This is local news here. I feel a strange sense of satisfaction when I hear news like this. No courts/judges/lawyers/juries... just instant justice. And this was all caught on videotape.

We've had the debate about vigilante justice before. I don't care if we have it again or not. IMO... this guy is a hero.
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Slain robber was serial rapist

Thursday, January 6, 2005

DNA test links man to 3 Camden attacks
By TOM LOUNSBERRY and LUIS PUGA
Courier-Post Staff
CAMDEN


DNA testing has confirmed that a man shot and killed by an East Camden shopkeeper Friday is the same man who raped three women in the downtown and university sections of the city.

Camden County Prosecutor Vincent P. Sarubbi announced the test results at a press conference Wednesday in which he also said that no charges would be filed against the shopkeeper who killed Antonio Diaz Reyes, 32, of Philadelphia.

Sarubbi said his office received confirmation from the New Jersey State Police earlier in the day that the tests had connected Reyes to the three rapes and the robbery.

"It is our hope that with this news that people in the city will be able to walk the streets with a little more confidence that a serial rapist has been identified and is no longer a threat," said Sarubbi.

Sarubbi said no charges would be filed against shopkeeper Ngoc Le, 28, of Camden City Wireless and Fishing Supply at 27th Street and Westfield Avenue.

"He was clearly attempting to protect his wife. Videotape showed Reyes with a knife against the neck of Le's wife and Le telling the robber several times that he would let the man go, if he released his wife," Sarubbi said. "Reyes refused and threatened to kill the woman before Le shot the man once in the head from a distance of about four feet."

The news about Reyes brought some relief to the father of one of his victims, a 17-year-old LEAP Academy student, but not closure.

"While I'm pleased that he has been identified and that he is no longer out on the street, my family must still live with what he did. My daughter must live the rest of her life with what happened and we must live with the memory attached to it," said the victim's father, who is not being identified by the Courier-Post to protect his daughter's identity. His daughter, who was attacked Nov. 8, said she still fears walking the streets.

"I know that they have identified him, but I still look over my shoulder all the time," she said. "I feel happy that he is dead, because he did not show any compassion toward me, but at the same time I feel sad that a man was killed. Maybe in time, I will feel better."

The DNA testing also connected Reyes to the attack on a 19-year-old Rutgers University student from Maple Shade on Nov. 22 and the attack and robbery of an employee of a camera shop on Dec. 9.

Rutgers-Camden students expressed relief Wednesday that the rapist had been identified but said they will remain cautious.

Becky Wagner, a Brooklawn resident studying sociology, said she had stopped walking around campus by herself, a practice she plans to continue.

"(Camden) is not the safest city, so you still have to watch out," she said.

Latrice Dukes, an accounting major from St. Paul, Minn., said while she's never felt unsafe on campus, there's always potential for similar attacks.

Christina Taylor, a political science major from New York, said she would continue to take precautions, such as taking shuttles to and from the Walter Rand Transportation Center.

"It's the world," she said. "And Camden is a rough city. It could happen again."

Mike Sepanic, a spokesman for Rutgers-Camden, said that while the campus is breathing a sigh of relief, it will continue security initiatives it adopted.

Those initiatives included the addition of security cameras and emergency call stations.

"We are constantly looking as to how our security is deployed," Sepanic said. "We have learned good lessons in the past couple of weeks."

Sarubbi, the Camden County prosecutor, thanked both Camden Police and Rutgers University Police for their efforts in recognizing similarities in the incidents and the state police for fast-tracking the DNA testing.

no problem with this whatsoever

All thanks to the usefulness of firearms.

we had some people over once and they were totally against firearms. my husband asked "so you wouldn't shoot someone if they were raping your wife?" and the guy said "no."

my husband promptly kicked them out of our house. right in the middle of dinner.

That's kind of harsh.

I wonder if his wife kicked him in balls outside your front door.

--PunkDavid

they were divorced less than a year later. i'm not sure if his feelings about killing her rapist had anything to do with it.

AWESOME.
I'm so glad it was him - the sick fuck got exactly what he deserved, but far too late as far as I'm concerned. You better be sure that had the husband NOT had a gun, his wife would have been the next rape victim, maybe worse.

Thanks for posting this - it's been driving me nuts all week. The news kept bringing it up, then would be like, "We're still waiting for results."

wait, didnt you drop some friends over their political beliefs

However, if it was just a roberry, would we sing his (the victim's) praise?

Yeah, but I just stopped calling them. I didn't kick 'em out in the middle of their meal.

--PunkDavid

If it were an armed robbery, and the robber was threatening a family member with a weapon... hell yes.

this is a great thing. ive been reading about the rapes in camden alot recently. i remember reading the story of the 17 year old raped at 7th and market as i was on the train going to 5th and market, pretty scary stuff.

even if this wasnt the guy who's been raping girls in camden, i dont blame the store owner at all. if someones got a knife to someone i love im going to kill them and then spit on their dead body w/o regret

on top of that, we prepared these very expensive steaks to perfection, and they acted like we were serving them their parents. they deserved to be kicked out before that comment anyway.

Vigilante justice is NOT justice. Sorry folks, but I'm going to have to disagree. Violent retribution never solves anything....never has, never will.

Seeing as how this was a serial rapist who the police hadn't been able to capture in over a year - who is now dead and won't ever hurt anyone again - I beg to differ.

you of course did read the article and how the robber/rapists was threatening to kill the shopkeepers wife. thats not violent retribution, thats kill or be killed, which is a whole different situation

Fair enough, it was in self-defense. Although I still stand by my comment, which I am thinking had more to do with people who kill criminals maliciously simply because they are labled as "criminals" by the state, like the guy who ran over the robber in car a few months ago.

Ding ding ding. This is the correct answer.