11/01/2008

Woman fatally shots rapist who broke into her home

A dramatic self-defense story in Cape Girardeau, Missouri.

Cops: Cape Girardeau woman kills man who returned to rape her second time
By Heather Ratcliffe
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
10/31/2008
An intended rape victim shot and killed her attacker this morning in Cape Girardeau when he broke into her home to rape her a second time, police said.

The 57-year-old woman shot Ronnie W. Preyer, 47, a registered sex offender, in the chest with a shotgun when he broke through her locked basement door. The woman told police he was the same man who raped her several days earlier. Officials do not intend to seek charges against her.

In the first incident, the woman heard glass breaking in her basement about midnight on Saturday. She went to leave the house, and the man attacked when she opened the front door. He punched her in the face and then forced her into a bedroom, where he raped her, said H. Morley Swingle, prosecuting attorney in Cape Girardeau County.

The victim reported the crime to police, and her landlord repaired the broken window.

She was home alone again Friday about 2:15 a.m. when Preyer broke the same basement window. The victim was awake watching television, when Preyer switched off the electricity to her house.

She tried to call 911, but couldn't because the power was off. She got a shotgun and waited as the man began banging on the basement door. She fired when Preyer came crashing through the door. When Preyer collapsed, the woman escaped and went to a neighbor's home, where she called police. Officers, who arrived within a minute, found a bleeding Preyer stumbling away from the house. He was taken to St. Francis Medical Center, where he died several hours later.

Swingle said the victim identified Preyer as the attacker in both incidents. Preyer, of Jackson, Mo., had wet caulking from the recently repaired basement window on his clothing when he was shot.

"I will not be filing any sort of charge against this 57-year-old woman, who was clearly justified under the law in shooting this intruder in her home," Swingle said.


Thanks very much to Anthony Troglio for this link.

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4 Comments:

Blogger The Right Guy said...

She must have had a cordless phone as phone lines have their own voltage and in the even of power being cut would continue to work. So much for modern technology, but the phone wouldn't have helped anyway. I will say that I am glad things turned out good for her.

11/01/2008 6:44 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I am, as always, disgusted that this has not made national news.
Though I'm certainly not shocked...since reading The Bias Against Guns...I pretty much expect this from the media.

11/02/2008 11:23 AM  
Blogger Unknown said...

I wonder if she had the shotgun when the 1st rape occurred. But let’s assume that she didn’t have the gun. What if she had to go through a DC style waiting period before she could own her shotgun? The outcome of this story would be very different.

11/03/2008 9:52 AM  
Blogger Todd said...

Like Ted Nugent says; "I don't like repeat offenders, I like DEAD offenders".

Too bad this didn't happen the first time, but thank God she practiced her God Given right of self preservation this time.

11/03/2008 2:34 PM  

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