LanceOregon
Moderator
Note: The following words are my own, and are not copied and pasted from any publication.
Bruce and Joshua Turnidge, a father and son who lived near Salem, OR are currently on trial for the murder of two senior law enforcement officers ( Senior Oregon State Trooper William Hakim and Captain Thomas Tennant of the Woodburn Police Dept ) , and the wounding and maiming of the Woodburn Chief of Police Russell Scott, who was so critically injured that one of his legs had to be amputated.
Prosecutors opened their case Monday, by saying that a fear of new Federal Gun Controls being pushed through Congress by the Obama Administration prompted their attack.
The men told investigators that the huge remote control bomb that they built was never meant to harm anyone. They said that they only hoped to terrorize the government, and thus be able to extort $24 Million dollars. The son even made calculations of how much $24 Million in $100 bills would weigh.
In his opening arguments, Defense attorney Steven Krasik attempted to shift the blame for the tragic deaths onto State Trooper Hakim. He said that he was a "flawed hero", and had made tragic mistakes in believing that the bomb was a fake, and then attempting to dismantle it. The blast was so powerful that both officer Hakim and Captain Tennant were eviscerated by the blast, with their bodies scattered into pieces.
This is by far the most bizarre crime story that I have ever heard. Could there actually be some gun owners that are so paranoid about gun control, that they would do crazy stuff like this?
I don't believe that I can really buy the prosecutor's main argument that the fear of new gun controls were really the true reason behind this insanity. It seems to me, that these two were just basically nuts period. If anything, it seems to me that they were just looking for an excuse to commit extortion, and try to get rich off of it. Yet, for some reason, this is what the government is alleging was the motive behind the incident.
Does anyone else familiar with this case agree that fear of gun control was probably not the real motivation? Or do you simply believe that the men are insane, period? The men certainly are scumbags, no matter how you look at it.
Witnesses are expected to testify that both men frequently spoke about robbing banks, and even had already made up a cover story to explain a sudden influx of cash. One witness even quoted Bruce Turnidge as saying that the bombing of the Oklahoma Federal Building had been "a good thing."
Sadly, nuts like these two buffoons really give gun owners in general a black eye. I just wish that the prosecutor would not be using this reasoning for a motive, as it helps to paint anyone who opposes gun control as being some kind of extremist maniac.
Here are the booking photos of the two men:
And here are some links to news coverage of this bizarre story. The more I read about it, the more crazy the whole story sounds. It is really hard to make much sense out of it.
But I certainly don't believe that fear of gun control was really the main factor behind this all happening. There has to be much more to it than that. Yet, this is what the media is reporting in its headlines:
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap...DXHiXTRdFG7E1YoZqPxwD9IHTMAG0?docId=D9IHTMAG0
http://www.oregonlive.com/pacific-n...bombing_case_that_killed_two_police_offi.html
Bruce and Joshua Turnidge, a father and son who lived near Salem, OR are currently on trial for the murder of two senior law enforcement officers ( Senior Oregon State Trooper William Hakim and Captain Thomas Tennant of the Woodburn Police Dept ) , and the wounding and maiming of the Woodburn Chief of Police Russell Scott, who was so critically injured that one of his legs had to be amputated.
Prosecutors opened their case Monday, by saying that a fear of new Federal Gun Controls being pushed through Congress by the Obama Administration prompted their attack.
The men told investigators that the huge remote control bomb that they built was never meant to harm anyone. They said that they only hoped to terrorize the government, and thus be able to extort $24 Million dollars. The son even made calculations of how much $24 Million in $100 bills would weigh.
In his opening arguments, Defense attorney Steven Krasik attempted to shift the blame for the tragic deaths onto State Trooper Hakim. He said that he was a "flawed hero", and had made tragic mistakes in believing that the bomb was a fake, and then attempting to dismantle it. The blast was so powerful that both officer Hakim and Captain Tennant were eviscerated by the blast, with their bodies scattered into pieces.
This is by far the most bizarre crime story that I have ever heard. Could there actually be some gun owners that are so paranoid about gun control, that they would do crazy stuff like this?
I don't believe that I can really buy the prosecutor's main argument that the fear of new gun controls were really the true reason behind this insanity. It seems to me, that these two were just basically nuts period. If anything, it seems to me that they were just looking for an excuse to commit extortion, and try to get rich off of it. Yet, for some reason, this is what the government is alleging was the motive behind the incident.
Does anyone else familiar with this case agree that fear of gun control was probably not the real motivation? Or do you simply believe that the men are insane, period? The men certainly are scumbags, no matter how you look at it.
Witnesses are expected to testify that both men frequently spoke about robbing banks, and even had already made up a cover story to explain a sudden influx of cash. One witness even quoted Bruce Turnidge as saying that the bombing of the Oklahoma Federal Building had been "a good thing."
Sadly, nuts like these two buffoons really give gun owners in general a black eye. I just wish that the prosecutor would not be using this reasoning for a motive, as it helps to paint anyone who opposes gun control as being some kind of extremist maniac.
Here are the booking photos of the two men:
And here are some links to news coverage of this bizarre story. The more I read about it, the more crazy the whole story sounds. It is really hard to make much sense out of it.
But I certainly don't believe that fear of gun control was really the main factor behind this all happening. There has to be much more to it than that. Yet, this is what the media is reporting in its headlines:
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap...DXHiXTRdFG7E1YoZqPxwD9IHTMAG0?docId=D9IHTMAG0
http://www.oregonlive.com/pacific-n...bombing_case_that_killed_two_police_offi.html