Self Defense or Killing Over Property?
June 17, 2004. 4:00 AM.
Charles Chieppa, of New Bedford Massachusetts awoke to noise in his basement. Chieppa awoke Wilnick Thenor, a tenant who lived upstairs, then retrieved a loaded handgun and retreated to his backyard. There, he encountered Frank Pereira Jr. The facts after that are more fuzzy. Pereira was fatally shot by Chieppa. Witnesses claim Pereira was seen jumping a fence as he fled from the yard before expiring in the street. The state Medical Examiner's Office determined a bullet hit him in the back and exited his chest.
Fast forward to today.
Jurors needed just 3& ½ hours to determine New Bedford homeowner Charles D. Chieppa was justified in killing the suspected burglar in 2004. His defense attorney, Kevin J. Reddington, told the jury that his client, a decorated Vietnam War veteran, believed he was in mortal danger when he fired his gun that morning. "When you consider his state of mind, when you consider the circumstances, this was a justifiable homicide by a citizen protecting himself," Mr. Reddington said, "I like to think one of the objectives of this is it will give the Frank Pereiras of the world second thoughts before they enter a homeowner's property."
Of course, the dead burglar's family is making statements about how little Frankie was always a good boy, and how he would give you the shirt off his back. "Everyone has a flaw." they wrote in a statement. "Frankie was the type of person who would give you the shirt off his back if you needed it. He was a young father who supported his family working as a mechanic. There is not a day that goes by where we don't relive this nightmare."
They seem to ignore the fact that their little Frankie was in another man's home. One wonders what he might have been doing there. Was he repairing the man's automobile? Perhaps he was not working as a mechanic to support his family. Could it be he was not altruistically and anonymously distributing smelly flannel shirts about the town, bought with the leftovers of his hard earned money? Could it be that he was there to take another's man's shirt, another man's property, and if necessary another man's life? One really wonders what the hell this honest hard working mechanic was doing in another man's home at four o'clock in the damned morning! Bottom line: If Frank Pereira Jr. had been at home asleep, minding his own business and taking care of his family, he would likely be alive today.
Charles Chieppa, of New Bedford Massachusetts awoke to noise in his basement. Chieppa awoke Wilnick Thenor, a tenant who lived upstairs, then retrieved a loaded handgun and retreated to his backyard. There, he encountered Frank Pereira Jr. The facts after that are more fuzzy. Pereira was fatally shot by Chieppa. Witnesses claim Pereira was seen jumping a fence as he fled from the yard before expiring in the street. The state Medical Examiner's Office determined a bullet hit him in the back and exited his chest.
Fast forward to today.
Jurors needed just 3& ½ hours to determine New Bedford homeowner Charles D. Chieppa was justified in killing the suspected burglar in 2004. His defense attorney, Kevin J. Reddington, told the jury that his client, a decorated Vietnam War veteran, believed he was in mortal danger when he fired his gun that morning. "When you consider his state of mind, when you consider the circumstances, this was a justifiable homicide by a citizen protecting himself," Mr. Reddington said, "I like to think one of the objectives of this is it will give the Frank Pereiras of the world second thoughts before they enter a homeowner's property." Of course, the dead burglar's family is making statements about how little Frankie was always a good boy, and how he would give you the shirt off his back. "Everyone has a flaw." they wrote in a statement. "Frankie was the type of person who would give you the shirt off his back if you needed it. He was a young father who supported his family working as a mechanic. There is not a day that goes by where we don't relive this nightmare."
They seem to ignore the fact that their little Frankie was in another man's home. One wonders what he might have been doing there. Was he repairing the man's automobile? Perhaps he was not working as a mechanic to support his family. Could it be he was not altruistically and anonymously distributing smelly flannel shirts about the town, bought with the leftovers of his hard earned money? Could it be that he was there to take another's man's shirt, another man's property, and if necessary another man's life? One really wonders what the hell this honest hard working mechanic was doing in another man's home at four o'clock in the damned morning! Bottom line: If Frank Pereira Jr. had been at home asleep, minding his own business and taking care of his family, he would likely be alive today.
Labels: CCW, News, Self Defense
posted by Xavier at 10:03 PM
6 Comments:
Quote
"Missy Cimbron, right, sister of SUSPECED burglar Frank Pereira Jr., who was shot to death by homeowner Charles D. Chieppa in 2004, is consoled by Marcey Lugo, Mr. Pereira’s longtime girlfriend."
Suspeced burgler!?..The "suspeced burglar" rolled the dice and lost!
boo hoo.....
Note to self:
Put on "to do" list:
Join campaign to reform my state's firearm self-defense laws so that I do not have to "retreat" either in my home or off my property--and defense of self should also extend to defense of "property."
Why should the "things" (material, concrete objects) I have purchased with my blood, sweat, and irreplacable time be worth less because they happen to be separate and distinct from my person?
Even if these "things" can be replaced, I still have to waste my time, energy and money to replace them.
It is time we start recognizing "Self Defense or Killing Over Property" as the false dichotomy that it is.
And you're right, Xavier: if the family had spent less time kissing "Frankie's" ass when he was still only a spoiled little tyke, then they would not have had to spend any time kissing his ass after he got himself shot to death while running wild as a grown-up the way he used to do when he was still toddling.
If Frankie's final act--burglary--is any indication of what his family looks at as exemplary, fine behavior, then it is a miracle that Frankie has even taken this long to get his stupid ass shot down by someone who's not interested in playing his family's stupid little game of denial.
Good riddance to the turd.
"F off," Frankie and family.
it doesn't pay to be a snowdropper.
Typical liberal crap. "The gunowner was a nutcase who murdered the innocent, angelic victim." Why this passes as "journalism" is beyond me.
I'm a tiny bit bothered by the fact that Pereira was shot in the back, but I'm not going to shed any tears for him. Don't trespass and break and enter and you don't have to worry about a legally armed homeowner putting an end to your criminal ways. Nice to see there are still juries out there with a dose of common sense.
Read Massad Ayoob on the dynamics of shootings. Quite often the BG will spin around to run while the trigger/hammer is in motion. This rotation has been timed as quick as a few tenths of a second. Considering how fast people can pull the trigger, how much time it takes to recognize a change in the circumstances, and the time it takes to initiate or end a response, and it's no wonder that BGs take hits in the back.
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