Struggling with too much debt, an unemployed law enforcement officer plotted to commit suicide by cop after killing his ex-wife. His plan didn’t go how he expected.
Two months prior to the fateful day, the law enforcement officer’s ex-wife filed a protection order against him for being violent—his employer suspended him from duty.
On that tragic day, before he set out on his mission to end his life, he packed his toothbrush, shave cream, medicine, and money. He also had rented a car.
He waited at his stepdaughter’s school for his ex-wife to arrive. As the high school student arrived at her mother’s car, her step-father suddenly appeared and shot her mother in front of her. The mother told her daughter to run, which she did and also called 911. Two bystanders attempted to help, but he shot them as well. They survived their injuries. The mother did not survive the shooting.
After killing his ex-wife, he drove overnight to another town where he first went to a mall. When a woman walked toward her car, he demanded the keys. She screamed for help. A man nearby ran to her—the vengeful man shot and killed him. He also shot and injured two others.
Next, he drove to a grocery store where he confronted a woman exiting the store. They struggled; he shot and killed her. Police arrested him in a parking lot across from the market where he sat eating his lunch. Found in his car was a note that said,
“To my brothers in blue, I ask your forgiveness and I hope you make it quick.”
Rather than being killed by an officer, they took him into custody and his journey through the court system began. For the killing at the mall and the market, he opted to plead guilty to two counts of murder and two counts of attempted first-degree murder. A judge sentenced him to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
In a separate case, he also pleaded guilty to the murder of his wife. Another judge sentenced him to a second term of life in prison. At the second sentencing, the judge said,
“There should be no mercy in this situation for a number of reasons. How do I count the ways?”
Source: Bethesda Magazine, NBC4 Washington
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