Dallas man went back to bed after killing burglar, police say
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
DALLAS — Authorities say a 72-year-old Dallas man fatally shot a suspected burglar behind his home and then went back to bed before finally calling police nearly two hours later.
The Dallas Morning News reports that James Michael Meyer has been charged with murder in the Thursday killing and was jailed on $150,000 bail as of Friday.
According to the arrest warrant affidavit, Meyer told police he was awakened at around 5 a.m. Thursday by noise outside and saw someone trying to break into his storage shed with a pickax. He says he grabbed his handgun, went outside and yelled at the person to stop and not come closer or else he'd shoot.
Police say he told investigators the person took several steps toward him, so he fired and the burglar dropped his pickax and ran toward the park behind his home. Police say he said he fired again "into the night" in the direction of the park then went back to bed.
The affidavit says Meyer’s wife called an attorney for advice before her husband called 911.
Meyer refused to answer the 911 dispatcher's questions , the Morning News reports, apparently stressing he was the victim of a crime.
The Morning News also reports that Meyer told police he threw the bullet shell casings in the trash.
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Both the homeowner and robber appear to be idiots in this case.
Are we expected to feel sorry for the criminal that was trying to rob the victim; and threatened the victim with a pickax?
The homeowner should have called the police immediately, then his lawyer to make sure they meet the police there. If their police are anything like the ones around here- it would be at least 1/2 hour to 1 hour to respond.
That's up to everyone to decide for themselves, I certainly don't
Yes he (or his wife) should have, we'll have to see how the prosecutors office proceeds from here
This case reminds me of the Edmond Oklahoma pharmacist, Jerome Ersland, who took his good time to casualty reload his gun and then unloaded it again into an already permanently down and probably dying headshot young robber. Eastland is serving a term for murder now. He went too far and didn't call for help promptly. It was overkill. Even in conservative Oklahoma a jury convicted him.
I don't see much similarity but Jerome does seem like a loon
Unnecessary force. After the first shot, the story says the "robber" ran off. To protect himself and his property, what was the necessity for the second shot? That's what will convict him. Not calling the police right away was a very bad move. It seems some people have become so "everyday behaviour" with killing people that to the shooter it was nothing unusual, so he went to sleep.
To learn 'im a lesson.
Hey, a man needs his sleep.
I don't know; is it fair to expect an old man to wake up at 5am and so everything all nice and legal and quick? It's not like he didn't call the police at all.
More seriously: maybe he didn't know if he hit the guy? Maybe he didn't see any point in calling the police?
That seems like a very real defence possibility
I thought the weirdest thing in the story was trying to contact his lawyer at 5am, I mean I don't have a personal lawyer but if I did I can't imagine he/she would be giving me his/her home number to call at anytime
Sunrise was at 7:22 AM Friday, so it was still dark and the burglar was wearing dark clothing.
Different reports say he had a handgun, or that he only chambered one round.
Now today Chanel 10 CBS Dallas is reporting it was a shotgun (?)
but the burglar died from a "gunshot wound on the back of his neck".
As always SP, thanks for the info