Maniacs, Mortals & Murder
Life is not always Peaches & Cream, Lollipops and Candy-canes.
I recently had the opportunity to serve on a Jury where a young male was on trial for 2nd Degree Murder.
Unbeknownst to me at the time, last year this 24 year-old (the Maniac) sitting in the Defendants chair decided to viscously attack another relatively young man (the Mortal) in the downtown area after the victim had spent an evening partying with his younger brother and his best friend.
After strolling into the Court Room with 50+ other Jurors, I figured the odds were against me ending up actually serving on the jury. I figured with my 30 years of involvement in tactical training both on the military and law enforcement side of the house, the Defense would end up pushing me aside. I am not good in the sympathy department. 2-days later and 100+ potential Juror’s later, I was still in the Box!
As the process was unfolding, I had to ask myself, could I in fact simply and coldly if you will weigh the evidence. I did some soul searching and decided I could and I would.
After the opening arguments by both the Prosecution and the Defense, the first thing we were presented with was a HD color video clip from a camera almost perfectly positioned over the scene of the incident.
The scene:
A well-known party, bar scene area. Three White Males are seen standing next to a steel rail that separates an eating area and a 7’ wide sidewalk. Plenty of room for passerby’s to walk by and get to where they want to go. In fact virtually everybody does. One of the three males has had way too much to drink and in now dry-heaving. One male (his brother) is comforting him and the other is trying to call and hail a cab so they can get back home.
From the bottom of the screen you see a group (6)+ stop in front of the alcohol sick male. A female in that group begins to verbally engage the heretofore peaceful assembly saying something to the effect “That is Fucking Nasty…” You see the older brother tell her, “Hey my brother is sick and we are trying to get home…” She responds by slapping him across the face fairly aggressively. We found out through other testimony that this is not her first time spinning things up in this manner. It’s pattern with this well-rehearsed “crew”.
The older brother (a known and beloved 235 pound bouncer in this area, the Mortal) has been drinking, but not so much that he does not immediately respond by straightening up. As he does so, a 2nd male from the “crew”, jabs him fairly hard from his 90 degree left. He is knocked backward, but quickly regains his balance and addresses this 2nd attacker. This one has a role and a plan. He immediately rotates another 60+ degrees to the victim’s left. The brother now puts his hands up in a defensive position and tracks with his head, eyes and body to the mover.
Focused hard on this attacker, a 3rd attacker begins to play his part and complete the stalk. You can see this 3rd attacker (the Defendant) lower his body weight to the ground with his left knee completely flexed (almost touching the ground). He shifts his weight poised for the correct moment. He patiently waits for his fellow jackal to position him perfectly…
The 2nd male, methodically continues to rotate the victim further and then you see the 3rd attacker launch from approximately 6’ away and deliver a devastating “superman” right hand to the base of the victim’s skull on his right side. I honestly do not think you could deliver any more force in the space provided if you tried and measured over multiple attempts.
This punch sends the victim backwards causing him to lose his balance. He careens backwards with no attempt to arrest his fall, and his head smashes onto the solid steel rail. Several people (happened to be nurses) near the scene stated it was one of the most sickening sounds (crying on the stand during testimony) they have ever heard. So much so that they immediately called 911, they knew it was bad….really bad.
The victim attempts to get up and eventually does for a brief period of time (seconds), but you can plainly see that something is fundamentally wrong. He is displaying behaviors that are way “off”. As we learned from expert witness testimony, he is now neurologically impaired in a way you just don’t see from someone who is simply inebriated.
He staggers back to his younger brother who has no idea what has just happened. He leans on his brother and DIES seconds later.
We then see the “crew” quickly leave the scene and later seen on other video feeds, patting each other on the back and hugging each other for their “heroics”.
As I watched and gasped, I was convinced that the impact to the steel rail was the actual cause of death. To my surprise, it was probably not.
The victim actually suffered a skull fracture from the force of the punch along the suture lines of where the skull plates fuse. As a result of the significant force in conjunction with the rotation and hyperextension of the neck; he suffered a massive artery tear near the base of his skull. Something you see in higher speed automobile accidents. In comparison, the impact to the back of his head was relatively minor (no fractures or brain bruising at that impact site).
Technically the victim experienced a Subarachnoid Hemorrhage. His entire cranium was immediately flooded with blood and the pressure forced significant quantities of blood into his spinal column. All Bad…
It turns out this is not attacker’s first go around with this tactic. The Prosecution brought forth 2 other known cases where this “crew” had essentially done the same thing! The previous attack was on a store clerk attempting to retrieve stolen liquor from these miscreants. It turns out the clerk had a Brain Stent implanted in the base of his skull/neck. Guess what? He was punched in the base of the skull from behind after being distracted by one the attackers circling in the fore. The Defendant was out of Parole for this particular crime…
The “crew” had also attacked a local halfway house counselor in the exact same manner. One distracts, one slices in with a blindsiding blow. The Defendant was also convicted in that attack.
In addition to the obvious lesson of not drinking too much and placing yourself in the midst of an area where you don’t know who is who, we must understand there are “crews” of maniacs out there who contemplate, practice and execute with great precision, coordinated attacks on the innocent/unaware.
Target fixation is the number killer in close quarter battle.
In training, you must practice against multiple attackers learning if you will to “disregard” the first attacks. I am not saying to ignore them or to have no respect for them, but to latch onto the first attack to the exclusion of all others is clearly a mistake.
I’ve seen Coyotes hunt in packs. They send in one to pull a domestic dog after the solo scout. They specifically tire the lone dog and lead him into a waiting pack of fresh, strong attackers which ultimately leads to the animal’s death.
I don’t care what your skill level is, or what your brand of martial arts is, if you lose situational awareness it’s all for naught. Whether you’re a bouncer, beloved by many, and have gotten away with letting your guard down before, death does lurk. Remember we are Mortals. Be smart, apply wisdom and train accordingly. You are one punch away from leaving the planet.
After a 2-week trial we convicted the Defendant. The other two attackers fled the country.
Unfortunately, there are more where they came from…
See also Local News Story