Friday, August 28, 2020

THE PERILS OF LIVING IN THE MIDDLE OF NOWHERE

by Bob Walsh

Jim and Norma Gund live in the middle of nowhere in Trinity County, CA.  Nine years ago they were contact by a Sheriff's Corporal, Ron Whitman,  and asked to do a welfare check on their neighbor, who had made a 911 hangup call.

When they got there they were attacked by a man armed with a knife and a Taser.  He damn near killed them.  They believe they were entitled to some sort of compensation as they were working as agents for the S. O. at the time.

Yesterday the California State Supreme Court told them they were ass-out.  (They did get workers comp for the actual injuries.)  Apparently there is an obscure section of state employment law that states specifically that law enforcement volunteers can't sue an agency for damages under any circumstances.

 The deputy neglected to mention the neighbor, Kristine Constantino, whispered "Help.....help" before the phone went dead.  

Ms. Constantino and her boyfriend, Christopher Richardson, were dead in the house when the Gunds arrived.  Their killer, Thomas Gouverner, nailed Norma Gund with the Taser then cut her throat as soon as she entered the house.  When her husband Jim entered the house to see what the problem was he was also attacked.  He managed to fight Richardson off and fled.  At the end of a 40 mile chase a tree jumped out in front of Richardson.  The crash killed him.

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