I am the mother of one of the "burglars" sons and I personally think you are a stupid coward just as the so called pastor is. No, they did not have any right stealing FOOD...by the way, however, they didn't deserve to die! The pastor stole my sons father from him.....does that give him or I the right to go kill him to protect what was ours?? I think not!! The next time you think its so wonderful to blow someone away with a .44 magnum over food...why dont you take a moment to think about the families they leave behind!!

Renee, I am very sorry that you decided to have a child with a scum bag like that. He obviously was not considerate enough to think about the consequences to you and your son of his illegal act.

Understand this Renee, If a person enters my dwelling (YES, his church is his dwelling), I am going to shoot first, and if he is able to answer, ask questions later.

As a twelve year employee of a state corrections system, I can assure you that most inmates in our system will tell you that when they committed their crimes they were armed, and would not have thought twice about using their weapon.

I will always put MY family, and MY property ahead of yours in this type of situation.

Cruel? Maybe. Stupid Coward? Not a chance. The stupid coward was the father of your sons for putting your family in this position in the first place.

If you commit a dangerous felony like burglary, you run the risk of not walking away from it alive especially if the landowner is willing to protect what's his (hardly cowardly). These two assclowns got what they deserved. It doesn't look like it was just over food either, since one criminal's sister told the Anchorage Daily News that "[t]he only reason her brother would rob a church at dawn would be to buy drugs[.]" (Anchorage Daily News, 4/26/03).

If the pastor is even charged with anything, then maybe two counts of disturbing the peace and one for littering the roadside ditch with human trash. It's a shame Palmer was able to reproduce before being justifiably removed from the gene pool.

I bet the crime rate in Big Lake went down after this.

Renee...didn't i see you posting on another self-defense article about knowing the victim? perhaps you should reevaluate your life, you seem to be hanging around with a lot of idiots.

er, gosh, now you've got me saying it. not the victim, the criminal.

The criminal, Mr. Palmer, was not what you would call a family man. He did produce offspring with Ms. Borello, as he did with other women, but this particular child, at least eight years of age, he had never even met. He may have provided child support to Ms. Borello, of this I have no knowledge, but given his profession and habits, I would doubt it.
The pastor, I believe, in a split second decision, acted to save his life, and "protect" his family, in that he is a very involved family man on a daily basis, working hard, caring for, providing for, teaching to respect God and country and law. He probably would give anything to go back and "undo" that moment, but unfortunately cannot.
Personnally, when I hear and read about it, I weep and pray for all involved.
If this is some kind of a pro gun site, this situation is just one more reason to add to my list of reasons why, for myself, I would never have a gun. I would never want my children to have a gun in their hands. Teenage depression is common, and teenagers are impulsive. Also, I've heard horror stories of women shooting their husbands returning home a day or two early from a business trip. I know all the criminals have guns, but I guess if one killed me I know I would go to my Eternal Home in Heaven with the Lord. I pray that Mr Palmer and Mr. Smith had time to look to the Lord for forgiveness and mercy.

As a pastor, you are called upon to tend to "Gods flock" (the bible refers to humans as sheep). Therefore, you must sometimes fend off the wolves.