A Veteran’s Final Battle: The Murder of George LeMasters

New Philadelphia WWII veteran George Jasper LeMasters was tragically murdered during a robbery at a Canton hotel.

George Jasper LeMasters (1906–1950), known to many as “Jap,” was born in Union Township, Tuscarawas County. His early life was marked by tragedy when his father, Ernest LeMasters (1877–1918), was killed in a mine accident when George was only eleven years old. George established his own family after marrying Leslie Jane Rinehart (1918–1997) in 1937 and later fathering a son; Leslie and George divorced four years later. During World War II, George served four years in the Army with the 275th Engineer Combat Battalion, and earned a Purple Heart after being wounded by a land mine in Germany. Following his honorable discharge, he worked as a machine operator at Hercules Motors in Canton.

On the night of December 2, 1950, George was lured to a room at the Milner Hotel in Canton by Sandra Lee Kingsley (1927-2012), the name she used during her lifetime (though her real name was later determined to be Wanda Brown). Kingsley, an admitted sex worker, met George in a nearby bar and convinced him to accompany her to the hotel. This encounter was a setup for a robbery orchestrated with her companion, Russell G. Muskus (1921–1954). Muskus later admitted to barging into the room and demanding money from George after finding him with a woman he claimed was his wife. When George refused the payoff, a violent struggle ensued.

During the confrontation, Muskus overpowered George and strangled him with his own necktie. The pair then robbed the dying man of his wallet and his wristwatch. George’s body was later discovered hidden under the bed in the hotel room. The suspects fled the scene but were captured in Cleveland several months later after a Canton Detective pieced together evidence of their identity. Both individuals eventually signed statements admitting to the killing, though they later attempted to block these confessions from being entered as evidence in court.

Both defendants were indicted for first-degree murder in 1951 and a Stark County Prosecutor sought the death penalty. During the initial legal proceedings, a Municipal Court Judge turned them over to a grand jury, and a Common Pleas Judge later ordered sanity observations for both at state hospitals. A jury of six men and six women found Muskus guilty without a recommendation for mercy, making the death penalty mandatory. Conversely, a three-judge court found Kingsley guilty of first-degree murder but recommended mercy, resulting in a sentence of life imprisonment.

Muskus’s legal battle continued for three and a half years as his attorneys filed numerous appeals. In November 1952, the Ohio Supreme Court reversed his initial conviction and ordered a new trial. The high court ruled that the original Judge failed to properly instruct the jury on lesser degrees of homicide, such as second-degree murder or manslaughter. A second trial was held in March 1953 before a different Judge. Despite the retrial and new instructions, the second jury also returned a verdict of guilty of first-degree murder without mercy.

Facing the electric chair for the third time, Muskus made final appeals to the U.S. Supreme Court and the FBI Director, all of which were refused. Nine hours before the scheduled execution, the Governor of Ohio denied a final bid for executive clemency. On July 9, 1954, Muskus was executed at the Ohio State Penitentiary. Attended by a Catholic chaplain and the Warden, he maintained his innocence until the end. Sandra Lee Kingsley was granted parole sixteen years later in June 1970. George Jasper LeMasters was buried in Roxford Cemetery, having been interred in the same suit he was wearing on the night he was murdered.

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© Noel B. Poirier, 2026.