Lennie Paul Tracey

Here is another one that should not be super long, but I have a problem with that. In the last case I talked about the perpetrator committed suicide at the scene of the crime and so many questions were left unanswered. In fact, the one after this one is much of the same but it has more “twists and turns” than the last one. But, the problem I have with this one and the information is that there should be more and things be more specific. I know there was an episode of the Investigation Discovery show Fear Thy Neighbor, because I have seen it so when I researched the case on the Internet I could visually remember that case, but not enough that I felt comfortable adding things to my research.

On September 24, 2011 fifty-one year old Anthony Davis was shot by his neighbor, Lennie Paul Tracey, at about three in the morning, in Santa Clarita California. Like so many other neighbor cases that I have done recently this was not their first run in with each other. This had been an ongoing feud between the two men that came to an end on that night. In fact, according to Lennie's wife, Sandra, the feud had last about seven years.

One thing that seemed a bit different than some of the other cases like this that I have talked about is that both men seemed to have anger issues that had seen them on the wrong end of the law that did not pertain to each other. Sometimes you will see a person who had issues with neighbors in one area and then move to another and have new issues but generally the neighbors they argue with do not have those same issues. There is also the situation where one of the people, usually the perpetrator in the end, may have had some legal or criminal issues in the past, but rarely do you see where they both have. At least that is where my thinking is at the moment. It was said that in August of 2008 Sandra Tracey got a restraining order against Lennie for domestic violence issues. It appears that the case, and the restraining order were dropped and he was not prosecuted in the end. But, the allegation was there. Then just a few months later Anthony Davis was not so lucky. He was actually charged with “making a criminal threat” against two family members. He pleaded down the case to two counts of assault. It was said that during an argument he had “hit his daughter and struck his wife with the car” in front of their home. No one was seriously injured and I cannot tell you what punishment he received for this. But it appears in both cases that the couples worked things out. Aside from that I can say that Lennie Tracey had a DUI conviction in 1997 but that is all that was mentioned and nothing was ever said about Anthony Davis.

Well, I guess that is not completely true. Although I was unable to to get a time period, it was said that Anthony Davis also got a restraining order against Lennie Tracey at some point after his home and cars had been vandalized and apparently he believed Tracey to be involved. At that point Anthony Davis also erected surveillance cameras on his property and at least one apparently faced the Tracey home. Apparently in retaliation Tracey bought basically flood lights and pointed them at the Davis home which disrupted the cameras. This is what ultimately led to the end.

This is where things get a bit shady in my opinion. No one seemed to dispute that Lennie Tracey shot and killed Anthony Davis on that early morning in September of 2011. What they did dispute is what led up to the shooting and whether it was cold blooded murder, an accident or justifiable self defense. There was really not a lot of information given about what was said at Lennie's November 2012 trial.

The prosecution would argue that this was a cold blooded killing and that Lennie Tracey knew exactly who he was shooting and what he was doing. Sandra Tracey would testify that they were in bed when they heard a large banging on their door and that they thought there was a prowler at the door. Now, have any of you heard of a prowler that knocks? Lennie had gotten out of bed and allegedly simply opened the door and fired the gun two times without knowing who he was firing at. He would claim that he did not know it was Anthony Davis until later. Sandra would also testify that in the seven years they had issues with Davis he had never come to the door. Prosecution would say that Davis had unplugged the flood lights and that an argument ensued. I can only assume that the Davis' surveillance cameras were able to come to this conclusion, but in fairness I cannot be sure.

Lennie Tracey had been charged with first degree murder and assault with a firearm. The latter charge came from the fact that after the murder he had allegedly pointed, although did not fire, the gun at Anthony's wife, Cindy. In the end the jury believed the prosecution and on November 7, 2012 they convicted Lennie Tracey on all charges. He would be sentenced to fifty years to life on the murder charge and fourteen years on the charge of assault with a firearm. The sentences are to be served consecutively. Barring an appeal Lennie Tracey will be in prison for the rest of his life. In California one must serve 85% of their sentence before being eligible for parole. For Tracey this means fifty-four years. Considering that he was over fifty years old at the time and his first chance at parole is not until September of 2036 it is safe to say he will not likely get out of prison.... ever.