Pat Dollard

Tweet

The AP headline read:

“Former Marine Sentenced For Killing Intruder”

The problem with that being there are no former Marines…once you are a Marine you are a Marine forever.

Well, there is ONE former Ex-Marine…Jack Murtha.

ALBUQUERQUE — A district judge has sentenced a former Marine to two years in prison for fatally shooting an intruder who broke into his home and then fled.

Elton John Richard, 30, was a decorated Marine who had fought in both Iraq wars and had been part of the 2003 rescue of Army Pvt. Jessica Lynch. He had pleaded no contest to voluntary manslaughter after being charged with second-degree murder.

State District Judge Pat Murdoch also ordered Richard to pay restitution of $500 a month for four years.

Daniel Romero, 34, broke in to Richard’s garage in December 2004.

Richard, a Department of Energy nuclear materials courier with top security clearance, found Romero in his garage and chased him a quarter mile from his property before shooting him as he tried to climb a fence.

During the chase, Richard yelled at Romero to get on the ground and for neighbors to call 911, court documents said.

Prosecutor Theresa Whatley said all Romero did was try to get away.

“He should have been arrested and should have not been killed,” she said.

Richard, speaking publicly about the ordeal for the first time, said that Romero grabbed his gun and kept telling Richard that his friends were coming.

“The safety and security of myself, my son and my wife was compromised,” Richard said. “I didn’t have time to armchair quarterback it.”

(AP)