Content area
Full Text
Upon finding Judy in the process of moving out, John tried to strangle her. When Judy's sister, there to help in the move, attempted to stop him, he assaulted her, too. Before police apprehended John, he swallowed a bottle of muscle relaxers and threatened to shoot himself.
After a short stay at a mental health facility, John began harassing and stalking Judy. Over the next few months, he forged her checks and fraudulently submitted a change of address form, diverting Judy's mail to him. Because John would not leave her alone, coupled with her awareness of violence and death threats in his prior marriage, Judy feared for her life and obtained a restraining order.
A few days after being served, John took a revolver he owned to a gun store to trade it for a semiautomatic handgun. After a background check revealed an active restraining order, the dealer refused the purchase and later called to report the incident to the police, who immediately obtained a court order to seize the revolver. John denied to officers that he possessed the weapon. After determining through an interview of one of his friends that he still had the handgun, the police obtained an arrest warrant for violating the court order. Following his apprehension, John volunteered the location of the weapon only after sitting in a cellblock for several hours. The arraignment judge continued to maintain a sizeable cash bail and ordered him held until a hearing could determine his dangerousness and mental condition.
Prior to the hearing, the defense attorney transferred the case to a higher court for bail review. The judge, who did not know the facts leading up to the arrest, relied upon the defense attorney's representation that John no longer presented a threat. The new prosecutor, also unaware of the case background, did not contest the lower bail request.
Upon his release, John went to a friend's house, stole another handgun, and, within 5 days of getting out of jail, determined Judy's place of residence. He broke into her house and, armed with the weapon, hid in a closet. Within a short time of arriving home, she went to the bedroom where John waited. He stepped out of the closet, shot Judy to death, and...