Charlie says, "Hello!"
Posted on 12/23/2011 3:32:55 PM PST by SeekAndFind
James Ramseur's life of crime ended yesterday with a bottle of pills in a seedy Bronx hotel room, where he was found dead 27 years to the day after he was shot by infamous "Subway Vigilante" Bernhard Goetz. Ramseur had checked into the Paradise Hotel at 2990 Boston Road on Tuesday and was supposed to check out yesterday. When he failed to return his key, the manager entered the room and found his corpse, fully clothed, with two empty prescription pill bottles next to the bed, their labels scratched off. He was 45, and left no note.
Ramseur became infamous in 1984, when he was riding the 2 train downtown with friends Darrell Cabey, Barry Allen and Troy Canty, all 19. At Chambers Street, they crossed paths with Goetz, and what happened then is a matter of of some dispute. Goetz, who was working as an electronics specialist at the time, has long maintained the teens tried to mug him, while Ramseur and his friends say it wasn't a mugging, merely panhandling. Whatever the cause, the result was five rounds fired from Goetz's unlicensed Smith & Wesson.
Ramseur, who had been holding a screwdriver during the incident, was shot in the chest and lapsed into a coma.
The other teens were also seriously wounded, with Cabey sustaining the worst injuries—he's still wheelchair-bound and, according to the Post, functions with "the intellect of an eight-year-old." The Daily News reports that during Goetz's trial, Ramseur "was held in contempt of court at least six times for refusing to testify. He acted belligerently each time he took the stand, denouncing the legal system before being ushered out by armed guards." A mostly white jury ultimately acquitted Goetz of all four counts of attempted murder, but found him guilty of illegal weapons possession, for which he did several months in Rikers.
As for Ramseur, within a year of the shooting, he was arrested for helping to rape a pregnant teen at gunpoint on a Bronx rooftop. After spending 25 years in prison, he was released less than a year-and-a-half ago. Goetz is still alive, but could not be reached for comment on Ramseur's apparent suicide. In an interview with the NY Times in the '80s, he said, the teens he shot "represented the failure of society.... Forget about they're ever making a positive contribution to society.
It's only a question of how much a price they're going to cost. The solution is their mothers should have had an abortion."
Goetz's attorney Darnay Hoffman also committed suicide two years ago.
Flush!
Charlie says, "Hello!"
Infamous my ass. A man who defended himself from four vile and vicious pieces of human garbage is anything but "infamous" in my book.
Too bad all he had was a .38 revolver with standard ammunition.
Justice delayed still justice done.
...27 years to the day after he was shot by infamous "Subway Vigilante" Bernhard Goetz... Ramseur, who had been holding a screwdriver during the incident, was shot in the chest and lapsed into a coma...The moral of the story? Group your shots, and don't be afraid to reload.
I don’t know about you guys but I ALWAYS carry a screw driver when I’m panhandling. Cabey started with the IQ of a 8 year old and finishes the same.
The deceased is just a few years younger than our current white house occupant.
I’ll never forget the warm glowing feeling of Christmas 1984 for the hero, Goetz (who was not known yet). He is still a hero, and I’m glad the attacker finally did the right thing and rid the world of his presence. I’m in the Christmas mood finally
“I have five dollars for each of you.”
Sounds like Mr. Goetz should have had a little more “range time”. Would have saved the taxpayers a lot of money.
” functions with “the intellect of an eight-year-old.”
Well, that is an improvement for the perp from the time he committed the crime.
yes, but everyone, even convicted rapists and drug addicts, are children of God...
RE: yes, but everyone, even convicted rapists and drug addicts, are children of God...
___________________________
Maybe that is the view of some other religion.
However, Biblical Christianity differentiates between being God’s CHILD and being God’s CREATURE.
According to the Gospel of John 1:12-13
12 Yet TO ALL WHO RECEIVE HIM, to those who believed in his name, HE GAVE THE RIGHT TO BECOME CHILDREN OF GOD — 13 children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.
We are all God’s creatures but we are NOT all God’s children.
Being His child is a privilege given only to those who come into repentance by faith in God’s Son, Jesus Christ.
The only “victim” who did not continue his life of crime, is the one who is now paralyzed.
“Being His child is a privilege given only to those who come into repentance by faith in God’s Son, Jesus Christ.”
Amen to that! I am glad you posted this response. Although as Christians we are to extend our compassion to others, we are all not children of God as you so aptly related. Why would we need a savior if we are already in the family so to speak. It is Jesus Christ’s shed blood that makes atonement for our sin and it is this alone, available to all who repent, that brings you into a relationship with God. To insist that a murderer or a thief, sinners who the Bible says will see the fiery pit, is God’s child is a version of a very flawed theology.
“An aficionado, apparently, of the leprechaun style of dress”
LOL>>> too funny. The picture you posted was hilarious. I needed that laugh.
Thanks! I sure love these holiday time, heart warming, feel good stories! Sniff. I needa box a kleenex now.
Al $harpton was around then and said Goetz was a racist.
Further:
In Connecticut, Goetz faked mental illness to avoid being drafted into the Vietnam War.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bernhard_Goetz
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