Jack Potter, 72, has been sentenced to 15 years-to-life in state prison for the 2003 murder of his wife, Laurie Diane Potter in California, USA before dumping her legs in a bin
A California man who gruesomely murdered his wife and discarded her severed legs in a bin before splashing out on luxuries with credit cards opened in her name has learned his fate.
On Friday, May 2, Jack Potter, 72, was handed down a hefty sentence of 15 years-to-life behind bars for the 2003 killing of his wife, Laurie Diane Potter, 54, confirmed San Diego County District Attorney Summer Stephan in a gripping statement.
“This was a brutal, calculated murder that shattered the lives of Laurie’s loved ones, who then had to endure nearly 20 years of unanswered questions and unimaginable grief,” she said.
The sickening crime caught the attention of the authorities back on October 5, 2003, when maintenance staff at Country Hills Apartments in Rancho San Diego stumbled upon a grisly find – a pair of chopped-off human legs in a dumpster, PEOPLE reports.
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The Medical Examiner’s Office and the San Diego Sheriff’s Office Homicide Unit admitted they were “exhausted all traditional avenues of identifying the woman without success,” according to a release issued by the sheriff’s office in 2021.
The cold case remained unsolved until 2020, when, looking for fresh leads, the San Diego County Sheriff’s Homicide Cold Case Team turned to investigative genetic genealogy for the first time in hopes of pinpointing the identity of the victim.
The Cold Case Team used DNA from the legs to identify the woman’s adult son, according to a statement from the sheriff’s office. Through this DNA, the victim was positively identified as Laurie Diane Potter and an intensive investigation into Laurie’s life was launched by the Cold Case Team.
Investigators discovered that in 2003, Laurie was living in Temecula, married to Jack Dennis Potter, and had never been reported missing, the sheriff’s office revealed. “The investigation revealed substantial and convincing evidence that Jack murdered Laurie,” it stated.
Potter was arrested in 2021 in relation to his wife’s death. In February 2025, just a month before his trial was due to start, he pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and confessed to smothering his wife to death.
Details of the extravagant lifestyle Potter led after his wife’s legs were found emerged during grand jury proceedings in August 2024.
Jurors were told how Potter “became obsessed in 2003 with a woman he met at a strip club – who shared the same first name as his wife,” Stephan said.
Within weeks of Laurie’s legs being discovered, Potter opened multiple credit accounts and “made extravagant purchases, including a new pick-up truck, a Hummer SUV, and a ski boat,” Stephan revealed.
He gifted the Hummer and boat to his new girlfriend, rented her an apartment in Corona Hills, and provided her with a credit card carrying a $30,000 limit.
Potter kept up his deceitful ways over the years, opening credit cards in Laurie’s name and fraudulently filing Family Court documents alleging he had been in touch with his wife about legal proceedings, long after she had been killed, Stephan revealed.
He even appeared in Family Court to sell off their Temecula family home “and pocket all profits,” according to Stephan.
“This case is a stark reminder that the pursuit of justice never stops,” said DA Stephan. “And neither does the grief of those who lose someone to violence. Today, we honour Laurie’s memory and stand with her family in their long-awaited moment of justice.”
