We received an email from Wade Harless Elton John Richard II's father-in-law regarding our Sunday post entitled "Choices" (read it here or just scroll down). The email said some favorable things about our commentary (which we appreciate) but that's not why we're posting it here.
We asked permission to publish the email because it shed some additional light on the events leading up to Daniel Romero's shooting. After reading the email it made us even more convinced that Mr. Richard had no other choice but fire his weapon in self-defense. We believe it was self-defense because despite Richard's pursuit of a fleeing felon, he never fired his weapon until he was being attacked by the deceased.
A Word from Elton Richard's Father-In-Law
Dear Sir:
First of all, thank you for one of the best written articles about this incident I have read to date. Both sides of the coin were discussed and presented.
I would like to clarify some of the facts that some of the bloggers either do not have access to or they have heard some of the rumors which are not based on fact about the case. Just to lend credibility to this email, I am Elton's father-in-law and was present the first five days after this occurred, and have been following this case with every detail.
Running Romero Down to Shoot Him
Elton fought Romero in his yard while being beaten with a sledgehammer and other tools. Romero then progressed to back Elton down the street and into the corner of the cul-de-sac. As a Marine and as a Federal Officer, his training was to maintain a visual on the assailant and not lose the man until help arrives. Therefore, as his training kicked-in, he followed Romero as 911 had been called and the police were on their way.
After crossing the street and into the dark area, the shooting took place. I have never asked Elton specifically what happened up there, but having known Elton for many years, the only reason he would shoot another human being is due to fear for his life or the life of his family. Romero had already made the comment that he would be back when Elton was not there.
The autopsy report shows the angulation of the bullet such that determined that Elton was in a crouching position and Romero was over him with his arms out in a lunging position. Even without knowing the detail, this tells you there was a danger to Elton's personal well being.
As a trained sniper in the Marines, trust me, if Elton had intended to kill Romero at any given point, there would have been a bullet hole between his eyes.
Out on Bail
For three (3) years, Elton has been out on bail and was allowed, by the DA's office, to move home to Texas so he could be around family who could help them through this time. During that time they have had to sell their house, he lost his job, lost his benefits, have lost all of their savings and Elton's retirement and have gone into debt to pay defense expenses, etc. If he was such a "felon", why would he be allowed to leave the State? By the way, he called every week and followed the conditions of his bail for the entire time.
No Contest Plea
The "no contest" plea was agreed to as an assurance Elton would not be away from his son and wife. He did this knowing that he was pleading to something he did not do, but was not willing to chance adding further stress and torment to the life of his family. He also did this knowing that this would follow him all of his life. Even though this was not what I thought should have been done, we, the family supported him, without question, just as we have supported him in this since day one.
Now, with some of the facts, this young man has suffered for three (3) years in relation to the consequences of his actions. Yes, taking a life is a terrible thing. However, when you truly feel you are protecting your family and yourself, the resolve remains for a lifetime. None of the years can come back and Romero cannot be brought back, but the punishment should be based on factual information and not "he did not feel remorse". Thank goodness all of the judgements are not based on that. Most of the time the people on trial can lie better than most of us can tell the truth.
Thank you for allowing me the ability to respond to this blog. I appreciate your responsible reporting by providing all sides of this situation.
Respectfully submitted,
Wade
----- Post Script -----
If you take into account the sequence of events and the forensics, there can be little doubt that Mr. Richard felt his life was in danger when he made the decision to fire his weapon. The red herring in this case was the initial confrontation in Mr. Richard's front yard. If Romero had tried to steal his wallet and ended up dead we doubt that Richard would have ever been prosecuted.
Just because he pursued Romero with the intent to take him into custody, doesn't mean that Romero didn't threaten his life at the end of that pursuit. Again, if this had been a police officer giving chase it would have been deemed a justifiable homicide no matter how far the perp ran. The choice to turn and attack the officer (again) would have been enough to justify using deadly force.
15 comments:
Mr. Harless:
What comes out in court is never what actually happened, the jury never gets the entire story. We all know that.
Some people just need killing. Romero was one, and if your son in law hadn't killed him, he surely would have killed someone else sooner or later while he was stealing something else. Richard's only mistake was in moving to NM, specifically ABQ where the entire system is corrupt, and *dirtbag thieves, junkies, whores, and liars are allowed to get away with anything and everything. This is not a good place to live anymore, and all the good people are getting out as soon as we all can. Please let us know what we can do to help your family, Mr. Harliss, and I'm sure the few remaining people in this state will do so.
*And those are just the upper echelon in our city government and police dept.
Governor: Pardon him.
It is worth pointing out that if things had gone just a little differently, Richard would be a hero who risked life and limb to chase down a felon.
The city would be celebrating his courage.
I am a childhood friend of Elton's and I cannot believe how poorly the press has covered this story. I knew nothing of this story until I began reading it this morning and you'd have thought he saw a guy walking infront of his house with a stick and decided to chase him down and shoot him between the eyes! It's embarrasing to see this type of coverage as a former member of the media.
Sad to say but Mr Richard's defense from the first moment lacked only one thing - articulation. Had he simply "acted" remorseful like it mattered two shits that a burglar was dead everyone would have been easier on him and his story.
Thank you EYE for the "if he had been a police officer" analogy, I was thinking the same thing. As a long time cop I myself wonder what my peers would have done if confronted in the same manner, at home, off duty. I don't know all the details, no one really does, but methinks that falling back on training and experience you fight and chase until help arives. I had no idea about the being attacked with the hammer part of the story - it is unfortunate that Mr Richard didnt shoot the guy at that precise moment.
IN a utopian world Romero would have fallen with the hammer still in his hand ; of course his family would still sue, the same naysayers would still complain, and someone would still say it was racial.
There is a coffee shop near the court house that has a bunch of signatures on it, urging the pardon of Mr. Richard, I hope the governor takes this into consideration!
Maybe he didn't shoot him at the tim with the hammer, because it was never shown in the investigation that he had it in his hand, it was found by a house under construction. Yeah their experts gonna say the bad guy was lunging at him, of course. I'm tired of this story, richard aint any better, he got a rap sheet now too. We should pardon every armed forces veterans for any crimes, make it easy on everyone. Go do anything you want
"We should pardon every armed forces veterans for any crimes, make it easy on everyone. Go do anything you want"
Let me guess, another anti- american, criminal coddling liberal.
No, not a liberal but am very familiar with case, can you say that? Arrests are based on probable cause not public opinion. Why doesn't someone ask anyone from DOE? They have the same deadly force policy as Law Enforcement, unfortunate situation for everyone.
Let Mr. Richard go. Mr. Romero is where he belongs.
Shit bags deserve killing. He(Richard) did the citizens and the taxpayers a huge favor. The front page of Sunday's Journal makes me sick. Now we are portraying Romero
(Human garbage) as being some nice family man, etc, etc.
Yes, he too left children behind, at least his wife's of no telling
by how mant differnt fathers.
Richard is a good citizen and wasn't out theiving, stealing to support his family like Mr. shit for brains.
So, the question begs to be asked. Is $500 a month restitution to shit heads family, because that's about the average amount this piece of shit stole each month to support his family? (Oh, I mean drug habit) Come on Judge, did this not occur to you? I don't know how you sleep at night, or are you like the rest, affraid of the criminals (ei; Romero scum bag relatives and the rest of the scum family retaliating against YOU?)
Gov. Richardson;
DO THE RIGHT THING,PARDON ELTON RICHARD. He too has been through enough.
One last thing; only make Richard pay for Romeros funeral, which should be no more than about $200, to the City Refuse Department to haul his sorry ass to the City Dump.
One more thing, Kari Brandenburg needs to go, Anyone but her.
As for Richard's attorney, way to go Billy. That was real bad advise.
You should work for his release until it happens for FREE,
or you should have a good old fashion 'country ass whippin'
I am a next-door neighbor to Elton's inlaws. I have always been impressed by Elton's direct, trustworthy persona. I have also been aware of the tragedy since it occurred in December 2004. As a retired government employee, I made a direct appeal to The President on Elton's behalf before sentencing. However, as is the case in most instances, federal and state agencies have a delicate balance to avoid internal interference. Therefore, my request was met by a White House response reflecting non-interference and that the matter should be "handled" at the local level.
As a knowledgable government "insider" I am aware that law enforcement agencies across America are coming under attack for actions that can be conscrued as excessive--whether deadly results occur or not! Therefore, trust and confidence in our law enforcement officers are important components to our criminal justice system throughout the nation.
We will suffer the consequences of a drug-induced part of our society until the addiction is removed. There are victims on both sides of the issue.
There has been a lot of talk about Mr. Romero being such a family man, a good man, helped other people, had his name used for other children, etc. Just leaves me to wonder, if this man was such a wonderful, loved, loving, devoted family man, and his family was so dedicated to him, why did his family refuse to claim his wonderful body for days after the shooting? Just makes you go hmmmmm!
What is the current status of Elton John Richard? It was top news and then it just faded away. I voted for clemency.
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