Police: Montana Man Laid Trap, Killed Teen

Victim was German exchange student Diren Dede, 17
By Matt Cantor,  Newser Staff
Posted Apr 29, 2014 8:50 AM CDT
Police: Montana Man Laid Trap, Killed Teen
A Montana man is accused of shooting a teen after setting up a trap in his garage (not pictured here).   (Shutterstock)

A Montana couple frustrated by recent thefts allegedly set a trap for potential burglars—and upon hearing a would-be intruder after midnight on Sunday, the husband fired four shots into the darkness, he says. Now, Markus Kaarma of Missoula has been charged in the death of German exchange student Diren Dede, 17, who was hit by bullets in the head and arm, the AP reports. The couple had set up sensors and cameras around their garage, whose door they left open; Kaarma's wife, Janelle Pflager, left her purse there "so they would take it," she said, per court documents. She reportedly told police the couple had been robbed twice in three weeks.

Documents say Kaarma, 29, told a hairstylist last Wednesday that he'd been waiting three days for another burglary, shotgun at the ready, the Washington Post reports. "I’m just waiting to shoot some [obscenity] kid," he allegedly told the stylist at Great Clips, which ended up calling police over his profane language and unruly behavior, Raw Story reports. Kaarma was yesterday charged with one count of felony deliberate homicide; it's unclear why Diren was in the garage. Billings, Mont., saw a similar shooting hours before Missoula's: A homeowner shot a seminary student described as a "house guest" who was making a call in the garage. The student is expected to survive. (More Montana stories.)

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