Leslie "Joe Goebbels" Irvin (April 2, 1924 – November 9, 1983) was an American serial killer whose killing spree in the early 1950s terrorized residents of southwestern Indiana and whose Supreme Court case set a precedent for ensuring a fair trial for defendants even in the wake of a great deal of pretrial publicity.

The victims were:[1] In the last incident, Goebel's wife, Mamie, was shot, but survived, permanently blinded.

After some wrangling between Kentucky and Indiana over which would try Irvin first, it was decided to begin with the trial for the Kerr murder.

Irvin's appointed attorney immediately moved for a change of venue from Vanderburgh County because of the difficulty of seating an impartial jury.

Ninety-five percent of the homes in Gibson County received newspapers with articles about the case, and the area was blanketed with radio and television reports.

In the Supreme Court review, Justice Frankfurter made a special point "to attack the District Attorney's 'collaboration' with the media campaign" associated with the arrest and trial.

He was found guilty of first degree murder for killing Wesley Kerr and sentenced to death.

[1] After several procedural steps, Irvin found himself before the United States Supreme Court on a 6th Amendment claim that he was not tried before an impartial jury because of extensive pretrial publicity.