Background: Cherie Townsend spoke to KCNB in 2018 after she was released following her first arrest in connection with Susan Leeds' death (KNBC). Inset: Susan Leeds (via LA Times).
A California woman who was accused of murdering a retired nurse so she could rob her and fund her daughter's cheerleading trip was found guilty.
Cherie Townsend, 47, was convicted of murder by a jury on Thursday, seven years after she was arrested, released, and rearrested in connection with the 2018 murder of 66-year-old Susan Leeds, a retired nurse. According to courtroom coverage by the local news outlet Daily Breeze, prosecutors argued that Townsend was seeking illegal ways to raise cash so she could send her teenage daughter on a cheerleading trip.
On May 3, 2018, Townsend went to the Promenade on the Peninsula mall in Rolling Hills Estates, California, the same day Leeds was found stabbed to death in her Mercedes-Benz SUV.
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Prosecutors pointed to surveillance camera footage of a gold Chevy Malibu with a license plate registered to Townsend, which was seen entering the mall's parking structure at 9:40 a.m. Townsend then lay in wait until 12:12 p.m., when Leeds returned to her SUV and was attacked by Townsend, who stabbed her 17 times in the neck and torso. According to prosecutors, Townsend's car was seen leaving the parking structure in a hurry around that time, cutting off other vehicles and running a red light.
Townsend's cellphone was found at the crime scene, underneath Leeds' SUV. Police tracked Leeds' cellphone as it traveled in the same direction Townsend was seen heading on camera. Townsend later went to a Verizon store to close the account attached to that phone.
Defense attorneys for Townsend argued that there was no other physical evidence tying Townsend to the murder. At the time of Leeds' death, police arrested and released a homeless man in connection with the crime. Townsend was also arrested in 2018 but released five days later due to a lack of evidence. She took to the media to proclaim her innocence and filed a civil suit against the county.
When Townsend was arrested again in 2023, the lawsuit was dismissed.
Police cited Townsend's changing story about her whereabouts on the day of the murder as the reason for her second arrest. When she was first questioned, she told police she went to the mall to get something for her daughter, but said she did not leave the mall's parking structure because of car troubles. In 2023, Townsend was interviewed again and told police she was at the mall to get something for her son. This time, she said she walked to the mall.
Both stories contradicted what was seen on surveillance cameras.
Prosecutors said that Townsend was under financial strain leading up to Leeds' murder. As Law&Crime previously reported, she had conducted Google searches for ways to make money, including duplicating credit cards, robbing coin-operated washing machines, celebrity donations, and even finding a "sugar daddy." Prosecutors also cited Google searches for Promenade on the Peninsula and Equinox gyms in the area.
According to a criminal complaint, Townsend was increasingly desperate to come up with $2,000 cash so she could send her teenage daughter to a cheerleading competition in Florida. She reportedly wanted to send two of her daughter's friends with her and asked them for $350 to buy their plane tickets. However, prosecutors said those tickets were never purchased.
Townsend was found guilty of first-degree murder after a jury deliberated for several hours. She is scheduled to be sentenced on Jan. 23, 2026.