Backyard Murder: The Leah Martin Case
How a 22-year-old receptionist's disappearance in Texas led to murder convictions and a dark discovery buried beneath concrete
On May 29, 2015, Leah Martin disappeared from Graham, Texas, a small city about 80 miles northwest of Fort Worth. The 22-year-old mother and receptionist worked at an auto body shop owned by E.C. Blair. When she went missing, her family—including her father Billy Martin and aunt Renee Martin—launched a desperate search. Martin's loved ones wore purple, her favorite color, as they sought answers about her disappearance.
The breakthrough came in August 2015 when Renee Martin spotted a buzzard perched in a tree near a property in the area. She alerted police, and authorities began investigating. What they discovered was horrifying: Leah Martin's body had been buried in a shallow grave in the backyard of Jeremy Hellams, a coworker at the auto shop. The corpse was bound with duct tape, a plastic bag placed over her head, and covered with a blanket. Concrete had been poured over the grave, with dirt and trash piled on top in an attempt to conceal the crime.
The investigation revealed a conspiracy involving three men. E.C. Blair, Martin's employer, was charged with murder and orchestrating her death. Jeremy Hellams, the coworker on whose property the body was buried, was charged with murder and tampering with physical evidence of a corpse. The third conspirator was Dustin Minkley, who played a crucial role in concealing the crime.
Minkley rented a backhoe the day after the murder to dig the grave. During his testimony, Minkley provided chilling details of the crime, claiming that Blair wanted Martin dead. He described being present when Martin was killed, alleging he and Hellams committed the murder while using methamphetamine. When asked about digging the grave, Minkley said with disturbing nonchalance, "I dug the nicest hole I could."
The investigation uncovered additional evidence: Martin had received threatening phone calls before her disappearance, and blood was spotted on a local bridge. Her family's worst fears were confirmed when her body was exhumed on August 5, 2015.
