Inset: Daniel Fiero (GoFundMe). Background: The extended‑stay hotel in Henrietta, New York, where Fiero was murdered (WHAM).
A New York veteran confessed to killing the man who had offered him food and shelter for a month after the veteran spotted him trudging along a snowy, winter road.
Richard Leo, 37, pleaded guilty on Friday to second‑degree murder for the stabbing death of 40‑year‑old Daniel Fiero, according to the Monroe County District Attorney’s Office.
Shortly before 3 p.m. on Jan. 31, deputies arrived at an extended‑stay hotel in Henrietta, just outside Rochester. They found Leo outside a room, his clothes stained with blood. Inside, officers discovered Fiero with multiple stab wounds to his head and face.
Investigators learned that Fiero, a truck driver, first met Leo about a month earlier when he spotted Leo walking along the roadside in the cold.
Prosecutors noted, “After offering the defendant a ride, Daniel Fiero learned that Richard Leo was a homeless veteran.”
Over the following month, Fiero secured housing for Leo and provided him with meals.
Prosecutors said Leo killed Fiero “out of anger” on the day in question. While authorities have not disclosed a motive, a GoFundMe launched by Fiero’s family labeled the act a “homophobic hate crime.”
“Daniel Fiero lost his life because he chose to help someone in need, and that is a tragedy that is difficult to comprehend,” said Monroe County District Attorney Brian Green. “His compassion and generosity were met with senseless violence at the hands of Richard Leo. No act of kindness should ever end in such a loss, and no family should have to endure the heartbreak of losing a loved one under these circumstances.”
Assistant District Attorney Patrick Gallagher, who prosecuted the case, said Fiero was “the kind of person we should all strive to be.”
“When he encountered a stranger in need, he did not hesitate to offer a helping hand. What began as a simple act of kindness became an extraordinary display of compassion and generosity,” Gallagher said. “Tragically, Richard Leo repaid that kindness with an unimaginable act of violence, brutally taking the life of the very person who had gone out of his way to help him. Daniel deserved so much better.”
In the GoFundMe description, Fiero’s family noted that helping others came naturally to him, and that he cared for his special‑needs sister.
“The way Dan was taken has left us angry, heartbroken, and completely devastated,” the fundraiser reads. “No family should have to bury someone because of hate.”
Leo faces sentencing on Nov. 16.
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