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Mielke tells jury 'I just panicked'
SHOOTINGS: The Rev. Phillip Mielke says firing at burglars ''just reaction.''
The Rev. Phillip Mielke recounts the frantic seconds surrounding his shooting of two intruders at his Big Lake church last April. Mielke testified as his trial for manslaughter winds to a close in Palmer Superior Court. (Photo by Jim Lavrakas / Anchorage Daily News)
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By S.J. KOMARNITSKY
Anchorage Daily News
(Published: October 23, 2003)
PALMER -- The pastor who shot and killed two men he caught burglarizing his church took the stand in his own defense Wednesday and told jurors he armed himself with a gun before going into the church but never expected to fire the weapon.
When he did encounter two men inside, however, he didn't hesitate to shoot.
"It all happened so fast," he said. "They were right there, right in front of me."
The Rev. Phillip Mielke, 44, pastor of the Big Lake Community Chapel, spent nearly six hours on the stand recounting how he shot Christopher Palmer, 31, and Francis Jones, 23, in the early morning of April 24. He is on trial for manslaughter.
Dressed in slacks, a striped dress shirt, knit sweater and tie, he seemed calm, getting visibly flustered only once when he complained about the noise from a newspaper photographer taking pictures.
Jurors had heard most of his story before in tape-recorded interviews between Mielke and state troopers that were played in court earlier in the trial. Even so, many jurors were perched on the edge of their seats as Mielke recounted the events of that morning.
He described hearing thumping noises on a baby monitor in his bedroom that was linked to one in the church and going out in the dark to investigate.
He first strapped on a .44-caliber Ruger handgun, and told his wife to listen carefully on the baby monitors. He took his gun just to be safe, he said, comparing it to wearing a seat belt.
"I don't plan on having an accident, but you never know," he said.
He had a history of false alarms at the church, he said, including checking on noises that turned out to be passing cars, a heater or, once, Christmas lights banging against the side of the building.
"I hear stuff all the time and I check it because I don't know what it is," he said.
He said he thought the noises this time might be someone dropping off food.
Once inside, events unfolded quickly. He found a back door ajar, yelled out to his wife to call the troopers, and within seconds, saw two men running up the stairs at him from the church basement.
A light overhead blinked several times, then went out, he said. He thought the men were coming to attack him. Only later, did he realize the two may have been trying to run out the door.
Mielke said he fired twice. Both men were hit in the back.
Mielke said he shot without thinking. He didn't even know when he had drawn his gun.
"It was just reaction," he said.
Both men fell into a doorway leading to an outside deck. One grunted. He heard another say, "I've been shot." One started rolling around and squirming. He backed away, scared, he said. He said he didn't want to shoot the man again.
But when he looked out a nearby window and saw a man running outside, he pointed his gun and fired. He fired until all his bullets were gone, and still continued to push the trigger so hard he said he had a bruise on his finger the next day.
"I still don't know why. I just spun around and shot right through the glass -- bang, bang, bang, bang," he said. "I just panicked."
He then went to a phone in the church and called troopers.
In large part, the case rests on jurors being convinced that Mielke's decision to fire was reasonable
In questioning Mielke, defense attorney Jim Gilmore stressed the pastor's fear that morning. He asked him if he thought there was any alternative to shooting. No, Mielke said. He was terrified.
He also asked why he didn't call troopers when he first heard noises. Mielke said he didn't want to bother troopers for a noise that might be nothing.
But prosecutor Bob Collins, in his cross-examination, asked Mielke why he felt it necessary to carry a gun, noting the chapel had suffered only minor vandalism over the years and the pastor's own belief that he didn't expect to find anything wrong that morning.
Mielke cited crime in the Big Lake area. One store had been burglarized 23 times in 19 years, he said. He didn't expect problems, but he wanted to be prepared, he said.
He had taken many precautions at the church. He put in the baby monitors in part for security and added two motion detectors including a chime and one that turned on a light in a front hallway. He said he always went in the front door in case someone was running out the back. And he never turned on lights until he had checked things out so he wouldn't become a target.
He also said he bought the .44-caliber handgun with a long barrel to replace a smaller .38-caliber handgun, reasoning that if he did confront someone with the bigger gun, it would be more of a deterrent, he said.
He said he felt more comfortable talking to strangers when he was carrying a concealed weapon, and had gotten a permit to do that after finding a couple intoxicated men in his parking lot. He had felt too threatened at the time to approach them, he said.
Collins asked Mielke if had thought about what he would do if the sight of the gun didn't deter someone. He even gave him a scenario. Would he shoot an unarmed drunk man trying to hit him.
"Possibly. I don't know," the pastor said.
Collins also questioned whether the pastor really didn't suspect someone was in the church when he went over to check on it.
No, Mielke maintained. His first hint something was amiss was seeing the back door ajar.
"Up until then, it was just like every other time I'd gone through (checking the church)," he said.
The case could go to the jury today.
SHOOTINGS: The Rev. Phillip Mielke says firing at burglars ''just reaction.''
The Rev. Phillip Mielke recounts the frantic seconds surrounding his shooting of two intruders at his Big Lake church last April. Mielke testified as his trial for manslaughter winds to a close in Palmer Superior Court. (Photo by Jim Lavrakas / Anchorage Daily News)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
By S.J. KOMARNITSKY
Anchorage Daily News
(Published: October 23, 2003)
PALMER -- The pastor who shot and killed two men he caught burglarizing his church took the stand in his own defense Wednesday and told jurors he armed himself with a gun before going into the church but never expected to fire the weapon.
When he did encounter two men inside, however, he didn't hesitate to shoot.
"It all happened so fast," he said. "They were right there, right in front of me."
The Rev. Phillip Mielke, 44, pastor of the Big Lake Community Chapel, spent nearly six hours on the stand recounting how he shot Christopher Palmer, 31, and Francis Jones, 23, in the early morning of April 24. He is on trial for manslaughter.
Dressed in slacks, a striped dress shirt, knit sweater and tie, he seemed calm, getting visibly flustered only once when he complained about the noise from a newspaper photographer taking pictures.
Jurors had heard most of his story before in tape-recorded interviews between Mielke and state troopers that were played in court earlier in the trial. Even so, many jurors were perched on the edge of their seats as Mielke recounted the events of that morning.
He described hearing thumping noises on a baby monitor in his bedroom that was linked to one in the church and going out in the dark to investigate.
He first strapped on a .44-caliber Ruger handgun, and told his wife to listen carefully on the baby monitors. He took his gun just to be safe, he said, comparing it to wearing a seat belt.
"I don't plan on having an accident, but you never know," he said.
He had a history of false alarms at the church, he said, including checking on noises that turned out to be passing cars, a heater or, once, Christmas lights banging against the side of the building.
"I hear stuff all the time and I check it because I don't know what it is," he said.
He said he thought the noises this time might be someone dropping off food.
Once inside, events unfolded quickly. He found a back door ajar, yelled out to his wife to call the troopers, and within seconds, saw two men running up the stairs at him from the church basement.
A light overhead blinked several times, then went out, he said. He thought the men were coming to attack him. Only later, did he realize the two may have been trying to run out the door.
Mielke said he fired twice. Both men were hit in the back.
Mielke said he shot without thinking. He didn't even know when he had drawn his gun.
"It was just reaction," he said.
Both men fell into a doorway leading to an outside deck. One grunted. He heard another say, "I've been shot." One started rolling around and squirming. He backed away, scared, he said. He said he didn't want to shoot the man again.
But when he looked out a nearby window and saw a man running outside, he pointed his gun and fired. He fired until all his bullets were gone, and still continued to push the trigger so hard he said he had a bruise on his finger the next day.
"I still don't know why. I just spun around and shot right through the glass -- bang, bang, bang, bang," he said. "I just panicked."
He then went to a phone in the church and called troopers.
In large part, the case rests on jurors being convinced that Mielke's decision to fire was reasonable
In questioning Mielke, defense attorney Jim Gilmore stressed the pastor's fear that morning. He asked him if he thought there was any alternative to shooting. No, Mielke said. He was terrified.
He also asked why he didn't call troopers when he first heard noises. Mielke said he didn't want to bother troopers for a noise that might be nothing.
But prosecutor Bob Collins, in his cross-examination, asked Mielke why he felt it necessary to carry a gun, noting the chapel had suffered only minor vandalism over the years and the pastor's own belief that he didn't expect to find anything wrong that morning.
Mielke cited crime in the Big Lake area. One store had been burglarized 23 times in 19 years, he said. He didn't expect problems, but he wanted to be prepared, he said.
He had taken many precautions at the church. He put in the baby monitors in part for security and added two motion detectors including a chime and one that turned on a light in a front hallway. He said he always went in the front door in case someone was running out the back. And he never turned on lights until he had checked things out so he wouldn't become a target.
He also said he bought the .44-caliber handgun with a long barrel to replace a smaller .38-caliber handgun, reasoning that if he did confront someone with the bigger gun, it would be more of a deterrent, he said.
He said he felt more comfortable talking to strangers when he was carrying a concealed weapon, and had gotten a permit to do that after finding a couple intoxicated men in his parking lot. He had felt too threatened at the time to approach them, he said.
Collins asked Mielke if had thought about what he would do if the sight of the gun didn't deter someone. He even gave him a scenario. Would he shoot an unarmed drunk man trying to hit him.
"Possibly. I don't know," the pastor said.
Collins also questioned whether the pastor really didn't suspect someone was in the church when he went over to check on it.
No, Mielke maintained. His first hint something was amiss was seeing the back door ajar.
"Up until then, it was just like every other time I'd gone through (checking the church)," he said.
The case could go to the jury today.
