Suspect in church murder shoots self in head www.privateofficer.com
Suspect in church murder shoots himself in head http://www.privateofficer.com
CLEARFIELD PA June 29 2008
Kyle T. Greene
Ntl. Assoc. Private Officers
http://www.privateofficer.com/ – The 72-year-old maintenance man shot in the basement of a Clearfield church early Thursday has died.
James Dixon was pronounced dead at 2:30 p.m. Friday at Altoona Regional Health System, Altoona Hospital Campus, Blair County Coroner Patty Ross said. An autopsy is scheduled for this morning at Mount Nittany Medical Center in State College.
The alleged gunman, Norman Kauffman, 53, is brain-dead but still on life support so doctors can harvest his organs, Ross said. Kauffman shot himself in the head Thursday afternoon after a daylong manhunt in the Moshannon State Forest, 15 miles north of Clearfield.
Kauffman called 911 to report his crime.
”I shot Jim, and I think he’s dead,” Kauffman told officers after they called him back at the number logged by Clearfield County’s emergency dispatch system, court records reveal.
Kauffman then told police where to find Dixon in the basement of Trinity United Methodist Church on South Second Street, where Dixon worked.
It was there, shortly before 6:45 a.m., that Kauffman confronted, then shot Dixon for having an affair with his wife.
Police discovered an unresponsive Dixon lying in a pool of blood with a gunshot wound below his right eye, and two .25-caliber shell casings were found at the scene.
As police tried to locate Kauffman, officers learned from his family that he had threatened to shoot Dixon and was ”distraught and contemplating suicide,” Clearfield police Officer Timothy O’Leary noted in court papers.
Criminal homicide, aggravated assault and reckless endangerment charges were filed against Kauffman Thursday in Clearfield. District Attorney Bill Shaw said the charges would be withdrawn pending notification of Kauffman’s death.
On Thursday, Clearfield Borough Police Chief Jeff Rhone said from all accounts, Kauffman was considered by those who knew him as a nice man.
Rhone said when he talked to Kauffman on the phone during the manhunt, he seemed calm and respectful but apparently couldn’t handle his situation any longer.
Kauffman eventually revealed his location near a camp in Pine Township.
”It was urgent that we got to him,” Rhone said, indicating police were aware he might harm himself
James Dixon was pronounced dead at 2:30 p.m. Friday at Altoona Regional Health System, Altoona Hospital Campus, Blair County Coroner Patty Ross said. An autopsy is scheduled for this morning at Mount Nittany Medical Center in State College.
The alleged gunman, Norman Kauffman, 53, is brain-dead but still on life support so doctors can harvest his organs, Ross said. Kauffman shot himself in the head Thursday afternoon after a daylong manhunt in the Moshannon State Forest, 15 miles north of Clearfield.
Kauffman called 911 to report his crime.
”I shot Jim, and I think he’s dead,” Kauffman told officers after they called him back at the number logged by Clearfield County’s emergency dispatch system, court records reveal.
Kauffman then told police where to find Dixon in the basement of Trinity United Methodist Church on South Second Street, where Dixon worked.
It was there, shortly before 6:45 a.m., that Kauffman confronted, then shot Dixon for having an affair with his wife.
Police discovered an unresponsive Dixon lying in a pool of blood with a gunshot wound below his right eye, and two .25-caliber shell casings were found at the scene.
As police tried to locate Kauffman, officers learned from his family that he had threatened to shoot Dixon and was ”distraught and contemplating suicide,” Clearfield police Officer Timothy O’Leary noted in court papers.
Criminal homicide, aggravated assault and reckless endangerment charges were filed against Kauffman Thursday in Clearfield. District Attorney Bill Shaw said the charges would be withdrawn pending notification of Kauffman’s death.
On Thursday, Clearfield Borough Police Chief Jeff Rhone said from all accounts, Kauffman was considered by those who knew him as a nice man.
Rhone said when he talked to Kauffman on the phone during the manhunt, he seemed calm and respectful but apparently couldn’t handle his situation any longer.
Kauffman eventually revealed his location near a camp in Pine Township.
”It was urgent that we got to him,” Rhone said, indicating police were aware he might harm himself
Categories: police
church murder, james dixon, murder at church, norman kauffman
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