Man Shoots Fiancee Day Before Wedding

[HKinNY]

Man Shoots Fiancee Day Before Wedding
AP posted: 7 HOURS 8 MINUTES AGOcomments
:
WINTER SPRINGS, Fla. (Oct. 10) - A man who thought there was an intruder in his house shot and killed his fiancee the day before they were to be married, police said Friday.

"Right now everything points to a tragic accident," Police Chief Kevin Brunelle told The Associated Press, adding investigators were awaiting forensic results.

John Tabutt, 62, told investigators he got his gun when he thought he heard an intruder, then fired at a figure in the hallway, according to Brunelle. It was Tabutt's live-in fiancee, 62-year-old Nancy Dinsmore, who family members say he was going to marry Saturday. Tabutt told authorities he thought she was next to him in bed the whole time.

A message left for a phone number listed for the house was not returned. Brunelle said no charges have been filed against Tabutt, adding the information he provided has been verified and he appeared "very distraught."

Tabutt was "very concerned about her well-being," standing by while she was pronounced dead at the scene by paramedics, Brunelle added.

The couple planned to wed in a small ceremony Saturday at St. Stephen Catholic Church in Winter Springs, Dinsmore's son-in-law Scott Sposato, of Vero Beach, told the Orlando Sentinel.
"They loved each other," he said. "It was quite apparent."
Tabutt called 911 shortly after 2:30 a.m. Friday, moaning and sobbing, the newspaper reported.

"I thought I had an intruder in the house," he told the emergency dispatcher. "Honest to God, she looks dead."
He then thought he heard her take a breath.
"Hang in there, Honey. Hang in there," he said.
Winter Springs is about 15 miles north of Orlando.

why didn't he just call off wedding?

[DefensiveCarry.com]

[Ram Rod]

I read that this morning on Yahoo news at work. I can't post at work much less visit the forum for the filtering. I think it extremely tragic on this ordeal. I think no malice was involved. Just a terrible tragedy in my opinion. If the love was genuine enough, and under the circumstances, I'm thinking there may even be a suicide in the near future connected with this ordeal. My apologies if I have offended anyone. I think we might hear more on this in the future.

[dukalmighty]

He got his gun when he heard an intruder,how long does it take to check if your wife/Girlfriend is in bed before shooting at a silhouette

[ccw9mm]

... he got his gun when he thought he heard an intruder, then fired at a figure in the hallway ...

My read ...

Lesson for us: If you fire at unidentified shadows, figures or silhouettes and aren't 100% certain all family members are accounted for, you can end up taking out a family member.

Sort of the same thing that police sometimes do, when a person flinches or turns and is subsequently shot down in spite of not having a weapon, because the outline or silhouette suggested the possibility of a weapon.

In each case, it's hard to call back the bullet(s) for a do-over, if the assumptions in such quick-draw situations turn out to be lacking.

Tragic. One of the problems with having firearms is that this type of thing can occur more easily, since it allows you to "reach out and touch someone" from a distance, allowing (apparent) mistakes of identification to occur.

The Brady Bunch will add this to the list of horrible things that can occur, merely because firearms exist. In reality, realistic force-on-force training, procedures such as validating presence of all family members and awaiting positive ID could help guard against such mistakes.

[automatic slim]

Hard to believe he didn't recognize the silhouette or call out "who's there". Apparently he never stated that he felt threatened. Seriously, you live with another person and don't first check to make sure it's not them. "Is that you dear?" Hmmm....fishy

[j21blackjack]

Further re-enforces why I keep a flashlight next to my nightstand gun, and one inside the gun safe on the top shelf just incase. First thing I'm going to do if I hear and intruder is wake up my wife to cover me with the shotgun while I go secure my daughter at the other end of the house.

[HKinNY]

In each case, it's hard to call back the bullet(s) for a do-over

You mean you never called Mulligan while bullets are exiting the firearm while shooting. It works!!!

[Janq]

Further re-enforces why I keep a flashlight next to my nightstand gun, and one inside the gun safe on the top shelf just incase...

I bet he had 'night sights' too and assumed he was good to go on that alone. :|

Either a flashlight or a commercial/military grade cyalume stick, FTW.


You cannot hit what you cannot see.
You cannot confirm as a threat what you cannot see.
Shadow and movers amongst the dark are not (!) threats, by confirmation.

- Janq

[retsupt99]

If he already had the advantage of knowing the home, and having a gun in hand. Where was his SureFire? Did he acknowledge the presence and give a command or did he just shoot a shadow...not a good idea.
I will always defend my home, but I wouldn't want to shoot my 'visiting' son, my wife, or my dog.
Even at night. some stragegic night lights and 'night eyes' allow me to (somewhat) identify the target.


Stay armed...know your target...stay safe.

[Keltyke]

If you fire at unidentified shadows, figures or silhouettes

It was senseless and stupid. Never, NEVER, NEVER shoot unless you POSITIVELY identify your target.

[QKShooter]

That sure was a fatal error. Not a very happy ending to that story and he will live tormented with that boo-boo forever.

[KralBlbec]

Hard to believe he didn't recognize the silhouette or call out "who's there". Apparently he never stated that he felt threatened. Seriously, you live with another person and don't first check to make sure it's not them. "Is that you dear?" Hmmm....fishy

It doesn't say that they lived together, although that is a common assumption nowadays. My initial impression was that she was sneaking into surprise him or something. I didn't catch a time on my first scan through, so I don't know how early/late it was.

[64zebra]

Originally Posted by automatic slim View Post
Hard to believe he didn't recognize the silhouette or call out "who's there". Apparently he never stated that he felt threatened. Seriously, you live with another person and don't first check to make sure it's not them. "Is that you dear?" Hmmm....fishy

It doesn't say that they lived together, although that is a common assumption nowadays. My initial impression was that she was sneaking into surprise him or something. I didn't catch a time on my first scan through, so I don't know how early/late it was.

uhhhh...........this is from the original post/story

John Tabutt, 62, told investigators he got his gun when he thought he heard an intruder, then fired at a figure in the hallway, according to Brunelle. It was Tabutt's live-in fiancee, 62-year-old Nancy Dinsmore, who family members say he was going to marry Saturday.

[dukalmighty]

I have night lights in a few places in my home that allow me the ability to identify anybodyin the hallway while keeping my bedroom dark

[KralBlbec]

uhhhh...........this is from the original post/story

Sry, I just scanned as I was just waking up. Eye 2 Brain connection doesn't fully initialize very fast.