Murder of Angie Lee by Anthony A. Ashby highlighted on Murder In The Heartland 

Murder In The Heartland is featuring the murder of Angie Lee by Anthony A. Ashby, which took place at her home in East Gillespie, Ohio.

On the night of July 30, 2003, officers were dispatched to a residence after receiving a 911 call. When they arrived on the scene, they found Lee’s body on the floor of the dining room area. 

She was lying in a pool of blood with injuries to her head and neck. An autopsy later determined that Lee had been beaten and strangled to death.

Her boyfriend, who made the 911 call, told police officials that he returned to the house around 9 p.m. after working overtime and found her dead.

He also discovered Lee’s 4-year-old son in the home, watching television in the bedroom. 

He was uninjured. 

Police were suspicious of Angie Lee’s boyfriend and ex-boyfriend

Investigators became suspicious of his story after learning that he had never worked overtime before that day. 

After his job confirmed that he was at work around the time Lee would have been killed, investigators began to look elsewhere—Lee’s ex-boyfriend.

Lee, it appears, would return to him whenever she and her boyfriend had a falling out.

But he had an alibi. He was at a party, and a polygraph test and the statements from other partygoers proved he was telling the truth.

Investigators then spoke with Lee’s son, whom they believe witnessed the murder. He told them that a man had attacked his mother.

After the killing, they believe he fled through a nearby parking lot after finding a balloon string similar to those found in Lee’s garage.

They also found a glove and other evidence in a ditch nearby.

A neighbor said he saw Lee outside mowing the grass around 5 p.m., and her son was nearby, but he never saw a man or anything suspicious.

Police arrest Anthony A. Ashby three years after Angie Lee’s murder

Despite their findings, Lee’s murder remained unsolved for three years until a maintenance worker helped investigators track down her killer. 

In May 2007, police officials arrested Ashby, who was married at the time. He was booked into the Macoupin County Jail on murder charges.

The following month, Ashby pleaded not guilty.

In November 2008, a judge sentenced Ashby to 33 years in prison with credit for 500 days served.

Murder In The Heartland airs Wednesdays at 9/8c on Investigation Discovery.