Follow-up story on Tampa woman who killed rapist
- Thread starter bestdefense357
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Allen_Raiford
New member
First the terror; then the question
Robert Metz seemed to be a friendly, stable family man. But he died trying to rape. What happened?
By CARY DAVIS and TAMARA LUSH
© St. Petersburg Times, published August 11, 2000
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LAND O'LAKES -- Moments after shooting a masked neighbor who tried to sexually assault her at knifepoint, a terrified Maria Pittaras called 911.
"I just shot a man, a man was just in my house, and tried raping me, and I shot him, oh my God," Pittaras, trembling and struggling for breath, told a Pasco County dispatcher early Wednesday.
Barely able to speak, Pittaras tried to tell dispatchers what had happened, but she kept coming back to the same words: "Oh, my God!"
She feared her attacker wasn't dead and might still come after her.
"Please hurry," she begged, "he's still alive, he's going to come back after me."
The tape of the 911 call, obtained by the Times Thursday, reflects the horror felt by the 28-year-old Pittaras, who lived alone in her Land O'Lakes home.
Just before 2 a.m. Wednesday, Robert Metz left the bed he shared with his wife and walked four doors down the street to Pittaras' house, the Pasco County Sheriff's Office reported. He climbed through a guest bedroom window and crawled on top of Pittaras, putting a knife to her throat, according to reports.
She reached for the loaded .38-caliber handgun she kept on her nightstand. As she did, the weapon misfired into the wall. Pittaras then managed to put the gun to Metz's neck and squeeze the trigger, killing him almost instantly.
The investigation continues, but the Sheriff's Office has cleared Pittaras of any wrongdoing, saying she was defending herself from an attempted sexual assault.
Pittaras was still too shaken from the incident to speak with reporters Thursday.
"She's going through a lot of emotions right now," said her mother, Angeline Pittaras. "But she knows she had to protect herself. She is not happy at all that she had to kill this man."
On Thursday, relatives of Pittaras and Metz spoke with the Times about their loved ones as they struggled to comprehend Wednesday's shooting and the events leading up to it.
"I'm not angry with (Pittaras)," said Metz's wife, Carolyn. "The word sympathy isn't strong enough ... We wish her well and hope she can come through this quickly.
"But something happened to Bob and we don't know what that something was. I only wish I could have done something to stop him."
She and other family members said the Robert Metz they knew wasn't capable of the attack. He was a hard worker, dedicated family man, a friend to everyone he met in the Turtle Lakes subdivision, they said.
But a darker side began to emerge as Metz slipped into clinical depression four years ago, his wife said. He sought help as soon as he noticed a change in his personality. Then, in April 1996, a month after he started taking anti-depressant medication, he attempted suicide.
Ever since, he had seemed stable, focused on his job as a private building contractor and on his family. Carolyn Metz said she made sure her husband took his medication twice a day, including the night he died.
"He was not having any bad days. He was not in any state of melancholy," she said. "He was motivated and very upbeat about life."
He and his brother, Dan, had planned to spend this weekend in the Florida Keys, fishing for lobster.
"You'd like to be able to understand something like this, but we can't," Dan Metz said. "I'm incapable of comprehending it. My brother's gone and I understand that, but I don't understand how it happened. Did he have a demon inside his body? Did his mind just snap?
"I guess we can hope that the autopsy will provide some answers, but if it doesn't, I guess we'll just have to live with this."
Kevin Doll, the sheriff's spokesman, said an autopsy, including toxicology tests, may take weeks.
Angeline Pittaras said her daughter is just as baffled and upset as Metz's family by what happened.
Metz, she said, was among the first residents in Turtle Lakes to welcome her daughter to the neighborhood in March.
"Who would have thought he would have come back into her life this way?" Angeline Pittaras said.
Maria Pittaras, a chemist with Bausch and Lomb in Tampa, received two undergraduate degrees from the University of South Florida, school records show. She earned a degree in psychology in 1996 and another in biology the following year.
Her father gave her the .38-caliber pistol while she lived in an apartment in a high-crime area near USF.
Pittaras had been saving for several years to buy a new car and the $104,000 house in Turtle Lakes, her mother said.
"She's been working real hard, saving her money to buy this house," Angeline Pittaras said. "And now she keeps telling me, "My dream is shattered.' "
- Staff writers Ryan Davis and Michelle Jones and Times researcher Kitty Bennett contributed to this report.
Robert Metz seemed to be a friendly, stable family man. But he died trying to rape. What happened?
By CARY DAVIS and TAMARA LUSH
© St. Petersburg Times, published August 11, 2000
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
LAND O'LAKES -- Moments after shooting a masked neighbor who tried to sexually assault her at knifepoint, a terrified Maria Pittaras called 911.
"I just shot a man, a man was just in my house, and tried raping me, and I shot him, oh my God," Pittaras, trembling and struggling for breath, told a Pasco County dispatcher early Wednesday.
Barely able to speak, Pittaras tried to tell dispatchers what had happened, but she kept coming back to the same words: "Oh, my God!"
She feared her attacker wasn't dead and might still come after her.
"Please hurry," she begged, "he's still alive, he's going to come back after me."
The tape of the 911 call, obtained by the Times Thursday, reflects the horror felt by the 28-year-old Pittaras, who lived alone in her Land O'Lakes home.
Just before 2 a.m. Wednesday, Robert Metz left the bed he shared with his wife and walked four doors down the street to Pittaras' house, the Pasco County Sheriff's Office reported. He climbed through a guest bedroom window and crawled on top of Pittaras, putting a knife to her throat, according to reports.
She reached for the loaded .38-caliber handgun she kept on her nightstand. As she did, the weapon misfired into the wall. Pittaras then managed to put the gun to Metz's neck and squeeze the trigger, killing him almost instantly.
The investigation continues, but the Sheriff's Office has cleared Pittaras of any wrongdoing, saying she was defending herself from an attempted sexual assault.
Pittaras was still too shaken from the incident to speak with reporters Thursday.
"She's going through a lot of emotions right now," said her mother, Angeline Pittaras. "But she knows she had to protect herself. She is not happy at all that she had to kill this man."
On Thursday, relatives of Pittaras and Metz spoke with the Times about their loved ones as they struggled to comprehend Wednesday's shooting and the events leading up to it.
"I'm not angry with (Pittaras)," said Metz's wife, Carolyn. "The word sympathy isn't strong enough ... We wish her well and hope she can come through this quickly.
"But something happened to Bob and we don't know what that something was. I only wish I could have done something to stop him."
She and other family members said the Robert Metz they knew wasn't capable of the attack. He was a hard worker, dedicated family man, a friend to everyone he met in the Turtle Lakes subdivision, they said.
But a darker side began to emerge as Metz slipped into clinical depression four years ago, his wife said. He sought help as soon as he noticed a change in his personality. Then, in April 1996, a month after he started taking anti-depressant medication, he attempted suicide.
Ever since, he had seemed stable, focused on his job as a private building contractor and on his family. Carolyn Metz said she made sure her husband took his medication twice a day, including the night he died.
"He was not having any bad days. He was not in any state of melancholy," she said. "He was motivated and very upbeat about life."
He and his brother, Dan, had planned to spend this weekend in the Florida Keys, fishing for lobster.
"You'd like to be able to understand something like this, but we can't," Dan Metz said. "I'm incapable of comprehending it. My brother's gone and I understand that, but I don't understand how it happened. Did he have a demon inside his body? Did his mind just snap?
"I guess we can hope that the autopsy will provide some answers, but if it doesn't, I guess we'll just have to live with this."
Kevin Doll, the sheriff's spokesman, said an autopsy, including toxicology tests, may take weeks.
Angeline Pittaras said her daughter is just as baffled and upset as Metz's family by what happened.
Metz, she said, was among the first residents in Turtle Lakes to welcome her daughter to the neighborhood in March.
"Who would have thought he would have come back into her life this way?" Angeline Pittaras said.
Maria Pittaras, a chemist with Bausch and Lomb in Tampa, received two undergraduate degrees from the University of South Florida, school records show. She earned a degree in psychology in 1996 and another in biology the following year.
Her father gave her the .38-caliber pistol while she lived in an apartment in a high-crime area near USF.
Pittaras had been saving for several years to buy a new car and the $104,000 house in Turtle Lakes, her mother said.
"She's been working real hard, saving her money to buy this house," Angeline Pittaras said. "And now she keeps telling me, "My dream is shattered.' "
- Staff writers Ryan Davis and Michelle Jones and Times researcher Kitty Bennett contributed to this report.
<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>She reached for the loaded .38-caliber handgun she kept on her nightstand. As she did, the weapon misfired into the wall. [/quote]
BS! Since when do revolvers spontaneously "misfire" when they're grabbed?
I think it's much, much more likely that Ms. Pittaras was scared out of her wits and had a negligent discharge.
BS! Since when do revolvers spontaneously "misfire" when they're grabbed?
I think it's much, much more likely that Ms. Pittaras was scared out of her wits and had a negligent discharge.
David Scott
New member
Typical of a reporter misusing terminology. What probably happened is that when she grabbed the gun, she stuck her finger through the trigger guard and grabbed so hard (all that adrenalin) that she had an accidental discharge into the wall, not a misfire.
This is a sad case because it seems the guy was not a career criminal and his attack was rooted in mental problems. I have to wonder how good his mental health treatment was and if everybody put too much faith in his meds being sufficient to deal with it. Still, however sad the case, it's a justified shoot. An immediate threat demands and immediate response.
I'm glad the assailant's wife is understanding about the Maria Pittaras' traumatic experience.
Side Note: At least Florida has sensible laws about this sort of thing. If this were New York she'd have been raped and slashed.
This is a sad case because it seems the guy was not a career criminal and his attack was rooted in mental problems. I have to wonder how good his mental health treatment was and if everybody put too much faith in his meds being sufficient to deal with it. Still, however sad the case, it's a justified shoot. An immediate threat demands and immediate response.
I'm glad the assailant's wife is understanding about the Maria Pittaras' traumatic experience.
Side Note: At least Florida has sensible laws about this sort of thing. If this were New York she'd have been raped and slashed.
Randall Flagg
New member
AND..
If this happened in Washington DC, she'd have been raped and stabbed in prison while serving time for illegal self-defense.
GOOD ON HER!! I hope she does well!
------------------
Going Nowhere? Join Me There! Enjoy your stay!
If this happened in Washington DC, she'd have been raped and stabbed in prison while serving time for illegal self-defense.
GOOD ON HER!! I hope she does well!
------------------
Going Nowhere? Join Me There! Enjoy your stay!
"... but wait! she didn't have a trigger-lock on the gun! she broke the law! let's fine & arrest her ..." The next time the federal, state or local government wants to pass a trigger lock law with the arguement that "... if it CAN save just ONE life ..."; it needs to be pointed out to them that for every life that CAN be saved, another life CAN be lost.
A trigger locked would have really been a benefit in this particular case.
Can you image trying to find the key and remove a trigger lock off of a gun when a mental unstable rapist has a knife to your throat?
Jeff Thomas
New member
Robert et al, what do you think of the article otherwise? This seems to me to be written much better than the first piece ... much more balanced, with no innuendo about poor Ms. Pittaras.
Perhaps the reporter received some criticism / suggestions after her first piece.
At this point, it sounds like all parties are dealing with this tragedy as logically as possible. Tough deal.
Live and let live. Regards from AZ
Perhaps the reporter received some criticism / suggestions after her first piece.
At this point, it sounds like all parties are dealing with this tragedy as logically as possible. Tough deal.
Live and let live. Regards from AZ
Does anybody else but me wonder what the deal is with this little bait and switch?
From the Original Article
<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Those closest to Robert Metz say they witnessed his gradual slide into a nightmare of manic depression over the last few weeks. They watched helplessly as he stopped taking his medication and his personality changed.
Relatives, who didn't want to be identified in the newspaper, said he likely was in the grips of his mental illness when he went into Pittaras' home.[/quote]
Latest Article
<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Ever since, he had seemed stable, focused on his job as a private building contractor and on his family. Carolyn Metz said she made sure her husband took his medication twice a day, including the night he died.[/quote]
Makes you wonder who's story changed. Did the reporter use a little literary indiscretion? Or did the wife decide that it's time for a little CYA? Hmmmmmmmm.
Evan
[This message has been edited by EQP (edited August 11, 2000).]
From the Original Article
<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Those closest to Robert Metz say they witnessed his gradual slide into a nightmare of manic depression over the last few weeks. They watched helplessly as he stopped taking his medication and his personality changed.
Relatives, who didn't want to be identified in the newspaper, said he likely was in the grips of his mental illness when he went into Pittaras' home.[/quote]
Latest Article
<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Ever since, he had seemed stable, focused on his job as a private building contractor and on his family. Carolyn Metz said she made sure her husband took his medication twice a day, including the night he died.[/quote]
Makes you wonder who's story changed. Did the reporter use a little literary indiscretion? Or did the wife decide that it's time for a little CYA? Hmmmmmmmm.
Evan
[This message has been edited by EQP (edited August 11, 2000).]
bestdefense357
New member
These articles were in two different newspapers. The one I posted yesterday was from the Tampa Tribune. It was pretty poor. This one is from the St. Petersburg Times and is a much more balanced article. Robert