca Raton, Florida
November 14, 1948

        A solitary bulb filtered light through the open door of the Lazzari studio casting a muted glow into their adjacent apartment. The dull illumination crept over the bed squarely in front of the opening then crawled up the dresser on the far side of the room. Finally, it made its way to the piercing eyes of Leno’s self-portrait that hung on the wall directly above the bureau.
        Sitting in the dark at the small kitchen table not far from the portrait was an unknown intruder. He arrived late at night with only the mosquitoes and singing crickets to greet him. After cutting the screen on the front door, he slipped into the studio and passed into the apartment. The place looked like a well-appointed museum. Life-sized bronze nudes peeked at him from packing crates while marble statues stared at him from pedestals and plaster bas-reliefs and portraits eyed him from walls.

        Passing into the apartment, the intruder rummaged through several dressers leaving clothes hanging in disarray out opened drawers and papers from the desk scattered on the writing surface. Now, he made himself at home at the kitchen table. Now, he waited.
        At first, every time he heard a car he rose from the table and positioned himself for the kill. But gradually the cars became fewer and farther between so he helped himself to a midnight snack the remnants of which—an empty glass and partially full milk bottle—still sat on the table. The apple he held in his hand.
        He ripped into the crisp fruit with his front teeth and peeled off a large section of skin. Unceremoniously he spat it onto the floor. Now he was savoring the apple’s sweet flesh—never kill on an empty stomach.
        Suddenly, he heard the Jeep. It was show time.
        He rose from the table and took up a position just down from the opened door. There, he would be able to see the couple walk into the room yet still be concealed by the dark. He gripped the .38 tightly in his hand.
        Louise was the first to enter. She carefully felt her way around the bed of the darkened apartment and headed for the light switch.
        That’s when the first shot rang out.

New York Times
November 15, 1948

Sculptor, Wife Slain in Florida; Police Discount Robbery Evidence

        BOCA RATON, Fla., Nov. 14—Leno Lazzari, sculptor by commission to the Duke of Windsor and other world notables, and his wife were slain in their studio home early today by precise shots fired into their stomachs.
        W. H. Brown, Boca Raton police chief, said he believed the killings were “premeditated murder,” although the slayer emptied Mr. Lazzari’s pockets, took Mrs. Lazzari’s purse and fled in the sculptor’s jeep.
        Mr. Lazzari, 48, heavy-set and jovial, and Mrs. Lazzari, 42, were killed soon after midnight. The gunman fired two .38-caliber bullets into Mrs. Lazzari as she stood with an armful of groceries and one into Mr. Lazzari.
        Mr. Lazzari’s body lay on the floor near the doorway leading into the small sleeping room adjoining the large, marble cluttered studio. Mrs. Lazzari was crumpled at the foot of steps to the bathroom. A loaf of bread and a package of spaghetti lay near the body.
        Chief Brown said he believed the killer was waiting for them.
        “It looks too much like a robbery,” he declared. “It’s a clear-cut case of cold-blooded, premeditated murder.”
        He said he had no clue to the motive.