Jeff White
July 13, 2004, 03:09 PM
The next time you think about posting something about putting a butcher knife in the hands of an intruder you just shot, remember this case. If the guy had been a normal person instead of being highly connected, he'd be doing a whole lot of jail time.
Jeff
http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/news/stories.nsf/News/St.+Louis+City+%2F+County/138ED2DB598E82F586256ED0000DB21A?OpenDocument&Headline=Man+gets+120+days+in+killing+of+stalker
Man gets 120 days in killing of stalker
By Valerie Schremp Hahn
Of the Post-Dispatch
07/13/2004
Couple said victim had menaced their family
As the body lay in their wooded front yard outside New Melle, Richard and Kerstin Pearia waited for police, after Richard Pearia had fatally shot a man.
"We couldn't believe it happened," Richard Pearia said after his sentencing hearing Monday at the St. Charles County Courthouse for involuntary manslaughter. "You never think something bad is going to happen to you."
Donald Brinkmeyer, 51, of Shrewsbury, was killed the night of Oct. 7. Pearia and his wife said Brinkmeyer had been stalking their family.
On Monday, Pearia was sentenced to 120 days of shock time in the St. Charles County Jail; he was given five years of probation and a suspended prison sentence of seven years. He is due to turn himself in on July 26 and will get credit for time served, which means he would be released in mid-September.
Pearia, 52, a private jet pilot who has worked for heads of state and other dignitaries, pleaded guilty in May of involuntary manslaughter.
No family members or friends of Brinkmeyer attended the hearing Monday to give a victim's impact statement, and nobody turned in written statements on his behalf. But about a dozen family members and friends sat with the Pearias during the hearing, and many of them wrote letters describing Richard Pearia as a "wonderful husband and father who is very family oriented" and "thoughtful" and "trustworthy."
Investigators said Brinkmeyer was angry because he believed Richard Pearia was having an affair with Brinkmeyer's former girlfriend. The Pearias told police that the woman was Richard Pearia's cousin and that no affair took place. Brinkmeyer, who had a police record, wrote threatening letters to the couple and obtained their bank account information and Richard Pearia's work schedule.
On the night of Oct. 7, Brinkmeyer went to the couple's home. Investigators said Kerstin Pearia, 45, had called police from her car, calmly saying that a man who was wanted by police was there. The Pearias didn't call police again to say the man had been killed; and deputies, not knowing what had happened, did not arrive until about 20 minutes later.
Richard Pearia admitted that he had shot Brinkmeyer once with a .32-caliber pistol and that Brinkmeyer had fallen and gotten back up. At that point, Pearia said, he believed Brinkmeyer had a weapon, and he shot him three more times.
As part of a plea agreement, a charge against Kerstin Pearia of hindering prosecution was dropped. Prosecutors said she retrieved an ice pick for her husband, which he put next to the body to try to show Brinkmeyer had been armed. Brinkmeyer was not armed, but authorities found a 10 1/2-inch knife in his car.
On Monday, Richard Pearia offered condolences to Brinkmeyer's family.
"I feel extremely heartfelt for them," he said. "I've never wanted to be in this situation at all. I hate it."
Prosecuting Attorney Jack Banas said prosecutors lacked enough evidence to disprove Pearia's story, but they still couldn't ignore the fact that he had killed a man.
Jeff
http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/news/stories.nsf/News/St.+Louis+City+%2F+County/138ED2DB598E82F586256ED0000DB21A?OpenDocument&Headline=Man+gets+120+days+in+killing+of+stalker
Man gets 120 days in killing of stalker
By Valerie Schremp Hahn
Of the Post-Dispatch
07/13/2004
Couple said victim had menaced their family
As the body lay in their wooded front yard outside New Melle, Richard and Kerstin Pearia waited for police, after Richard Pearia had fatally shot a man.
"We couldn't believe it happened," Richard Pearia said after his sentencing hearing Monday at the St. Charles County Courthouse for involuntary manslaughter. "You never think something bad is going to happen to you."
Donald Brinkmeyer, 51, of Shrewsbury, was killed the night of Oct. 7. Pearia and his wife said Brinkmeyer had been stalking their family.
On Monday, Pearia was sentenced to 120 days of shock time in the St. Charles County Jail; he was given five years of probation and a suspended prison sentence of seven years. He is due to turn himself in on July 26 and will get credit for time served, which means he would be released in mid-September.
Pearia, 52, a private jet pilot who has worked for heads of state and other dignitaries, pleaded guilty in May of involuntary manslaughter.
No family members or friends of Brinkmeyer attended the hearing Monday to give a victim's impact statement, and nobody turned in written statements on his behalf. But about a dozen family members and friends sat with the Pearias during the hearing, and many of them wrote letters describing Richard Pearia as a "wonderful husband and father who is very family oriented" and "thoughtful" and "trustworthy."
Investigators said Brinkmeyer was angry because he believed Richard Pearia was having an affair with Brinkmeyer's former girlfriend. The Pearias told police that the woman was Richard Pearia's cousin and that no affair took place. Brinkmeyer, who had a police record, wrote threatening letters to the couple and obtained their bank account information and Richard Pearia's work schedule.
On the night of Oct. 7, Brinkmeyer went to the couple's home. Investigators said Kerstin Pearia, 45, had called police from her car, calmly saying that a man who was wanted by police was there. The Pearias didn't call police again to say the man had been killed; and deputies, not knowing what had happened, did not arrive until about 20 minutes later.
Richard Pearia admitted that he had shot Brinkmeyer once with a .32-caliber pistol and that Brinkmeyer had fallen and gotten back up. At that point, Pearia said, he believed Brinkmeyer had a weapon, and he shot him three more times.
As part of a plea agreement, a charge against Kerstin Pearia of hindering prosecution was dropped. Prosecutors said she retrieved an ice pick for her husband, which he put next to the body to try to show Brinkmeyer had been armed. Brinkmeyer was not armed, but authorities found a 10 1/2-inch knife in his car.
On Monday, Richard Pearia offered condolences to Brinkmeyer's family.
"I feel extremely heartfelt for them," he said. "I've never wanted to be in this situation at all. I hate it."
Prosecuting Attorney Jack Banas said prosecutors lacked enough evidence to disprove Pearia's story, but they still couldn't ignore the fact that he had killed a man.
