AN EARLY REPORT FROM THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Thursday afternoon tells:
A jury in Cleveland (Ohio) has convicted a city firefighter in the shooting deaths of three people and wounding of two others over a neighbor’s July Fourth fireworks.
The jury returned the three aggravated murder and two attempted murder convictions Thursday afternoon in the case against 36-year-old Terrance Hough Jr.
The defense had claimed that Hough acted in a fit of temporary rage. His attorney had argued that the shootings weren’t planned as required for an aggravated murder conviction that could lead to a death sentence.
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Terrance Hough
The event took place in 2007, nearly a year ago, when Hough had complained about a loud party at his neighbors’ house at about midnight on the Fourth of July. There was allegedly a confrontation, and Hough returned to his home to get a gun, officials said.
Those killed were Jake Feichtner, 24, who was shot in the chest as well as Katherine Rosby, 27, and Bruce Anderson, 30, who were shot in the back. Two other people were injured. All five were shot in the driveway of the house.
Police records indicate Hough and his wife had complained about several neighbors 12 times over the last two years. The complaints included everything from loud noises to fireworks disturbances and underage drinking.
Hough was stationed in Fire House No. 33 on West 117th Street and had been on the department for 12 years before being put on unpaid suspension following the shootings. His father is still an active Cleveland firefighter and his deceased father-in-law was a retired CFD firefighter.
The jury will be brought back on Tuesday to determine whether he receives the death penalty.
Three days ago, Monday, Hough’s wife testified at the trial. WJW-TV showed part of her testimony and included some clips from the murder scene in this video report:
One of these days it will be recognized that loud noisy neighbors are a form of torture.
Loud noises like loud stereos and fireworks are a recognized form of torture in the military.
These people had been asked and warned to stop their noise. One can only take so much. Some Viet Nam vets have a very low tolerance for noise and have PTSD epeisodes. Episodes like this will be on the rise until noise ordinances are rigidly enforced. Giving this man the death penalty would be a travesty.
Of course this will be lost in the face of the fascist “my noise is my freedom” intolerance of those who are noise sensitive and those want their sanctity and peace and quiet quality of life homefront respected. Besides, I’m sure the continual fireworks were a hazard that a firefighter would recognize.
This “family” only showed gross stupidity and arrogant inconsideration when asked repeatedly to lower the noise.
The people who were using fireworks in this case were violating the laws of Ohio. I realize that this does exculpate Mr. Hough from guilt for killing them. However, it is a fact that the shooting victims were engaging in something that was aggressive and illegal. This type of crime, where someone snaps from over-exposure to explosive noise, will happen again … as long as the pyrotechnics’ lobby has so much power in state legislatures. People in Ohio can buy fireworks if they agree to transport them out of state within 48 hours. What a sham of a law! Of course it is never enforced. Shooting off fireworks is not a suitable activity for a residential neighborhood, and lawmakers and law enforcers need to get serious about eliminating it.
This whole thing is incredibly tragic. There is no tolerance in today’s world.
It is one thing to “snap” but this man was supposed to save lives and presumably had extensive training both techically and emotionally. He stood over his first victim and shot him two more times until he was sure he was dead, he then shot two more in the back, and two more after that. He was then out of bullets!
If a Firefighter can snap and do something like this we have no hope against the “gangtahs” and people that just don’t care.
Are you Kidding me??? I can’t believe the first two responses on this page. Andy and Susan are absolutely crazy and I hope I never have to meet you people ever. I mean you are actually justifying murder because some kids were making too much noise???? and you are talking about how illegal fireworks are?????? NEWSFLASH: three kids are dead, all under 30. Dead because they partied too loud on the 4th of july. and two are injured. He emptied all the bullets in his gun, He yelled “yeah” after every shot, he shot after the people were already dead on the floor. I mean Andy is talking about how the military uses noise as torture and Vietnam vets with ptsd, are you serious? These people are dead at 30, how would you feel if they were your children, would you say… oh they should have been more quiet????
I am the mother of Bruce Ryan Anderson. He was one of the victims of Hough. If you want the real truth regarding this case, I know it. The first two posts here are so ridiculous that I need not reply. My son is dead. Two hollow point bullets pummeled through his back, tearing apart his entire insides. An attack that was proved to be planned and carried out by this mad dog. My son tried to get away, but couldn’t because the second bullet was aimed to make sure Bruce was dead, along with Katie and Jacob. Do you realize how terrorized my son must have felt? Do you know that he had never even visited this residence before, yet was left to die alone in a strangers driveway. Murder is murder. You don’t know the real facts unless you sat, as I did, and Bruce’s father and sister’s did, through this horrible reanalysis of the crime. I don’t believe for one instant that anyone who knew the real facts would publish anything as asinine as the two first comments here. My family is forever changed. My only son is gone forever. Hough deserved the death penalty. My only solace is that his measley corpse will be carried out of prison in a black body bag. Becky Pfeiffer becca195301@sbcglobal.net