Widow shoots, kills intruder

Sheriff’s agents say victim acted in self-defense

BY JIM WAYMER
and J.D. GALLOP

New gun law
Florida recently passed a law that extends the same self-defense privilege you have in your home to public places such as a street or park. A person attacked by burglars does not have to flee first and can shoot to kill, according to the new law.

INDIALANTIC – Awakened by the sound of breaking glass late Sunday, a 64-year-old widow killed an intruder in her home with a single shot from a .38-caliber pistol, police said.

Judith Kuntz fired from about 10 feet, hitting the intruder in the chest, said Agent Lou Heyn of the Brevard County Sheriff’s Office. The man, who carried no identification, staggered into the yard, where he collapsed and died. Investigators still aren’t sure who he was, or whether he had a connection to the neighborhood.

Heyn, who said Kuntz had never seen the man before, said the case is being treated as a lawful shooting.

“The bottom line is that when somebody enters your home like that, it’s self-defense,” he said. “Breaking into the house obviously shows some intent.”

There was no answer at Kuntz’s Ocean Park home Monday.

Neighbors praised her and her action.

“She’s a very nice nurse and wouldn’t hurt a fly,” said Mike Sizemore, 37. “But she did what she had to do. When you’re a thief, that’s the risk you take.”

Neighbors said there have been no recent break-ins or other incidents to suggest an escalating pattern of crime in the unincorporated community just north of Indialantic’s Fifth Avenue.

“It’s kinda strange, freaky,” said Donna Tardiff, 48, hours after deputies with flashlights searched the deep green lawn behind Kuntz’s home.

“Everyone knows her. . . . I don’t blame her,” she said.

Sheriff’s investigators hope somebody will come forward with information about the intruder.

He had dark brown hair, a dark brown mustache and was wearing a dark blue Champion T-shirt, light blue swim shorts and tennis shoes.

He also had a tattoo of a cross on his right hand, between his index finger and thumb. He also had tattoos of a Harley-Davidson on one arm and of several female names on his other arm, officials said.

Random break-ins of occupied homes are rare, but they are frequently terrifying, Heyn said.

“This just underscores how dangerous those are,” he said.

Anyone with information about the intruder’s identity can call the sheriff’s office at 633-7162.