Road Rage (Update) [View all]

[H2O Man]

I would like to give an up-date on the “road rage” case, that I have spoken about on DU”GD over the past year and a half. It’s a case where many, many forum members have provided much-appreciated support to my family …..including writing, texting,and calling both the District Attorney and County Judge to demand that the “accused” murderer not be granted bail. We not only far surpassed the county’s previous record for public imput, but the DU community set the bar extremely high.

For those newer DU community members who are unfamiliar with the case, it began on October 27, 2014. My cousin was a passenger in his son’s vehicle. After having breakfast in a local diner, they were on their way to run some errands. Another vehicle started tail-gating them; as it turned out, the driver of that vehicle was enraged that my cousin’s son was driving at 53 mph on a curve on the highway. The young man pulled over to let the fellow go by, and within a minute, that driver would get out and shoot my cousin.

His son got out to try to save his father’s life. Thus, the gunman shot him, fatally. He then attempted to put a bullet into the back of my cousin’s head, but the gun miss-fired. My cousin was able to write the guy’s license plate number down, in the dirt on their back window. He then held his son in his arms, while the young man bled to death.

A half-mile up the road, the gunman threw his pistol towards the river. The following day, the NYS Police were able to recover it from the thick under-brush. The gunman next stopped at a convenience store for a 12-pack, and was on his way. Because he was an off-duty law enforcement officer, he had a scanner in his vehicle. When he learned the police were looking for his vehicle, he decided to go to the nearest State Police headquarters.

There, he told a story -- which the police taped -- in which he claimed the pair had been dogging him, threatening his life, for several days. Thus, he tail-gated them, so he could act in self-defense. The investigators knew that he was lying, and arrested him.

He had been a NYC police officer for 20 years, before being forced to retire. His personal files are sealed. He first became a campus security officer at a local college; he was fired from that position, for bullying behaviors. He then became a part-time guard at the county jail where he currently resides. He also had had at least four similar incidents, three for road rage, in which he pulled out his weapon. (In one, he shot in the direction of teens on a neighboring property, as their noise disturbed him.)

In my family system, my cousin is my brother. My children know him as their uncle. His children know me as their uncle. His parents -- my aunt and uncle -- are extremely close to my children, as are his three sisters. My aunt and uncle are in their mid- to late 80’s. For us, this is not the first time we’ve had a close relative murdered. My aunt and my mother’s brother was murdered in the late 1960’s, after winning a hand of cards in a local bar. Fifteen years later, his oldest son was brutally murdered, over an argument about a ten dollar bag of pot. In neither of those cases was an arrest ever made.

Some of our family were afraid that this thug would skate, because of his law enforcement background. In many areas of the US, I think he would have. But the State Troopers and BCI Investigators here are honest men and women. They find this thug to be repulsive, and they understand how this type of case damages the reputation of police. They have taken the case very seriously, and we couldn’t ask for more on their part.

In some up-dated news, the thug’s wife filed for divorce soon after he was jailed for murder. One of my associates had a casual friendship with the wife. She said her husband was an abusive, violent, controlling thug. She had not dared to leave him, until he was behind bars.

Yesterday, the thug and his attorney informed the Court that he does not want a jury to hear his trial. Previously, he had expressed confidence that he could convince any jury that he had acted in self-defense. I suppose his attorney has been able to break through this guy’s delusional self-confidence.

Personally, I wish he had the decency to simply plead guilty. But he has no decency. The trial, which is scheduled to begin next month, will end one chapter of this case. It cannot, of course, bring about closure. For literally every day, my family feels the loss of a good young man, and for no reason other than this rabid jackass was “angry.”

Here are a couple of links to today’s newspaper reports:

http://www.pressconnects.com/story/news/public-safety/2016/03/14/guzy-waives-jury-trial-road-rage-shooting/81754048/

http://www.thedailystar.com/news/local_news/accused-road-rage-gunman-waives-right-to-jury-trial/article_ea580312-852f-5646-98e1-2d4e73658983.html

I will, of course, be providing daily reports after court ends.

Peace,
H2O Man