Once the threat is stopped, you call the police and say, "I am in fear for my life. Arrest that man!" Then you tell the police you want to speak to your lawyer and shut up. Now, the intruder is dead, you know this, and you demand they be arrested, even though you know he is dead.
All of that said, I am conflicted about the killing of these two. I do not think one should prophylactically kill those who might come back. They might be chalked up as idiot young people, but idiot young people can kill homeowners. We know the police do nothing to prevent breaking and entering...most of the time they come in and 'clean up' after the fact. So, we as a society are not constrained from bad behavior by the chains of virtue. We have long since moved to a postChristian era where bad behavior has attained victim status. We are left to defend our homes, lives, and propterty. The rules seem to vacillate very often.
I think the shooter in this case spoke too much. He acted beyond what the law allows. He showed poor judgement on a variety of levels. He says he was also very tired of getting broken into and have his property stolen. This will not play with a jury. Property trumps 2 young lives? This will not fly with most juries judging this white man. O.J.'s jury was another thing.
I’m not ignoring the rest of your post or cherrypicking, the rest I agree with entirely.
“He acted beyond what the law allows.”
The people he killed were acting beyond what the law allowed. They didn’t care...why should he?
Seems like it comes up even to me.
As an aside, they actually held a vigil for these two morons. Can you imagine a scenario 150 years ago in which citizens are holding a vigil for two thieves caught in the act...no matter how they died?
“Billy was just stealing that man’s horse and he shot him out of the saddle and then hung him! Billy didn’t deserve that!”
Hang ‘em high.
My mind...it boggles.
And sorry for making multiple posts to you, I should have put this in my other to you.
“Property trumps 2 young lives?”
Well, let’s see.
What is property? It is usually a physical item that you exchanged something of value for. Probably cash.
How does one get money? By working, generally.
What does to work mean? It means someone pays you for your time.
So truthfully...you’re exchanging time for property. When someone steals “just property” from you, what they really stole is the labor hours it took for you to earn whatever they stole.
That means they’re taking part of your life. Because they’re too lazy to exchange their time for money. They’d rather just take yours...it’s easier, and kind of a rush.
He’s an old man...he doesn’t have much time left. So stealing time from an old man is an even greater crime.
I’m glad they’re dead. I’d bet that in the past they had gloated over other succesful robberies...well sometimes you win, sometimes you lose.
And their short lives ended on the floor of a basement, choking in blood after trying and failing to victimize an old man. Their existence was so short and meaningless that they might as well never have lived.
Good.