Posted on 02/18/2012 1:00:08 PM PST by marktwain
When a residential burglar fired a gun at Jay Leone last month, he was initially too angry to realize he had been shot in the head, he testified Friday.
"To tell you the truth, I never felt a thing," said Leone, 90, of Greenbrae. "I said, 'F- you, you son of a bitch, now it's my turn.'"
Whereupon he shot five bullets at the suspect from his .38-caliber Smith & Wesson snubnose revolver, hitting the burglar three times in the abdomen. A scuffle ensued between the wounded men.
"Then he took the gun and put it to my head click!" said Leone, who knew there were no bullets left in the gun. "And that was the end of that. He ran away."
Leone testified at the preliminary hearing of the suspect, Samuel Joseph Cutrufelli, who is charged with attempted murder, burglary, robbery and firearms offenses by a felon. After the hearing, Judge Paul Haakenson will decide whether there is sufficient evidence to hold a trial.
The shooting occurred at about 10:45 a.m. Jan. 3 at Leone's home on Via La Cumbre. Police said Cutrufelli entered the home, detained Leone at gunpoint and searched the residence for property.
After the gunbattle, Leone called 911 from his house, and Cutrufelli called 911 after stopping his car just over the San Rafael border. Cutrufelli, a 30-year-old Novato resident, said he had shot himself and needed medical attention, according to Twin Cities police.
Leone testified energetically, despite having been shot in the face just weeks ago. With his head shaved and a bandage on his left cheek, he described how the bullet entered his jaw area and exited the back of his neck, avoiding a fatal wound but eventually leading to a jaw infection, pneumonia and a breathing tube.
Under questioning from prosecutor Dorothy Chou Proudfoot, Leone described how the burglar entered his home, held a gun to his head and said there was a "contract out" on him.
"I said, 'How could there be a contract out on me?'" Leone said. "He said, 'I understand you're the guy with all the expensive cars.'"
While Leone had collected 1970s-era cars in the past, he had only a 1996 Mitsubishi and a 2005 Ford in his garage at the time. Then the burglar led him at gunpoint to the bedroom, which he allegedly ransacked for valuables while Leone sat on the bed.
Leone said he concocted a plan: He said he needed to use the bathroom, which is where his five guns were hidden. When the burglar refused, Leone pulled his pants down and said he would defecate on the spot.
The burglar let him leave for the bathroom but would not let him close the door, Leone said.
"I said, 'Do you like to watch people take a s-?'" Leone testified. The burglar let him close the door, and Leone went for his Smith & Wesson snubnose.
Cutrufelli spent nine days at Marin General Hospital before he was well enough to be booked into jail. His public defender, Kathleen Boyle, has filed a motion to dismiss the charges, saying Cutrufelli was denied access to a lawyer while he was in the hospital, and the crime scene was contaminated in the interim.
The motion to dismiss is scheduled to be heard by Judge Andrew Sweet on March 15.
Outside the courtroom, Leone, a fitness buff and former member of the sheriff's air patrol, said he would like to go another round with Cutrufelli, perhaps in a classic duel at three paces.
"The doctor says I'm healing well," Leone said. "He said, 'For some reason, it didn't kill you.'"
Hat tip to yefragetuwrabrumuy.
Two Italian surnames? Maybe I’m stereotyping.
“the burglar entered his home, held a gun to his head and said there was a “contract out” on him. “
No, I don’t think that I am. The mobster that put out the hit better start sleeping with one eye open.
More of a man at 90 than Obama will ever be.
I guess the perp deserves the nickname “Leadbelly” on two counts—first, carrying three slugs, and second, not going down after being shot (although it would have been more just if he died on the spot).
Those punks had a really bad day I remember, as the two ex-cons were followed by Eli Wallach, an aged hit man carrying a shotgun underneath his coat, intending to carry out a contract made with him many years before, who the punks decided to mug next.
Always have your enemy advance under a wall of gun fire.
He may eventually kill you with your own weapon, but he’ll have to beat you to death with it, since all the bullets will have been fired.
I've had a doc say something similar once. At least when he says it, you can take comfort that you ARE living life, and not standing on the sidelines observing.
I'm a firm believer that any well lived life is going to have a couple of hair-raising stories.
And that 90 year old certainly has another one.
/johnny
“...sufficient evidence to hold a trial.”
I think Helen Keller could rule on this one.
Needs a larger cailber gun....
.
So, he apparently took the .38 revolver with him when he fled. But what a shaky lie - he shot himself three times in the abdomen? Seems to me, if you were to shoot yourself once, that's when you seek medical attention! But three times, ouch! What a bad liar!
No mention of his other four choices.
a good example of why “if you have to shoot, shoot center mass” is the rule.
Had he shot center mass -the guy would not have rushed him and had hand to hand combat or been able to run away.
Leone is lucky -
That said, a nice little shotgun is the best deterrent. Just the sound of a shot gun racking will send the baddest of the bad scrambling
Whereupon he shot five bullets at the suspect from his .38-caliber Smith & Wesson snubnose revolver, hitting the burglar three times in the abdomen. A scuffle ensued between the wounded men.
I love this guy. You fight a man this old, and he just might kill you.
My only regret is three .38 slugs didn't finish off the perp.
That’s right, I forgot about that part.
"The doctor says I'm healing well," Leone said. "He said, 'For some reason, it didn't kill you.'"
Even the doctor was amazed and rightly so. Lots of vitals packed into that area; carotid arteries, jugular veins, spinal cord, medulla oblongata, ...
Definitely a tough old bird...
Outside the courtroom, Leone, a fitness buff and former member of the sheriff's air patrol, said he would like to go another round with Cutrufelli, perhaps in a classic duel at three paces.
LOL "Get off my lawn!"
abdomen is pretty much center mass
God bless that warrior man
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