No charges in death of intruder
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No charges in death of intruder
A Boulder County couple used a bat and a masked assailant's own knife to kill him when he broke into their home. The DA's office says the pair acted in self-defense.
By George Merritt and Felisa Cardona
Denver Post Staff Writers
As a masked intruder lay bleeding in front of her house, Becci Starr called 911 and described a violent and emotional struggle to protect her home at the expense of a man's life.
"I have never felt so violated," she told an operator. "I was hitting him over the head. Like, I must have hit him 20 times. I have a baseball bat at my front door, and the guy kept coming at me. And then my husband came, and he tried to cut him up."
Authorities released recordings of the 911 call Monday, the same day the district attorney's office announced the couple will not face criminal charges. The intruder was carrying a plastic water gun, a hunting knife, pepper spray and a flashlight when he broke into the home in the 100 block of Poorman Road in Boulder County on Oct. 3, authorities said. Starr and her husband, Scott Mattes, fought back, beating the man with a metal bat and stabbing him with his own knife.
The commotion was first reported by a neighbor across the street who said she thought she could hear someone being hit with a bat.
Starr pleaded for operators to send help fast so she would not have a man's life on her conscience. The intruder had "multiple stab wounds, I'm sure of it," Starr said. "Because I'll tell you something, my husband was in a rage. I hope it's not like a bad thing. I mean this guy came into our house, and I'm freaking out now because he's (expletive) dying in my front yard."
When the intruder stopped fighting, Mattes administered cardiopulmonary resuscitation in an attempt to revive him.
"The circumstances of this incident reveal a clear case of self-defense and defense of others," First Assistant District Attorney Pete Maguire wrote in a report. "Mr. Mattes and Ms. Starr were each acting to protect the other from the actual use of force from the knife- wielding assailant. ... The ferocity of the attack left no doubt that if they had not defended themselves effectively, they would likely have been killed."
The intruder is still unidentified. Authorities have issued a sketch of the man in an attempt find out who he is. He probably came to the house on a bicycle and was carrying a satchel that contained small sections of rope, duct tape and plastic restraints called zip-ties, authorities said.
The district attorney found two legal reasons for clearing the couple: a Colorado law that allows people to defend themselves, and the Make My Day law, which allows homeowners to use deadly force if someone enters their home illegally with the intention of committing a crime.
When Starr answered the door, the masked man identified himself as "Boulder County police" and pinned her against the back of the front door, according to officials. Starr grabbed a metal baseball bat - it stood near the front door for 26 years - and beat the man back.
The intruder dropped his plastic gun and flashlight and reached for the knife in his satchel. Starr screamed for help, and her husband charged the intruder.
The couple fought the man with the bat and the intruder's knife until he stopped struggling.
"Ms. Starr recalled saying to her husband, 'Don't kill him,' to which her husband replied, 'He's killing me,"' the report says.
Emotional and out of breath at times, Starr told the 911 operator that she had felt empowered to defend her home.
"He says he's having difficulty breathing, but you know, do I care? " she said. "I mean this (expletive) guy came into my house."
Starr reported that it was hard to believe what had just happened.
"I don't know how much time has passed, but let me tell you, I feel like I was just in an action movie," she said. "You know. And I watch a lot of films."
http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_3104973 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Killing of intruder deemed justified
DA says Boulder County couple fought for lives
By Bill Scanlon, Rocky Mountain News
October 11, 2005
BOULDER COUNTY - The husband and wife who killed an intruder at their home in Sunshine Canyon likely would have been killed themselves if they hadn't fought back, so no charges will be lodged, the district attorney's office said Monday.
"The ferocity of the attack left no doubt that if they had not defended themselves effectively they would likely have been killed," First Assistant District Attorney Pete Maguire said in a statement.
"The amount of force used was not excessive," the statement said.
"I believe the homicide to have been justified, and will not be filing criminal charges arising from this incident," Maguire said.
The intruder, who still hasn't been identified, didn't stop his attack until he was near death. He was hit repeatedly with a baseball bat and stabbed with his own knife.
The incident on the night of Oct. 3 unfolded this way, according to the Boulder County Sheriff's Office:
The intruder likely arrived by bicycle at the home of Becci Starr and Scott Mattes, on Poorman Road, just off Sunshine Canyon Road. Starr told sheriff's investigators that her husband had walked her daughter to her car parked in the driveway shortly after 10 p.m. As Starr was preparing for bed, she heard the doorbell ring. She first thought it was her husband who might have accidentally locked himself out of the house. As she approached the front door she heard a man say "Boulder County police." As she opened the door, a man with a mask pushed it open and pinned her against the wall. Starr said he was armed with a gun and carried a flashlight. She reached for a baseball bat that she'd kept by the door for 26 years. The intruder dropped the gun - it turned out to be a plastic water pistol - and the flashlight, and pulled a hunting knife from his satchel. Starr screamed for help as she used the end of the bat to try to push the man back outside. Mattes ran upstairs from the basement and tackled the intruder. The intruder got on top of Mattes, who tried to push the knife hand away to keep from being stabbed. Starr repeatedly whacked the intruder on the head and back with a baseball bat.
The intruder dropped the knife, and Mattes picked it up. Starr tried to call 911, but heard a commotion and ran back to the door to see that her husband had been pepper-sprayed and was again struggling for control of the knife.
Starr again hit the man with the baseball bat and told her husband, "Don't kill him."
Mattes replied, "He's killing me."
Starr kept striking the man while Mattes was underneath him, stabbing him from below. The intruder eventually stopped fighting, at which time the couple stopped striking and stabbing him. Starr finished her 911 call while Mattes tried to resuscitate the man. Starr can be heard on the 911 tape saying, "I must have hit him 20 times with the baseball bat!"
Less than five minutes elapsed between the first 911 call from a neighbor and the time that the intruder stopped struggling. The man was carrying a toy water gun, the knife and pepper spray, and a green satchel that contained a rope, duct tape and zip ties. The man's fingerprints were run against the CBI's and FBI's files, but no match was found. A morgue photograph of the man, distributed to police and deputies, brought no recognition. A sketch of the man's face has been distributed to newspapers and TV stations.
Colorado's Make My Day law allows use of physical force, including deadly physical force, when an intruder illegally enters a home and when the occupants have a reasonable belief that the intruder intends to commit a crime and use physical force, no matter how slight, against them.
Neighbors said Mattes and Starr are friendly, peaceful people. A sign on their property reads, "May Peace Prevail on Earth."
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/dr...4148946,00.html