My email:
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Megan,
I'm 73 and have been retired for six years. Because of my degrees and certifications to teach Physics, Math, Chemistry, Biology and Earth Sciences, while I was teaching at York College, I was asked by the York County Attorney in 1987 to examine evidence from a murder that took place earlier at Henderson, NE. Sydney Thieszen, a 14 year old adopted boy, shot and killed Sasha Thieszen, a 12 year old girl who was also adopted by the Thieszen family.
Sydney's attorney was asking for 3rd Degree accidental homicide. From the blood evidence collected at the time I was able to prove that Sydney had molested Sasha after he had killed her. After this fact established that covering up an attempted sexual assault was the motive for the murder, Sydney's attorney agreed to a plea bargain of 2nd degree murder. Sydney was given a 40 year sentence without parole.
That's the end of it, right? Wrong!
If things had taken their normal course Sydney Thieszen might not have seen freedom till 2027. However, because of a ruling in 1997 by a Nebraska Supreme Court Justice, all 2nd degree murder convections were thrown out, giving Sydney the option of a new trial. His jail house "lawyers" advised him to seek a re-trial because since his first trial some investigators had retired, moved or died, and that the evidence against him was probably lost or destroyed. His buddies were wrong. I kept the evidence in my custody under lock and key the entire time. I testified at the second trial. So did two psychiatrists, who testified that Sydney was too psychotic to ever be released from prison. If you knew Sydney's history from birth till he and his mother were arrested you'd understand why he is such a warped individual. The jury which heard the evidence found him guilty and recommended a life sentence with no possibility of parole. Sydney Thieszen was 24 at the time of the second trial.
That's the end of it, right? Wrong.
Fast forward 15 years later, to November of 2012, when I received an email from the secretary of the Nebraska Board of Pardons informing me that due to a ruling early that summer by the United States Supreme Court all sentences of life in prison without parole handed out to juvenile offenders were declared unconstitutional. Five different "social justice" organizations had been working together for several years for this result and they had gotten their wish. Since then, the fate of more than two dozen juvenile murderers have been up in the air, a political football, batted back and forth. One camp wants their sentences commuted for time served. Another wants to allow them to be paroled for time served. Another wants them to remain in prison a minimum of 40 years and then be eligible for parole. And so on.
For most of my first forty years I used to be an avid hunter and fisherman, but when I started my consulting business in 1980 I had no time to pursue those interests and never shot a gun or bow, or cast a bait. Since Sydney Thieszen has been heard to say that if he ever gets released he would kill his entire family I, for one, took his threat seriously and saw no reason to assume that he wouldn't target me or my family as well, since my testimony aided in his conviction. So, in the months following that Board of Pardons email I took the necessary classes and qualified for and obtained a Concealed Holder Permit, allowing me to carry a concealed firearm in all places where a concealed carry is permitted by law. If at all possible I avoid places where I am not allowed by law to carry a concealed weapon.
Because some businesses refuse to allow concealed weapons on their premises, a restriction criminals would never observe or obey anyway, those businesses put me at a disadvantage if I were to disarm in order to do business at such places. To add to the insult which implies that my armed presence is as much of a risk as an armed criminal's presence, such businesses would never consider guaranteeing my safety while in their establishment, nor would they reimburse me for any injuries caused by criminals robbing their businesses. Were I to be killed in such a circumstance they certainly wouldn't hold themselves liable for the continued support of my wife. So, I choose not to do business at such establishments for my own safety. Personally, I don't not consider my CHP to be a permit to defend a business I am patronizing against an armed robbery attempt, nor would I attack an armed or unarmed criminal simply because he is stealing merchandise or money. Businesses carry insurance to cover loss due to theft. My CHP is only to defend myself and my wife from direct physical threat.
Why should I feel unsafe? Sydney, who is said to be one class short of a law degree, at taxpayer's expense, has moved to handle his case differently from those of the other prisoners. His hearings have been postponed several times. In March of this year the "status" hearing was postponed until June 9th, and the re-sentencing hearing moved to September 10th, with the entire day being set aside for that hearing.
http://www.yorknewstimes.com/news/murderer-s-resentencing-postponed/article_8ac8cffe-d66d-11e3-9b05-001a4bcf887a.htmlHowever, NO printed news or Internet posting has been made of the results of either of those two hearings, IF they ever took place, or of any new hearings or court activities related to Thieszen being scheduled. Three weeks following the announced dates of the hearings and still no news. His case has dropped off the map. The Thieszen parents, those kind folks who adopted Sydney and Sasha, have sold their home and gone into hiding. They have good reason to be afraid. Sydney had stated that he was sorry that he didn't drop an electric toaster into her bath tub while she was taking a bath. Such psychotic offenders often repeat their crimes when released.
http://www.wesleylowe.com/repoff.htmlPlease do not disarm law abiding citizens who have complied with the abridgments of the 2nd Amendment in order to obtain a CHP so that they may defend themselves against real threats.
As a former town marshal when I was teaching at Clarks HS, I learned first hand that when seconds count police are only minutes away, even when they are sincerely trying to get to the scene of the crime ASAP. Sadly, some police take hours to respond to a 911, and some never respond to some calls. The Supreme Court of the United States has ruled in at least two separate instances that the police have no obligation to protect you from any specific lethal threat even if you have a protection order and the police know that the threat to your life is real.
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/06/28/politics/28scotus.html?_r=0http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warren_v._District_of_ColumbiaDial 911 and die:
http://psacake.com/dial_911.aspThanks for reading this,
Jerry L Kreps
Lincoln, NE
a.k.a GreyGeek
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