October 13, 2024

Symbol of law and justice in the empty courtroom, law and justice concept.

Wayne O. Leib, Jr. Sentenced to Life Without Parole for Aggravated Murder
Meigs County Prosecuting Attorney James K. Stanley announces that Wayne O. Leib, Jr., 41, of Racine, Ohio, appeared before Meigs County Court of Common Pleas Judge Linda R. Warner and entered a guilty plea to Aggravated Murder, an unclassified felony.
On September 30, 2022, Leib entered Dwayne Qualls’ residence in Pomeroy, Ohio where he shot and killed Qualls. Leib was apprehended a short time thereafter.
At sentencing, Stanley argued for the maximum sentence for Aggravated Murder—the imposition of life in prison without the possibility of parole—based upon the circumstances of the case. Leib, through counsel, argued for a sentence less than the maximum sentence, which could have been life in prison with the possibility of parole after twenty, twenty-five, or thirty years. After sentencing arguments, Judge Warner sentenced Leib to the maximum sentence of life in prison without parole.
The Pomeroy Police Department investigated this matter, and Ohio BCI, the Meigs County Sheriff’s Office, the Major Crimes Task Force, and Middleport Police Department assisted.