Murder of Joann Lee Tiesler

His attorneys argued for sympathy towards LeCroy's family, as his brother Chad, a Georgia State Trooper, was murdered during a traffic stop in 2010 and they claimed executing LeCroy would only add to their suffering. On September 22, 2020, after president Donald Trump rejected a last-minute stay of execution, LeCroy was executed by lethal injection at USP Terre Haute in Terre Haute, Indiana. His execution was the sixth that year conducted by the federal government.

The trial began in early 2004. LeCroy's attorneys admitted early on that he did kill Tiesler, but argued the murder was not preplanned nor fit the profile of a federal crime. They stated that it would have made more sense to have LeCroy tried in the state of Georgia rather than in federal court, as they argued the case did not fit the qualification for the federal carjacking statute, which had been passed in 1992. They maintained that, given LeCroy's background of robberies, that he was simply burglarizing Tiesler's home when she unexpectedly walked in, and that the sexual assault, murder, and carjacking were not done with premeditation. Prosecutors supported their claim that LeCroy had deliberately planned out the rape and murder, given evidence of him spying on her through a neighboring house, and in the days leading up to killing her he had bought cable wires which he used to tie her up. In March, a grand jury convicted LeCroy on all counts and sentenced him to death.

In 2002, Tiesler's mother Julie Wells constructed an outdoor classroom and memorial garden in Bowie Nature Park in honor of Joann.

On October 7, 2001, 30-year-old Joann Lee Tiesler, a nurse, was raped and stabbed to death in her home in Cherry Log, Georgia, United States, by 31-year-old William LeCroy Jr., a discharged U.S. soldier and sex offender. LeCroy had broken into Tiesler's house while she was out shopping and waited for her to come home, and when she did he bound, raped, and murdered her then stole her car.

LeCroy was arrested by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) on October 11, 2001, while attempting to flee to Canada. He was sentenced to death in federal court in 2004 and executed by the federal government on September 22, 2020.

On Sunday, October 7, 2001, Tiesler and her fiancé visited her native Tennessee in the city of Chattanooga, where they visited a shopping center. After completing their shopping, both returned to their respective homes. None of her friends heard anything from Tiesler for the rest of the day, but the next morning, Monday, October 8, when she failed to show up for an appointment, one of her friends decided to pay her a visit. At approximately 10:30 am, the friend discovered Tielser's dead body. Police were called and the subsequent investigation revealed her vehicle, a 1996 black Ford Explorer, was missing from her driveway. She had been bound with cable wires, raped, and stabbed numerous times. In addition a .32 caliber pistol she owned was also missing from the home.

Joann Lee Tiesler was an employed nurse in the state of Georgia. Born in Tennessee, she attended Franklin High School in Franklin, Tennessee, where she also played for the girls' soccer team. Upon graduation she attended Berry College in Rome, Georgia and obtained a master's degree at Vanderbilt University. As a family nurse practitioner, she was able to obtain work in the National Health Corps. During her work from 1999 to 2001, she successfully treated numerous patients who mostly lived in the cities of Blue Ridge and Ellijay.