Apparently the elderly homeowner had had his house broken into over and over recently and claimed to have just “snapped”.
But why did he move the bodies onto tarps in the basement after killing them, execution-style?
At least one of the teens (the 18 yo girl) was known in the community to have a drug problem AND had broken into at least one other home previously. So…hardly innocent honor students here.
The first teen goes down the basement stairs and BLAM, get shot. A deafening sound that would be heard by the second teen still upstairs. Why then did she ALSO go down the stairs a few minutes later??? Only thing I can think of is that she was was so hopped up on meth or bath salts or whatever that she thought she was invincible. Either that or she mistakenly thought the gunfire was her cousin who had shot the homeowner, and she was free to keep burglarizing the house?
Up for dabate: Were the teens criminals who got what they deserved…or precious snowflakes tragically murdered?
Neither. It’s a tragedy all around. The teens, obviously, should not have been trespassing and a person deserves the right to privacy and to protect their living space from intrusion. But did they deserve to die? I have a hard time saying yes, especially with the brutal execution-style deaths they appear to have suffered.
No, just outlining the two polarized positions that people are taking on this issue. Obviously the truth lies somewhere in between.
Here is a facebook “memorial” page where it appears that the majority of commenters are defending the homeowner, whereas the teen’s friends are calling them innocent angels:
It’s a huge debate, just curious what the cooler heads here at the SDMB would say.
That’s how it works in the movies, and most video games. “He can’t possibly have a SECOND bullet…”
I lived in Minnesota for a while, and I don’t remember it as having so much of a “Stand Your Ground” kind of feeling, although there were always a few of the “get off my lawn” types who were adamant about talking how they’d protect their proppity. Can’t watch videos at work, so I’m not sure what the linked story is all about, but I can’t help but think “I snapped and shot an intruder, then waited a while in my basement and snapped again” is going to go over real well in court.
I wonder what the reaction would have been if the old man’s body had been found in the basement? Frankly, I feel for these kid’s parents, but the fact is, you cannot fix stupid. These kids decided to rob an old man-and got more than they bargained for. Tough cookies.
Yes. They seemed intent on burglary (or something), and ended up being murdered. There’s no legal – or more importantly moral – justification for putting several bullets into a wounded person who is offering no resistance (provided that is actually the case).
There is absolutely no way that can be justified by any moral person.
I think we are short on info. Somethings here just don’t add up. A mini 14 in an enclosed space is going to be really loud, I can’t imagine how high one would have to be to follow that sound down into the basement, even if you have never fired a gun you would know that was a big gun going off. And she laughed at him after he shot her, I seriously doubt that. I suspect we have some media hype and distortions by people with a stake in the game ie. Friends and relations of both sides. That said not calling the cops right away is a crime for sure.
stuff like this is weird…it’s a mixed combination of murderous tendencies and someone coming into your home, granting you the chance.
this started out as home-defense and ended full-ass psycho.
we had a similar case here when a guy’s shop was robbed; he shot one kid, ran outside chasing/shooting the others, and either reloaded or got another gun to re-shoot and be sure he killed the writhing injured kid. he was found guilty. i guess the logic is these people want to kill someone, they just want to wait for the circumstances to at least start out legal?
They didn’t get what they deserved. I would say this is murder, I doubt you can lie in wait for someone to attack you and claim the castle defense, but maybe in that state you can. Still, he admitted killing the second girl even though he was in no danger.
Still, crime is an uncertain process, best not to be breaking into houses. Sometimes a psycho lives there.
Defending yourself is one thing. If he’d shot them to defend himself (maybe even his property) then it would still be sad*, but it would be defensible. But what he did is murder. The victims sound like they were troubled, to say the least, but you still can’t murder them.
That said, this whole story is a mess, and I’m going to wait for more info before I make up my mind. But, from what’s been reported? Murder. Indefensible.
Also, from what they’ve revealed, I’m betting the second girl went down to help her cousin, not because she was high on bath salts (was that even reported???).
*it’s always sad when people die. Even if it was justifiable, it’s still a tragedy. These girls might have turned their lives around. Sometimes it can’t be helped, but even then, it’s still a shame.
The guy incapacitating the burglars was selfdefence, excecuting was cold-blooded murder.
And IMHO the guy knew he screwed up, that’s why he didn’t call the cops.
Only thing I can think of is that she was was so hopped up on meth or bath salts or whatever that she thought she was invincible. Either that or she mistakenly thought the gunfire was her cousin who had shot the homeowner, and she was free to keep burglarizing the house?