A state appeals court has upheld the murder conviction for a Southwestern Illinois man who was convicted for killing a trespasser with a shotgun booby trap set up inside his shed, reported the ABA Journal.
The Appellate Court of Illinois’ Fifth District
upheld the conviction of William P. Wasmund of Chester, Illinois, in a Nov.
9 opinion.
Wasmund was sentenced to 30 years in prison in
December 2019, according to previous news coverage by the Telegraph.
The shotgun blast killed Jeffery Spicer in September 2018.
The appeals court said Wasmund’s use of force was
not justified under Illinois law because he could have used nonlethal means to
protect his shed.
The shotgun was placed in a vise on a table in the
shed, so that it pointed directly toward the door. The rope was attached to the
gun’s trigger, so that it would fire toward the door if it was opened.
A warning on the shed door had indicated that no one
should enter. Wasmund said he had also placed a table in his driveway and set
up no-trespassing signs to keep people off his property.
He was no longer living on his property at the time
of the shooting because of a fire at his home.
Months before Spicer was killed, Wasmund told an
acquaintance that he had set up the shotgun to scare a previous burglar,
according to trial testimony. Wasmund said the gun wasn’t loaded, however, when
the acquaintance expressed concern.
Wasmund denied setting up the shotgun in interviews
with detectives.
On appeal, Wasmund’s lawyer argued that Wasmund’s
use of force was justified.
The issue of justified force is governed by an
Illinois law. It provides that a person “is justified in the use of force which
is intended or likely to cause death or great bodily harm only if he reasonably
believes that such force is necessary to prevent the commission of a forcible
felony.”
The issue, the appeals court said, was whether it
was reasonable to think that the only way to prevent the shed from being
burglarized was to set up a spring-gun trap.
The defense had argued that the booby trap was justified
because Spicer was on Wasmund’s property illegally and was trying to commit
burglary, a forcible felony.
But the appeals court said even if Spicer was trying
to burglarize the shed, it was not reasonable for Wasmund to think that deadly
force was necessary.
“There was no evidence that the defendant attempted
to install an alarm system, security cameras, motion detection lights or any
other nonlethal means which individuals regularly take to protect their
property,” the appeals court said.
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