Family Fights to Keep Killer of Faribault Man Behind Bars as Minnesota’s Early Release Law Faces Backlash

Jen Murphy is working to change Minnesota’s criminal justice laws after a newly passed reform threatens to allow her father’s killer to walk free after serving only four years in prison.

A little over a month after pleading guilty to a murder charge, a Faribault man was sentenced to over 11 years (140 months) in prison in connection with a fatal assault following a road rage incident. He has credit for 466 days already served.

Fifty-three-year-old Leslie Sanders pleaded guilty to second-degree unintentional murder in early September as part of a plea agreement. In exchange, two other charges—first- and third-degree assault—were dismissed, and Sanders was sentenced to 140 months in prison.

The charges stemmed from the death of 79-year-old Larry Lynn Myers, who was pulled off life support a week after the assault. Myers was injured during a road rage incident in Dundas, Minnesota, on June 27, 2022. He died on July 6, 2022, after being removed from life support. Myers was a U.S. Air Force veteran who had previously lived in Jackson, Missouri.

Court records show that Sanders, after a minor collision with Myers’s vehicle, exited his pickup truck, approached Myers’s SUV, and started punching him repeatedly in the face. Myers corroborated the witnesses’ testimony, telling police that Sanders had struck his vehicle before attacking him. Sanders was later convicted of second-degree unintentional murder for the brutal assault, which left Myers with severe facial injuries, including fractures and brain damage. Myers was unable to breathe on his own and was taken off life support days later.

Under the Minnesota Rehabilitation and Reinvestment Act (MRRA), signed into law in 2023, Sanders could be eligible for an early release after serving just four years in prison. The MRRA is part of a larger package of criminal justice reforms aimed at reducing mass incarceration by offering prisoners personalized rehabilitation plans. If inmates successfully complete their plans, they can earn the possibility of early release. However, Sanders’ second-degree murder conviction qualifies him for the MRRA program, and Murphy fears he could be released far too soon.

Murphy is now working alongside State Senator John Jasinski to introduce legislation that would bar those convicted of second- or third-degree murder, as well as first- and second-degree manslaughter, from participating in the MRRA. Senate File 78, introduced by Jasinski, is designed to ensure that violent offenders, particularly those convicted of murder, remain in prison for a much longer period of time.

Senator Jasinski expressed his concerns about the MRRA, noting that the system was created to deliver justice for victims and their families. “We have a criminal justice system for the express purpose of delivering justice on behalf of those harmed by criminal acts,” he said.

He further criticized the MRRA’s potential impact on victims, stating, “Larry Myers was brutally beaten to death, and his killer could walk free in as few as four years thanks to soft-on-crime policies from Democrats that fail to respect the victims and survivors of crimes.”

“The pain Myers’ family has already faced cannot be overlooked,” he added. “Now they could be confronted with his killer being back on the streets and able to harm another person in the time it takes a person to complete high school.”

Jasinski emphasized that criminal justice policies should prioritize the victims and survivors of crimes, not simply focus on reducing incarceration rates. “We should embrace criminal justice policies that remember pain inflicted on the victims and survivors instead of emptying jail beds.”

While the MRRA has its supporters, including advocates who claim that earned release programs help reduce recidivism and provide necessary resources for rehabilitation, Murphy and others argue that violent criminals should not benefit from early release after such a short time in prison. For Murphy, this isn’t just a legislative issue—it’s a deeply personal fight to protect victims’ rights and ensure justice for her father.