That is a Hatori Hanzo sword...

[4TehNguyen]

sounds like burglar tried to put his arm up to defend against a katana, not a good idea as it turned out

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090915/...ai_sword_death

Police: College student kills intruder with sword
AP

By BEN NUCKOLS, Associated Press Writer Ben Nuckols, Associated Press Writer – 41 mins ago

BALTIMORE – A Johns Hopkins University student armed with a samurai sword killed an intruder in his garage, Baltimore police said Tuesday.

Two laptops and a Sony PlayStation had been stolen by burglars Monday from the home, on University Parkway just blocks from the school, said police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi. Early Tuesday, one of the four Hopkins students who live in the home noticed the garage door was open and took a sword with him to investigate, Guglielmi said.

In the garage, the student told police he discovered a man and when the student told the man to get out, the man accosted him, Guglielmi said. The student defended himself with the sword, cutting off the man's hand and causing a severe laceration to his upper body, he said.

Campus security and an off-duty city officer responding to a call for a suspicious person in the area around 1:20 a.m. Tuesday heard screams to call police, Guglielmi said. The man died at the scene, but police are not yet releasing his name, he said.

Michael Hughes, 43, who lives two doors down from the house where the slaying occurred, said he was getting ready for bed at around 1:30 a.m. when he heard screams from the rear of the home.

"There was fear in the voice. I could tell someone was scared," Hughes said.

Three young men were sitting on the front porch of the home around 9:30 a.m. Tuesday. A police officer was standing in the doorway, and a single police car was parked nearby.

The men refused to comment when approached by an Associated Press reporter.

Behind the three-story brick rowhouse, a wooden fence was broken. There was a pool of blood in the brick courtyard between the back porch and the garage.

Guglielmi said the man had been arrested on charges such as burglary several times before, and had been released Saturday from a Baltimore County jail.

Police are interviewing the student and his roommates, and are talking to prosecutors about whether to file charges.

[J.P.]

Lesson: don’t break into peoples homes

[PhilipMSPT]

A bit extremist, but I wouldn't kill a thief.

Yes, take a hand. (Gosh, that was proper Hammurabi justice!) But not a life...

[J.P.]

Originally Posted by PhilipMSPT

A bit extremist, but I wouldn't kill a thief.

Yes, take a hand. (Gosh, that was proper Hammurabi justice!) But not a life...

If you break into my home and try to hurt me, you get what you get.

I would not try to kill them, but if it happens it happens. Maybe he should have waited until the crook grabbed a hammer and hit him in the head before he decided to take action.........

[neurocity]

Crazy....I would not kill or beat the crap out of the person. I would tackle the guy, tie him to a chair and prison style tattoo "Thief" right to the dudes forehead.

Then maybe superglue his hands to his hair and scalp.

And let him be on his way. Clean up evidence of being broken into, and play dumb when questioned.

[IXI187IXI]

Originally Posted by neurocity

Crazy....I would not kill or beat the crap out of the person. I would tackle the guy, tie him to a chair and prison style....

i thought you were going some where else with this lol

i agree though, sucks for the guy that died. maybe his buddies will realize its not worth it anymore. i dont think the kid should be charged. he was defending himself. im sure he didnt do it on purpose or he would have stabbed him with the sword. my guess is, he swung the sword in defense and the guy was too close.

i wonder if his hand looked like this on the way down.

[Robs IS250]

Originally Posted by IXI187IXI

i wonder if his hand looked like this on the way down.

lmfaooooooo i just started cracking up from reading this... sorry had to repost it

Sucks that happened to the thief but self defense man

[skizzals]

Originally Posted by IXI187IXI

i wonder if his hand looked like this on the way down.

lol ,but yea thats crazy. . . .pretty sure theft is going to stop for a while around his neighborhood

[Allen K]

Good for them.

[muhbuhtuh]

well it wasnt like he really wanted to kill the guy.

sucks for the burgular

[supaIS350]

Sounds like it was self-defense. Does Maryland have the Castle Doctrine?

[4TehNguyen]

Originally Posted by supaIS350

Sounds like it was self-defense. Does Maryland have the Castle Doctrine?

heh not those east coast states. No one wouldve cared down here if this happened

[O. L. T.]

Wasn't an example of self defense, he went after the thief initially. He may be prosecuted.

[PureDrifter]

Originally Posted by O. L. T.

Wasn't an example of self defense, he went after the thief initially. He may be prosecuted.

Originally Posted by Associated Press

Around 1:20 a.m., the student heard noises behind the home and noticed a door to the garage was open, Guglielmi said. He grabbed the sword and confronted the intruder — identified by police as Donald D. Rice, 49, a habitual offender who had just been released from jail.
Rice was crouching beneath a counter, police said. The student asked him what he was doing and threatened to call police.
"When he said that, the suspect lunged at him, kind of forced the kid against the wall, and he struck him with the sword," Guglielmi said.
Rice's left hand was nearly severed — Guglielmi described it as "hanging on by a thread" — and he suffered a severe cut to the upper body. He died at the scene.
On Monday, two laptops and a Sony PlayStation were stolen from the student's home, which he shares with three other students, but police were not sure whether Rice was responsible, Guglielmi said.
There was a pool of blood Tuesday morning in the brick courtyard between the back porch of the home and the garage. The courtyard was strewn with debris, including what looked like broken glass.
Guglielmi did not know why the student kept a sword. He said he may have had some martial arts training, but was not an expert.
Rice's criminal history includes more than two dozen arrests for burglary, breaking and entering and auto theft. According to court records, he was charged in 2007 after he pulled a gun on a police officer, though prosecutors placed those charges on hold because the officer was on military leave.
Rice was convicted in 2008 of unauthorized removal of property and sentenced to 18 months. He was released Saturday from the Baltimore County Detention Center.

yeah he should be getting of clean. Maryland is not a "castle" state persay but they dont have any self-defense statutes, and rely on a common law approach, where each case is reviewed independantly with no real set precedents.

[Allen K]

Even though the thief allegedly came after him first?. According to the kid he armed himself and went to investigate why the garage was open. The crook came after him and got sliced and diced. Of course it helps that there are no other witnesses.