North Carolina Department of Public Safety - Division of Adult Correction and Juvenile Justice, North Carolina
End of Watch Sunday, June 28, 1992
Add to My HeroesLeslie John Besci
Correctional Officer Leslie Besci was murdered when two former juvenile inmates from the youth correctional center where he worked, broke into his house, tied him up, and beat him to death with a baseball bat. Both were apprehended.
On December 20, 1995, both suspects, both 21, were convicted of second degree murder. One was sentenced to life. The other was sentenced to 20 years. He was paroled on June 11, 2002.
Officer Besci had been assigned to the Sandhills Youth Center in Hoke County. He was a retired U.S. Army Master Sergeant.
Bio
- Age 48
- Tour 16 years
- Badge Not available
- Military Veteran
Incident Details
- Cause Assault
- Weapon Blunt object; Bat
- Offender One sentenced to life
Most Recent Reflection
View all 15 ReflectionsHeavenly Father, I come before You today grieved in heart over the divisions in our country; the United States of America. I grieve for every life lost to violence, regardless of color or creed. And I especially grieve this day over the senseless deaths of America’s Peace Officers whose sworn duty is to protect us from harm. Please grant comfort and hope to their families. I know from the Holy Scriptures in Romans 13 that Peace Officers have a sacred task, to enforce laws that protect the innocent and punish the guilty. I pray that You will protect them as they serve us. Give them wisdom, discernment, and a deep desire to serve You. Please surround every Peace Officer in our nation, the United States of America, with battalions of warring angels to protect them from harm. I stand in the powerful and mighty name of the Lord Jesus Christ against every work of Satan intended to inflict injury and death on our Protectors. May Satan’s power be thwarted, in Your mighty and holy name, and his plans exposed by Your Light. In the mighty and holy name of the Lord Jesus Christ, our Savior, our Redeemer, and the Mediator between us, Heavenly Father, in prayer, and by His authority, I pray! Amen.
Please find Encouragement, Comfort, Support, and Hope from God's Word:
“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.”
[Matthew 5:9 ESV];
"Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me." [Psalm 23:4 ESV];
"Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends."
[John 15:13 ESV];
"Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted." [Matthew 5:4 ESV];
"And he [Jesus] said to him, "Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise." [Luke 23:43 ESV], and;
"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life." [John 3:16 ESV].
Chaplain Steven R. Closs, DDiv, MSBS, NACM, NCCA
Ordained Independent NACM Minister
The Badge 183 Peacemakers Prayer Ministry
Member: Fellowship of Christian Peace Officers - USA
Captain Steven R. Closs (Retired)
Nashua NH Police Department (1974-1998)
June 28, 2025
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