Curious Consequences
On the evening of April 15, in South Bend Indiana, Tim Watson had just returned home from dinner and a movie. His two daughters, ages 3 and 13, and his 10 year old niece were with him. Watson's younger daughter needed to use the restroom, so they went inside their home. They were being watched.
When they came back outside, Terry Fennessee confronted Tim Watson, accusing him of having a relationship with his estranged wife. Watson asked to put the children in his car before speaking with Fennesee. Then, he turned his back on the man.
Fennesee pulled a gun and shot Watson in the back. Watson fell to the ground, and his assailant stood over him, aiming the firearm at his head. Watson pleaded with Fennesee, "Don't kill me in front of my babies!"
His three year old daughter was crying "He shooting my daddy! My daddy dead!" Fennesee responded with obscenities and shot Tim Watson again and again, in the head, back and chest.
Fennessee later told his sister, Tina Clump, that the shooting was in self-defense and that he fired at Watson because he believed the man was reaching for a gun in his vehicle. Police found no weapon in Watson's car. Fennesee is charged with one count of attempted murder, a Class A felony. At a court appearance last month, Fennessee told a reporter that he never meant to hurt anyone and that he was innocent of the charges against him. He posted $7,500 bond the same day he turned himself in at the St. Joseph County Jail.
Fennesee is presently free on bond. Watson is gradually recovering from gunshot wounds to his back, shoulder, rib cage, head and the side of his chest. He has sustained nerve damage and brain damage. He still carries a bullet lodged in his lung. Watson's children have suffered untold mental trauma.
Tim Watson is in hiding, fearing for his safety. Apparently, a trial date is set.
This felonious and vicious attack raises several curiosities.
How was Fennessee able to claim self defense and post bond when he was on Watson's property, apparently lying in wait, and Watson had no means of self defense? Hell, Watson was shot in the back, and then again and again as he writhed and pleaded on the ground, in his own blood. While children watched and screamed. Witnesses attest to this fact. Why the hell was Fennesee allowed to turn himself in at the St. Joseph County Jail? Don't officers of the law still form manhunts? Or does that just occur when a fellow officer is shot? Seven thousand five hundred dollars bond? Was this judge smoking something? Finally, why the hell must Tim Watson and his children hide in fear while their rabid attacker walks free? Why is this son of a bitch free at all? Why?
By God, I'm glad I still live in a place where peace officers still have dogs and shotguns! This, this is why I carry a gun.
When they came back outside, Terry Fennessee confronted Tim Watson, accusing him of having a relationship with his estranged wife. Watson asked to put the children in his car before speaking with Fennesee. Then, he turned his back on the man.
Fennesee pulled a gun and shot Watson in the back. Watson fell to the ground, and his assailant stood over him, aiming the firearm at his head. Watson pleaded with Fennesee, "Don't kill me in front of my babies!" His three year old daughter was crying "He shooting my daddy! My daddy dead!" Fennesee responded with obscenities and shot Tim Watson again and again, in the head, back and chest.
Fennessee later told his sister, Tina Clump, that the shooting was in self-defense and that he fired at Watson because he believed the man was reaching for a gun in his vehicle. Police found no weapon in Watson's car. Fennesee is charged with one count of attempted murder, a Class A felony. At a court appearance last month, Fennessee told a reporter that he never meant to hurt anyone and that he was innocent of the charges against him. He posted $7,500 bond the same day he turned himself in at the St. Joseph County Jail.
Fennesee is presently free on bond. Watson is gradually recovering from gunshot wounds to his back, shoulder, rib cage, head and the side of his chest. He has sustained nerve damage and brain damage. He still carries a bullet lodged in his lung. Watson's children have suffered untold mental trauma.
Tim Watson is in hiding, fearing for his safety. Apparently, a trial date is set. This felonious and vicious attack raises several curiosities.
How was Fennessee able to claim self defense and post bond when he was on Watson's property, apparently lying in wait, and Watson had no means of self defense? Hell, Watson was shot in the back, and then again and again as he writhed and pleaded on the ground, in his own blood. While children watched and screamed. Witnesses attest to this fact. Why the hell was Fennesee allowed to turn himself in at the St. Joseph County Jail? Don't officers of the law still form manhunts? Or does that just occur when a fellow officer is shot? Seven thousand five hundred dollars bond? Was this judge smoking something? Finally, why the hell must Tim Watson and his children hide in fear while their rabid attacker walks free? Why is this son of a bitch free at all? Why?
By God, I'm glad I still live in a place where peace officers still have dogs and shotguns! This, this is why I carry a gun.
Labels: Injustice, Self Defense, Shootings, Terry Fennessee, WTF?
posted by Xavier at 8:35 AM
11 Comments:
Shooting to slide lock or dry clicks (I'm guessing) into somebody's back is sure as hell NOT self-defense. That's a crime of either passion or stupidity.
Odd, when people actually defend themselves, they get the book thrown at them. God forbid, the actual assailant DIES, because of the wounds sustained in the violent encounter that he initiated. But when stuff like this happens, the guy gets off with 75 grand bail? If the victim were a police officer you can be damn good and sure that it would have been millions of dollars in bail, and the police would not have rested until the man was found.
I call them as the seem to be to be, and justice seems to have removed it blindfold a long time ago, or just decided not to care anymore. One of the two...
xavier,
Where did you find this out at, I live in South Bend, IN and have never heard of this, although i never listen to the news much.
Critic482
Critic482@yahoo.com
Sounds like either the shooter has some pull in local politics, or the judge and the local police are incompetent fools.
Christopher........
http://www.southbendtribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070511/News01/705110331/0/OPINION
Outrageous indeed.
One other thing, where does the article indicate that the police did anything wrong? So the guy turned himself into the police! That does not mean they were not actively searching for him when he did so. Many times, before the police find someone in hiding, on the run, or simply after a crime, the suspect decides to surrender and arranges for such. Allowing him to surrender does not mean the police were at fault in any manner, just that they allowed him to surrender. The police are not voodoo experts or all seeing seers. They investigate after things like this, and sometimes it takes a while before they catch the bad guy. However, if the guy wants to surrender, then the police have all the more control over the place where he will turn himself in and less likely a chance something will go wrong resulting in an innocent getting hurt. I just do not see the problem, that is unless you are suggesting they should have gone after him with hounds and shotguns, and then taken him out in a blaze of shotgun blasts. I seem to recall though that as do we all when charged with a crime, this guy has the right to a fair trial, even as much as I believe he should get fried if convicted, I still think he needs to be convicted first.
I do agree it is outrageous that he was released on such a small amount of bail/bond when witnesses reportedly backed up the claims of the victim. I do not think such an allegedly violent person should have been released.
All the best,
Glenn B
You only go to jail in Indiana if you drive fast.They have state troopers every ten miles on I-65.
Good point Glenn, well taken.
Alrighty, then. Just add South Bend to the long list of places I will never live.
$7,500 bond for emptying a mag/cylinder into a man is an affront to the entire justice system.
The wounds to the back should be all anyone needs to roast this oxygen-thief, including the oxygen-thieves who let him bond out.
Xavier was spot-on with the last part. That is exactly why you carry.
An update on the Fennesse case. Today in South Bend Judge Jane Miller finally (after being in trouble several more times since the original murder) recended his bond(s) and sent him to jail to await trial on the murder.
South Bend is a town in which the law-abiding are vastly outnumbered and outgunned by the criminal element and their allies in the police department.
I used to work for the company that Terry Fennessee works for. He was only recently let go because of the drug charges and NOT because of the attempted murder.
I have known Terry for awhile. He is a smooth talker, and very personable person. I was completely shocked when my former coworkers told me about what happened. I was even more shocked when they told me had not been fired immediately. That goes with the territory though, I suppose, since the management at that place is atrocious.
The only point I may disagree with is that he had some pull with the judge or court. He is by no means a man with connections, other than those by which he receives or distributes his drugs.
I readily admit that I liked Terry as a person until I heard about what he has done. He should be jailed for life, without the possiblity of getting out. The harm he has done to those children emotionally leaves me with no sympathy for someone I once considered a friend.
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