By Justin L. Engel | The Saginaw News
January 17, 2010, 7:07AM
A 51-year-old St. Louis Correctional Facility inmate who died of an apparent heart attack Thursday after stabbing two officers had a history with sharp objects.
Leonard P. Riffe
Saginaw News records show a Saginaw County jury in February 1980 sentenced Leonard P. Riffe, then a 21-year-old Saginaw resident, to life in prison for stabbing to death 22-year-old girlfriend Deborah S. Kempf with a 30-inch Japanese samurai sword after an argument over a lottery ticket in a home they shared at 927 N. Fayette.
Twice in 1986, Riffe was charged with possessing prohibited weapons in a prison at the Jackson State Prison. He received an 18-month to five-year sentence and three- to five-year sentence.
And on Thursday, state Department of Corrections officials say Riffe died after prison officers placed him in a holding cell after his attack on the two guards. Authorities have said they suspect a heart attack was the cause.
Russ Marlan, spokesman for the corrections department, said Riffe likely attacked the officers about 1:30 p.m. Thursday with “some sort of shank” because they intended to perform a “shakedown” and sweep him for weapons. Marlan said the injured officers were treated and released from Alma’s Gratiot Medical Center that same day.
“This is probably a case where he knew that he was going to be discovered,” Marlan said. “Rather than turning that weapon over, he chose to do something incredibly stupid and attacked them.”
Riffe was a “Level IV” prisoner, a level below those categorized as prison’s most dangerous.
“Generally prisoners work their way down to lower security,” Marlan said.
Inmates with life sentences can not reach Level II or I, the least-dangerous category.
Investigation continues
The state police will conduct an investigation of the incident, Marlan said.
When Riffe was in the holding cell, he fell unconscious and the prison staff responded with CPR, Marlan said.
“They believe it was a heart attack,” the spokesman said.
“Any time a prisoner dies, there’s an investigation,” he said, “but yeah: From the assault of the officers to (Riffe’s death), there will be an investigation. There’s videotape and camera footage.”
Holding a sword
At the time of the Kempf slaying, Riffe at the time was an unemployed parolee who had served three years behind bars for attempted burglary. He killed his girlfriend Aug. 21, 1979, 22 days before he would have been released if officials hadn’t paroled him.
Police described the weapon he killed her with as a “ceremonial blade used by Japanese warriors and carried by some officers during World War II.” The sword had been a decoration in the home, a gift from one of Kempf’s cousin who acquired it while serving in Vietnam.
A Saginaw patrol officer reportedly persuaded Riffe to let him inside shortly after the 2:30 a.m. murder. The officer reported seeing Kempf slumped in a beanbag chair about 10 feet from the door as Riffe stood over her, still holding the sword.
“Me and Deborah Sue got in a argument,” a then-21-year-old Riffe told the jury 30 years ago. “I took a sword and stabbed her and she died.”
No motive was offered for the slaying. His attorney said Riffe had been using drugs before the murder.
After he was arrested, Riffe reportedly shouted to police: “They were pumping me full of PCP,” and, “you’re not going to take me alive.”
Riffe pleaded guilty in December 1979 to second-degree murder of Kempf, a 1975 graduate of Eisenhower High School, now known as Heritage High School in Saginaw Township.
Prosecutors originally charged Riffe with first-degree murder but later reduced the charge in exchange for a guilty plea. Second-degree murder, at the time, was considered “deliberate but not planned.”
After then-Circuit Court Judge Karen R. Armstrong sentenced Riffe to life, he attempted to withdraw his plea but was denied.
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