Leroy Gilbert Sinn, my second cousin once removed, was born in Indiana in 1925. He was the son of Albert C. and Eugenie C. (Swing) Sinn. Eugenie was the daughter of Joseph G. Swing and Lydia Hoffmann and the granddaughter of Jacob and Christina (Schmidt) Hoffmann.
Leroy attended Valparaiso University and became a patent attorney. In March 1957 Leroy married Ivalou Kellam, and they had four children: Brian Thomas, Mark Allen, Eric Bradley, and Julie Ann. Leroy and Ivalou lived in Massachusetts and later moved to Oldwick, New Jersey.
In January 1996 Leroy had a leg infection which required his admission to Hunterdon Medical Center in Flemington, New Jersey. It was there on January 21 that Leroy unexpectedly died. He was buried in Kouts, Indiana.
Nearly eight years later, on December 12, 2003, after a series of suspicious activities and deaths, hospital nurse Charles Cullen was arrested. He was 43 years old and charged with one count of murder and one count of attempted murder. During his interrogation, Charles Cullen stated he had killed more than 40 individuals during the past 16 years. He pleaded guilty in November 2004 and, to avoid the death penalty, offered to provide authorities with further details regarding his crimes. One of the crimes he admitted seven months later was the killing of Leroy Sinn as well as four other individuals at Hunterdon Medical Center. According to his confession, he injected Leroy with the heart medication digoxin, “And it was my intent to cause his death.” It is suspected that Charles Cullen may have killed many more individuals than he has yet named. Some believe it possible he may have as many as 400 victims and be the country’s most prolific serial killer.