Drizzt
Member
Vigilante airs regrets
By JOSE RODRIGUEZ -- Calgary Sun
The life-rendering thud of a heavily tattooed body on the streets of Marda Loop transformed a city shopkeeper into a reluctant folk hero.
It was 2 p.m., Nov. 8, 1986.
A crisp Saturday afternoon forever forged into Steven Kesler's memory. Kesler and his wife had bought the I.D.A. on 33 Ave. S.W. in early 1984 and were no strangers to drug-loving robbers.
This hold-up, however, would turn out to be dramatically different.
Two bandits entered Kesler's store demanding money and drugs. With his two daughters and his wife in the store, a shocked Kesler opened the till and pressed the alarm button.
Then came the moment Kesler has grown to regret. The then-40-year-old Yugoslavian immigrant grabbed his shotgun and chased one of the crooks out the door before pumping 120 pellets into 27-year-old Timothy Smith.
As Smith lay dying on the street, $115 still clutched in his fist, Kesler ran back into the store where he encountered the other robber holding a gun to his wife's head as she filled a bag with drugs.
His daughters, 11 and 13, were cowering under some shelves. A furious gunfight erupted.
Both men ran out of ammunition before Kesler began to beat the robber about the head with his shotgun.
The bandit suffered shoulder wounds and was charged with a number of offences.
Kesler was charged with second-degree murder.
The public was outraged.
Kesler had become the poster boy for every small businessman who ever stared a crook in the balaclava.
More than $40,000 was raised for his defence fund and Kesler became a national celebrity.
On June 25, 1987, after months of hype, 12 days of emotional evidence and 15 hours of deliberation, a jury acquitted Kesler.
His lawyer James Ogle stood outside the steps of Calgary's Court of Queen's Bench and told the country's media there was no message in the ruling.
"(There is) no signal except that this man, in these circumstances, was justified," Ogle said.
The message actually comes nearly two decades after the sensational shooting. It comes from Kesler himself.
"I wouldn't have done the same," said Kesler yesterday, from the same store in Marda Loop he still runs with his wife.
He said he would have suffered the robbery and let police deal with the bad guys.
"I have regrets. A man died," he said.
"We have to consider the mother of that man and her unconditional love for him."
Kesler says he will never get over the events of that fateful November afternoon.
"People say that time heals wounds," he says in a disbelieving tone.
"I am actually amazed at how many people carry the memory of my case.
"It's been more than 16 years and I've been reminded (by customers) at least once a week. It is, in a way, troubling."
Last Sunday in Edmonton, electronics store owner Shand King was charged after a pair of thieves who rammed a stolen truck into his store were fired upon.
They were prying a $20,000 Plasma TV from a wall before the store opened when the shots rang out.
One of the robbers was wounded but will live. The other is at large and, as of this writing, neither has been charged.
Shand's wife Betsy says the store has been robbed four or five times in four years.
Ogle says many of the public emotions that dominated Kesler's case will be revived for Shand's trial.
"If I was the prosecution, I wouldn't be anxious for a jury trial in Alberta," said Ogle yesterday.
So, does vigilante justice pay?
Kesler suffered five robberies in the first two-and-half years he owned his drug store.
Since the shooting, Kesler's been robbed only once.
And even though a jury of his peers acquitted him of any crime, his conscience is serving a life sentence.
Hardly worth it.
http://www.canoe.ca/Columnists/rodriguez.html
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
In related news, here's the current status for Mr. King:
By JOSE RODRIGUEZ -- Calgary Sun
The life-rendering thud of a heavily tattooed body on the streets of Marda Loop transformed a city shopkeeper into a reluctant folk hero.
It was 2 p.m., Nov. 8, 1986.
A crisp Saturday afternoon forever forged into Steven Kesler's memory. Kesler and his wife had bought the I.D.A. on 33 Ave. S.W. in early 1984 and were no strangers to drug-loving robbers.
This hold-up, however, would turn out to be dramatically different.
Two bandits entered Kesler's store demanding money and drugs. With his two daughters and his wife in the store, a shocked Kesler opened the till and pressed the alarm button.
Then came the moment Kesler has grown to regret. The then-40-year-old Yugoslavian immigrant grabbed his shotgun and chased one of the crooks out the door before pumping 120 pellets into 27-year-old Timothy Smith.
As Smith lay dying on the street, $115 still clutched in his fist, Kesler ran back into the store where he encountered the other robber holding a gun to his wife's head as she filled a bag with drugs.
His daughters, 11 and 13, were cowering under some shelves. A furious gunfight erupted.
Both men ran out of ammunition before Kesler began to beat the robber about the head with his shotgun.
The bandit suffered shoulder wounds and was charged with a number of offences.
Kesler was charged with second-degree murder.
The public was outraged.
Kesler had become the poster boy for every small businessman who ever stared a crook in the balaclava.
More than $40,000 was raised for his defence fund and Kesler became a national celebrity.
On June 25, 1987, after months of hype, 12 days of emotional evidence and 15 hours of deliberation, a jury acquitted Kesler.
His lawyer James Ogle stood outside the steps of Calgary's Court of Queen's Bench and told the country's media there was no message in the ruling.
"(There is) no signal except that this man, in these circumstances, was justified," Ogle said.
The message actually comes nearly two decades after the sensational shooting. It comes from Kesler himself.
"I wouldn't have done the same," said Kesler yesterday, from the same store in Marda Loop he still runs with his wife.
He said he would have suffered the robbery and let police deal with the bad guys.
"I have regrets. A man died," he said.
"We have to consider the mother of that man and her unconditional love for him."
Kesler says he will never get over the events of that fateful November afternoon.
"People say that time heals wounds," he says in a disbelieving tone.
"I am actually amazed at how many people carry the memory of my case.
"It's been more than 16 years and I've been reminded (by customers) at least once a week. It is, in a way, troubling."
Last Sunday in Edmonton, electronics store owner Shand King was charged after a pair of thieves who rammed a stolen truck into his store were fired upon.
They were prying a $20,000 Plasma TV from a wall before the store opened when the shots rang out.
One of the robbers was wounded but will live. The other is at large and, as of this writing, neither has been charged.
Shand's wife Betsy says the store has been robbed four or five times in four years.
Ogle says many of the public emotions that dominated Kesler's case will be revived for Shand's trial.
"If I was the prosecution, I wouldn't be anxious for a jury trial in Alberta," said Ogle yesterday.
So, does vigilante justice pay?
Kesler suffered five robberies in the first two-and-half years he owned his drug store.
Since the shooting, Kesler's been robbed only once.
And even though a jury of his peers acquitted him of any crime, his conscience is serving a life sentence.
Hardly worth it.
http://www.canoe.ca/Columnists/rodriguez.html
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
In related news, here's the current status for Mr. King:
