Iowa husband shoots, kills escaped inmate who held him, wife hostage

An Iowa man shot and killed an escaped inmate on Tuesday after the convict held him and his wife hostage in their home, investigators said.

Long -- who had allegedly shot a deputy pursuing him on Sunday -- woke up the Mauderlys and disabled their landline phones except for a line in the couple's bedroom. He then took a shotgun that Jerome Mauderly, a retired prison guard and farmer, had loaded that night and placed next to the bed before going to sleep.

CNN

AMEN! I just love to see II Amendment in action!

Around 2 a.m. Tuesday, while Long was upstairs looking for supplies, Jerome Mauderly sneaked into the kitchen and recovered his shotgun, Mortvedt said. Carolyn Mauderly called 911 from their bedroom. When Long walked down the stairs, Jerome Mauderly shot him in the torso. Long was found lying face down in the kitchen, Mortvedt said.

Long was armed - Jerome was in fear of his life, and protecting his wife.

The Mauderlys will not be charged because the killing was in self-defense. They were not injured during the home invasion.

Thank God! Nice to hear a good outcome right down to the deputy who was shot is expected to make a complete recovery.

peace

Not the brightest criminal, to leave the shotgun while upstairs!
This man did the right thing, and good for him.

I'm going to play devils advocate here, just as an intellectual exercise, but if the burglar left the gun downstairs and was shot as he returned, unarmed, that isn't quite self-defence nor could one say they were "in fear of their lives". The home owner could have, in theory, just arrested the criminal and await the arrival of the Law.

Now, I know the burglar had no place being in the home and what have you and, to be honest, he probably got what he deserved. I am just framing some thoughts on it, is all.

Originally posted by stumason
I'm going to play devils advocate here, just as an intellectual exercise, but if the burglar left the gun downstairs and was shot as he returned, unarmed, that isn't quite self-defence nor could one say they were "in fear of their lives". The home owner could have, in theory, just arrested the criminal and await the arrival of the Law.

Now, I know the burglar had no place being in the home and what have you and, to be honest, he probably got what he deserved. I am just framing some thoughts on it, is all.

You don't have to fear for your life when someone breaks into your home. In a lot of states there exists something called the Castle Doctrine which gives you the right to defend yourself with deadly force if an intruder breaks into your home.

reply to post by muse7


I know, it comes from English law that

I was just reiterating what the article said.

(Long) had a handgun but was described as non-confrontational," Mortvedt said. "After about four hours, Long let the Mauderlys out of sight, then Jerome Mauderly recovered the shotgun and shot and killed Long.

reply to post by stumason


Actually, the article states that he had a hand gun with him when he went upstairs.

reply to post by chiefsmom


Ah, fair enough! Missed that bit

In that case then, fair play to the home owner dude.

reply to post by silo13


What a lovely story. hurrah
best of luck to that couple..

reply to post by stumason

The shotgun belonged to the family and the burglar had a pistol.

But I understand your point.

In fact I'll add it in now out of fairness - (though I cringe to do it) - the burglar got to the shotgun from the couple but didn't use their own weapon against them. They got it back when the burglar let the room for a moment.

peace

Thankfully, this was not a intelligent determined adversary.
The criminal could have easily wasted the whole family with their own gun.

reply to post by stumason


Just so you know, in the US, if you detain a criminal with a weapon, you can be charged with kidnapping. That's one of those lovely tidbits you learn in the CCW class. Criminals have much more rights then homeowners. Sadly, another lesson is that if you shoot to wound, you leave yourself open to more lawsuits. Best shoot to kill if you are going to shoot at all. ( I realize you were just playing Devils advocate, I just wanted to be sure that information was understood)

reply to post by network dude


Really? That seems a bit at odds with the self-defence laws and what not! Ho-hum...

Here in the UK, you can perform a citizens arrest and provided you don't use "extreme force" (defined as far in excess of what the perp was using), the Police will thank you for your efforts and you might even get a pat on the back from the Mayor come honours season.

That said, there have been a few burglaries/robberies over the past few years where the perps were simply killed by the victims - the Police usually arrest everyone involved but the victims all got released without charge. This has been since we've had the Tories in charge, under Labour, you couldn't so much as look at a burglar without facing charges for "breaching his human rights"....

reply to post by stumason


Yeah right. You honestly think a hardened criminal hell bent on staying out of jail would just lie down and be arrested?

Anyways, am very happy this had a good outcome. This shows us why it's important that we all continue to have our RIGHTS to own firearms.

reply to post by Auricom


If he has a shotgun pointed at his head, even the most "hardened criminal" can become remarkably compliant.

Anyhoo, I was just playing devils advocate, I'd have probably done the same thing myself.

reply to post by stumason


With your families life at stake, having to hold that position and not miss a movement for hours for someone to show up, or you're dead?

Um...thats not how most people could handle it.

Criminal goes to prison to be fixed and returned to society.

Escapes
Murder person (deputy)
Kidnaps man and wife
Threat against them (betting he did for control, throw it out if you so desire)

Man uses his firearm to save self and wife

Looks like the only part that worked in this thing was the right of a citizen to have a firearm

reply to post by Unity_99


Hours? Where does he live, Antarctica?

I'm pretty sure the Police wouldn't have taken that long now, surely?