
Shawn Michael Leonard talks with a corrections officer during his plea hearing in 4th District Court in Provo on Wednesday, April 27, 2011. Leonard plead guilty to five charges in connection with a brutal rape and assault.
Shawn Leonard, 34, plead guilty to attempted aggravated murder, aggravated robbery, and two counts of aggravated kidnapping. In exchange for his plea, a charge of aggravated sexual assault was dismissed. All charges are first-degree felonies.
Last June, Leonard walked away from his jail work-release program.
On June 9, 2010, Leonard grabbed a 19-year-old woman walking along the Provo River Trail, pulled her off the trail into some bushes, strangled her and smashed her face with a rock and cement cinder block. When the victim came to, she found her pants and underwear around her ankles. She had to crawl back to the trail to get help.