Posted on 03/16/2005 9:04:09 AM PST by scab4faa
BOULDER COUNTY - A 14-year-old girl was arrested Sunday for allegedly shooting her father, an act that she told authorities was meant to end his suffering after his failed suicide attempt.
The girl, who was not identified, was being held Monday on a manslaughter charge at the Platte Valley youth detention center in Greeley. No bond was set.
The name of the 56-year-old male victim was not released by authorities Monday, but neighbors identified him as Garrett Rich, a self-employed electrician.
Boulder County Coroner Thomas J. Faure said Monday that the victim died of multiple gunshot wounds, but declined to say how many times he was shot. He also would not comment on whether the man had health problems.
The incident began with a 911 call about 11:30 a.m. Sunday, when someone gave the operator an address and hung up, according to Lt. Phil West, spokesman for the Boulder County Sheriff's Office.
The operator dispatched three deputies to the home, in the 2000 block of North 75th Street, in a rural neighborhood east of Boulder.
Deputies found the girl sitting in a truck parked in front of the home and asked her if she had made the call.
She eventually told the deputies her father was dead inside, but didn't give details.
"She was flat emotionally," West said of the girl's demeanor. "She was not responsive."
West said the girl gave the deputies the key to the house, which they entered and searched.
They found a man dead in an upstairs room, apparently from a gunshot wound. A weapon was recovered from the house, but West declined to say what it was or where it was found. He said investigators have not found a suicide note.
The daughter, with her mother present, was questioned further Sunday about what happened in the house. She said she found her father after he tried to kill himself, and she shot him.
"She didn't want him to suffer," West said she told investigators.
However, West said investigators grew suspicious because the girl's story was inconsistent.
The girl couldn't say for sure where she was when her father allegedly shot himself, or whether she heard the initial shot.
"She couldn't put together a timeline of events," said West. "Her story changed with each retelling."
West said the girl lived with the father since her parents divorced a couple of years ago. The girl's mother still lives in Colorado, as does the girl's older brother, who lives on his own.
There have been no police calls to the home, and there is no record on the daughter, according to West. As for the father, investigators are still trying to piece together a history.
Neighbors said the father and daughter moved to Florida in the past year, and had only returned to the home about two weeks ago.
Residents also had bad memories of the family.
"He was very unpleasant," said Alan Patrick, 79, of the father, whom he identified as Rich. "If he had half a chance, he would threaten you with lawsuits."
However, Patrick remembered the daughter as "a nice girl who sold us Girl Scout cookies."
The Patricks live on a farm, two doors down from the rambling Rich home with its above-ground pool in the back yard.
Patrick's 40-year-old daughter, Juli, had darker memories of the girl. She said the elder Rich sent his daughter to pick sweet corn from the Patrick's field without asking.
"I went over and told him of my disapproval, and he started screaming obscenities at me," she said. "He said he was going to call the sheriff because I was trespassing on his property."
But Artine Yapoujian, who raises quarter horses across the road, said his dealings with Rich were unremarkable.
"We knew them only from a distance," said Yapoujian, who said his wife used to buy eggs from Rich's wife, Mary, and that the Rich's daughter sometimes played with his own children several years ago. "She seemed to be a nice girl," Yapoujian said.
He said the only hint of trouble came a year ago, when Garrett Rich told him he'd had a falling-out with his partner in an electrical business.
"He said, 'I don't have the business anymore,' " Yapoujian said.
As for Sunday's events, West said he and investigators are still trying to figure things out.
"It's a sad commentary on the state of affairs, if you are to believe her story," West said. "A 14-year-old is confronted with a crisis of this magnitude, and instead of making the call for help or rendering assistance, the reaction is to kill him."
way more to this story, get Grissom on the case
actually I'm seeing Law and Order Special Victims Unit, I'm betting Daddy was abusive to the girl, sexual abuse maybe in which case she would be more than happy to help Dad along in his suicide or she did outright kill him, I mean if he was considered that obnoxious by the neighbours, one can only imagine what the man was like behind closed doors, not that obnoxious is justification for murder, abuse is another matter,
good forensics will tell the tale......and it already sounds like her story ain't matching the forensics
I wonder why the girl was stuck with the old man anyway...
Sure, the ONE thing around the house that she's willing to help with...
I'm betting Daddy was abusive to the girl, sexual abuse maybe in which case she would be more than happy to help Dad along in his suicide or she did outright kill him,
same thing I was thinking.
We know none of the details, so it is remiss to judge or come to a conclusion.
BUT, it does sound like (if as you state) the best thing would be to assign her to counseling, bury the father and let God make the judgment.
Alas, nothing is ever that simple, and her life may already be a mess.
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