BoatBanter.com - Great case of self-defense...

FORT DODGE, Iowa (AP) - A woman forced a 20-year-old neighbor to write
a diary framing her ex-husband in a murder-for-hire scheme and then
killed him because she didn't think he could keep his role a secret, a
prosecutor said Wednesday at her first-degree murder trial.

Prosecutor Douglas Hammerand told jurors in an opening statement that
Tracey Richter invited Dustin Wehde to her home on Dec. 13, 2001 and
forced him to create a diary claiming he had been hired by her first
husband to kill her and her 11-year-old son.

Hammerand said the writing was interrupted when a friend came to a
side door, and Richter had Wehde leave out the front door. But then
she invited him back later that night and shot him nine times because
she worried that he would tell people about the fake diary.

Richter, 45, is charged with first-degree murder in Wehde's shooting
death at her home in Early, a small town 100 miles northwest of Des
Moines. She claims she acted in self-defense and was hailed as a hero
after the shooting.

TV personality Montel Williams invited her on his show and applauded
when she told her story.

Richter appeared to fight back tears Wednesday as defense attorney
Scott Bandstra shared her version of events - that Wehde and another
man broke into her home and strangled her with pantyhose before she
was able to break free, unlock her gun safe and shoot Wehde with shots
from two weapons.

"On that day, her worst nightmare occurred," Bandstra said.

He said the evidence will show Wehde had a history of mental health
issues and had shown aggressive behavior in the past. He also said law
enforcement failed to investigate a man who could have been the second
intruder and then ignored evidence that backs up his Richter's story.
He also said prosecutors will fail to provide proof that she forced
Wehde to write the notebook.

Richter, who now lives in Omaha, entered court waving and blowing a
kiss at her fiancDee, who sat in the front row of the courtroom in
Fort Dodge, where the case was moved after the defense argued Richter
couldn't get a fair trial near Early.

Geez, good thing those with mental health issues have easy access to
guns.

Where would we be without the freedom to bear arms while insane?
Clearly, not as free, eh?