Woman kills man who returned to rape her second timeBy Heather Ratcliffe
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
Friday, Oct. 31 2008
An intended rape victim shot and killed her attacker this morning in Cape Girardeau when he broke into her home to rape her a second time, police said.
The 57-year-old woman shot Ronnie W. Preyer, 47, a registered sex offender, in the chest with a shotgun when he broke through her locked basement door. The woman told police he was the same man who raped her several days earlier. Officials do not intend to seek charges against her.
In the first incident, the woman heard glass breaking in her basement about
midnight on Saturday. She went to leave the house, and the man attacked when
she opened the front door. He punched her in the face and then forced her into
a bedroom, where he raped her, said H. Morley Swingle, prosecuting attorney in
Cape Girardeau County.
The victim reported the crime to police, and her landlord repaired the broken
window.
She was home alone again Friday about 2:15 a.m. when Preyer broke the same
basement window. The victim was awake watching television, when Preyer switched
off the electricity to her house.
She tried to call 911, but couldn't because the power was off. She got a
shotgun and waited as the man began banging on the basement door. She fired
when Preyer came crashing through the door. When Preyer collapsed, the woman
escaped and went to a neighbor's home, where she called police. Officers, who
arrived within a minute, found a bleeding Preyer stumbling away from the house.
He was taken to St. Francis Medical Center, where he died several hours later.
Swingle said the victim identified Preyer as the attacker in both incidents.
Preyer, of Jackson, Mo., had wet caulking from the recently repaired basement
window on his clothing when he was shot.
"I will not be filing any sort of charge against this 57-year-old woman, who
was clearly justified under the law in shooting this intruder in her home,"
Swingle said.
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