A pedophile in Texas died this week after drinking a mysterious liquid from a water bottle as a jury found him guilty of child sexual assault, officials said.
57-year-old Edward Leclair was on trial in Denton, Texas, for five counts of sexual abuse and had been free on bond until the verdict on Thursday.
“As these verdicts were being read, he chugged a bottle of water he had at [the] counsel table,” Denton County Assistant District Attorney Jamie Beck told CNN Friday, adding the liquid seemed cloudy.
“Our investigator noticed him chug the water,” Beck said. “He told the bailiff he might want to go check on him. The bailiff did. He was unconscious in the holding cell.”
“Shortly after entering the holdover cell, he started vomiting, and emergency services were called,” Leclair’s defense attorney, Mike Howard said.
Howard said Leclair had taken a “long drink from a water bottle” while listening to the verdict, but the attorney did not know what was in the bottle.
“It wasn’t like he was just taking sips of water,” First Assistant Attorney Jamie Beck from the Denton County District Attorney’s Office said, according to WFAA. “He was literally throwing it back, so to speak.”
Medics tried to revive Leclair. He was later pronounced dead at a local hospital.
An autopsy was ordered, and the cause of death is listed as pending.