Source: Councilman Offered Gunman Cash

Associated Press | 7/24/03 | Michael Weissenstein

[Alberta's Child]

Some more of the details about this case are being released on the local news here in New York. It's starting to look as if this guy Othniel Askew was quite a homosexual freak -- this is the first I've heard of his previous arrest for assaulting a former, uh, ""sweetheart" of his.

[MEG33]

I think he was a few cards short of a deck!

[hellinahandcart]

Besides the $45,000 payment, Askew claimed Davis had offered him $15,000 a year and a no-show staff job, and offered to sell him a building in Brooklyn for $1, law enforcement sources said.

I'd kill anyone who offered me all that, too!

[thegreatbeast]

You have to be wrong, Child. Gays are just that, gay; they can't hurt people.

[hellinahandcart]

Seriously, Askew sounds crazy. Paranoid delusions or something. Why would Davis either offer him money to quit, or threaten him physically to get him to quit, considering Askew couldn't get enough signatures in time and so couldn't run against him anyway?

The sad thing is that Davis apparently trusted him.

[hellinahandcart]

cherchez le homme...

[Alberta's Child]

And Askew was described as a former "military man," so he must have been either a tailgunner or a rear admiral.

[HateBill]

The local Fox affiliate in New York (channel 5) also reported that a search of Askew's apartment revealed anti-depression and HIV medication.

[Alberta's Child]

Delightful. This guy was some freak, huh?

[frostbit]

Isn't attacking your 'life partner' a domestic assault?

How'd he pass the background to buy the gun a few years later?

Or are the rules different for same sex domestic violence?

[oceanview]

This is the Democratic Party of Brooklyn, the level of corruption is on par with Robert Mugabe, nothing is beyond the pale amongst this gang.

[WorkingClassFilth]

File this one under 'Multiculturalism' and 'Democratic Diversity.' I love it when the freaks are oozing out of the RAT cloisters.

[elbucko]

Court records show Askew was charged with assault in 1996 and accused of beating his domestic partner with a hammer.

...a search of Askew's apartment revealed anti-depression and HIV medication.

The only part of this story that will be relevant to the popular media is, "the gun".

[ARCADIA]

David Sasser, who owns a gun dealership in Sneads Ferry, N.C., said Askew bought a $600 handgun from him in 2001. He said there was nothing unusual about the sale. "He had all the paperwork," Sasser said.

He lived in NYC; how could he buy a gun in North Carolina?

[Shermy]

there were two other "serious" candidates - one who ran against Davis before. Askew was a political nobody. Also, he blew the time for filing election papers. Davis offered this guy nothing.

[hellinahandcart]

Davis offered this guy nothing.

I know that, but it's proof Askew wasn't living in the same dimension as the rest of us. He didn't just make that claim, he made it to the FBI, right before he killed him.

I also heard something last night about how he had wanted Davis to sign a paper stating that, if anything were to happen to him, Askew was to be "council designee" in his place. Now that's just plain illegal, but it also shows Askew wasn't operating in the real world anymore.

I can't tell yet if Askew was obsessed with wanting to be Davis, or just plain obsessed with Davis.

[hellinahandcart]

How'd he pass the background to buy the gun a few years later?

He must have pleaded to a misdemeanor.

[Gritty]

He lived in NYC; how could he buy a gun in North Carolina?

He was in the Air Force. Maybe he was stationed there and claimed NC as his residence?

[hellinahandcart]

Are New Yorkers barred from buying guns in other states, or something? I know Rudy and Georgie and Bloomie would like that, but as far as I know, it's never become a law...

[Gritty]

Are New Yorkers barred from buying guns in other states, or something?

Gun dealers are generally prohibited from selling pistols (and usually long guns) to somebody from out of state and this article referenced the gun dealer he bought it from. A person may possibly buy a a firearm from out of state but the firearm can only be shipped state-to-state through a registered gun dealer in the state of his residence, which requires all local laws are followed.

New York has very strict handgun laws and you cannot even own, much less buy a handgun in New York without a permit (unless you are a criminal, and then they are very easy to get). My guess is he bought this handgun in North Carolina from a dealer and did so legally as a resident at the time, probably stationed at Pope AFB as the article refers to him being an AF veteran.

To own and carry a pistol in New York, he would need a very extensive, expensive and lo-o-oong permitting process. My bet is, he didn't go through this almost impossible process but owned and carried it "illegally". However, it is possible he was carrying legally, as he was a "politican", and these special people are more easily able to get the required owning/carrying permit, unlike the ordinary serfs of New York.

The fact the media reports are silent on the details indicates to me something funny went on. He probably used some political connections to get a permit, otherwise the papers would be screaming about the "illegal" gun which found it's nefarious way into NY from North Carolina - a "loophole" that just has to be plugged by another law!