Gainesville man, 1 of 3 accused of murder and rape of woman in Douglas County in 1989, pleads guilty

A Gainesville man, one of three men accused of kidnapping, raping and murdering a Douglas County woman in 1989, has pleaded guilty to a reduced charge in the case. Sixty-six-year-old Leonard Dwight Banks, through an Alford Plea, pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter and was sentenced to 15 years in prison, the maximum sentence for the charge. An Alford Plea is a type of guilty plea where a defendant maintains their innocence but acknowledges the prosecution has enough evidence to convict them. Banks was charged with first degree murder, first degree kidnapping and forcible rape. His plea happened in Phelps County where his trial was being held on a change of venue.

The other two men accused in the death of 24-year-old Kelle Ann Workman of the Dogwood area of Douglas County are set to stand trial in August. They are Bobby Lee Banks of Seymour and Wiley Belt of Ava. They are each also charged with first degree murder, first degree kidnapping and forcible rape.

All three were indicted by a grand jury in February of 2024.

According to court documents in the case and news coverage of the incident from 1989, Workman was mowing at the Dogwood Cemetery June 30, 1989 the last time she was seen. She didn’t return home that night and her body was found eight days later submerged in a creek near Oldfield, which is in Christian County, about 12-15 miles from the cemetery.

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