TWO BROTHERS PLAY DEADLY GAME OF POOL

Father shoots one son dead so he can save another who was being strangled by his 'irrational' brother after their game of pool ended in a fight

By Charlie Moore

Daily Mail
December 18, 2018

A father shot his son dead to stop him strangling his other son to death in a drunken argument during a game of pool.

John Maloney, 56, will not be charged for killing his son Joseph, 30, because police believe he was justified in using deadly force.

The savage fight between Joseph and his 26-year-old brother James broke out around 6am on Sunday at their parental home near Stuart, Florida.

Joseph was said to be 'acting irrationally' after drinking alcohol with James for eight hours.

After their game of pool descended into a ferocious argument, Joseph pulled a knife on his brother while strangling him with one arm.

John shouted at Joseph to release James but was forced to shoot him with a revolver several times.

The boys' distraught mother called 911.

Martin County Sheriff William Snyder said in a press conference: 'The physical altercation began over a game of pool then escalated into the violent attack of one brother on another.'

'At one point the parents hear their younger son pleading for his brother to stop choking him because he could not breathe.

'His brother continued to strangle his sibling with one arm, while holding a knife over him with his other hand.'

Snyder described the devastation at the scene when he arrived.

'I don't know if there is a way I could accurately describe the look on his face.

'I am not sure what the dad could have done.'

Snyder explained why there were no charges: 'The physical evidence and the witness statements indicate that at the time of the incident, Mr Maloney believed that the deadly use of force was necessary to prevent death or great bodily injury to his younger son.

'Based on the circumstances that we think we have now he would be justified in using deadly force. 'What you actually have is self-defense for someone else.'