A former Saucon Valley High School student and the son of a prominent local real estate broker is accused of murdering his father by beating and strangling him to death in what authorities have called a savage attack inside the elder man’s Rancho Santa Fe, Calif., mansion north of San Diego May 26.
Leighton Bromiluy Dorey IV’s Facebook profile photo
Leighton Bromiluy Dorey IV, 39, whose high school nickname was “LB,” is charged with felony murder and the local district attorney in his high-profile case has asked that the charge include a special allegation of torture, due to the severe extent of 71-year-old Leighton Dorey III’s injuries, which included a fractured spine and other broken bones caused by a severe beating, according to published reports including a story on WMFZ’s website.
“To say I’m shocked is an understatement,” wrote Frank Behum Jr. in a public post in the Saucon Valley Class of ’96 Facebook group. “He was so nice and friendly.”
The post generated approximately 20 comments from other classmates who expressed both shock and sadness over the allegations against Dorey, who attended Saucon Valley High School in the mid-1990s and lists it as his high school on his Facebook page.
Dorey is the son of Upper Bucks County real estate broker Carol C. Dorey, whose decades-old and well-known business is headquartered in Springtown, Springfield Township.
A specialist in high value properties, Dorey frequently lists homes for sale in both Upper Bucks and the Saucon Valley area, often with price tags approaching $1 million.
Leighton Dorey IV had a “fractious” relationship with his father, according to case Prosecutor Paul Greenwood, who called Carol Dorey “a lady of means” and said she paid for an airline ticket for her son by her ex-husband to fly to California before the killing, and also bought him a Jeep, according to the NBC affiliate in San Diego.
Dorey IV, who posted a video from a ski tour in Chamonix in the French Alps on his Facebook page April 2, was deemed a flight risk by the judge in his case, who ordered him held without bail at a hearing June 2, NBC reported, adding that Dorey was being represented by a public defender who entered no argument on his client’s behalf.
A preliminary hearing in the case was scheduled for June 15, but it wasn’t clear from California online court records whether that had been held.
If convicted, Dorey faces a maximum sentence of 25 years to life in prison.
According to his LinkedIn profile, Dorey has worked as a software application engineer, most recently remotely for the Orange County Booklet, and before that for companies such as Clear Markets, Pearson Education and YooStar Entertainment Group Inc. in Los Angeles.
Dorey attended Lehigh University and Harvey Mudd College, according to his profile page, on which he states that he is “constantly seeking to expand the power of connectivity. I enjoy building applications that make life more comfortable and convenient.”
