Posted on 12/17/2014 10:24:56 AM PST by Manly Warrior
Alcohol involved. Child custody involved. Hmmm.
http://www.dawsonnews.com/section/5/article/15836/
http://www.wsbtv.com/news/news/local/little-league-coach-shot-killed-birthday-party/njMbB/
http://www.dawsonnews.com/section/5/article/15845/
“that or they are hoping the guy will plea out to a lesser charge.”
That is exactly it. Convictions are how careers are built
Weaver’s son had attended a birthday party at the Whitney Place residence earlier in the
evening and then left the property, reportedly after a situation of adults drinking
alcohol made him feel uncomfortable. “The kid had walked off from the property and wanted
to be picked up,” Wooten said. The boy called his father to say he wanted to come home.
Weaver picked up his son and later, with an unidentified male, returned to the Whitney Place
residence to confront the people living there. Shortly afterward, an altercation ensued,
Wooten said. The cause of the fight is still under investigation.
Read more: Dawson Advertiser - http://www.dawsonadvertiser.com/view/full_story_free/26193273/article-Man-arrested-on-charges-of-murder-in-Dawson-County?instance=breakingNews_article
Lots of unanswered questions at this stage of what is in the public domain.
I still say Seppenfield’s mouth got him in trouble. If you plan on killing someone never tell your thoughts to anyone.
‘Brandon Weaver, 37, was called by his young son to be picked from a birthday party about an hour north of Atlanta on Nov. 22.
The boy asked him to get him because the adults there began to act ‘drunk’ and ‘rowdy,’ WSB-TV reported.
Weaver returned to the party a few hours later and a fight broke out.
During the altercation, 50-year-old Herman Seppenfield VII allegedly fired two shots and struck Weaver.’
Assuming the Daily Mail is correct, why did Weaver return two hours after removing his son from the party? If they were drinking, that’s two more hours of alcohol down the hatch. Why would anyone want to get anywhere near them? If Weaver had something to say, wait till the next day, when presumably they would have sobered up.
Hindsight is 20/20, and there are many facts yet to be reported. It does seem strange, though, that someone would return to a ‘booze fueled party’ after having gotten both himself and his son clear of it. Why not just leave well enough alone, at least for the time being?
37 year old athletic coach goes uninvited into the home of 50 year old non-athlete, and brings a friend. Both “confront” the 50 year old.
Preponderance of force, out-numbered, and the shot/killed confronter and his friend confronted the confrontee in the confrontee’s home.
ORLY ? ? ? ?
Only a person accustomed to giving orders to children would assume he had the right to confront an adult in his home and start a fight. A loud mouthed busybody and a friend lost to Mr. Homeowner and Mr. Gunpowder.
Paging Mr. Darwin!
Paging Mr. Darwin!
We have a Darwin Award contneder for you.
That’s how it reads to me too. Not that it justifies shooting the guy to death—or perhaps it does; all the facts are not in, and we don’t know what kind of threat may have been presented.
I will just say I have been at B-Day parties where people were drinking. The last thing you want is for a non-invited person & his friend to show up at the door, actually come inside, and start trouble. It’s just not necessary or appropriate. There was no reason (that we know of) not to let the party run its course, and discuss the issue, whatever it was, a day or two later.
At least that’s what it looks like at this point. But we do need more facts. Hopefully an update will be posted.
Approximately three hours later, Weaver returned to the home with a family member and a fight broke out. According to Wooten, Seppenfield fired two shots at Weaver.
I wonder why someone would do that? What is to be gained by confronting a supposedly drunk and rowdy person at his own home? I guess the deceased found out the hard way.
I suspect he learned something shocking from his son. I wish he’d called the police instead of going back to the house.
Sorry.
I sure would, once I had all the facts.
That isn't likely to happen any time soon, if he has already been charged, and no details released.
Would that be the Bank of America robbery from about ten years ago?
Best question yet.
Sounds to me that the child had a lot more judgment than the dead dad.
Already got it. Guess it was Hollywood
Thanx
I think you are right. I’ve been thinking about this sad scenario. Anything Weaver had to discuss with the shooter could have waited...except one thing. If Weaver wanted to confront the shooter *while* he was drinking, that could not have waited. If, for example, Weaver had gone the next day, the shooter [sorry; I don’t know his name off hand] could have said, ‘I only had a couple of beers.’ Weaver could not have proved otherwise.
So the one matter so urgent that the dead father just couldn’t let it ride would have been the drinking itself. For whatever reason, Weaver wanted to crash the party and be obnoxious about the fact that alcohol was being consumed. [This is pure conjecture, but it fits what facts we have.] For this he should not have been shot, but again, we don’t know where that “confrontation” went from there. Just a shame it couldn’t have waited till the next day regardless.
Yes, the son did have more sense. Get away and stay away. If only his Dad had followed suit.
Thanx
To my knowledge all the Dawson County Police Dept stated was “alcohol was involved” in the incident. The news took that & ran with it skewing it to mean a “boozey” birthday party. To my knowledge there is ZERO evidence showing any of the adults at that household were intoxicated. SO - could it be that it was the person that went back to Bo’s house to confront him did so while under the influence?
So - lets look at the facts. Two men (much younger than BO) go to Bo’s household at around 10 pm to confront him. Bo is assaulted (there are pictures to prove this). He then must not only protect himself from further assault but also protect his girlfriend, her small children & his pregnant daughter inside the home. And HE gets arrested??
Tory (Bo’s daughters boyfriend) pulls the assailant Marty Buice off of Bo (at this point Bo was on the ground getting pounded by Marty) and subdues him and Tory gets arrested???
PEOPLE - everyone needs to really pay attention to this case... WHY were the persons that were assaulted ON THEIR OWN FRONT PORCH arrested for protecting themselves (after they had already called 911 for help) and the person that went to their home to confront them & assaulted Bo is NOT in jail ????? Dawsonville is a small town & Brandon Weaver was well known. I see a major railroading happening to these men that were arrested & thus far the story is being “told” by the people in that town that knew & are friends with the Weaver family - so it is VERY skewed.
People that believe in the right to protect your family from assault need to pay attention to this trial!! IF you read the news articles THEN learn the actual facts it will become crystal clear of what is happening in this town !
Also interesting link (as this stuff IS public record) :
http://mugshots.com/search.html?q=marty+buice
Wonder if that is why his name is NEVER mentioned by the Dawson paper?
In the last hearing the attorney gave statement that the man that was shot (as well as the man that went with him) were both well over the legal alcohol limit. I have not heard ANY statements in the courtroom that states the homeowner, etc were intoxicated. Somehow a statement that was made,”Alcohol was involved” got misinterpreted that the shooter was intoxicated. Not the case. I understand that Bo did not take lethal action when the first trespasser attacked him on the porch of his home. It was not until the second person attacked him that the incident occurred. AND this was after Bo’s daughter had called 911 for help.
UPDATE - Herman “BO” Seppenfield acquitted of ALL charges.
Following is the latest news article that provides facts that have never been provided until now !!
Seppenfield acquitted of all charges in murder case
Released after spending 425 days in Dawson County jail
Michele Hester
mhester@dawsonnews.com
March 2, 2016
There was a hushed sound of relief as Dawson County Clerk of Courts Justin Power read the verdict.
“Not guilty on all charges,” he said just after 5:15 p.m. Monday, as one family quietly hugged and celebrated, while another held to each other, visibly shocked to hear the jury’s decision.
Herman James “Bo” Seppenfield VII, 51, walked out of the Dawson County jail less than 45 minutes later a free man, after spending 425 days in custody for the 2014 shooting death of 37-year-old Brandon Weaver, also of Dawsonville.
“We are relieved and overjoyed,” said his Attorney Richard Stepp. “We believe the verdict of the jury speaks to truth.”
It took the jury more than 12 hours of deliberations, spread out over two days, to reach the decision and exonerate Seppenfield on the charges of felony murder, malice murder, aggravated assault and possession of a firearm during a felony act.
Following the verdict, Seppenfield’s daughter, Heather, hugged her near year-old daughter, and said, “You’re going to get to meet your grandpa today. He’s going to love hugging you.”
State’s reaction to the verdict
Northeastern Judicial Circuit District Attorney Lee Darragh issued a statement on the case Tuesday morning.
“First, the hearts of all in our office who worked so hard to seek justice in this case go out to the family of Brandon Weaver,” he said. “While this case had issues from the start, the facts, the physical evidence and the law supported this prosecution of Seppenfield for the charge of murder. It was altogether appropriate for the citizens of Dawson County to finally decide the matter in a jury trial.”
Seppenfield charged with murder
The charges stemmed from events that took place at his home on Whitney Place in southeastern Dawson County the night of Nov. 22, 2014.
Weaver died at the scene after being shot twice, following a verbal altercation that escalated and ended in gunfire.
From day one of the trial, which started Feb. 22, there was never an argument made denying that Seppenfield fired the deadly shots.
“I pointed the gun at him and said, ‘Stop, the police are on the way,’” Seppenfield said when he took the stand on Thursday. “At that point, I felt like it was him or me. And my family was on the other side of that door.”
Defense: ‘Shooting was justified and lawful’
The defense maintained the shooting was justified and lawful, that Seppenfield was defending his family and his home.
According to Seppenfield, he was awakened from sleep to find a man at his door shortly after 10 p.m., demanding to know what had gone on at a child’s birthday party held there earlier in the day.
Testifying for the state, Weaver’s now 13-year-old son, said he felt uncomfortable about adults at the party drinking and smoking cigars, which led to him and two friends leaving the party without notifying any adults.
He called home to tell his mom as the trio walked toward his house off Dawson Forest Road.
Weaver’s wife then drove her husband and brother, Marty Buice, to pick up the three boys.
Witness testimony shows they also made a stop back at the party, letting Seppenfield and his girlfriend Elisa Chameli, who hosted the party for her twin daughters, know the three boys had left on their own.
It was hours later that Buice and Weaver returned to the home, where a verbal altercation led to a fight and gunfire.
The deadly shots
At first sight, Seppenfield said he did not recognize the man at the door, later identified as Buice, who he described in court as “belligerent and drunk.”
“Once voices got raised, I stepped all the way outside on the porch. I didn’t want the girls to wake up,” he said.
Within moments, Seppenfield said he was picking himself up off the ground, having been hit in the mouth by Buice.
According to Seppenfield, once he regained his senses from the hit, he found Buice fighting with Tory Jude Miguez, who also lived at the Whitney Place home and accompanied Seppenfield to the door.
With the pistol he had placed in his waistband when he heard the loud knocking at his door, Seppenfield said he was able to subdue Buice for a short time, telling him the police were on the way.
The events continued to escalate and Buice was hit in the head with the pistol.
By this time Weaver was out of Buice’s truck and reportedly charged at Seppenfield.
“I started backing up ... I was hollering ‘stop’ the whole time,” he said, adding the deadly shots came next.
Closing arguments ended Thursday
The state and defense rested their cases late Thursday afternoon, following three full days of testimony in which jurors heard memories of what happened the night of Nov. 22.
Buice’s story of how the events of the night unraveled painted a contrasting picture that including a description of tattoos Miguez had on his torso (that are not there) and an account of Seppenfield shooting Weaver when he was already on the ground.
Buice also claimed memory loss of the night in question until months later, in which he said he wrote down his memories and gave them to investigators, who later testified to the contrary in regards to the written statement.
Buice and Weaver’s wife did corroborate that the two men had been drinking before going to the Whitney Place home.
Deputies also found three empty bottles of vodka, as well as a shotgun, in the back of Buice’s truck.
Witness statements
Witnesses included deputies and emergency personnel that were first on the scene of the shooting, crime scene and homicide experts, and Seppenfield’s adult daughter, who was at home at the time and called 9-1-1 to the house they shared, testified during the trial.
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