Leslie “Mad Dog” Irvin (April 2, 1924 – November 9, 1983) was an American serial killer born in Evansville, Indiana, whose crimes terrorized southwestern Indiana and the Evansville-Henderson area during the 1950s.

Crimes and Arrest

Between December 1954 and March 1955, six people were killed in a series of robberies and attacks in Vanderburgh County, Posey County and Henderson County, Kentucky. Irvin was arrested on April 8, 1955, and charged in connection with the killings.

The crimes and Irvin’s arrest received enormous attention from Evansville-area newspapers, radio and television. He became widely known as the “Mad Dog Killer.”

Irvin was convicted of murdering Evansville gas station attendant Wesley Kerr and sentenced to death. In January 1956, while awaiting further legal proceedings, Irvin escaped from the Gibson County Jail in Princeton. He was captured several weeks later in San Francisco.

Irvin v. Dowd

Irvin’s case eventually reached the United States Supreme Court as Irvin v. Dowd.

His attorneys argued that extensive publicity surrounding the Evansville-area murders made it impossible for him to receive a fair trial. During jury selection, hundreds of potential jurors were dismissed because they had already formed opinions about his guilt.

In 1961, the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Irvin’s conviction, ruling that the circumstances surrounding the trial had denied him the right to an impartial jury.

The decision became an important American legal precedent involving pretrial publicity, jury impartiality and a defendant’s right to a fair trial.

Irvin was later retried, convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment.

Death

Irvin remained imprisoned at the Indiana State Prison in Michigan City until his death from lung cancer on November 9, 1983, at age 59.

His crimes remain among the most notorious in Evansville-area history, while Irvin v. Dowd gave the case a lasting place in American constitutional law.