From The Raw Story:
A man in Cape Coral, Florida on Wednesday was arrested for shooting and killing an unarmed door-to-door salesman on his property.
Kenneth Bailey Roop, 52, has been charged with second-degree murder for killing 30-year-old Nicholas Rainey.
A co-worker who witnessed the shooting said Rainey had knocked on Roop’s door, but received no answer. While Rainey was walking down the drive-way, Roop pulled up in his pickup truck and asked why Rainey was at his house. Rainey explained that he was selling steak and seafood. The witness said Roop then pulled out a black handgun and shot Rainey. As Rainey lay on the ground, Roop fired another bullet into the back of his head.
Roop later told police that he shot Rainey in the head “for effect” and that he had three no trespassing signs on his property. Roop said he feared for his life.
“I’m not going to give him the chance to do something to me,” he told police. “I was in fear.”
Comments
34 Comments so far. Leave a comment below.JFC…. I used to live in Cape Coral (aka Cape Cadaver, aka the home of the newly wed and the nearly dead), and there were a fair share of rednecks in the area… After living in the city almost 5 years, the impression I had of the town’s leadership and most of the elderly residents was “I’ve got mine – screw you”.
But even with that relatively negative view of the town, I would not have pictured some asshole doing this… Thank you Rick Scott, ALEC, and the brain-dead GOP for your wonderful Castle Doctrine that allows killers like this guy to feel justified in murdering innocents….
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Okay, I’m going to take the opposite side of this debate and ask why the salesman ignored three “no trespassing” signs?
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Because his livelihood is to make sales and he’s not expecting to get murdered for it? He would probably expect some nasty comments or even threats….but to up and get shot (with one extra in the head “for effect”) was likely not in his mind.
Regardless, I hope the piece of crap who did it gets thrown in with some lifers. Let’s see him be really and truly afraid then, as they give him repeated prostate exams.
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I agree with trowing the “piece of crap” into jail for the rest of his life.
That being said, just because a salesman has to make a living doesn’t give him the right to ignore someone’s property rights. He got WAY more than he deserved but he was still being an asshole. I’m sick and tired of the “rules don’t apply to me” mentality.
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Yes, because ignoring a no trespassing sign warrants the death penalty.
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Oh, come on Chris! I never said shooting the guys was justified. I’m making a comment about peoples’ ignorance of other peoples’ rights and desires. The salesman was an asshole. Did he deserve to be shot? No. But he’s still and asshole.
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This is pretty much the worst story you can pick to make a point about somebody being an asshole for disregarding a sign.
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I can support Curious’ opinion on this. He’s clearly not saying this guy deserved to be shot, but I do agree that, “No Trespassing”, is the polite cousin of, “Go the fuck away!” Sure, he has to make a living, but is that really the type of place to make a sure sale? Regardless of the outcome, he should have moved on. I seriously don’t see how someone can’t understand this side of the argument.
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Also the sales guy did have a reason to be knocking on the door, he wasn’t trying to break in or do any harm (from what we can tell from the story). Personally I believe the signs more to mean “don’t mess with me and stay off my property unless you have a real reason to be here”. Does the mailman get shot for dropping of mail even though the mailbox is on privet property?
Anyhoo…
this remind anyone of the
truestory about that guy who was writing a book about the kindness of strangers on the road and got shot when he was trying to hitchhike?Like or Dislike:
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Ah, the good ol’ prison rape jokes. Because as long as you’re a convict or a guy, violent sexual assault is hilarious!
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I understand your point, Curious. He shouldn’t have been shot, but he was wrong to go onto the property. He couldn’t have expected to make a sale anyway – It’s just like the telemarketers calling when I’m on the DO-Not-Call list, I’m going to give points for effort and make a sale. I’m not giving bullets for bugging me either, but I think that was also the point you were making.
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Typo. I meant to type “I’m NOT giving points for effort and making a sale.”
Curious, I understand your frustration with people not getting your point, but I was trying to agree with you. No reason to get sarcastic with my comment.
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In every state (except Florida apparently) it is legally permitted for people to approach your house and knock on your door if you don’t have a closed gate and they’ve not expressly been told to leave. Signs to the effect of “no trespassing” aren’t legally binding and aren’t enforceable. In any other state, this would not be justifiable under “Castle’ or ‘Stand Your Ground” Laws at all. They typically include a requirement that the person attempting to use them as a defense specifically NOT start the altercation. Seeing as in this case the guy truthfully admitted his purpose in being there was a non-violent one and he wasn’t threatening, this is not going to be dismissed
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That, and: trespassing is the ILLEGAL entry onto property. As long as there are no standing restraining orders, fences jumped, gates broken, property damaged or vocalized demands to leave, it isn’t trespassing.
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@Curious: The posting of a No Trespassing sign changes f*ck-all about your rights as a property owner. Except that your property now includes a No Trespassing sign. The posting of a sign does not suddenly endow you with the authority to determine the life or death of another. It does not grant you the right to “punish” those who do not heed the sign. And if you’re the type to get all het up over somebody stepping on your porch without a gilded invitation to do so, you should put up a fence.
Regarding (what I am interpreting to be) the gist of your response that “but salesmen are assholes”… You might want to ask yourself something that Mr. Roop failed to think about: Since when did every unexpected interaction with a stranger become an occasion to exchange violence? The guy who approaches your door uninvited is a human being. He is doing a job he probably despises because he has to to put food on his table. He takes no end of shit and abuse from pouty dickheads who get their undies in a wad because somebody asked them to buy something. Have a modicum of empathy. Be civil. Tell him you don’t care to buy his frozen steak, and tell him goodbye. This is what grown-ups do.
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I suppose you also enjoy a discussion with a telemarketer (around dinner time) about a great new time share they have to offer you.
I’m not talking about the shooting and I never said that was justified. BUT, if someone clearly doesn’t want to be bothered, why did this salesman decide to go and bother the guy in the first place? It’s not about the legalities of the sign or the retribution taken by the redneck–I’m just saying if the salesman had respected this guy’s obvious desire to be left alone he’s still be alive today.
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No, I do not like telemarketers bothering me. But nor do I think that someone bothering me justifies violence. And be careful, hombre. You’re skirting awfully close to a position that sounds like “she never would’ve gotten raped if she didn’t go out Saturday night.”
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I really don’t see the “Stand Your Ground” defense holding up here. In what way was he “fearing for his life”? If that’s acceptable then everyone I come in contact with is a potential threat. That would make the Aurora theater shooter justified. “I was just there to watch a movie, then I thought, what if everyone here wants to kill me? Better get them before they get me. Glad I brought all these guns.”
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Guns don’t kill people, crazy/paranoid/stupid/ignorant people kill people…
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Which is why I say that gun control laws shouldn’t be directed at guns, they should be directed at gun owners. It’s just to easy to legally own one. You can go to a gun show empty-handed and walk out with a handgun AND a concealed weapons permit. No wonder bullshit like this keeps happening. Be glad you’re in Canada.
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@Mike K
I am glad I’m in Canada. Every. Single. Day
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guns don’t kill people, they just make it a hell of a lot easier.
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The neighborhood crazy? Only one? That makes that part of Cape Coral one of the nicest places to live in Florida.
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The argument that this shit wouldn’t happen if the gun laws weren’t so lax is unfounded. There are countries with laws more lax than ours and the correlation to violence doesn’t hold up.
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Frankly, I’m frightened of Mr. Roop. Would someone go shoot him for me?
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As someone who’s routinely bothered by these door-to-door “mystery meat” sales people, I’m not surprised somebody finally snapped. These “steak guys” never have ID, no flyers, no biz cards, won’t give you their phone number — but still expect you to buy meat from the trunk of their car. The gun thing was excessive, though.
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You know, I really do think that owning a gun should be at least as complicated as owning a car.
-License (documentation that you can reasonably be trusted)
-Registration (documentation of who has what)
-Insurance (compensation for other people in the event of accident/injury)
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OK, it’s official. We need to outlaw handguns. They clearly have the effect of producing uncontrollable fear in people who own them (like this guy and Zimmerman and all those ‘king o’ the castle’ folks). Maybe it’s something in the way the metal is manufactured. Someone oughta look into that, write a report.
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And yet I live in FL and haven’t heard a peep of this in the news, even as George Zimmerman covers headlines daily still.
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Ditto, and I’m about 150 miles from Sanford.
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I guess the media doesn’t think it is much of a story if a white guy shoots a white guy. Same for if a black guy shoots a black guy. The salesman should have respected the property owner’s rights. And the guy who shot him should be prosecuted to the full extent of the law for the unnecessary use of violence. We don’t need more laws, we just need to enforce the ones we have.
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Don’t bring a knife to a gun fight. . .
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Or, apparently, a steak.
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Do you realize that (at least in IL) it is harder to get a license to be a professional photographer than it is to get one for owning a gun? There are way more background checks and additional paperwork needed for using a camera than there are for having a gun.
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