"Much of Kristal Florene Locke's life has been a blueprint of paranoia and delusions, of a passion for a nonexistent relationship that, at its zenith, led to her arrest on suspicion of murder," begins this disturbing Star Telegram story entitled 'A long, dark walk on the edge of the law.' It chronicles the events over the past 23 years that culminated with the 78-year-old Ms. Locke shooting Linda Rae Porter, 55, to death in a parking lot on April 11.
The signs should have been apparent to many, but no one ever put all the pieces together."On April 10, Locke walked into Affordable Firearms in Hurst, passed a background check and purchased a .38-caliber handgun for $162.38."
It's common to see a person with mental illness fall through the cracks," said Holly Miller, a criminal justice professor and forensic psychologist at Sam Houston State University in Huntsville. "If you don't have . . . the proper aftercare, there's that chance that no one is going to monitor that person.
Let us hope that there are not too many more Kristal Florene Lockes out there.
Many unfit gun buyers are slipping though the cracks too.
Wasn't it due to a mentally ill man, named John Hinkley, who shot at Ronald Reagan and hit John Brady, that caused the "Brady Bill" to become law and which is designed to stop just this type of incident to happen?
Posted by Tiger at April 28, 2003 02:33 AM | TrackBack