What do you think about this shooting?

[Joseph King]

Stupid and criminal. He did nothing right. He sounds like a crazy old man who will spend his last days in prison. Sad.


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[feralmerril]

Well since we cant do anything about it or the outcome I guess we will just have to wait and see how the jury see`s it. I just cant believe someone is that stupid. I am sure many of us have talked tough but not stupid stuff like that to the cops after a shooting.
Yet when you micro look at each nuance of what he said and did I am sure many of us might have said similar stupid stuff and he might have heard similar and seen himself as charles bronson or whatever.
How many times have you heard "experts" say to keep shooting until they dont twitch anymore? Do we know when he got hit before just how much help or response time he got? Was he shined on the other times? How much had he heard old standard bravado statements like, "If`n ya shoot them outside, drag their carcass inside!" I think this guy actually seen himself as a hero the cops would admire when he unloaded on them! Face it. Had he not double tapped them with a extra gun, not waited 24 hours before reporting, not dragged the bodys in another room to keep the rug from getting soiled and got rid of his own videos, pick up his snacks and kept his mouth shut the end result would still be the same except he wouldnt be going to jail and to many he would be the hero that he thought he was.

 

[340PDOperator]

His interview is very self incriminating. No jury can look past his blasé accounts of how he deliberately ended two teenagers lives. And how he waited till the next day to report. He might as well turn himself in. He's toast.


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[feralmerril]

How about pleading innocent by the reason of insanity? He`s obviously nuts!

 

[gm272gs]

If he cleaned up the scene, disposed of the bodies, and kept quiet, it would have just been a case of two teen criminals gone missing. Now that's the measure of a real nutbag!

 

[amazingflapjack]

We constantly hear lawyers and police officials telling us the way folks involved in these situations should, or shouldn't act. That is not anything more than an expression of their biases in most cases, in my view. Also-you don't turn adrenaline off like a spigot. It runs its course like any other drug, and affects different individuals in different ways. JMHO.

 

[venomballistics]

At first read, it has a distinct feel of a serial killing.
He's toast

 

[Mule Packer]

Y'know, I really don't know how this thing is going to play out. There are several things in play. First off, they broke into the guy's house. I don't know about you, but if somebody kicks in the door of my home, I'm immediately going to assume the worst.

These two kids weren't role models as some would have us believe. They were criminals. This wasn't their first time.

It sounds like the press is trying to make this guy sound like a looney because he began "wearing a holster and pistol in his house." I keep a firearm within close proximity in my home. If somebody kicks my door in, given the situation, I'd probably use deadly force to protect me and my family. I mean, most people don't kick your door in because they want to borrow a cup of sugar.

Now, on the flip side of the pancake, administering a finishing shot, moving the bodies, and waiting until the next day to call authorities because you don't want to ruin their Thanksgiving??? Whoa!!! That sounds like someone might just be a half bubble off plumb if you ask me.

Like I said...it's going to be interesting to see how this one plays out. I personally don't think they're going to let Mr. Smith off Scott free.

 

[badge]

What we think really has no bearing. It's what a jury of his pears thinks and " hears ". I was not there but I'm sure there are three sides to it.

 

[feralmerril]

The latest on this:
The guy had been burglar-ed a dozen times.
He had lost a gun or guns on previous times.
BOTH teens had records.
There is security cameras and recordings of the teens breaking in. No argument about that.
Anyone else think that he looks just like Jerry lee lewis?

 

[Waywatcher]

I think this guy is dead to rights.

Shooting people and "finishing them off" without being in fear for his life is literally cold blooded murder. And killing burgling kids? For stealing junk, really?

 

[TexasArmed]

I think this guy is dead to rights.

Shooting people and "finishing them off" without being in fear for his life is literally cold blooded murder. And killing burgling kids? For stealing junk, really?

"Finishing them off" is the problem. Depends on the state as
to whether you can shoot to protect property if a burglar is
running away with it. There will be a lot more burglaries and
shooting if lots of criminals get released soon. Not all of them
will end like this one is likely to end, with the homeowner going
to prison.

 

[Badquaker]

Remove the "clean kill" head shots, and this is a good shoot.

He crossed the line, and then spoke too much.

Everyone lost. I have no sympathy for the criminals, regardless of their ages.

 

[ChattanoogaPhil]

Yet when you micro look at each nuance of what he said and did I am sure many of us might have said similar stupid stuff.... (snip)

Don't count me in... you're on your own with that one.

What he said certainly didn't help his cause, but I'm not so sure how else a shot to the eye, one behind the ear and one under the chin is otherwise explained. That type of evidence is from an episode of The Sopranos, not a home self defense shooting.

 

[feralmerril]

Am I the only here to have heard the old saying, if you shoot someone on your doorstep, drag them inside? Shoot until you are sure they are dead? And much similar tough talk most our lives?
Do I approve of what he done? No not at all the last half. How many of us will stand to have our houses burglared a DOZEN TIMES! Just junk? When that junk is all you have its just as precious and probley more so to you than a millionaires mansion being looted!
Those kids were paid for the first time they thought they would break in to see what he had. This guy will go to jail for being stupid and for being truthful. The kids are just more dead than they were suppose to be if that makes sense.

 

[wittmeba]

If the facts are basically as reported what he did wasn't stupid, is was criminal. He stopped defending himself when he incapacitated them, then became a murderer when he shot them again. Basic rule of self defense with a gun, you don't shoot to "kill" but stop the threat. When the threat no longer exists you don't get a pass to shoot them again.

I would word your statement slightly differently. Criminal acts (to me) are stupid.

I think he should have taken actions before the incident happened and he made a decision not to << that is stupid. I think anyone who sits and waits is "knowingly and anticipating" something to happen. Everywhere I've lived it was criminal to perform "premeditated" acts that result in death.

I agree the intent of self-defense is stop the threat.

 

[wittmeba]

Sitting in the basement isn't premeditation, it's smart. That is exactly what any self-defense school will tell you, barricade and wait for them to leave or the cops to show up. Shooting a threat as they come down the stairs is self-defense.

Now, if he baited them or enticed them to break into his house, that's premeditated.

Ras - I respect your posts but don't agree.

I read the first paragraph as if he knew in advance of something to take place. He "setup" a place with bookshelves, snacks, and lying in wait. That to me is more than "reaction" to fear. You don't pack a lunch-bag when someone is breaking into your house.

 

[Hodgin]

Based on what I read about the case, the guy turned what otherwise was justifiable use of deadly force into at least 2nd degree murder, more likely 1st degree with respect to the woman, with his own words and deeds. Castle Laws don't extent to execution as in the final shot to the woman.

Of course, the news accounts aren't likely telling the whole story and we'll have to wait, but the guy's case looks pretty hopeless to me.

 

[Rastoff]

Ras - I respect your posts but don't agree.

I read the first paragraph as if he knew in advance of something to take place. He "setup" a place with bookshelves, snacks, and lying in wait. That to me is more than "reaction" to fear. You don't pack a lunch-bag when someone is breaking into your house.

My comment was more generic about barricading yourself when an intruder is suspected to be in your house.

In this case, we don't have all the facts. Like I said in an earlier post, if he "baited" these two, then it is clear that he premeditated the killing. However, if he had just been broken into many times and now spent his nights sitting in the basement waiting for the next occurrence...that opens a whole 'nuther can-o-worms. I could see an argument both ways. I could see how some would say that it's premeditated and some could say it's just being prepared.

The question I have about this particular situation is, how did he know they were coming? I mean, if he didn't bait them, you have to be one strange dude to sit in the basement, night after night, waiting to see if someone will break in.

 

[Rastoff]

Let me say this a different way...

If you're in bed and hear a person rummaging through some other part of your house, it's wise to call 911, duck behind cover and wait for them to come to you. It wouldn't be uncommon in my house to find a few snacks next to the bed as I sometimes like to watch TV and munch before going to sleep.

Obviously much of that is missing from this account.