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Homeowner kills home-invasion suspect
By Kirk Mitchell
Denver Post Staff Writer

A Boulder County sheriff guards a driveway on Tuesday, Oct. 4, 2005, in Sunshine Canyon near Boulder after a masked intruder who had forced his way in was beaten with a baseball bat and fatally stabbed by the homeowners. (Post / Glenn Asakawa)

A man protecting his wife from a masked robber during a home invasion in the hills west of Boulder wrestled a knife from the attacker and fatally stabbed the man late Monday night, authorities say.

The intruder, whose identity has not been released, tried to rob the homeowners using a simulated gun, said Lt. Phil West, spokesman for the Boulder Sheriff's Office.

The residence is hidden behind pine trees down a dirt lane. Becci Starr, 59, answered the doorbell at 10:25 p.m. and was confronted by a man wearing a mask who pointed a simulated handgun at her. It is unclear whether the man demanded money.

"I heard very hysterical screaming," said Dale Hursh, who lives next door to Star and her husband Scott Mattes, 56. "She was obviously very scared."

Haun called 911. He said it was very dark on the hillside because there was a new moon. Starr, who owns a video recording company, fended the robber off with a bat, West said.

The man dropped the simulated gun and pulled out a knife, he said.

Mattes heard his wife yelling and ran to her side, tackling the man at the doorstep, according to West.

"It was a very violent fight," Hursh said.

Mattes wrestled a knife from him and stabbed him with

Dale Hursh vividly remembers the "hysteria" that he heard when his next door neighbors, Scott Mattes and Becci Starr, fought and killed a masked intruder in their home in Sunshine Canyon about 3 miles west of Boulder, on Oct. 3, 2005. (Post / Glenn Asakawa)

it, West said. Meanwhile his wife was bludgeoning the robber with a bat.

"There was some uncertainty of what they should do," Hursh said.

Mattes was asking his wife whether he should hurt the man some more or not, he said.

But the fight quickly turned into a rescue effort.

Hursh heard Mattes yelling, "Breath! Breath! Breath! Try to breath!"

He said he called down to his friend who had sold him property for his home 12 years earlier.

"'Get somebody up here now. The guy is very seriously hurt,"' Hursh said his friend yelled.

Mattes had minor injuries and was taken to Boulder Community Hospital He was treated and released.

The robber was a white man in his late 20s, West said. The Boulder County Coroner's Office was performing an autopsy.

Poetic justice...

From folks in their fifties even! (sorry Ascout)

How much ya wanna bet the robber's family sues the Victims for wrongful death or excessive force?.......and will probably win.

....and then there's THIS frikkin' guy....

www.kirotv.com/irresis...etail.html

What is it with burglars these days????

Man, did you check out the Police chase!!??
Whew

Darwin thinning the herd.