Man who pursued, shot intruders indicted

Bill Gang

Friday, Dec. 11, 1998 | 11:14 a.m.

A Las Vegas homeowner who gunned down two intruders at his home, but had to pursue one 500 feet down a street before shooting him in the back, was indicted today by a Clark County Grand Jury.

The indictment charges Thomas Gaule with voluntary manslaughter in the shooting away from his residence, but the grand jury found no wrongdoing in the shooting of the first intruder just outside Gaule's home.

Gaule declined to testify before the grand jury Thursday, although he was aware of the proceeding and was told of his right to present any evidence he wanted toward his defense.

The voluntary manslaughter charge indicates the grand jury believed Gaule acted in the heat of passion, rather than committed a premeditated act.

The indictment came after the jury heard its second day of testimony in its quest to determine whether the shootings of Jason Lamb, 26, and Rick Tripp were justified or illegal retaliation.

The district attorney's office sent the case to the grand jury rather than having prosecutors decide whether to file charges. Grand juries have been used in similar citizen-involved shooting cases in the past to draw on community beliefs and standards.

Gaule told police he arrived home on the morning of Oct. 25 to find the two men in the home at 400 Lakehurst Road near Alta and Buffalo Drives.

He said he was beaten and disabled with an electronic stun gun but broke away from his attackers and grabbed a gun from his house.

Gaule indicated to authorities he opened fire and hit both men. Police said that one man had at least one bullet wound in the back while the other had multiple gunshot wounds.

One body was found on the driveway of the home, and the other at the corner of Lakehurst and Pinedale Avenue about 100 feet from Helen Marie Smith Elementary School and 500 feet from Gaule's home, police said.

Assistant District Attorney Charles Thompson had said shortly after the incident that the circumstances presented a problem.

"It has always been my belief that you can't use deadly force once a threat to yourself or your property has passed," Thompson, who was a district judge for 20 years, said.

The law permits residents to repel attacks with "all necessary force" and they need not retreat, he said.

"You may resist force with force, increasing in proportion to an intruder's persistence," Thompson said. "But I don't think that once the threat to yourself or your property is gone that you can use deadly force."

An issue in the Gaule case, Bell has said, involved the connection between Gaule and the dead men.

Deputy District Attorney Bill Koot has said that Gaule knew at least one of the men, although it is not clear whether he was aware at the time the homeowner was carrying a shotgun and pursuing the man that he knew his target was an acquaintance.

Koot's conclusion, however, was that even if there is a connection, the dead men "were there for unlawful purposes."

The Lakehurst home is owned by Anna Marie Gaule, who lives in Pahrump, and her son, Tom, who lives at the house.

Authorities have had problems at the Gaule home before, with complaints of the property's appearance, especially in the backyard, which residents have referred to as a nightmarish junk pile.

City code-enforcement officers have been dealing with the Lakehurst property, issuing citations since 1992. By January 1997, several outstanding bench warrants had been issued for the property's owner.

City officials have said they still were pursuing code-violation matters at the Lakehurst residence.