Shooter describes incident as 'devastating' and happening 'too fast'
Thandisizwe Chimurenga
Theodore Paul Wafer took the stand in his own defense today. Charged with 2nd degree murder and involuntary manslaughter in the death of 19-year old Renisha McBride, the 55-year old airport maintenance worker faces a maximum sentence of life in prison for the first charge and 15 years for the manslaughter charge if convicted.
Wafer spoke in an even, low tone that was at times almost hard to hear as his attorney Cheryl Carpenter told the jury she wanted them to get to know him.
Carpenter began by asking Wafer about his personal life; his job at the Detroit Airport; his neighborhood; the various changes that had occurred in the area since he began living in the house about 20 years ago and eventually, what happened in the early morning hours of Nov. 2, 2013, when he killed McBride, a temporary Ford factory worker, with a shotgun blast to the face.
Wafer recounted how he had worked the 7 a.m. - 3 p.m. shift that day and then gone to a neighborhood pub once he left work. Wafer said he had three beers then went home around 7 pm, eventually falling asleep in his recliner with the tv. He would awaken, change clothes and go back to bed sometime after 10 pm.
As his story progressed toward the fateful moment Wafer started breathing harder and began to hold his forehead with one hand, eyes closed, as he told the jury about a “banging” at the front door of his house and then on the side.
According to Wafer, the banging and knocking got louder as he looked for his cellphone, which he usually kept on a charger on the side of his recliner, but couldn't find it. He described the noises as an “attack” on his home, with windows “rattling” and floors “vibrating,” which prompted him to first grab a baseball bat he kept near his side entrance door.
Wafer said he made the decision to retrieve his Mossburg 12-gauge pistol grip shotgun from his closet because he thought people were coming into his home to get him.
Wafer bought the weapon in 2008, he said, because he “wasn't getting any younger,” and wasn't able to afford a home security system.
“I didn't want to cower … be a victim in my own home,” said Wafer when asked by Carpenter why he went to the front door and opened it.
Repeating that he thought the weapon was unloaded, Wafer says he went to the door with his shotgun because it was “a pretty menacing weapon” and he thought the sight of it would scare off whoever was out there.
According to Wafer, he saw no one when he first peered out the door; he opened the door all the way and that's when “the person come around from the right of my house so fast and I raised the gun and shot.” He said his pulling of the trigger was a “purely reflex action,” and that it looked like McBride “fell back in slow motion.”
Asked by Carpenter how fast the incident transpired, Wafer replied “too fast … too fast.”
Wafer cried and wiped his eyes as Carpenter asked him if he thought about the incident often.
“Yes,” Wafer answered. “So devastating … this poor girl. She had her whole life in front of her. I took that from her,” he said.
Athina Siringas, Wayne County assistant prosecutor, began her cross-examination of Wafer by noting he had been very emotional while on the stand testifying for about one hour. “Dd you cry during 2 to 2 ½ hours of questioning in the police station?” she asked.
Video of Wafer's interview with Dearborn Heights Police Officers showed him very calm and collected during the approximately 45-minute session. At one point, Wafer repeats that he didn't know the gun was loaded; at another he says the shooting was “self-defense as far as I’m concerned,” while noting that “I should have called you guys first.”
“So is it okay for me to take the screen off my house now?” was the last question Wafer asked as he exited the interview.
Closing arguments in the case are expected to begin Wednesday, August 6.
follow @idabeewells for up-to-the-minute trial coverage.
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