Her killer, Richard Albert Leavitt (November 12, 1958 – June 12, 2012), also mutilated her body by removing her sexual organs.

[1] On July 18, 1984, at her home in Blackfoot, Idaho, 31-year-old Danette Jean Elg, who was sleeping in her bedroom, was set upon by a male intruder, who used a knife to stab and slash her 15 times.

Sources revealed that on the night of July 16, 1984, two days before her murder, Elg had reported a prowling incident, and she told the police that the prowler, who was believed to be Leavitt, had tried to enter her home.

Leavitt was the one who made these phone calls, but he identified himself as "Mike Jenkins", and the police were unable to trace any individual with this name.

[3] After the discovery of Elg's body, the police investigated the case and eventually linked Leavitt to the crime.

They also stated that by posing as Mike Jenkins and providing details that only the real killer knew through his phone calls to the police, Leavitt had placed himself at the scene of the crime.

[3] It was similarly adduced during the trial that Leavitt had an alleged morbid sexual curiosity and this was corroborated by two witnesses, one of whom was his ex-wife.

On May 30, 1989, the Idaho Supreme Court upheld the murder conviction but they vacated the death sentence and ordered a re-sentencing trial for Leavitt.

[15] A re-sentencing hearing eventually took place in December 1989, with Leavitt pleading to the trial court to not sentence him to death.

[16] On January 25, 1990, the original trial judge H. Reynold George re-sentenced Leavitt to death, and this ruling was eventually upheld by the Idaho Supreme Court on November 27, 1991.

[18][19] On September 6, 2000, U.S. District Judge B. Lynn Winmill refused to allow Leavitt's appeal to revoke his death sentence.

[24] On June 14, 2004, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals overturned Leavitt's death sentence after finding it was imposed by a judge but not a jury.

7th District Judge Jon Shindurling signed the death warrant just three days after the U.S. Supreme Court rejected Leavitt's final appeal.

[33] As a final recourse to avoid the death penalty, Leavitt filed last-ditch appeals to oppose his execution.

[38] On June 12, 2012, 53-year-old Richard Albert Leavitt was formally put to death via lethal injection at Idaho Maximum Security Institution.

[39] At the time of Leavitt's execution, the murder of Danette Elg remained one of the worst crimes to happen in Blackfoot, Idaho.

[47] In the subsequent years after the murder of Elg, Leavitt's two sons Travis and Timothy were convicted several times for rape.