Hunting for Secrets: The Murder of Leonila Stickney

When a joyful young Filipino mother searching for a better life in America is killed during a South Dakota pheasant hunt, her fiancé insists it was a tragic accident. But as investigators dig deeper, they uncover a disturbing pattern: a violently jealous ex-cop, a secret vasectomy, a hidden affair, and nearly a million dollars in life insurance taken out on the victim just months before her death. What initially looked like a hunting mishap slowly unravels into a chilling story of greed, betrayal, and a man who believed his badge could help him get away with murder.

Sources:

1. Accident, Suicide or Murder. 2019.

2. “Leonila ‘Nila’ De Valle Stickney (1983-2009) - Find a Grave Memorial.” Find a Grave - Millions of Cemetery Records, https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/108733253/leonila-stickney. Accessed 10 Feb. 2026.

3. “South Dakota Attorney General.” South Dakota Attorney General, https://atg.sd.gov/OurOffice/Media/pressreleasesdetail.aspx?id=1939#gsc.tab=0. Accessed 10 Feb. 2026.

4. State v. Bertram. 2018, https://caselaw.findlaw.com/court/sd-supreme-court/1885713.html.

5. Argus Leader, 2016, https://www.argusleader.com/story/news/2016/01/16/money-tangled-relations-center-ex-officers-murder-case/78894440/.

6. People, https://people.com/crime/ex-south-dakota-police-chief-guilty-of-murdering-pregnant-fiancee-for-insurance/. Accessed 10 Feb. 2026.

7. Mitchell Republic, 2016.

8. Mitchell Republic, 2016.

9. The Dickinson Press, 2021.

10. Mitchell Republic, 2021.

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