Jerry Case, formerly of Death Row, kidnaps family of 4 (they escape)

[Dakota Valkyrie]

A man once sentenced to death for kidnapping and killing a taxi driver was accused of kidnapping a family in Gaston County on Saturday.

Police say the family of four managed to escape when their alleged kidnapper stopped at a convenience store for gasoline and baby diapers.

Jerry Douglas Case, the 52-year-old suspect, is in the hospital after a shootout with deputies and has not yet been charged.

Police said the family – a father, his daughter and two other children – was kidnapped in Gaston County around 5 p.m. Friday and escaped 12 hours later at a Kangaroo gas station on the outskirts of Gaffney, S.C.
[...]

Early Saturday, with the kidnapper's attention diverted at the gas station, police say, his captives started the car and drove away. They stopped in Blacksburg, S.C. – about 10 miles northeast of Gaffney – and called 911.

Deputies from the Cherokee County Sheriff's Office went to the gas station and chased the suspect as he fled into a swampy area.

Deputies said the suspect turned and fired at them, injuring one deputy. Officers returned fire, striking the suspect several times. Case later was airlifted to Spartanburg Regional Hospital, where he had surgery. The injured officer sustained a minor scratch on the leg during the shooting and was treated at the scene.

The incident was another violent chapter in Case's arrest history.

In 1986, he was sentenced to death for first-degree murder and first-degree kidnapping. He pleaded guilty to holding a knife to a Tennessee taxi driver's head, forcing him to drive across the Blue Ridge mountains to North Carolina, then robbing and killing him.

He was granted a retrial in 1992 after his attorney argued that an N.C. court had unlawfully sentenced him for a kidnapping that happened in Tennesse.

He pleaded guilty to second-degree murder. Sixteen years later, he was back on the streets.

Case was paroled in June 2008 but got in trouble with the law again by October, when he was charged with driving while impaired. He is awaiting trial on that charge.
[...]

http://www.charlotteobserver.com/loc...ry/841251.html

Jerry Douglas Case, 51, remained in serious condition at Spartanburg Regional Medical Center under heavy guard and investigators don’t expect him to be released until Friday at the earliest.
[...]

Case approached William Payne and his granddaughter, who were fishing at a popular fishing hole about 5 p.m. and ordered both victims back into a wooded area near the fishing access.

Case took Payne's money and credit card, and then forced him at gunpoint to call his adult daughter, Natasha, to pick them up, investigators said.

When Natasha arrived with a small child in the car, Case forced her to drive him and the others to Cherokee County.

Investigators said they stopped at a Kangaroo Station on Highway 18 off Interstate 85.

The victims reported they were able to escape after Case left the keys in the car and went inside to complain about the gas pump not turning on.

Natasha jumped into the driver's seat and drove away, leaving Case behind.

Deputies said the victims called for help and the Cherokee County Sheriff’s Office responded.

Investigators said Monday that Case fired several times at deputies with a gas-powered pellet gun.

One of the pellets hit a deputy in the leg. Deputies said Case was wounded when they fired back.

That deputy was back on the job Monday, investigators said.
[...]

http://www.wyff4.com/news/20117841/detail.html

I bet that family is thanking their lucky stars!

[Harley_Tech]

Bringing a pellet gun to a shoot out with the law is something akin to bringing a knife to a gun fight. No smart, but then again he IS a career crminal.

R

[myra manes]

Back to the Big House for this jackass ..

[Dakota Valkyrie]

Police say a Gaston family kidnapped over the weekend by a former death-row inmate was randomly targeted, and federal authorities are involved in the investigation, which could result in stiffer penalties.

Jerry Douglas Case, 52, is accused of abducting four family members from the “Hot Hole” fishing area in Belmont on Friday.

Police, who provided new details Monday, said the incident escalated from a mundane armed robbery into a 12-hour ordeal for the family, which included an infant and 7-year-old.

Gaston police said the adult victims were William and Natasha Payne – a father and his daughter.

“He was a killer and he was aiming on killing us,” William Payne told WSOC-TV.

Authorities say Case is also a suspect in a recent robbery at the South Fork River fishing access off Canal Road and Hot Hole Lane.

A kidnapping conviction in a federal court can result in a life sentence.
[...]

http://www.charlotteobserver.com/bre...ry/844233.html

I have little doubt they can get a conviction on the kidnapping charge. There shouldn't be a reason for a plea (or a plea resulting in less than life)

[Ninja0980]

There are people in prison who ARE deserving of a second chance, yet still stay locked up. Why on earth was this guy, who clearly was never going to change, even considered?

[Unamused Cat]

He looks like he got a little too much sun while he was out and about.

[Dakota Valkyrie]

OOPS!

The former death row inmate accused of kidnapping a Gastonia family last week was arrested three times since he was paroled in late 2007 from a life sentence for murder.

With each new charge, probation officials failed to permanently revoke Case's parole. In one case they jailed him for a month, but set him free when the charge was dropped.
[...]

Case was paroled Dec. 15, 2007, from a life sentence for kidnapping and killing a taxi driver.
[...]

The first new charge since being paroled came in April 2008 when his sister accused him of threatening to kill her, said Keith Acree, a spokesman for the N.C. Department of Correction.

The three-member parole commission revoked his parole, and Case went back to prison May 2. The charge was dropped, and the commission decided to reverse itself. He was released again on June 5, 2008, Acree said.

Several months later, Case was charged with DWI on Oct. 25, 2008. The commission decided to wait until the outcome of that case before deciding whether to revoke his parole, Acree said. After one postponement, the trial was scheduled for July 20, nine months after the original charge...

A week ago, on July 12, Belmont police say Case was in Gaston County jail accused of fleeing from a traffic accident and driving without a license. A probation officer didn't file a warrant with the commission to have his parole revoked because DWI is a more serious charge and Case was already set to come to trial, Acree said.

Case was released under a $2,000 secured bond.
[...]

http://www.charlotteobserver.com/loc...ry/845981.html

[Sister Iroz]

The man accused of kidnapping a Gastonia family had wanted them to take him to visit his mother in Tennessee, his sister said Wednesday.

Glenda Case Upton, 57, said her brother, Jerry Douglas Case, told her of his plans during a telephone conversation before he was shot by police this month.

Case, paroled in 2007 from a life sentence for murder, is accused of abducting the Gastonia family. Police shot him several times this month as they tried to capture him after the victims escaped.

As Case entered the courtroom Wednesday in a wheelchair, his mother and sister hugged and wept.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Thomas Cullen, citing the violence of the crimes and the defendant's violent past, announced in court that the government will seek to have Case jailed without bond pending his trial. The detention hearing is scheduled for Monday.
[...]

Glenda Case Upton told reporters she doesn't condone what her brother is accused of doing. She expressed sympathy for the family members her brother is accused of kidnapping.

“He didn't intend to harm the family ...,” she said. “He's not a monster.”

Case told her he intended to return the family to Gastonia, she said, and then planned on disappearing.

“He was going to flee,” she said. “Go west.”

Upton said she didn't know what was going through her brother's mind.

“That wasn't him,” she said. “He was desperate for some reason.”

But Payne, 71, said it was a terrifying journey.

[...]

An FBI agent's affidavit says Case told Payne and his daughter that he'd spent more than 20 years in prison and threatened to kill them during their captivity if they didn't follow his instructions, according to the FBI agent's affidavit.

[...]

Each of the four kidnapping charges Case is facing carries a maximum punishment of life in prison. Two of the kidnapping charges are punishable by mandatory minimum sentences of 20 years in prison.

http://www.charlotteobserver.com/597/story/860303.html

[biteme]

I can see the parole board celebrating another successful parole
from death row to crime on the street, thank you mindless parole board I wouldn't be surprised if these idiots were part of some CPS overview committee

[Hellsbells]

Man Gets 30 Years For Kidnapping NC Family Of 4
Man Sentenced More Than Year After Pleading Guilty

CHARLOTTE -- A former death row inmate has been sentenced to over 30 years in prison for carjacking and kidnapping a family of four.

Jerry Douglas Case, of Gastonia, was sentenced in federal court Wednesday, more than a year after he pleaded guilty in the case.

Investigators said the 53-year-old abducted a family four during a fishing trip in July 2009 and held them captive at gunpoint for more than 12 hours. The family included a 71-year-old man, his 28-year-old daughter, 7-year-old granddaughter and 9-month-old grandson.

Case's attorney says her client accepts responsibility for the matter and apologizes to the family.

http://www.wxii12.com/news/27536093/detail.html

[princessgrandma]

Looks like another major FAIL on the part of probation officials.

This man never should have been released from prison in the first place, but with so many chances for his probation to be revoked, THEY are partially responsible for what he has done.

That family is so very lucky that they didn't end up as even worse statistics.