A white man who watched his friend die during
a shooting rampage testified Monday that the gunman first pointed the revolver
at him, then shot the black friend twice.
George Thomas II testified Monday during the third day of the
trial for Richard Baumhammers. He and Garry Lee were working out at
C.S. Kim's School of Karate in Beaver County on April 28, 2000,
when he heard a gunshot, Thomas said.
When Thomas turned around, he said he saw Baumhammers pointing a .357
revolver at him. Then he moved his arm and fatally shot Lee twice.
"Garry went down, and the guy just walked away," Thomas said.
Prosecutors said that Baumhammers was a frustrated white supremacist
who picked his victims to make a statement against nonwhite
immigration.
Four other people died during the 90-minute, two-county rampage
at six locations. The only survivor, Sandip Patel, was paralyzed
from the neck down after he was shot at the India Grocers in Scott
Towne Center, south of Pittsburgh.
Baumhammers, 35, a nonpracticing immigration attorney from Mount
Lebanon, is also accused of killing his Jewish next door neighbor,
Anita Gordon, 63; Anil Thakur, 31, an Indian man shopping at the
store where Patel worked; and two Asian men, Ji-Ye Sun, 34, of
Churchill, and Thao Pham, 27, of Castle Shannon, at a Chinese
restaurant.
Baumhammers is also accused of shooting at and defacing two
synagogues that day.
Patel, 26, arrived in the United States only eight months before
he was critically injured. Patel spoke softly in broken English
about how he had volunteered to work in his sister's grocery store
while he was in the country visiting relatives.
Click here for more about
Patel's testimony.
Baumhammers' attorney, William Difenderfer, does not deny his
client shot the victims, but said Baumhammers was too mentally ill
to understand right from wrong when the shootings occurred.
Difenderfer could call the first of his 16 defense witnesses to
the stand Tuesday, as Deputy Allegheny County District Attorney
Edward Borkowski said he could wrap up his case by then.
Among others, Difenderfer plans to call Dr. James Merikangas to
the stand, a neurologist and psychiatrist who has said Baumhammers
suffers from a delusional mental disorder.
Baumhammers was arrested when police located his vehicle about
90 minutes after the first shooting.
One of the officers who arrested Baumhammers, John Fratangeli of Aliquippa, said he crossed paths with Baumhammers' black sport-utility vehicle as he was patrolling a road near a bridge.
Borkowski asked Fratangeli a series of questions about
Baumhammers' actions after he was arrested.
He showed "no emotions. He looks the way he looks right now,"
Fratangeli said.
Previous Stories:
- April 30, 2001: Lone Shooting Spree Survivor Testifies
- April 29, 2001: Testimony Continues At Baumhammers' Trial
- April 28, 2001: Baumhammers Trial Opens
- April 27, 2001: Almost 1 Year Later, Baumhammers Trial Begins
- April 26, 2001: Attorneys Review Baumhammers Video
- April 9, 2001: Judge Orders Taylor Back To Jail
- April 8, 2001: Plea Bargains Offered For Baumhammers, Taylor
- March 20, 2001: Did Baumhammers Research Alleged Victims?
- January 2, 2001: Allegheny County Seeking 3 Death Sentences
- November 18, 2000: Attorney: Baumhammers Can Get Fair Trial
- September 16, 2000: Baumhammers Ruled Competent To Stand Trial
- August 29, 2000: Lone Shooting Spree Survivor Goes Home
- May 17, 2000: Heroes Honored In Beaver County
- May 3, 2000: Baumhammers Arraigned In Allegheny County
- May 3, 2000: Company Reposts Baumhammers' Site
- April 30, 2000: D.A. Says Note Could Reveal Hate Motive
- April 29, 2000: Who Is Richard Baumhammers?
- April 29, 2000: Suspect Arraigned In Shooting Spree
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