Robert Warnes Leach (December 16, 1914 – March 30, 2008) was an American journalist and Hollywood screenwriter who became a leading figure in California's victims' rights movement after the death of his stepdaughter, Marsalee (Marsy) Nicholas, in 1983.

In 1933, Leach graduated from Los Angeles High School,[2] and in 1938, he earned a bachelor's degree in Journalism and received a 2nd Lieutenant's commission from the ROTC Field Artillery Reserves at the University of Missouri.

[2] During World War II, Leach served in the U.S. Navy, mainly in the South Pacific, and rose to the rank of lieutenant commander by the time he was released from active duty in 1946.

Subsequently, Leach worked for CBS, where he helped develop story ideas into scripts for TV producer Jack Chertok, and wrote freelance teleplays.

[2] Leach’s TV writing credits include: The Adventures of Jim Bowie, Perry Mason, The Case of the Dangerous Robin, Ripcord, Everglades, and The Littlest Hobo.

In 1967, three years after the end of his first marriage with LaVerne Barrick, Leach married Marcella M. Nicholas, a divorced mother of two small children who was working on a master’s degree in journalism at UCLA.

[4] On November 30, 1983,[5] Leach's stepdaughter, Marsalee “Marsy” Ann Nicholas,[6] then a 21-year-old senior at UC Santa Barbara, was lured to the residence of and then shot to death by her 28-year- old ex-boyfriend, Kerry Michael Conley, after she ended their turbulent relationship around the time of Thanksgiving.