Police find army captain’s body

After an all-day search, police in Bucks County this afternoon found the body of a U.S. Army captain suspected of murdering four people - three in Virginia, one in Buckingham Township - and wounding two police officers during a late-night shootout in Doylestown.

Leonard John Egland, 37, of Fort Lee, Va., was found dead in the brush of a vacant lot near York and Almshouse Roads in Warwick Township at around 3:40 p.m., District Attorney David W. Heckler said. Authorities believe he died from a self-inflicted gunshot.

The lot is across the street from where Egland's truck had been found parked early this morning - and where he had opened fire on police inspecting the vehicle in the rainy, pre-dawn darkeness, Heckler said.

The body had gone undiscovered as police SWAT teams had spent hours responding to tips of possible sightings in the surrounding central Bucks County region. Police had assumed that Egland had escaped on foot after firing at police from behind a Dumpster at a gas station adjacent to the lot where his body was found.

The discovery ended a multi-state drama that began in Virginia and played out in the midst of Hurricane Irene's arrival in Bucks County.

Egland is suspected of killing his former or estranged wife, Carrie Egland, Saturday in Chesterfield County, Va. Also killed were Egland's boyfriend and the boyfriend's young son, whom police have not identified.

After the slayings in Virginia, police believe Egland drove with his young daughter, Lauryn, to Buckingham Township, Heckler said.

There, authorities say, Egland broke into the two-story home of his former mother-in-law around 9 p.m. Saturday, and shot her to death as she sat in her easy chair. The victim, 66-year-old Barbara Ruehl of the 3400 block of Church School Road, was shot after the glass of her front door was broken and its deadbolt unlocked.

Egland, who has served in Afghanistan, is believe to have returned a week ago from his third overseas tour of duty.

Ruehl, a widow, was the mother of Carrie Egland, 36, who had been married to Leonard Egland and is believed to be among the slaying victims in Virginia.

After Ruehl's slaying, Leonard Egland and his daughter surfaced at St. Luke's Hospital in Quakertown, Heckler said, where he apparently tried to leave his daughter and a note that hinted at suicide.

"Presumably he had grabbed his daughter from his ex-wife when he killed her," Heckler said. At the hospital, "he asks to have her looked at, leaves a note and starts walking out."

The girl allegedly told hospital workers that "grandmom went to heaven," Heckler said.

A hospital orderly confronted Egland and tried to prevent him from leaving, Heckler said, but backed off when Egland drew a handgun and drove off.

The orderly gave a description of Egland's black Dodge pickup truck to police, who followed the vehicle through Hilltown Township toward Doylestown on Route 313.

Around midnight, Egland stopped near the interchange of Routes 313 and 611, and fired a semi-automatic rifle at several police officers who were pursuing him.

Doylestown Borough officer Ed Hilton was wounded in the hand, Heckler said, and a state police trooper suffered an eye injury from flying glass when a bullet shattered the trooper's windshield.

Sometime around 3 a.m., Heckler said, Egland's truck was spotted in a pizza shop parking lot at York and Almshouse Roads in Warwick. Egland again fired at police before fleeing on foot, Heckler said.

Since then, "homeowners have been alerted," and SWAT teams have fanned out in various locations, Heckler said. Some residents received automated phone messages warning them to lock their doors and stay inside.

Two police officers armed with rifles stood guard outside Ruehl's home Sunday morning. One watched the driveway while another scanned an open field in back of the house.

Hilton, the wounded Doylestown officer, was recovering at home Sunday afternoon, Mayor Libby White said.

"We're very relieved about that," White said, "but it sure shocked the life out of me. He's a wonderful officer."

Leonard Egland, a Los Angeles native, joined the military in 1993 and has served in Afghanistan, according to a 2008 story in a publication of Saint Leo University. Carrie Egland enlisted in 1995, and the couple married in 1997 after meeting at Fort Irwin, the article said.

The couple had arrived at the Fort Lee Army base in Virginia in 2002, and focused their attention on earning degrees at Saint Leo's Fort Lee Education Center.

Leonard Egland completed a degree in criminal justice in December 2007, the article said, and planned to enroll in an online MBA program. Carrie Egland, who had left the Army after serving 10 years, was working as a logistics analyst for a defense contractor in Richmond.

"As the proud parents of two-year-old Lauryn, both Leonard and Carrie want to model for their daughter the importance they place on education and on what Leonard calls 'exceeding the norm,'" the 2008 article said.

Doylestown resident Bill Bishop, a lifelong friend of Barbara Ruehl and her late husband, said Sunday he had met Leonard Egland several times at social gatherings. He annd Carrie Egland seemed to be an attractive, happy couple, Bishop recalled.

"He came up here to visit, and they would have picnics there at the house, because it was a big celebration when he could get off duty and she was off duty," Bishop said. Egland "was always very well-mannered, very handsome. He had that military bearing, and so did Carrie. She was extremely beautiful, and so was their child.

"Everything seemed fine," said Bishop, who was unaware that the couple had separated. "Looks are deceiving."

At least one other relative of Carrie Egland lives in the central Bucks County area and is under protection, Heckler said.

"The question is, does he have other people on his list?" Heckler said. "If he drove up here to assassinate his mother-in-law, are there other targets?"