Homeowner who shot burglar gets 5 years in prison

djan555 said on July 7, 2011 at 6:06 PM

so sorry mikeyj112460 ,im not the type to cower behing my sofa clutching my revolver waiting for burglars,ive got more things to than that. i tend not to hoard, massive amounts of material things either. that being said i believe you to be a gun clutching person, and apologize i dont like angering wild eyed gun owners.

charleylechein said on July 7, 2011 at 3:19 PM

So, the bottom line is that once criminals have entered your house or where you live then you should wound them first, not kill them. My military training taught me that a gun shots to the stomach would hurt them, lay them on the ground begging for mercy, and they would probably die. If a criminal that has stolen once, may come back for more. Anyone not wanting to shoot can call 911, and law enforcement will get to you as soon as they can. You may be alive, or you may be dead by the time they arrive, but you make your own decions. If you call 911, and report a prowler has entered your home and you fear for your safety, its self defense after that... but only AFTER they have entered your home. Not in the garage, not on the property, IN YOUR HOME!..... Aim for the stomach, shoot twice... and then below the stomach ... the family jewels

mikeyj112460 said on July 7, 2011 at 1:57 PM

@djan555 I would have to assume you would do nothing to protect your property, you probably wouldn't even report it to the police, as that would make you look greedy......and not a giving, carefree person.....here's an idea....post your address on here so the scumbags can come over to your house and just take your property?.......Hmmm sounds like a good, I'm sure they will thank you on there way out the door, because you are so generous.....

mikeyj112460 said on July 7, 2011 at 1:41 PM

@w7rkd Nope, I wouldn't either.....

mikeyj112460 said on July 7, 2011 at 1:37 PM

@skagitboy I know what you are incident you are referring to, most people reading & commenting on this story probably do not........ONE huge difference in the two storys, is the criminals had actually entered the Skagit county man's home. I would have done the same thing, break in to my home, your going to get a rude awaking......But then we will hear "he was such a good person, isn't his fault he a smack headed junky".

unions_r_great said on July 7, 2011 at 1:13 PM

What is this country becoming when people don't even have the right to protect their property?

notimetobleed said on July 7, 2011 at 12:44 PM

Would you really want this guy living next door to you? ...Locked and loaded...ready to pop out of his garage and open fire at any moment. What if your child were to accidentally hit a ball into his yard? While I feel for his situation and it sounds like he got the right guy, I still don't agree with his methods or mindset. If he were my neighbor I would feel better with him in jail.

Anonymous said on July 7, 2011 at 12:34 PM

The reality is that Brady should be given a five-year term as a state lawmaker.

Anonymous said on July 7, 2011 at 12:33 PM

You have to have a badge and a union to legally shoot someone trying to harm you or invade your property.

oldlewy said on July 7, 2011 at 12:03 PM

since Ronald Brady was holding a loaded gun he was never in any danger. Should have come out of his hiding place and announced to the would be robbers he had a gun and suggest to the robbers to leave.

stonetrails said on July 7, 2011 at 8:03 AM

Quite a collection of comments today. Many seem, well, kind of moronic. So, let me add my two cents. The homeowner should have waited till the "burglars" came into his house. I think we all get the idea of why that is important. I mean after all, what if it was only a couple looking for directions, or needing to use a phone, or whatever. We cannot just start shooting, after all, we are not Seattle cops.

skagitboy said on July 7, 2011 at 7:57 AM

Should have asked for a change of venue to Skagit County where you can indeed shoot and kill people then convince the jury that you were in danger!

newlogin86 said on July 7, 2011 at 7:28 AM

Uh, its a tough one, given he was waiting it out, like expecting their arrival that night! Did he wait every night in the garage? These people sound like scum that he shot at. But you cannot wait in near ambush.. its a thin line for sure...

w7rkd said on July 7, 2011 at 7:08 AM

"According to prosecutors, Brady never showed any remorse or regret for the shooting." I wouldn't, would you?

w7rkd said on July 7, 2011 at 6:59 AM

I would of done the same thing after being repeatedly robbed by the same punks and getting no help from law enforcement. Looks like the liberals were running the courts when the ruling came down, that sucks!

djan555 said on July 7, 2011 at 6:26 AM

another moron with a gun gets in trouble, for shooting at more morons. at least wait until they get in the house,big duh there. i hope they lock up more of these greedy homeowners, that shoot and ask questions later.only paranoid scared little people own guns, a gun makes a little man into a big man. hey alcohol does the same thing, just drink a beer that scared feeling goes away.

vffrwm said on July 7, 2011 at 5:44 AM

They were on his property. Get it? On his property. If anyone goes on your propery you should be able to blow them up. It's called "ask first". So if you go by the law you just stand around and wait for them to steal something then you can blow them up? When they set one foot on my property they crossed that line. You can kill your wife or kids but not somebody that is going to rob you. This is one that only the liberals can understand becuase it just makes no sense to me...none at all.

Sir_Real said on July 7, 2011 at 1:37 AM

Let me add a comment to jackwong statement: This is a great reason to ban gay marriage once a for all, if straight couples will commit crimes like this, imagine what other crimes gays would do besides defile god..

skippypotpiebaby said on July 7, 2011 at 12:55 AM

Let's see if you kill your kid you get off. If you kill a burglar you get 5 years m m m Yes good call

justaguy1267 said on July 7, 2011 at 12:07 AM

Hey Jackwong, you want a country with no private gun ownership, move to mexico where it's nice and safe these days, where anyone with a gun is a cartel assasin. There's a reason that half of mexico is already here and the other half is trying to get here! Handguns are illegal in NY and DC and those are wonderful places to get shot. Thank God for the NRA, I'm upgrading to a life membership now and I hope others follow. Fools like you will never get your way Jackwang.

svenf91779686726 said on July 6, 2011 at 11:42 PM

@mcd1975272738114: "Go live in a country where private gun ownership is illegal, you will not like it for very long [...]" - surely you have never left the States, and seen any of the numerous countries where life is - despite bans of private guns - much more peaceful than in the US. Weird, huh..?

mcd1975272738114 said on July 6, 2011 at 10:44 PM

@jdjdjdj....my friend we are living in a world were people with a serious lack of intelligence live ( see post by jackwong just after yours ) who want "Gun Control" what a joke. I want every law abiding citizen in our country to own a gun and use it when their life or property is threatened by criminals like the McKenzies. I want our country to be a place where criminals are in fear of the citizens. @ jackwong.... seriously dude, you need to pick up a copy of the Constitution of the United States and read it. Pay attention to the Second Amendment, the U.S. Supreme Court has for decades and will never rule in favor of people like you. You want gun control by the Government? Go live in a country where private gun ownership is illegal, you will not like it for very long, only the criminals own guns there. The police can not protect you, that is a fools folly. They only show up AFTER you have been assaulted, raped or killed. I believe in gun control, I use both hands on my Glock!

noskills said on July 6, 2011 at 10:30 PM

About 15-20 years ago I recall a man that said he thought someone was trying to rob him and thats why he shot and killed the person... The person was there Trick O Treating... I know its a completely different situation but it shows that drawing a quick conclusion can have deadly consequences when the initial intentions were innocent in nature. He had his gun loaded and ready to go. How much effort would of taken him to wait to make sure that they were actually entering his property.

livinglife said on July 6, 2011 at 9:58 PM

I have mixed feelings for this one. he was protecting himself and his family and they get to walk around free like they are the good guys. but since they were not in his house etc he cant prove anything really. He acted to quickly.

mac-n-stein said on July 6, 2011 at 9:45 PM

Thanks aziza. But please don't get me wrong. I'm sick and tired of this so called justice system. It fails at common sense on a deadly level. And in my eyes Brady is not a bad guy, just a person acting on instinct to protect himself, and family. In the old days, when things made sense, he would have been patted on the back. BUT he had no legal right to use deadly force at the time he used it. To use more force than threatended apon you is a risk that Brady took and failed miserably. "An Onalaska man who shot and killed a man who he THOUGHT was going to rob him will spend more than five years in prison" ... THOUGHT doesn't cut it. Brady did not have "possitive identification" of any weapon or threat to himself or his family.

joinamerica1 said on July 6, 2011 at 9:20 PM

Making Brady the bad guy is absurd. All human beings have a right to protect themselves and their property. Civilization is not a suicide pact. Frankly, a lot of totally innocent victims have died because so many criminals have a high recidivism rate and have been coddled and "understood" and forgiven. I'm sick of hearing about judges "following the law" and turning dangerous criminals loose to strike again. We need to change the laws to protect law abiding citizens and not to reward criminal behavior. Laws are not fixed in cement. If the current batch of politicians can't do better, then we need new politicians. We should give Mr. Brady a medal, not jail time.

swatguy said on July 6, 2011 at 9:17 PM

A person cannot rob a house, only people can be robbed. Robbery is the force or threatened use of force to deprive someone of a belonging. If Brady was robbed before, I think the prosecutors missed this one. If the house had been burglarized, not so.

aziza said on July 6, 2011 at 9:09 PM

mac-n-stein- well stated. It would have been different if the burglar had been in his home. Note to self- wait until they actually break in.

jdtt1 said on July 6, 2011 at 8:57 PM

Ok...had he been "robbed" repeatedly, or had his house been "burglarized" repeatedly (huge difference). I mean...if the people were coming there to actually "rob" him, there is no way I can see a jury convicting him. I don't get it. If they were there to "burglarize" a house where they thought no one was home...a little different. What I REALLY don't get is why this particular guy had been "robbed" and/or "burglarized" repeatedly. I mean...what made his place a repeated target? What was the appeal? It was apparently such a problem that he actually seemed to be pretty confident it was going to happen again that night (or relatively soon enough so that he took the effort to wait for it). If I were burglarized, I would think it's something that wouldn't happen again for quite some time, kinda random, likely not to happen again for a while if not a lifetime??? I don't get it.

mac-n-stein said on July 6, 2011 at 8:54 PM

This case isn't about McKenzies priors or how many times Brady got robbed. Nor is it about gun control, jackwong. The fact is that Brady set a trap with intent to use deadly force, kill. That's pre meditated murder in my book. What if it were some one pulling down his drive way to report an accident down the road? Brady used deadly force when the when the situation did not call for it at all, at the point of the first shots being fired. I'm no expert on this case, but I know the laws. I have been trained in use of deadly force by the military and law enforcement. Brady had no right to take the law into his own hands and sentence death to McKenzie. If McKenzie had shown intent to use deadly force agains't Brady at the time, Brady would have had every right to use the same. But there was no threat in this situation until Brady fired his first shot. There are many actions that could have been taken by Brady to avoid this using deadly force in this situation, too many to list.

sealass said on July 6, 2011 at 8:50 PM

What else would the couple be doing in the middle of the night at someone elses house with flash lights??hhmmm no brainer there. Its sad in a country where you cant protect your house and family. he had been repeatedly robbed and was waiting for the burglars to return which clearly they did. The man who died had it coming by trespassing. The jury was wrong here and the women should have been convicted as well for participating in a burglary which killed her husband. she should be in jail for five years.

vikefan4166 said on July 6, 2011 at 8:36 PM

@jackwong - What's wrong with you? When did we determine that guns cause violence/rape/theft/evil? The police determined that they McKenzie's intended on robbing the place. Would you have preferred that the perpetrator (victim?) waited until the intended thieves actually broke into the home, tied the owners up, and potentially murdered them? What would your tune be then? Look at Washington D.C. - the handgun ban came along with one of the HIGHEST murder by handgun per capita rates in the country, in spite of the "rules". Once the ban was lifted and citizens were allowed to legally carry, that statistic changed. Tell me one criminal that you know who follows the "rules" and obeys the "laws". You probably voted for universal health care, too. At nearly $50K/yr to imprison this man, it's going to cost almost $250,000 to carry out his full sentence - for protecting what belonged to him from a criminal. What a shame. Brady, I would have done the same.

collegeguy said on July 6, 2011 at 7:53 PM

By the law, he actually deserves this jail time. He set a trap and before McKenzie could actually show he was there to rob him, Brady opened fire on McKenzie. Not that I don't agree that he did us a favor though. Just that he did break the law also in how he chose to defend his property.

joinamerica1 said on July 6, 2011 at 7:27 PM

Court records indicate McKenzie had prior convictions for theft and harassment. A Lewis County Sheriff's spokesperson said deputies have had "many" dealings with McKenzie. Brady did us all a favor. He deserves a medal, not a jail sentence.

logic14 said on July 6, 2011 at 7:10 PM

He was a little over the top but the maximum sentence is crazy. I could see 12 months but that would be to just send a message. HE did us a fovar by removing that guy from society. He fired a few feet too soon.

ajtino said on July 6, 2011 at 7:04 PM

Really!!!!! Let open my door take what you want. I don't think so. I have some bats silent but deadly. So if the justice system can't do something about it there is one solution let us take care of it. I would be hiding too to catch my culperate. o no wait lt let me call 911 now what. the cops should be thanking the home owner. if it wasn't fot him other people would be at risk. LET HIM OUT HE'S GOT MY BACK. SO IF IF PEACE OFFICER IS DOWN THERE IS A MAN HUNT SAME THING YOU SHOULD BE BACKING US UP. PEACE F-IN J SYSTEM!!!!!!!!!!

gritz said on July 6, 2011 at 7:03 PM

It is illegal to shoot someone for driving into your driveway. Anyone that sits in a darkened room and waits for someone to drive up, to shoot them needs to be taking off the streets.He might not show remorse now, but once his A** gets ambushed at Walla Walla he'll think again.Literally!!

joinamerica1 said on July 6, 2011 at 6:57 PM

If anyone ever robs my house, I will go out and get a gun. You have to rely on yourself. Interesting how the prosecution has kept the couples' prior arrest record from the case. Too many Americans have forgotten that the reason people first formed communities was to protect each other from harm. The PC silliness is rendering large parts of our citizenry nonviable. The Brits are not allowed to have weapons of any kind and they are at the mercy not only of gangs of violent criminals (who of course have guns and all sort of other lethal weapons), but if a Brit accidentally tries to defend himself from violence, he gets in trouble (just like the man in this case), not the perpetrator. Our duty as human beings is to keep ourselves safe. When you forget that, you're no better than a dumb animal.

jackwong said on July 6, 2011 at 6:24 PM

This is definitely a victory for gun control in the future. I truly believe guns do not belong in homes of America where families can get hurt.

jdjdjdj said on July 6, 2011 at 6:02 PM

Unbelievable. Casey Anthony walks away from murdering her daughter, yet this man will sit in jail for FIVE years for shooting a man who was there to rob him. What kind of world are we living in?!

heatherfeather said on July 6, 2011 at 5:25 PM

Homeowners, be aware. When the scum come to steal from you, use a suppressed pistol (they are probably illegal but when the deck is stacked against you, who cares?) and have a shovel ready to dig a trash pit. Bury the human waste and plant a nice flower bed. Other than their Parole Officer or drug dealer, no one will miss the burglars.

justaguy1267 said on July 6, 2011 at 5:06 PM

These people were obviously there to rob this man...again. In my world, his only crime was shooting this ahole a few seconds too early. Too bad the mrs. got away! With this prison sentence, he might as well have chased her down and finished her too. Anyone attempting this at my house will recieve the same treatment, prison or not.

thecrankster said on July 6, 2011 at 5:03 PM

Remember only rely on a trained government official to protect yourself.

franky said on July 6, 2011 at 4:47 PM

Spacedover - Chehalis is a LONG way from the 'Seattle area'. Please consult a map before you troll, it makes you look like less of a moron.

janemckane said on July 6, 2011 at 4:46 PM

police said these dirtbags were there to rob the homeowner. The jury missed this one indeed.

Federalist4ever said on July 6, 2011 at 4:25 PM

The bottom line is, wait till they enter your home. Aparently property lines are irrelevant in Lewis County. I'd have shot his thieving wife in the back and let them rott in a shallow grave together before calling the cops.

dakotanative said on July 6, 2011 at 4:16 PM

Let's see, she said thay he shot at them in the car, so instead of backing up and leaving, they got out and blinded him with flashlights. He was in danger, and was justified. You don't go running around at strangers houses at night with no sinnister plans.

bigblue1518 said on July 6, 2011 at 4:03 PM

At least the piece of $hit burglar is dead. That is a little good news in all of this. Would have been better if he had got the lady as well. Hopefully the next homeowner she tries to rob will be a better shot.

spacedover said on July 6, 2011 at 3:55 PM

Isn't this wonderful, In Seatle area they try so hard to protect the burglars. It is a little too Progressive for me but that is the Obama way of life. Carry a big stick and be prepared to use it.

freedomfrank said on July 6, 2011 at 3:44 PM

Cops hate competition,,,, see its OK for the cops to murder someone but not us.

clear2copy said on July 6, 2011 at 3:38 PM

This was a proper verdict.. the guy waited in ambush for what he THOUGHT was going to happen.. The victims were probably dirtbags..but the homeowner went about it the wrong way.

tacwilster said on July 6, 2011 at 3:21 PM

THis is a crime to put this man behind bars. His sister Collen obviously thinks robbing people for a living is a "good" job. How many other McKenzie family members make a living robbing decent hard working people.

gibbage said on July 6, 2011 at 3:17 PM

Ya. To start popping off shots for pulling into your driveway is a little much. Its OK in Texas, but thats only because many people are hours away from any sort of law enforcement and you need to fend for yourself.

duallydave said on July 6, 2011 at 3:13 PM

You can only shoot somebody if your life is being threatened. Even shooting somebody robbing your house does not guarantee you will not be charged since WA does not have a "castle doctrine" law. As dasindog said, if you own a gun you should educate yourself on when it is ok to use it. It's not a matter of how long you wait, 5 seconds is not the issue. The issue is that you have to catch them in the act of the robbery, not before. Maybe if the cop that killed the woodcarver had waited until he commited a crime the woodcarver might still be alive. But that cop and this guy both "jumped the gun" no pun intended.

SPIC_GER162 said on July 6, 2011 at 2:56 PM

The Governor should immediately pardon him. Five seconds later, they would have been robbing him and he wouldn't have been charged. Ridiculous. They obviously were there to rob him. He gets 5 years for not waiting 5 seconds? Pardon him.

noskills said on July 6, 2011 at 2:56 PM

He didn't know for sure that they were going to rob him. As the DA said if they had been in his garage or in his house and then he shot him then they wouldn't of charged him. To just shoot someone on your property is a little trigger happy. Im not saying this is what happened but that couple's car could of easily been broken down and they were asking to use the phone or asking for someone to call a tow truck or something. There are a lot of scenarios that could result in someone with no malice intent being shot and killed just for stepping foot on someones property.

fwkc63 said on July 6, 2011 at 2:28 PM

Hmmm....lets see....I can murder my child and get off scott free due to an inept prosecutor and lack of "solid" evidence, but....if I shoot someone that is on my property that is about to rob me blind...I will spend 5 years in jail. WOW!! Thats what I call a bassackwards judicial system!!!!

dasindog said on July 6, 2011 at 2:25 PM

If you're going to own a device that can destroy a life in an instant, you must not only learn, but you must follow the rules. Otherwise you must be prepared to accept the consequences.

ithappensallthet said on July 6, 2011 at 2:11 PM

And the Tuba Man murders walk free and Casey Anthony walks free and , and, and. Seems to be a pick and choose judicial system

willow01 said on July 6, 2011 at 2:05 PM

I agree with Benito_Camelo and Jack Tipping That's just bull S#! and "This is a great victory for burglars."

bazwest said on July 6, 2011 at 2:01 PM

Sounds like a good conviction.

Benito_Camelo said on July 6, 2011 at 1:35 PM

That's just bull S#!