Death threats against Houston area man

Update on the "reasonable cause issue" discussed earlier.

Dec. 10, 2007, 8:35PM
Death threat made against homeowner who killed burglary suspects
HOUSTON — An unknown man called in a death threat against a Houston-area man who fatally shot two suspected burglars in the back, authorities said Monday.
The caller made the death threat shortly before 2 p.m. Sunday, leaving a message with the Harris County District Attorney's Public Integrity Division. The message is laced with curse words and says Pasadena homeowner Joe Horn will be killed in retaliation for the deaths of the two men he shot Nov. 14, the Houston Chronicle reported in its online edition.

"If you don't get an indictment, we're going to kill him and if he goes to prison, we'll kill him there, too," Pasadena police spokesman Vance Mitchell said the message suggested.

Investigators have been checking phone records but do not yet have a suspect.
Horn, 61, killed Hernando Riascos Torres, 38, and Diego Ortiz, 30. The incident has touched off protests from minority activists and counter-protests from Horn's supporters.
Horn's attorney has said his client believed the two men had broken into his neighbor's home and that he shot them only when they came into his yard and threatened him. On the 911 call, Horn threatens to kill the men despite the dispatcher's urging that Horn stay inside his house.

Horn has not been charged in the case, although the district attorney will likely present the case to a grand jury to determine if charges should be filed.

The suspected burglars were illegal immigrants from Colombia. Police are trying to determine if they were part of a crime ring linked to burglaries and fake immigration documents. Police found a Puerto Rican identification card on Ortiz, who they say had two aliases. Torres had identification cards from Colombia, Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic and had three aliases.

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/tx/5367179.html

By elk on Dec 12, 2007, 10:03 in Friendly Talkzone.

morphus says on Dec 12, 2007, 10:16:

But will the threats be carried out?

Robert Jorge says on Dec 12, 2007, 10:34:

Who ever left that death threat is an idiot. I wouldn't take it too seriously if I was in the guy's shoes. I would be much more worried about the looming legal mess that will dominate his life for the next year or two.

Wastelandlive says on Dec 12, 2007, 10:41:

It would appear that the man can take care of himself.

If I were a Colombian mafioso, I would be wary of arousing the anger of the common Texan. I don't think that the violence and intimidation that works for them in Colombia will buy them any more than a shallow grave in Texas.

They should stick to narcotrafficking and petty theft, and accept their losses as a price of doing business.

Retaliatory slayings aren't going to change anything: everybody has a gun in Texas, and these are proud, educated, independent Americans. NOT campesinos.

Foreign operations are always challenging...

Wasteland

Robert Jorge says on Dec 12, 2007, 10:54:

Wastelandlive, you articulated exactly what I was thinking, except I was too lazy to actually write it out. Can you imagine a couple of narcos trying to settle a personal vendetta with native Texans who are on the lookout for trouble? Why don't they just try and rob a Texas pawn shop or a Florida gun store? It is suicide.

morphus says on Dec 12, 2007, 11:00:

I think most gun owners dream of the day when they will have to use the gun to shoot somebody. Humans hunt animals. Why not people?

Atrevido says on Dec 12, 2007, 13:31:

I think it´s unfortunate he shot them in the back. Kind a goes agin Texas cowboy tradition.

Lowell says on Dec 12, 2007, 13:42:

Yep, you don't back shoot.

Alfred E. Newman. "What. Me Worry?"

BAQ says on Dec 12, 2007, 18:41:

Well, lets sum it up this way, "It´s better to be tried by twelve than carried by six"

Semper Fidelis !

scotty says on Dec 13, 2007, 00:46:

according to Texas law i think the guy had every right to shoot them...HOWEVER, i think he did a very stupid thing. he had other options he could have chosen to do..

Get Rhythm, when you got the blues. Johnny Cash

kalder says on Dec 13, 2007, 00:48:

I like the sound of these Texan fellows.

We could do with a few in London.

Liquor stores are always being held up. Police turn up an hour later, take statements and it's back off to the station for tea, biscuits and another lesbian rights training course.

"kalder- have you ever had a woman?"--Sam Salmon

scumbuster says on Dec 13, 2007, 07:00:

From the looks of the law in Texas, it seems he was within his rights to do what he did. The law as I saw it on CNN yesterday said you can shoot a burglar if they attempt to flee the seen. I myself have a little problem with shooting them in the back. The alternative is let them run and get away clean. I was wondering why not just shoot them in the legs but in the heat of the moment I guess this is what we have. I also wonder what his response would have been if it had been a couple teenagers making a stupid decision to do something like this. Kids do stupid things sometimes, and I would hate to think you could have a couple 15 or 16 year olds laying there dead. Hopefully if he had seen kids he would have thought twice about shooting them.

morphus says on Dec 13, 2007, 07:20:

Examples have to be made. Burglars are dangerous and they will kill to get away. Its not like we are talking about good people here.

webmanco says on Dec 13, 2007, 07:24:

I don´t think every burglar would kill to get away. And no always those who pull the trigger are good people either.

What a poor example, of stupidity.

But, I'm going to start making some assumptions here.... Which means I might actually end up making an ass out of myself ..........Thu 04 17, 2008 11:34 am

morphus says on Dec 13, 2007, 07:31:

Yeah right, those guys would kill your grandmother for 20k pesos. Maybe less.

lpdiver says on Dec 14, 2007, 16:43:

IT would make no difference if they had been 15 or 16. That is plenty old enough to know better.

t

"cook some rice!"