Posted on 02/04/2005 7:20:48 AM PST by Jenya
NYC Actress' Slaying Teaches Hard Crime Lesson By TOM HAYS, AP
NEW YORK (Feb. 4) - As an actress, Nicole duFresne had roles in dozens of way-off-Broadway productions.
But it was an unfortunate real-life line witnesses say duFresne uttered before her slaying - "What are you going to do, shoot us?'' - that has brought her to the public's attention.
Authorities have refused to speculate whether the 28-year-old actress and playwright's defiant stand against a bandit prompted him to shoot her to death last week on a New York City street.
Safety advocates, however, have cited the case as a lesson in what not to do during a holdup.
On Wednesday, the Washington-based National Crime Prevention Council responded to widespread reports about duFresne's last words by circulating a list of tips on how to survive a mugging.
"It demonstrates that confronting an attacker is probably the worst thing you can do,'' said council spokesman Todd Post.
DuFresne, a Minnesota transplant whose Internet resume listed "stage combat'' as one of her skills, was leaving a bar with her fiance and another couple at about 3 a.m. Jan. 27 when they were accosted by a group of youths who had already tried to rob another person earlier in the evening.
Witnesses told police that when the group demanded the other woman's purse, duFresne responded with: "What are you going to do, shoot us?'' Police said she also may have gotten into a brief shoving match with the shooter before he fired a bullet into her chest.
"The ferociousness with which she always protected her friends never surprised me, especially in that moment,'' fellow actress and friend Mary Jane Gibson said before a memorial service Thursday.
Police arrested the alleged triggerman, Rudy Fleming, 19, and two teenage girls they say took a cell phone and credit cards and helped hide the murder weapon. All three have been charged with murder and robbery.
DuFresne's fiance, Jeffrey Sparks, his face still bruised, told reporters Thursday he didn't see his fiancee get shot. But he heard the gunfire and turned to find her on the ground.
"I ran to her and held her and begged her to hang on,'' he said as he began to cry.
Sparks said he regrets he "didn't take her hand and pull her down the sidewalk away from that idiot with a gun.''
Servisio Simmon, 21, a member of the group of youths who was taken into custody but released, gave a different version to The New York Times.
Simmon claimed duFresne told the alleged triggerman: "You got what you want? You got what you want?'' He also said the actress "kept raging after Rudy, she kept pushing him, she slipped over the snow'' and that the gun "went off.''
Police declined to comment on that account.
On its tip sheet, the crime prevention council advises potential victims to stay cool and comply with robbers. At the same time, people should take mental notes on what the assailant looks like so they can provide a detailed description to police, the sheet says.
A robbery "is more about power than anything,'' said Alfonso Lenhardt, president of the nonprofit council, known for its McGruff the Crime Dog mascot.
"It's a tragedy, but in this case it sounds like (the suspect) felt he wasn't getting the respect he was due,'' Lenhardt said. "When a gun is in the hands of a desperate person with low self-esteem, they're going to react that way.''
I agree with you in theory. If every law abiding citizens carried a concealed firearm an knew how and when to use it without lapses in judgment, then violent street crime would ebb to a trickle. But then there is reality. In this particular case, all of the victims were on the way home from a bar after several hours of drinking, which probably explains why the dead woman mouthed off to the killer. Let's assume they were intoxicated, which is probably a pretty good assumption. If one or more of them had pulled a weapon there a pretty good chance they would have screwed up and shoot themselves or an innocent bystander, prompting the intended target to open fire on everyone and instead of one dead criminal, we would now have several dead victims.
"...and if that robber tells you to get in the car, you're 'going for a ride', try to refrain from yelling "shotgun!"--you might jangle the robber's nerves. Just get in the car and try to get as comfortable as possible.
Engage the robber in light banter; try to bring out the goodness in him (this will help later when he decides to kill you quickly rather than torture you beforehand).
But the most important thing is to just have fun on your new adventure!"
</sarcasm>
Low self-esteem. If only his teachers could have given him more self-esteem, he would be a productive member of society. (sarcasm)
The press have been letting Sparky off the hook for some reason.
I do live in NY state......no problem owning long guns./..no permit for longs except NYC..permits required for hand gun ownership which is doable almost everywhere except NYC(and there too but stricter restrictions). though the downstate counties usually give out limited Concealed Carry permits which are only good if your on your way to the range or on your way hunting.....which is why people get membership to 24/7/365 ranges. so if you get questioned you can say your a member and was heading to the range...
Although I appreciate your sentiments, I'm afraid that in the NY State "justice" system, this guy stands an even chance of being acquitted. The best we can hope for is hard time. Looking on the sunny side, he is, after all, 19 years old. Poppin'fresh and just old enough to do time as an adult. Since he's not out on bail, he's probably learning the old prison slow dance from Iron Mike in the showers even as we speak. With luck, he'll stay in the Big Hotel until he's actually heartbroken when he isn't elected "Brownie Queen" of West Block. Playing HIV roulette a few times a day is about as brutal a punishment as even the most confirmed sadist could hope for. As I said, you have to look at the sunny side of these things.
I preferr life sentence deprived of comfort. Convict is surgically blinded, made deaf, tongue removed and sense of smell numbed. His limbs will be amputated and his live body is hung in a basket and lowered into a concrete hole which is kept cool, and uncomfortable. He will be fed bland food. Silence and boredom. That is how he will spend the rest of his life in my prison.
I know this is the typical liberal mantra ("low self-esteem"), but there's a growing body of research that indicates the real problem is the OPPOSITE of "low self-esteem" -- it's having too *great* a sense of your own value and importance. The bullies, thugs, etc. have such a *high* estimate of themselves, and *low* estimate of other people, that they feel they *deserve* to just take whatever they want from (or do whatever they want to) the worthless "sheep" (i.e. ordinary people).
Even Lenhardt's own comment reveals the truth of this, when he says that the thug "felt he wasn't getting the respect he was due" -- this is the reaction of someone feels they are *superior* and thus owed something; not the reaction of someone who feels little or no self worth.
As one of the articles once pointed out, do perpetrators of violence like say Hitler seem like folks with *low* self-esteem, or way to freakin' *much*? The arrogance of dictators and thugs and bullies is well-known. So why do liberals keep babbling about how *low* self-esteem is somehow the root of violence and social discord?
She didn't "protect", she "provoked" an unstable person and invited an attack. Sheesh.
When questioning the defendant, it's prudent to know in advance what his answer will be.
One of the funniest bits of news on the radio I ever heard was in Houston, Texas. It concerned a woman who heard noises in her garage, so she picked up her gun and went to investigate. She found a guy still in the garage trying to steal her bicycle. I'll let the news story take it from there:
"The homeowner reportedly told police, 'he told me to go ahead and shoot him, so I did'."
Denny Crane: "There are two places to find the truth. First God and then Fox News."
Well don't take it personally, but it's pretty hard to screw up more than winding up dead. I recognize your points, but not everyone exiting a bar is blitzed.
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