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Man kills wife of 10 weeks in "house clearing drill&quo
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Author:  Greg [ Sat Feb 07, 2009 6:53 pm ]
Post subject:  Man kills wife of 10 weeks in "house clearing drill&quo
This one is wrong on so many levels...

I've spent the last two weeks working there, the girl's father is backing the husband; but that was when she got shot while he was "cleaning his gun"; I don't know about now.

http://www.omaha.com/index.php?u_page=2 ... d=10557873

Court records: Husband shot wife during intruder game
BY LESLIE REED
WORLD-HERALD BUREAU

LINCOLN — On Thursday, Joshua Beasley dressed in black to attend the funeral of his wife, Alaina. One day later, the 21-year-old wore jailhouse blues as he stood before a Lancaster County judge to face a felony manslaughter charge in her death.

A police affidavit filed Friday revealed new details about the shooting death of Alaina Beasley, 20, on Jan. 31.

Click to Enlarge

Josh and Alaina Beasley
According to the affidavit, Beasley told a police investigator that he had been pretending to clear his home of intruders when he fired the shot that killed his wife of three months.

He said that was something he and his wife had practiced in the past.

Beasley turned himself in to police Friday and was jailed briefly before County Judge James Foster released him without bail Friday afternoon. With his parents and other family and friends watching from the back of the small courtroom, Beasley answered clearly and firmly "I do" when asked if he understood the charge against him. He looked solemn and tense, his shoulders slightly hunched, as if he were holding himself together.

Afterwards, his parents and other supporters declined to discuss the case, although family and friends have questioned the need to prosecute Beasley, saying that the young man should be forgiven because he already is suffering for his actions.

A veteran prosecutor said criminal charges almost always are justified in even a so-called "accidental" shooting death.

Sarpy County Attorney Lee Polikov, who heads the Nebraska County Attorney's Association, said that negligence that results in someone's death calls for a manslaughter prosecution.

"Forgiveness isn't the job of the prosecutor," he said. "It's to hold people accountable for their actions. If you're negligent and harm someone, you have to be held accountable."

According to an affidavit written by Lincoln Police Sgt. Greg Sorensen, Beasley told police that on the day of the shooting he had been working on his 12-gauge shotgun in his living room. He said that he'd been having trouble with the way it ejected shells while using it earlier in the day, according to the affidavit. Family members have said that the couple had been skeet shooting at targets that day.

After he finished working on the gun, he loaded it with three rounds, one in the chamber and two in the magazine.

After putting some things away in his bedroom, he said that he picked up the gun and began to pretend to clear the home of intruders, something he and his wife had practiced in the past.

He rounded the corner into the kitchen, where his wife was standing near the sink. She pointed her hand at him, pretending to have a gun. According to the affidavit, Beasley said he raised the shotgun to his shoulder and fired one round. He said that he had forgotten the gun was loaded.

He said that he threw the gun down, went to assist his wife and called 911.

An autopsy showed Alaina Beasley died of internal injuries caused by a gunshot wound to her upper right chest.

In an interview with The World-Herald, Beasley had said he accidentally shot his wife while cleaning his shotgun.

Joshua Beasley's brother, Dan Beasley, said Friday that the Beasley family couldn't comment on the case.

"He has an attorney, and we were told we basically can't say anything," Dan Beasley said.

Alaina Beasley's father, Ron Moore, said that he and his wife, Beth, did not want to further discuss the case.

Polikov said that he thinks most Nebraska prosecutors believe that charges should be filed in nearly all shooting deaths.

A World-Herald review of a dozen unintentional shooting deaths covered by the newspaper since 1985 show that all but five resulted in criminal charges.

One case that did not result in criminal charges involved a 16-year-old boy who shot his 13-year-old cousin; another involved a state trooper killed in a training exercise in 1999. The three remaining cases involved poor gun handling — when a gun went off during a drinking party; when one accidentally fired while someone tried to unload it; and when a man got shot trying to grab a gun.

Polikov said that on occasion there may be extenuating circumstances in which he might not file criminal charges— a hunting accident, perhaps, or an instance where a child playing with a gun kills a family member.

Nonetheless, in most cases, the death results from acts that carry foreseeable danger, he said.

"People that own guns should not be negligent in how they are handled," he said.

Polikov said that it's unlikely that someone with a good record would be sent to prison for accidentally shooting someone to death.

"Truly, prosecution is not the worst thing the people involved in these incidents have to face," he said. "There's the public shame, the remorse and their own consciences. When you measure that against my job, I'm not the bad guy. It (prosecution) is survivable."

World-Herald staff writer Maggie O'Brien contributed to this report.


• Contact the writer: 402-473-9581, leslie.reed@owh.com
Author:  Dee [ Sun Feb 08, 2009 12:03 am ]
Post subject: 
Quote:
Beasley said he raised the shotgun to his shoulder and fired one round. He said that he had forgotten the gun was loaded.


Never ignore the four rules. I try to tell myself that all the time.
Author:  CraigJS [ Sun Feb 08, 2009 9:04 am ]
Post subject: 
In house distance and he put the gun to his shoulder in a SD drill ? Didn't check the SG to see if it was empty ? He then pointed the SG at another person.. The guy's an IDIOT and she paid the price. I don't feel sorry for him at all. Hope it rides him the rest of his life.
When will people learn, you can have fun with guns, BUT they aren't Toys!
Author:  Fyrwys [ Sun Feb 08, 2009 10:12 am ]
Post subject: 
Quote:
Polikov said that he thinks most Nebraska prosecutors believe that charges should be filed in nearly all shooting deaths.


Including legitimate self defense shootings?


Quote:
A World-Herald review of a dozen unintentional shooting deaths covered by the newspaper since 1985 show that all but five resulted in criminal charges.


Perhaps a minor point, but this is a good example of the influence of the author's phrasing. "All but five" supports the point. The author could have just as accurately said "nearly half did not", resulting in a different feel.
Author:  PocketProtector642 [ Sun Feb 08, 2009 2:14 pm ]
Post subject: 
wow, this made me really sad reading this. (though he was an idiot) I feel bad for his and her family's loss.
Author:  kecker [ Tue Feb 10, 2009 2:28 pm ]
Post subject: 
Wow everyone looks like an ass in this one.

Prosecutors think they should charge everyone all the time regardless of situation.

Dumb-ass kid can't follow the safety rules when handling a firearm.

She pays the price for marrying a moron. Sympathy for her and the families. Everyone else gets my scorn.
Author:  PoorSSJ [ Mon Feb 23, 2009 3:20 pm ]
Post subject: 
My sympathies to those affected by this persons careless, and tragic actions. Like said above, guns are not toys!
Author:  chunkstyle [ Mon Feb 23, 2009 3:47 pm ]
Post subject: 
Fyrwys wrote:
Quote:
Polikov said that he thinks most Nebraska prosecutors believe that charges should be filed in nearly all shooting deaths.


Including legitimate self defense shootings?


That could be the "nearly" part.
Author:  Erik_Pakieser [ Tue Feb 24, 2009 8:19 am ]
Post subject: 
I remember when the trooper got killed in '99. He was a lieutenant. They were doing training with unloaded guns, and took a break for lunch. One of the troopers re-loaded his gun and carried it to lunch. After lunch, they resumed training without checking the guns. When the lieutenant tried to disarm the trooper during a drill, he shot and killed him, forgetting the gun was unloaded.

Honestly, I see NO difference between what this guy did, and what happened with the trooper. Except this guy is being charged with manslaughter because he is not an anointed law-enforcement officer.

FWIW, I never use real guns in force-on-force training for just this reason. The only time I use real guns in class is when I am demonstrating loading, unloading, or stoppages with dummy rounds - and then I have two students check the gun besides myself before doing so.
Author:  jdege [ Tue Feb 24, 2009 1:32 pm ]
Post subject: 
I'm building a workbench in my basement. I'm taking photos, documenting the process, for posting on http://www.instructables.com/.

Yesterday, walking through the dining room with my camera hanging by its strap over my shoulder, I grabbed the strap, missed, and basically threw the camera on the floor.

It hit hard enough to snap off the flash, leaving broken tabs of plastic in the hot-shoe.

The consequences of a irretrievable action during a moment of inattention can be severe. In my case, it was only a $300 flash destroyed, and not a $1500 camera.

In his case, it was far more than that.

I've said before - the solution to firearms accidents isn't to tell people to "be careful". It's to establish procedures for every situation in which you handle a firearm, and to ensure that you follow them.

You'll never see a surgeon handle a scalpel except for "just so", or a welder handle a torch, or any professional handle anything, in any circumstance that could go disastrously wrong, except according to pre-established procedures.
Author:  Erik_Pakieser [ Tue Feb 24, 2009 3:05 pm ]
Post subject: 
jdege wrote:
I've said before - the solution to firearms accidents isn't to tell people to "be careful". It's to establish procedures for every situation in which you handle a firearm, and to ensure that you follow them.


+ 100000000000000000000000000000000000000000

Procedures are key. Poor procedure probably contributes more to firearms accidents than any other factor.
Author:  gyrfalcon [ Thu Apr 23, 2009 3:16 pm ]
Post subject: 
CraigJS wrote:
In house distance and he put the gun to his shoulder in a SD drill ? Didn't check the SG to see if it was empty ? He then pointed the SG at another person.. The guy's an IDIOT and she paid the price. I don't feel sorry for him at all. Hope it rides him the rest of his life.
When will people learn, you can have fun with guns, BUT they aren't Toys!


I wondered if this guy was an airsoft/paintball enthusiast. Unfortunately some of these enthusiasts think what they've done correlates to real firearms.
Author:  Erik_Pakieser [ Fri Apr 24, 2009 7:41 am ]
Post subject: 
gyrfalcon wrote:
CraigJS wrote:
In house distance and he put the gun to his shoulder in a SD drill ? Didn't check the SG to see if it was empty ? He then pointed the SG at another person.. The guy's an IDIOT and she paid the price. I don't feel sorry for him at all. Hope it rides him the rest of his life.
When will people learn, you can have fun with guns, BUT they aren't Toys!


I wondered if this guy was an airsoft/paintball enthusiast. Unfortunately some of these enthusiasts think what they've done correlates to real firearms.


Please don't paint all airsofters with the same broad brush...the Minnestoa Airsoft Association safety procedures are a national model.

I won't argue the value of using Airsoft for training, there are plenty of other instructors and agencies out there who are using it. If this guy had used Airsoft for his "drill" his wife would be alive today.
Author:  Traveler [ Fri Apr 24, 2009 11:59 am ]
Post subject: 
Oh, yes, paintballs.

We had some renters move into a house a few doors down when the owners couldn't find a buyer. Not long after they arrived my neighbor across the street heard something hitting the side of her house. She came outside with her young son and got hit by three paintballs. The new renters were sitting outside in their front yard drinking beer and having fun with their new toy. The back of my car was liberally spotted by hits on the trunk and bumper.

When my across-the-street neighbor took exception to them shooting her with paintballs they, in the vernacular, "copped an attitude" and started yelling at her to "get a life" and that the paint would wash out so what's the big deal.

The three policemen who arrived shortly thereafter took great pains to explain the "big deal" to them in a very detailed manner as they handcuffed them and took them away. The three young men moved out shortly thereafter, but not before the pickup truck owned by one of them mysteriously had it's windows smashed out.

I will tell you what: Those side and rear windows are a lot more fragile than windshields. Or so I have heard.
Author:  mnmike59 [ Fri Apr 24, 2009 11:33 pm ]
Post subject: 
Traveler wrote:
but not before the pickup truck owned by one of them mysteriously had it's windows smashed out.


Whoever did this is no better than the young kids that were shooting the paintballs. And in fact much worse because of the damage. The LEO's took care of the problem, no further action required.
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