Manslaughter trial postponed for man who killed intruders

Bill Gang

Friday, Dec. 10, 1999 | 11:21 a.m.

The trial of a Las Vegas man who killed two intruders at his home last December has been postponed from next week until Dec. 27.

Thomas Gaule faces voluntary manslaughter charges only for the shooting of one man -- one whose body was found 500 feet down the street -- not the death of a second intruder killed at Gaule's house. A Clark County Grand Jury found no criminal wrongdoing in that act because it occurred at the home where the break-in occurred.

The voluntary manslaughter indictment was handed down Dec. 11, 1998, after the grand jury heard two days of testimony in its quest to determine whether the shootings of Jason Lamb, 26, and Rick Tripp were justified or illegal retaliation.

The shootings occurred after Gaule said he arrived home on the morning of Oct. 25, 1998, to find the two men in the home at 400 Lakehurst Road near Alta and Buffalo drives.

Gaule told police he was beaten and disabled with an electronic stun gun but finally broke away from his attackers, grabbed a shotgun from his house and opened fire, hitting both men.

Lamb's body was found on the driveway of the home. Tripp died of multiple shotgun wounds 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.

Tripp, a six-time convicted felon according to police, is said to have been owed money by Gaule for cleanup work done around the home.