Hit-run suspect faces judge

Bail is set at $301,013 for the man charged with the 2002 DUI manslaughter of a woman on U.S. 19.

By MOLLY MOORHEAD, Times Staff Writer
Published January 10, 2008

NEW PORT RICHEY -- At this point, the tale of Landon Luepkes' life on the run can be told only in fragments.

There's his trash-filled apartment in the small Appalachian town of Norton, Va., where a deputy found 10-year-old greeting cards taped to the walls and crosses and glass figurines of Jesus strewn about the floor.

Luepkes' demeanor on the evening of his capture adds more detail: Authorities say he muttered nonsense, said "this was going to be the bloodiest night ever," then said the Bible told him he had to climb the highest mountain.

"He never made any sense," said Sgt. Brad Mullins of the Wise County, Va., Sheriff's Office. "He could provide me with his basic information, but then he would go off on another tangent."

But that basic information, and a routine records check, brought an end to the five-year search for the man police believe ran over a 45-year-old New Port Richey woman and left her to die on U.S. 19.

* * *

On May 9, 2002, about 9:45 p.m. Dawn Haywood had just had a fight with her boyfriend at a bar. Walking home, she stepped onto U.S. 19 near Gulf Drive.

A silver Dodge pickup hit her and kept going. Witnesses said the driver appeared drunk.

Haywood died at the scene.

Days later, police got a tip that Luepkes, who had more than 30 arrests to his name including two DUIs, had been seen washing blood off the hood of a silver pickup.

He told them he'd hit a large dog. He also had the hood replaced.

But later that summer, analysts with the Florida Department of Law Enforcement matched tissue samples taken from the truck to Dawn Haywood.

Police believed they had their man, only by then he was nowhere to be found.

Months passed. Haywood's family grew frustrated, but police never stopped searching. Keith Campbell, who led the investigation for the New Port Richey Police, staked out Luepkes' brother's house and the home of the friend who owned the pickup.

He watched for activity on Luepke's Social Security number and credit cards.

Nothing.

It wasn't until Sept. 27, 2007, when a suspicious-looking person was spotted on a dark mountain road in Jefferson National Forest in southwestern Virginia, that the break finally came.

Mullins found Luepkes walking briskly up the steep road that leads to a lookout tower where observers can see five states. The bottom of his T-shirt was rolled up, and he was holding the material in his mouth.

He wasn't drunk, Mullins said, but neither was he clear-headed.

Luepkes produced a Florida ID card, and Mullins quickly discovered he was a wanted fugitive. He took him back to the sheriff's station for processing.

"I asked him, 'Did you kill somebody in Florida?'" Mullins said. "He denied it, but his demeanor completely changed."

* * *

Luepkes' younger brother, Shane, also served time for a similar crime. He ran over and killed two pedestrians in 1997 on State Road 54 near Rowan Road.

The brothers are the stepsons of former New Port Richey Mayor and County Commissioner Peter Altman.

Altman has said that he's had little to no contact with Landon Luepkes during his marriage to Luepkes' mother. Police have said Altman has cooperated in the investigation.

Neither Altman nor Shane Luepkes returned messages Wednesday.

If there is anyone in Haywood's family left to appreciate the closure brought by Luepkes' arrest, they have yet to be found.

Her daughter Heather used to live in Holiday. Campbell went to her last known address but found the home cleared out.

Haywood was also survived by her mother, two sons, two brothers and four sisters, scattered around the country.

None were present when Luepkes made his first court appearance Wednesday, via videoconference from the Land O'Lakes jail. Wearing an orange and white jumpsuit, he told Circuit Judge Daniel Diskey he had a place to stay locally and a lawyer. Charged with DUI manslaughter and failing to appear in court on one of the prior DUIs, Luepkes insisted he isn't a flight risk.

"I ain't going nowhere. I'm taking care of this, so help me God," Luepkes said.

"Sir, I'd love to believe that," Diskey said, before setting bail at $301,013.

Molly Moorhead can be reached at moorhead@sptimes.com or (727) 869-6245.

[Last modified January 9, 2008, 23:09:16]