Fort Myers man gets life in prison for 2017 strangulation of Bible study teacher
A Fort Myers man found guilty by a jury a week ago in the brutal 2017 strangulation death of a North Fort Myers Bible study teacher will serve life in prison.
On Thursday, Brett Todd Pleasant, 56, was sentenced for the murder of 77-year-old Jo Ann Leasure. He was found guilty of second-degree murder on Dec. 9, following a trial in Lee County and sentenced as a prison releasee reoffender.
Deputies arrested Pleasant on the murder charge nearly 18 months after the incident, on Dec. 9, 2019. He was held in Lee County Jail without bond.
A friend discovered Leasure's body in her North Fort Myers condo after she failed to show up to a meeting at Covenant Presbyterian. Leasure's hands were bound behind her back and the same type of material binding her hands was wrapped around her neck.
Phone at scene: Evidence released in North Fort Myers homicide; show suspect's phone had been at scene
Beating before death: Arrest affidavit: Jo Ann Leasure was beaten, strangled
She had been beaten and strangled to death. The Medical Examiner determined Leasure died by asphyxiation.
Investigators determined Pleasant was a suspect when a fingerprint from material left on Leasure matched his prison records. Pleasant had served 25 years in a 1991 armed robbery and was released in 2016.
Fingerprints on a stolen cellphone and cellphone records helped lead to his arrest.
Detectives say Leasure's phone and wallet were missing. The phone was found damaged on the side of the road near Jeffcott and Fowler streets in Fort Myers, about four blocks from where Pleasant was living, according to an arrest affidavit.
A latent print found on the phone was identified as Pleasant's, who was on supervised release from prison where he had served a 25-year sentence for armed robbery, the information said.
A check of Pleasant's AT&T account documented his phone had been at the homicide site from 6:45 to 7:30 p.m., the time of the murder, the documents showed.
During questioning, detectives said that Pleasant denied involvement but confirmed that he had his cellphone with him on the night Leasure was killed.
Pleasant was charged with second-degree murder, robbery and violating parole. The jury found Pleasant not guilty on the robbery charge.
News-Press records contributed to this report.
Connect with breaking news reporter Michael Braun: MichaelBraunNP (Facebook), @MichaelBraunNP (Twitter) or mbraun@news-press.com.
This article originally appeared on Fort Myers News-Press: Brett Pleasant gets life for strangulation death of North Fort Myers woman