Cattle rustlers' cases advance in court system

By LORI COPE | East Texas Edition

December 27, 2001 -- The post-arrest developments of two cattle rustling cases, first reported in Country World at the end of July 2001, involve Mark A. Ganske of Jacksonville and Bob Harold Leach of Pilot Point.

Ganske has remained in custody in Bossier City, La., since the July 12 incident and is currently charged with one count of kidnapping and one count of armed robbery.

Other the other hand, Leach has been sentenced to life in prison for events that occurred while on the run from police who were seeking him on a $1.5 million cattle rustling scheme that began in early July.

In Ganske's case, he was arrested following an ordeal in which he allegedly kidnapped a cattle hauler, and took a truckload of cattle, from Livestock Producers livestock barn in Bossier City, La., in the early hours of July 12.

Reports indicate Ganske took the truck driver and the load of cattle into Texas where the cattle were unloaded in a pen near Mixon in Cherokee County. Returning to the Bossier City area around 7 a.m., the truck broke down in rush hour traffic on a major thoroughfare. The truck driver reported when Ganske got out of the truck to check the cause of the breakdown, the truck driver sounded the truck's air horn and hollered to nearby people to call 911. Ganske ran, but following a short chase, was apprehended and arrested.

On Dec. 10, a status hearing with Ganske's attorney and Carl Eckendall of the Bossier Parrish District Attorney's office determined Ganske would be charged with one count kidnapping and one count of armed robbery.

"He could still face federal charges" because of crossing the Texas-Lousiana state line, Eckendall said Dec. 13, and other charges regarding the cattle.

Another hearing is set for the end of January 2002. "There are some components of the stories being told" that continue to be investigated, Eckendall said.

In Leach's case, he was arrested July 26 near Tioga. Police had been searching for him in connection with a cattle rustling scheme in which he and wife Tammy Leach answered advertisements in which cattle owners were seeking pasture to stock cattle on. Once the beef cattle arrived, allegedly Leach sold them for his profit.

Tammy Leach turned herself into authorities on July 17.

On July 26, Leach reportedly ran from police for about an hour after police received a 911 call from his former girlfriend. The woman said Leach had kidnapped and sexually assaulted her, and then stole her vehicle. (It is this incident that has resulted in the life sentence issued Leach on Dec. 3.) Leach was apprehended following a short chase after wrecking the woman's vehicle.

Following the July 26 arrest, Leach was in the Grayson County jail for about two-and-a-half months before he and four other inmates escaped on Oct. 11. Three of the inmates were soon caught, but it took three more days and an eight-hour standoff before Leach would be in custody again.

On Oct. 14, Leach and fellow escapee Gerald Lynn Gantt, being pursued by authorities, took refuge at a farmhouse near Forestburg in Montague County. The fugitives held the 65- and 63-year-old couple inside the home while police tried negotiating for their release and the fugitives' surrender.

Eventually, as Gantt slept, Leach released the hostages through a back window in their home, authorities said. Gantt awoke, and there was a struggle. Leach allegedly shot Gantt in the abdomen, then surrendered.

Leach still faces charges in Collin, Denton, Fannin, Montague and Wood counties.