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Iraq veteran who wounded deputy guilty
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LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL
A troubled Iraq war veteran who initially pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity in wounding a Nye County sheriff's deputy in a Pahrump shootout more than two years ago had an apparent change of heart Wednesday.
Joseph Patrick "Pat" Lamoureux, 48, pleaded guilty in Pahrump's Fifth District Court to one count of battery with a deadly weapon causing substantial bodily harm and assault with a deadly weapon upon an officer, both felonies, as well as one gross misdemeanor count of discharging a weapon where a person may be endangered.
In exchange, new Nye County District Attorney Brian Kunzi agreed to drop 12 other charges, including one of attempted murder in the shooting of Nye County Deputy Eric Murphy, who returned to active duty two months after the Sept. 19, 2008, shootings at Terrible's Lakeside, a Pahrump RV park.
What preceded the shooting has never been explained, but Lamoureux's wife, Sue Lamoureux, recently said her husband was under the influence of 14 medicines prescribed by Veterans Affairs doctors, including prescriptions for anxiety and depression.
Jailed since the shooting, Lamoureux faces a maximum 22 years in prison when Judge John Davis sentences him Feb. 8.
Lamoureux's attorney, Nye County Public Defender Tom Gibson, was unavailable to comment on the plea change. Lamoureux mounted an insanity defense at his initial plea in August 2009.
A former Army Reserve sergeant with no prior criminal record, Lamoureux reportedly has a total disability rating with the bulk of it assigned to post traumatic stress disorder because of his service in Iraq. He was a member of the Las Vegas-based 257th "Rolling Thunder" Transportation Company.
His wife in October said Lamoureux languished for months in the Nye County jail with festering bullet wounds. Gibson also questioned his client's confinement.
Murphy was shot in the back, but supporters of Lamoureux argued it was never proved any of the shots fired by Lamoureux struck Murphy or if he was hit by friendly fire.
Contact Doug McMurdo at dmcmurdo@reviewjournal.com or 702-224-5512 or read more courts coverage at lvlegalnews.com.
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I am a firm beleaver that are Military needs to really help these young man and women that goes to fight for are Country and they come back and get nothing from the military unless you are some high rank then maybe they will be there but otherwise forget any help from them...they do not what to think they had anything to do with what are Country did to them.
TO Joe Thomas:
Were you there that night? Do you know Murphy was wearing his vest?
After being in the county jail for over two years without a trial, this Veteran should be given the chance to get appropriate treatment and put his life back together. This is disgusting. We give repeat offenders chance after chance after chance. This man has no previous record - put his life in the hands of the VA and let him get better.
Cherokee.Mankiller wrote on December 24, 2010 12:37 PM: "If Murphy was wearing his vest like he should have been ..."
He was wearing his vest.
If Murphy was wearing his vest like he should have been, then only rifle fired, full metal jacket bullets would punch through it. They don't mushroom or distort, and ballistic tests are easily done on them. If the deputies only had handguns or shotguns, then no test would be required.
The man served his country when asked, and in return he got anxiety and depression, give him a break. The only thing hurt was the deputy's ego I bet. When vets came come from the nam, they didn't care one bit, and there's still vets from that era dealing with their problems without help. Have a heart.
Hey you ... mr/ms Average American sitting there in the comfort of your living room after eating a filling meal ... you've never been subjected to the horror that is Iraq. Over and over. Our brave wounded warriors are barely into their 20s, yet they are subjected to some of the most horrifying experiences imaginable. And this twisted government sends them back for more - over and over. Of course they return with post traumatic stress. You would too if your buddy that was standing next to you simply was vaporized by enemy fire. This country gives our young men firearms and tells them to go to war and possibly die. Then when they return with PTS, they fail to give them the medical help they need. Sorry son - you have PTS so we're now TAKING your firearms and you're on your own to heal. Then something tragic like this happens and our great nation simply throws him in prison and forgets him. WHAT A COUNTRY WE NOW LIVE IN. I hope you get the emotional help you deserve, soldier. I'm sorry you live in such a twisted nation. This is NOT the America I grew up in and if it doesn't change soon - we're forever screwed.
bghs, you cannot always conduct ballistics tests on hollow point ammo, they quite often mushroom to the point that they distort the marks from the gun barrel too much. Also if a bullet hits bone, they could frgment too much to make identifying the firing gun impossible.
Don't they have ballistics in Nye County? Surely there were tests that could have determined if Murphy was shot by law enforcement weapons or by Lamoureux's weapon. It makes me wonder if that was a question nobody really wanted answered.