Naman Shrestha
In the episode titled ‘The Mastermind’ of Investigation Discovery’s ‘Married With Secrets,’ the primary focus is on the horrific killing of 41-year-old hairdresser, Anne Smith, in Los Angeles, California, in 1980. What seemed to be the case of a robbery gone wrong turned out to be a murder-for-hire plot. As LAPD investigators dug deeper, they uncovered the deadly conspiracy and were shocked to learn that the perpetrator was one of their own.
Anne Smith Was Killed While Working at the Salon
Born on December 6, 1938, in Los Angeles, California, Anne Marie Pontrelli Smith was the beloved daughter of Delores Geraldine “Dee or Dodo” Watt Garafola and Sam Pontrelli. Later in life, she married Arthur “Art” Gayle Smith. On the professional front, she worked as a hairdresser at her mother’s beauty salon in the Highland Park neighborhood of Los Angeles. Her seemingly picture-perfect life came to a sudden end on the morning of May 29, 1980, around 10 am.
While she was attending to her first client of the day at the salon, an armed burglar entered and demanded that Anne hand over all the money she had. Despite giving him the money from the cash drawers, the robber shot her anyway and fled the scene. When the police arrived at the scene of the crime, they found 41-year-old Anne dead from a gunshot wound to the back. They noticed that the cash drawers had been disturbed and that a few items were missing from the salon. However, they were quick to theorize that the shooter could have staged it to be a robbery gone wrong to avoid suspicion.
Anne Smith’s Death Was Conspired by People Close to Her
Since Anne Smith’s mother, Delores, was in the salon during the shooting, she gave the detectives a rough description of the shooter. In order to learn more about Anne’s life and the circumstances surrounding her death, they also interviewed her sister-in-law, Nicoletta Pontrelli. She claimed that Anne was having marital troubles with Arthur “Art” Gayle Smith, who she claimed was controlling of her. Nicoletta told the investigators that Anne had asked him for a divorce the previous month, and she and Art were supposed to go to a divorce hearing the day after she was killed. However, Art maintained his innocence and lawyered up. Soon, Judy Persico reached out to the authorities and claimed that her husband, Charles Persico, was responsible for shooting Anne.
As they focused on Charles, who was a drug addict and had a history of theft and drug-related crimes, he failed to provide his whereabouts at the time of the murder. Eventually, he pleaded guilty to manslaughter in connection with Anne’s killing, after which he was sentenced to three years in prison. However, a few years later, a shocking revelation came when a felon named Dennis France claimed that a veteran LAPD officer named William “Bill” Ernest Leasure had hired him to kill two people. Dennis asked for his immunity in exchange for providing the police with more details about Bill’s crimes. The witness claimed that Bill hired him to carry out a hit on 40-year-old Jazz singer Anthony de los Reyes to help his friend inherit Anthony’s family’s tortilla business.
The detectives were shocked even more when Dennis claimed that Anne Smith was the second person he was hired to kill. He claimed that Bill asked him to make her death look like a robbery gone wrong. He alleged that Bill was the getaway driver for that homicide. It turned out that Arthur was the one who asked his friend, Bill, to get rid of his wife. At the time, Bill was already in jail for his involvement in a yacht theft ring, along with his boating mentor, Robert Kuns, charged with seven counts of grand theft. After gathering enough evidence against him, the police charged Bill Leasure with two counts of murder, conspiracy to commit murder, and other related offenses on May 22, 1987. He was also considered a suspect in the March 1977 contract killing of Gilberto Cervantes. Moreover, Arthur and Anthony’s former wife, Paulette De Los Reyes, were also charged with hiring Bill to arrange their respective spouses’ deaths.
While Bill Leasure is Out of Prison, Art Smith is Likely Still Incarcerated
William “Bill” Leasure stood trial for his involvement in the killings of Anne Smith and Anthony de los Reyes in April 1991. Portraying him as the most corrupt cop in LA, the prosecution presented several pieces of incriminating evidence against the defendant. They also brought the hitman, Dennis France, to the stand, who testified against Bill, claiming that he was paid $3,500 for killing Anne. However, on June 27, 1991, the jury was deadlocked, and a mistrial was declared. Before his retrial began, Bill pleaded no contest to two counts of second-degree murder on November 1, 1991, avoiding the possibility of a death penalty.
The following month, on December 12, he was sentenced to two concurrent terms of 15 years to life in prison. Meanwhile, Charles Persico, who was falsely convicted of Anne’s murder, was exonerated. Meanwhile, Arthur “Art” Smith was also found guilty of first-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison. Decades later, in 2020, he was granted parole, but the California Governor reversed the decision. Finally, in March 2025, Bill Leasure was released from prison. Since then, the former LAPD officer has been leading a private life, away from the limelight. As for Arthur, he is seemingly still serving his life sentence at a prison facility.
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