Posted on 03/21/2006 1:38:11 AM PST by beaversmom
BATAVIA, Ohio -- A man who neighbours say was devoted to his meticulously kept lawn is charged with murder in the shooting of a 15-year-old boy who apparently walked across his yard.
Charles Martin, 66, of Union Township, near this city about 30 kilometres east of Cincinnati, shot next-door neighbour Larry Mugrage in the chest with a shotgun about 3:30 p.m. Sunday, police said. The youth was pronounced dead at hospital.
Martin was being held without bond yesterday in Clermont County Jail. Police said he told them he had several disputes about neighbours walking on his lawn. But Union Township police Lieut. Scott Gaviglia said Martin had no criminal history and last called police in 2003.
Martin called 911 on Sunday, saying in a calm voice: "I just killed a kid."
He also tells the dispatcher: "It's been going on for five years ... I've been harassed by him and his parents for five years. Today just blew it up."
STUNS NEIGHBOURHOOD
The deadly shooting stunned those in the neighbourhood and students at Glen Este High School, where Martin was a freshman, and grief counsellors were on hand yesterday.
"I think there's a great deal of shock, for two reasons: because of the age of the victim and just how this occurred, killed over some grass," Gaviglia said.
Neighbours said Martin lived alone quietly, often sitting out in front of his one-storey home with its neat lawn, well-trimmed shrubbery and flag pole with U.S. and navy flags flying.
In his fenced backyard, he had several birdhouses and a shed painted like a small red barn with white trim.
If the old geezer had gotten to a psychiatrist and was taking his meds the kid might be alive.
I think it's safe to say that his a$$ is grass.
LOL!
I can think of one right of the top of my head, AUTOMATIC LAWN SPRINKLERS. The kind that are set of by motion detectors.
The next time you hear an old guy say "Hey you kids, get offa my lawn!" remember that he MEANS it.
--all neatly trimmed with wood to look like a plain old mailbox...
I recall exactly such a story and as I recall the homeowner was sued or jailed for some kind of dangerous overkill, believe it or not.
I'm with you. I did think there was one valid point hiding in all his offensive characterizations, though: it's entirely possible that this guy was in fact obsessive over his lawn, so what the neighbors thought was just "having fun with that cranky old coot" might have been perceived as a life-and-death struggle on his end.
Which underscores the moral, pointed out several times on this thread: don't go around provoking people for the fun of it. You never know which one is loaded and cocked, with the safety off.
Good point.
I wonder if the kid's last words were "What are you going to do, shoot me!?!"
I'm not flaming you--you're right. If this had gone to court as a simple case of harassing behavior by the kid, the media would have laughed at the old guy as intolerant, ultraconservative, mean-spirited, etc. After the trial, every punk in town would be walking across the guy's lawn.
Wow, that's unbelievable. But sadly, it's believable after all. I still treasure the mental image of a hot-shot hick wrapping his pickup around my mailbox...
...the media would have laughed at the old guy as intolerant, ultraconservative, mean-spirited, etc.
Yes, now the entire world is laughing at him as an "out of his mind, raving lunatic murderous wacko." That's soo much better.
I think it was Upstate NY. After a rash of mailbox driveovers some homeowner put in a mailbox that could stop a car. It did. The trial I remember may have been the lawsuite. I don't recall who won. I side with the home owner.
I like the way you think!
Another of my someday-projects is to build a phased array of motion sensors and a microcontroller that will point a spotlight at whoever's in the yard, and follow them around. IF that works well, the next two enhancements will be: multiple spotlights for up to three bogeys; and replacing the spotlight with a laser pointer.
And oh yeah--setting up a webcam to capture the fun.
Twice?
Being originally from Ohio, i can tell ya that many people in Ohio take their lawns WAY too seriously.
Don't deliberately provoke anyone - They might be having a bad day, be crazy or all of the above. Goading people is always dangerous - something that this kid found out too late unfortunately.
They actually sell those for theater. I don't recall if the person tracked by the light needs to have a special device, but I don't think so.
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