In early 2017, a tangled story of love, betrayal, and desperation began to unfold in Houston, Texas. At its center was Dr Leon Jacob, a man whose life appeared to be falling apart after his ex-girlfriend Megan Vericus ended their relationship and accused him of stalking. However, Leon was not willing to let go, and he was not alone.
His new partner, a respected veterinarian named Valerie McDaniel, would soon become deeply entangled in a dark and dangerous plot that would shock the city. Leon Jacob had always aspired to become a doctor, but his career as a physician was marred by unfinished residency programs. He had two sons with his first wife, Annie Jacob, who filed for divorce after 11 years of marriage.
After his marriage collapsed, he began dating Meghan Vericus, whom he had met at a hotel in Pittsburgh, where she worked. He quickly moved in with Megan and also commenced a surgical residency at a hospital. After some time, the couple decided to relocate to Houston, where Leon's sons lived.
Megan, who was also divorced, believed that such a change would do her good. A new place, a fresh start. The move took place at the end of 2014 in Houston.
Megan secured a job at a hotel while Leon worked odd jobs, awaiting his license. On the 12th of January 2017, a serious argument between the pair escalated into physical violence. Leon grabbed Megan by the face.
He later claimed that he simply wanted to silence her so that the neighbors would not hear her. However, Megan was deeply frightened and decided to end their three-year relationship. She first sought help at Lyon's mother's house, but received none.
She then went to his brother and sister-in-law's home where she sought refuge from her partner. Naturally, Leon soon found her and continued to harass her despite Megan's clear insistence that their relationship was over and her pleas for him to leave her alone. Leyon refused to accept this.
He continued to send her messages and harass her at the brother's home, shouting insults. Megan eventually decided to leave Lyon's brother's house and went to the hotel where she worked. Her employer readily provided her with a room.
After some time, she rented her own flat and changed her phone number. Nevertheless, Leon continued to harass her, this time via email. In his emails, he would alternately declare his love for her and express his hatred.
He stalked her, loitered near her workplace, and even hid in bushes near the hotel, waiting for her to appear. He also harassed her colleagues, who were by then aware of the situation. Megan had had enough.
Leon was issued with a restraining order, and she filed a lawsuit against him for harassment and assault. Leon's ex-wife, Annie, also described their marriage as an emotional roller coaster. On one hand, Leyon was charming and loving, but on the other, he was arrogant and explosive.
Their marriage was fraught with arguments. Annie admitted that she had seen many red flags early on, but chose to ignore them, marrying Lyon in December 2001. Annie moved to New York for her studies, and after some time, Leyon joined her, where he continued his education and was accepted into a hospital residency program.
During this period, their arguments increased and sadly incidents of violence began to occur. Although Annie was often terrified, she did not take any steps to leave. In 2006, they returned to Houston, where Leon secured another residency.
His position in New York had not been renewed. Annie began working at a law firm and their first son was born. After the birth of their son, Leon's aggression worsened.
Annie often hid the bruises or lied about their origins. She did not leave because she did not want her son growing up in a broken home and because she felt ashamed. She still believed that she loved him.
Furthermore, Leon threatened her, saying that if she ever left him, no one would ever find her body. In the meantime, Annie gave birth to their second son. Leon started drinking heavily, gambling in online casinos, and spending large sums of money.
money that Annie was earning. She supported the entire family and cared for the children. Annie endured everything in silence for a long time, but eventually she had had enough.
During another heated argument, Leyon pulled out a knife and threatened her in front of their three-year-old son. Later, he locked Annie and their younger infant son in a room and refused to let them out, telling her that the only way to leave would be in a plastic bag. This ordeal lasted about 30 minutes, but by then Annie knew she could not endure it any longer.
Finally, Annie confided in her parents and with their help, she managed to leave her husband. She fled to her parents' home in Chicago. Although Leyon continued to harass her, the divorce eventually went through.
After the divorce, Leon continued to stalk Annie and her parents, claiming that they were preventing him from seeing his sons. After the divorce, he moved to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania for his sixth residency. He had been expelled from all previous residency programs due to his arrogant behavior towards fellow students, lecturers, and patients, which endangered patients lives.
His residency in Pittsburgh ended in much the same way. Thus, Leon returned to Houston with his new girlfriend, Megan, a relationship that unfolded and ended much like his marriage. After Megan refused to return to him, Leyon began to seriously worry about the case she had filed against him.
He feared that it would ruin his chances of ever becoming a doctor and destroy his life. He then came up with a plan to ensure that Megan wouldn't show up at the trial. One day, he visited a law firm run by a friend of his parents to seek legal advice.
And there he met Laura Thurlo. Laura's uncle owned the firm. She tried to convince Megan to return to Lyon and withdraw the case, but this attempt failed.
Leon then decided that Megan had to disappear, and he assumed that Laura might know someone, perhaps a former client of the firm who could help him. Upon hearing this, Laura decided to end their collaboration. Leon began harassing Laura at her workplace, sending her an overwhelming number of messages.
Laura felt threatened but unfortunately did not inform the police. She called her friend Kenneth and asked him to speak to Lyon and tell him to leave her alone. This too proved ineffective.
This continued for a month. Then Laura called Kenneth again, but this time someone else answered, his friend Zach. Zach informed her that Kenneth had passed away, but reassured her that he knew the whole situation and might be able to help as he was a former soldier.
The relationship between Zach and Leon would develop in an unexpected direction, but more on that later. Meanwhile, Leon met a new girlfriend, Valerie McDaniel, who was his mother's neighbor. It's also worth mentioning that his father, an orthopedic surgeon, died of a heart attack when Leon was 13 years old.
Leon was the only person home at the time and had to call 911 and attempt to assist his father until paramedics arrived. This traumatic experience had a profound impact on him. His mother, Gold Jacob, later testified that Leon felt responsible for his father's death, believing that if he had done things differently, his father might have survived.
After his father's death, Leyon took on significant responsibilities at a young age, caring for his younger siblings and striving to emulate his father's career by pursuing medicine. He never received emotional support or counseling to help him process this early trauma. This lack of support may have contributed to the mental health issues he faced later in life, including diagnoses of bipolar disorder and personality disorders.
Valerie was described as charming, friendly, and very helpful. She had been an excellent student and loved animals, which led her to become a veterinarian. According to the Montro Veterinary Clinic website, Dr McDaniel received her DVM degree from Texas&M University in 1997 and had owned the clinic since 2000.
While studying, she met a man named Marian McDaniel, or Mack as his friends called him. They got married and at first were very happy. Valerie's parents bought them a house and after some time Valerie opened her own veterinary practice which she built with her husband.
He handled the office management. The business venture consumed their marriage. Both of them also dreamed of having children, but since Valerie couldn't conceive, they decided to adopt.
In 2008, they adopted a 2-day old girl. They were overjoyed, but unfortunately their happiness didn't last long. Valerie received a call from a woman who revealed that she was her husband's mistress.
The woman also gave her the names of other women Mack had been involved with. Valerie, of course, confronted Mac, and it turned out that it was all true. He apologized and promised to change, but he continued to cheat.
Valerie gave him more chances, but eventually she had enough. In December 2014, she filed for divorce, and by August 2016, the case had concluded. Valerie had to buy out her ex-husband's share of the veterinary clinic, which amounted to over a million dollars.
They shared custody of their daughter with the girl spending a week with each parent. Valerie moved to an exclusive neighborhood in Houston where she met Leon, her neighbor's son. She thought he was very handsome but also too self-confident.
At the time, Valerie was 48 years old and single. Leon was 8 years younger than her, a doctor, and Valerie considered him a suitable partner. Leyon quickly moved in with her.
Friends and family tried to support her happiness, but they didn't necessarily like Leon. One of Valerie's friends warned her about him, claiming he was very arrogant. Valerie's ex-husband, Mack, also didn't like Leyon, especially after hearing about his arrest for assaulting his ex-girlfriend.
Mack was concerned about their daughter, which led to tension with Valerie on this issue. Mack wanted Leyon to stay away while their daughter was with Valerie, and although Valerie initially agreed, she didn't keep her word. By early February 2017, Leon was still waiting for the trial with Megan.
When Zach contacted Leon, he thought that as a former soldier, Zach would be the perfect person to help him with his plan to get rid of Megan. Leon went straight to the point and offered him money. The men met in early February 2017, and Leon handed Zach a down payment of $2,500.
Leon wanted Megan to disappear before the trial, which was fast approaching. He asked Zach to abduct her and convince her to leave the state, preferably to return to Pittsburgh. If she refused, more drastic measures would have to be taken.
Zach agreed, took the money, but had no intention of carrying out the task. When he realized that this was serious, he saw a chance to save Megan's life. He began to deceive Leyon, telling him that he had abducted Megan and convinced her not to testify.
Leon wanted to speak to his ex, but Zach talked him out of it, claiming that Megan was in a bad psychological state. Leon let it go, but Megan appeared at the trial. Leon became furious while Zach continued to pretend that he didn't know what had happened.
They then hatched another plan. This time, Zach came up with the idea of faking a car accident and planting illegal substances on the scene. This would undermine Megan's credibility in court.
However, something went wrong during the execution of this plan and the people who were supposedly working for Zach were arrested. This, of course, was another fabricated story from Zach. He had never met Megan, but Leon paid him in installments for the job.
In total, he gave him $9,000 before Zach simply disappeared. Later, when asked in court why he hadn't contacted the police, Zach explained that he was afraid no one would believe him because Leon was a man of standing and Zach had a previous theft charge that had ended in a suspended sentence. After Zach disappeared, Leyon contacted Houston City Councilman and a bail bondsman, Michael Kubosh.
A bail bondsman is a person or a company who helps someone get out of jail after they've been arrested if they can't afford to pay the full bail amount themselves. Michael was a bail bondsman for both Leyon and Zach. He recalls his meeting with Leyon as being very strange.
Apparently, Leon was persistent, rude, even aggressive, and demanded that Michael give him Zach's phone number because Zach had taken a lot of money from him and then disappeared. Michael had no idea who Leyon was talking about, so he started asking him for more details. It was then that Leon revealed the real reason.
He wanted Megan to disappear from the city. He wanted her to leave and never return so that she could not testify against him. If that happened, it would destroy his life.
Michael entered Leon Jacob into his computer. And that's when the case appeared. He quickly ended the conversation and contacted the police because he found it alarming that a man accused of harming his exartner was talking about her disappearance.
The police took the matter very seriously and swiftly tracked down Zach. It turned out that Zach wasn't his real name. His actual name was Moataz Azer.
This explained why Michael hadn't recognized the name Leon was using as he had it under his real name in his records. Zach explained to the police that he never intended to carry out the job. He was trying to save Megan's life by deceiving and lying to Lyon all while earning money.
He claimed that money wasn't his priority. Saving the woman's life was. However, if that was the case, why didn't he inform the police?
Zach agreed to cooperate with the police in order to catch Leyon red-handed. They wanted to have proof in the form of a recording where Leon was urging the murder of his exartner. Detective Javier was also to be involved in the operation posing as a hitman.
Zach called on a wiretapped phone telling him that he wasn't suitable for the job but had the perfect guy Javier who would take care of it. Leon replied that it was fine but now there were two problems to deal with and asked whether Javier would take care of both. It turned out that in addition to Megan, Leon also wanted Valerie's ex-husband Mac to disappear.
Valerie also wanted her ex-husband gone. On 8th March 2017, the four of them, Leon, Valerie, Zach, and Javier, met at an Italian restaurant, Olive Garden, to discuss the details of ending the lives of Megan and Mac. They had no idea that they were discussing these plans with an undercover officer and that every word was being recorded.
Leon said that killing Megan wasn't necessarily the first step. He only cared about her disappearing from the city. He suggested scaring her into fleeing and not returning, but if that didn't work, more drastic measures could be taken.
He even suggested introducing a substance into her body using a syringe that would trigger a heart attack. Valerie, sitting beside him, didn't object. She also told them where they could find her ex-husband, Mac.
She suggested kidnapping his car with him inside and then using a weapon to stage a botched robbery. Her main motive was fear that her ex-husband would take their daughter away. Meanwhile, two weeks before this meeting, Megan received a call from a police officer.
He warned her that she was in danger and asked her to meet him. He also advised her to leave Houston as soon as possible, which Megan did, heading to her parents' house. After 2 weeks, the police contacted her again, asking her to return and take part in an undercover operation.
The same request was made to Mack. The operation involved them both playing roles. Megan had to fake her kidnapping, and Mack had to fake his death.
The police took pictures of Megan bound and gagged as well as Mack with a simulated gunshot wound to the head. These were meant to be proof that the job had been done. On 9th March 2017, Javier showed Leon and Valerie photos of Mac's body with the visible gunshot wound to the head.
One photo showed him lying on the grass and another showed him in the car. Leon and Valerie were pleased with what they saw. Later that day, Javier sent further photos, this time of Megan bound and gagged.
Megan appeared terrified in the photos and later admitted that she was indeed terrified at that moment, crying when she realized how close she had come to the real thing. Javier told Leon that he had no choice but to kill Megan. The following day, on the 10th of March, 2017, at 3:00 a.
m. , the police knocked on Valerie's door to deliver the sad news that their exartners had died. Leon and Valerie pretended to be shocked and devastated.
Leon, unsolicited, mentioned that they had been at home all evening. Of course, all the officers were aware of the operation. Looks like it turns out to be like sorry to tell you heard from him recently.
You heard from him last night. I was at the house last night. [Music] Now your boyfriend is he awake.
[Music] Oh my god. It looks like a lot going on. Anybody knows anything?
No. Are you okay, baby? We've been here all night.
You girl David watching movies? I never met him except for once. What's your name?
My name is Leon Jacob. Oh, okay. After a short while, they told the pair they were under arrest for conspiring to commit murder and that the whole thing had been staged.
M and Megan were alive. Their despair turned into disbelief and shock. At the moment of their arrest, M was outside Valerie's apartment where he came face to face with her, and she had to look him in the eye.
Valerie's daughter, who had been sleeping in the next room, was placed in Mac's care. It was the last time Valerie would see her daughter. Leyon and Valerie were taken to jail.
Leon was denied bail due to previous charges, while Valerie was granted bail and was to await her trial at home. However, she never lived to see it. On the 27th of March, 2017, she jumped from her seventh floor apartment.
She couldn't bear the situation. She had lost everything. Her patients families spoke highly of her even after learning what she had done.
Valerie was highly respected among her friends and clients. After everything she had done, everything she had built over the years was destroyed. Valerie had recorded an audio diary on her iPad.
And before her death, she recorded a farewell message saying she hadn't meant to hurt anyone. I didn't wake up one day and just say, "Hey, I want to kill my ex-husband to the last minute and said he was too busy to make an Olive Garden. " Which was kind of a joke for us.
I was like, "Wait, we have the Olive Garden here. " And that's when I guess the recording started. And I hope people know and I hope comes out is that at one point when I was talking to the officer, I said, "Can't you just talk to him and make him change make him be nice to me?
" And he cut me off real quickly and said, "No, no, no, no. Wasn't going to give me a chance to go to back down. " Cuz I would have if he'd said that.
I really would. Leon was not granted permission to attend Valerie's funeral. His trial began in March 2018.
His defense team used the situation to place all the blame on Valerie, claiming that the plan had been her idea. His defense team argued that his untreated mental health issues, particularly bipolar disorder, influenced his reckless behavior. They said that Leon had struggled for years with severe mood swings, impulsivity, and difficulty regulating his emotions, symptoms consistent with bipolar disorder.
The defense tried to show that Leon's thinking was disorganized at the time of the murder for higher plot, and that he wasn't acting out of pure evil, but out of mental illness, desperation, and emotional instability. They also brought up his traumatic past, his father sudden heart attack when he was just 13. His mother testified that Leon had never properly processed that grief and carried guilt throughout his life.
The defense suggested that these untreated emotional wounds combined with bipolar disorder could explain why Leyon acted irrationally, believing, for example, that hiring a hitman was somehow a solution to his problems. However, prosecutors countered that Leyon was fully capable of planning, lying, manipulating people, and trying to cover up his crimes. Behavior that suggested clear, deliberate intent, not just mental illness.
They said he was selfish, entitled, and dangerous, and that no diagnosis could excuse trying to have two people killed. Megan testified in court, describing how Lyon had stalked her and how she feared for her life, which led her to call the police on multiple occasions. Leyon had been arrested twice for this reason.
His ex-wife also testified about the fear and violence she endured during their marriage. She spoke of how he threatened to kill her and her parents. Despite the recordings, Leon insisted he was innocent and never encouraged anyone to commit murder.
His defense argued that Leyon was the victim of the police who had done everything to make their operation successful. He didn't want anyone dead. He just wanted to scare them.
The prosecution insisted that Leon had indeed encouraged the murder. Had he not, he would have reacted when he saw Megan bound and gagged, telling Javier not to harm her. Leyon's mother, a lawyer who had represented Valerie during her divorce, testified in his defense.
She said that Valerie hated her ex-husband to the point where she wanted him dead. She testified that Valerie had mentioned looking for someone who could get rid of him. When asked why she hadn't reported this, she claimed she hadn't taken Valerie's words seriously.
Jacob was convicted of orchestrating a plan to have his ex-girlfriend and his lover's ex-husband killed. He was sentenced to life in prison and will be eligible for parole in 2047. Jurors deliberated for about two hours before reaching a decision in the sentencing phase.
He was also fined $10,000. Jacob was found guilty of two counts of solicitation of capital murder for attempting to hire a hitman. Apparently, Leon stated that it would make a great story for a film, and he even chose an actor to play him, Bradley Cooper.
Fortunately, this time the worst was avoided in time. Let me know what you think in the comments. Thank you for watching and I'll see you soon.
Take care.
