Yeah, this one didn't really meet the "he needed killin' test. Now if the defendant had confronted the thief with his rifle and the thief also showed a firearm, the situation would have been different.
Extra-judicial killings are justified sometimes but from the info given in this clearly biased piece,this one wasn't a justified killing. The rule of law is undermined as badly by judicial decisions with fair regularity.
I don't know about you, but I'd be very leery of waiting for a thief to show me a firearm. By the time I saw it, it might be too late. Shoot first, ask questions later. And if you are going to shoot, shoot to kill.