Leland Coyle

Leland Coyle was born in the year 1923, in Blackwell, Oklahoma, a small yet well-known sundown town. There are anecdotal accounts of abuse of animals and sexual assault during his childhood, which led to him being enrolled in a military academy education. As a teenager he had criminal tendencies, but this was curbed by his involvement with a more criminalized group.

At the age of nineteen, he entered into his first marriage. Coyle murdered her 6 months later. The circumstances of her murder are unknown, but he told police she had "fallen down the stairs". To avoid further investigation, he joined the U.S. Marine Corps. Serving honorably for two years in the Pacific theatre during World War II, he earned three confirmed enemy kills and his record notes two additional "suspicious" American deaths in his company.

Following his return to Oklahoma post-war, he resumed his involvement with the group, which naturally transitioned to a career as a police officer starting in 1947. Coyle proved exceptionally adept in his role as a police officer, accumulating numerous commendations for his service. However, his achievements and success were tainted by allegations of profiting from the exploitation of prison labor, extortion, and civil forfeiture, implying corruption on his part. Additionally, he held esteemed positions within the Elks Club and the VFW.

After marrying for the second time, Coyle promptly extorted his new family. Following their deaths in a fatal electrical fire, his wife fled to Chicago. Coyle murdered her as well, but her death was officially labeled as 'natural causes'. It is implied he was responsible for her family's death as well, though it has never been confirmed.

Sometime later, Coyle was promoted to Sergeant and entered into another marriage. He shot his third wife multiple times in the head, but her death was ruled a suicide. Within a year, her family members also passed away under mysterious circumstances, purportedly by suicide, though it was again implied he was involved as the methodologies became increasingly violent and complex.

In February of 1956, Coyle encountered Murkoff's Clyde Perry at a bar on Route 177. While chatting, Coyle drank alcohol heavily and casually ate nuts (possibly pistachios) from the table. Perry's pretext was bribery, but Coyle quickly discerned his deception and stated he was aware Perry had been following him. The interaction turned physical, resulting in Perry sustaining two broken fingers, extensive bruising, and urinary complications. Despite Perry's survival, he believed Coyle toyed with him akin to a cat with its prey, surmising Coyle's restraint from killing him as evidence of this. Nevertheless, or perhaps due to this incident, Perry vehemently endorsed Coyle for PROJECT LATHE.

Leland is a man of average build and tall height, adorned in a "standard" police uniform, along with a police force hat and black sunglasses. Irrespective of average build, Leland demonstrates peak-human strength and durability: he is strong enough to lift a full-grown man using one arm and is fully capable of brutal violence. His face is shown to be disfigured, with the right side of his face being blistered and scabbed over, likely due to either electrocution burns or the experiments that Murkoff conducted on him. Coyle's hair is black, shown by his eyebrows and the short, trimmed beard on his face, but appears to have begun prematurely graying. Between his blistered lips is a constantly burning cigarette, which holds a large number of burned/melted mannequins.

His outfit is a white button-up and red tie covered in a black leather jacket, with his rank shown by two metallic badges on the left of his jacket (one on the breast, the other on the bicep of the sleeve.) The right sleeve of his jacket is covered in tubes or wires that are connected to the car battery in a cross-body wrap. His uniform also includes a navy leather belt with a silver buckle looped through grey work pants covered up to the knees in leather boots. During Trials taking place in the Prison Farm, Coyle wears a broad-brimmed campaign hat with his police badge pinned on the front instead of his standard police cap, to fit with the environment's rural prison aesthetic.

He views his brutal torture, electrocution, and sexual assaults with his shock baton as acts of divine justice or law enforcement. He presents himself with traditional, confident masculinity, using a mix of polite, poetic, or old-fashioned police jargon alongside violent threats. He desires absolute ownership and psychological dominance over others, comparing control to the dynamics used by pimps or priests. Beyond inflicting pain, he exhibits deep masochistic tendencies within the trial hallucinations.