Leland Barnes

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Near Pure Evil
Full Name	Leland Barnes
Alias	None
Origin	Law & Order
Allies	Harlan Barnes
Powers / Skills	Manipulation Lies Coordination Marksmanship Legal knowledge
Goals	Kill his wife and the witnesses to her murder. Order Harlan to commit murder (both mostly succeeded). Kill Anton Garfield to silence his testimony. Legally order his conviction overturned (both succeeded). Live a free man (failed).
Moral Event Horizon	Abusing his wife and later killing her and 3 other people in a mass shooting at her workplace. Forcing his son Harlan Barnes to kill several people connected to the massacre, some even being civilians who weren’t even the real targets. Attempting to have Jack McCoy murdered.
Kill Count	11 2+ (attempted)
Crimes	Mass murder Serial murder by proxy Perjury Fraud Harassment Uxoricide Assault Domestic abuse Witness tampering Obstruction of justice
Type of Villain	Homicidal Psychopath

“	It's a terrible feeling, waiting to die. Don't you think, Jack?	„
	~ Barnes threatening McCoy

Leland Barnes is the overarching antagonist of the Law & Order episode "Criminal Law". He's a mass murderer and domestic abuser who uses his son Harlan Barnes to kill the witnesses of his crimes when he files for retrial.

He was portrayed by Daniel-Hugh Kelly.

His Evil Ranking

What Makes Him Close to Being Pure Evil?

• He abused his wife for several years and because he could no longer deal with her, he attacked her workplace and shot her and 3 other coworkers dead. In addition to his domestic abuse, he also had no care for his two sons, Robert and Harlan.
• He ordered his cellmate Anton Garfield to give instructions to kill every single witness involved in the mass shooting to his son Harlan.
• He killed Garfield by strangulation and made it look like a suicide.
• In total, he claimed the lives of 7 people. two being actual survivors, one being the wife of victim Leon Whitaker, two of them being Sylvia Rossis who was mistaken for the real one, and the last being the brother of the third Sylvia. Along with this, one of the survivors, Elaine Bowman was almost killed but Harlan was stopped before it could happen.
• He taunted Jack McCoy, the prosecutor involved in his trial, on how he knew nothing about the murders committed against the witnesses.
• Due to manipulating his son into the killings, he was the reason why Harlan was ultimately imprisoned for life and why he attempted to strangle Joe Fontana.
• He intimidated the sole survivor of the hits, Elaine Bowman, into not telling the truth to the court and committing perjury.

What Prevents Him From Being Pure Evil?

• He just barely failed the heinous standards to other killers with more brutal methods and more victims, though he was unique enough and his double-digit murder count was pretty heinous.

External Links

• Leland Barnes on the Villains Wiki
• Leland Barnes on the Law & Order Wiki