two-day preliminary hearing, Leslie was ordered held without bail until his trial in Tucson. Four days after killing Edwards, the coroner's jury reported: Leslie plead guilty "to murder in the first degree" on January 6, 1890, The Sacramento Daily Record-Union reported: Sentenced to life Leslie was sentenced to life in prison. Sheriff John Slaughter delivered him to the Yuma Territorial Prison on January 9, 1890, where he became convict number 632. The Mohave Miner, on January 18, 1890, reported "The eleven convicts who were brought here from Tombstone yesterday, arrived in an intoxicated condition. One of the number, a life prisoner, Frank Leslie, was so drunk that he could scarcely walk." Leslie was in prison less than three months when he joined five other convicts in an unsuccessful escape attempt. Leslie was sent to solitary confinement for his part in the escape attempt. When he was released from solitary confinement, he became a model prisoner, and worked as a pharmacist in the prison infirmary. W.H. Cameron, a reporter for the San Francisco Chronicle, interviewed Leslie in late 1893. Pardoned by Arizona Governor After reading the story in the San Francisco Chronicle, a 36-year-old San Francisco divorcee named Belle Stowell began writing Leslie. The Tombstone Prospector (June 29, 1896) reported "It is probable that Frank Leslie, who was sentenced from this county to Yuma for life for murder, is likely soon to be a free man, as the Gazette states that executive clemency is likely to be extended in his behalf by Gov. Franklin." On November 17, 1896, Governor Benjamin J. Franklin of the Territory of Arizona granted Leslie a full and unconditional pardon. Leslie quickly left the state, going to Los Angeles, where he checked into the Natick House. Later life Marries Belle Stowell Leslie later took a train to Stockton, California, and on December 1, 1896, Belle Stowell, went to the San Joaquin County Clerk's office, and obtained a marriage license. Leslie identified himself as "Nashville Franklyn Leslie, native of Virginia [sic], age 55," and stated that he was a "resident of San Carlos, Territory of Arizona." His bride described herself as "Mrs. Belle Stowell, native of Warren County, Illinois, age 39, resident of Warren Co., Illinois." The Stockton Daily Independent reported that "their wedding trip was to be to China, the start to be made by the next steamer," but, they never made it to China. Four months