Police: Nurse, 51, kills intruder with bare hands

[kurth]

Police: Nurse, 51, kills intruder with bare hands
September 8, 2006

PORTLAND, Oregon (AP) -- A nurse returning from work discovered an intruder armed with a hammer in her home and strangled him with her bare hands, police said. Susan Kuhnhausen, 51, ran to a neighbor's house after the confrontation Wednesday night. Police found the body of Edward Dalton Haffey 59, a convicted felon with a long police record.

Police said there was no obvious sign of forced entry at the house when Kuhnhausen, an emergency room nurse at Providence Portland Medical Center, got home from work shortly after 6 p.m. Under Oregon law people can use reasonable deadly force when defending themselves against an intruder or burglar in their homes. Kuhnhausen was treated and released for minor injuries at Providence.

Haffey, about 5-foot-9 and 180 pounds, had convictions including conspiracy to commit aggravated murder, robbery, drug charges and possession of burglary tools. Neighbors said Kuhnhausen's size -- 5-foot-7 and 260 pounds -- may have given her an advantage.

"Everyone that I've talked to says 'Hurray for Susan,' said neighbor Annie Warnock, who called 911. "You didn't need to calm her. She's an emergency room nurse. She's used to dealing with crisis."

http://www.cnn.com/2006/US/09/08/nurse.intruder.ap/index.html

[SteppingRazor]

1. Whoa! Boy did that guy pick the wrong house n/t

[Kagemusha]

2. Forget her size, the perp was 59 years old!!!

You'd think THAT might have given her an advantage too.

Not that I'm complaining. A hammer is a dangerous weapon. So is sloppy AP article writing, sadly.

[Matariki]

7. I'm 5'2" and weigh 110 lbs

and i kicked the ass of the guy who broke into my house while i was sleeping. he was younger than me too. he was armed with a screw driver and i got it from him and stabbed him with it. couldn't bring myself to kill him - or even stab him twice, even though i keep a hatchet under my bed. I just ended up scaring him enough to chase him out of my house.

i'm happy when i hear stories like this. goes a long way to counter the image of women as easy targets.

[wicket]

12. Holy crap!

Glad you are ok! Did they ever catch the perp?

[Matariki]

16. no, they didn't catch the guy

the police had dogs on his trail, and he was bleeding, but one of the dogs got injured falling off a wall and they stopped the chase. i was partly relieved (because i didn't want to go through the whole court thing) but then i always felt bad because it left some asshole loose who may or may not have tried that again with someone else. hopefully i gave him a lot to think about.

this happened quite a while ago. i got counseling, even though i wasn't hurt at all. the adrenaline from something like that can stay in your body for a long, long time and it was affecting my ability to sleep well, which in turn was making me skittish.

[pnwmom]

9. She was only 8 years younger. And obese. You wouldn't think

she would have the advantage.

Maybe it was the adrenaline rush.

[Kagemusha]

15. There's a huge difference between 51 and 59 in general.

A healthy 51 too. A nurse has to lift stuff left and right. I don't think adrenaline mattered much; she was just plain physically superior in the end.

Having said that, I hope to hell this story is exactly what it sounds like. Strangulation is not your typical means to kill a burglar and requires maintaining a constant stranglehold for going on 4 minutes to ensure death.

[Elidor]

19. Yeah, that's rather curious

She obviously was able to overpower him, but felt she had to literally choke the life out of him afterward? And people here applaud her for it. :eyes:

[Kagemusha]

20. I'm confident she knew she was legally permitted to finish the job.

Of course I would not rather the alternative be that she was hurt. It'd have been great if she'd have merely half choked the life out of him and called the cops. But, she wasn't legally required to be bothered to do that, and she didn't, and there's likely nothing anyone can do about it now, assuming that this was a random burglary case as reported.

[SoyCat]

27. I think it's safe to assume that he didn't intend to have tea w/ her; he

had a hammer. She did the right thing. He might have raped her and/or killed her. He asked for what he got.

[Finder]

30. Damn right I applaud her...

and I am sure she was operating on pure survival instinct rather than in cold blood.

[maxsolomon]

25. 67" tall & 260 lbs. is not "healthy"

strong, maybe.

just sayin

[razors edge]

24. nurses are constantly lifting patients

some of them 500 ponds plus, my girlfriend is an rn, 5-2 about 130, and I think she would kick their asses too if she found em in the house. Of course her spending five years in the army won't hurt.

[Kagemusha]

26. Yeah, that's what I meant.

You can't do that job for 12 hours a day and not have some hand strength. Just not possible.

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

28. Many obese people are ridiculously strong.

Lots of fat but lots of muscle too. For one thing, they have to carry themselves all around.

[HarukaTheTrophyWife]

29. Yeah, there's an obese woman in my karate dojo.

She's gotten a few shots in on me and they've all almost knocked me on my ass. I have the speed advantage, so she's pretty easy to spar, but if she does tag me, I'm definitely hurting.

[Prisoner_Number_Six]

3. Never mess with someone who knows their anatomy

A medical person will know how to stop your clock quickly and efficiently.

She done good.

[wicket]

4. Let's hear it for the big ladies!

:applause: :applause: :applause:

[gratuitous]

5. I hope Ms. Kuhnhausen gets counseling

Because the same hands she uses to heal took a man's life. And no matter how much Mr. Haffey might have deserved his fate, Ms. Kuhnhausen is probably going to have some kind of post-traumatic stress impact. And as the shock and peril of the initial encounter begin to fade, she will remember all too clearly the reality of taking Mr. Haffey's life with her bare hands.

[hlthe2b]

6. I agree gratuitous...

Right now, everyone is supporting her and she is likely numb from the post-adrenaline struggle to survive.

She will eventually face considerable shock about what she was able to do--no matter how much in self-defense and justified, it might have been. The paradox between her lifetime of healing and this horrible incident may well be hard to reconcile. I wish her well.

[AnneD]

8. The lady was returning from work....

these days folks that means a 12+ hour shift. She probably had to put up with the 'cream' of society on her shift. And then come home and be threatened by some guy with a hammer....he never stood a chance. I don't think she'll need theraphy, it was probably cathartic for her.

I knew and ICU Nurse that had had a pissy day at work. Security takes forever so she starts her long walk to her car(yeh you're on your feet all day and they reserve all the close parking for the office folk and Doc that are there 8 hrs and you're there for 12+ on your feet with out breaks). On her way to the back 40-some clown jumps her and tries to take her purse. She snaps and starts beating the ever loving shit out of this guy. When security makes the rounds-the guy is begging them to get her off of him (and they did have to pull her off).

Yeh when you've had enough ,you've had enough. Some of these hospital CEO's had better be afraid, very afraid. Ahhnould Schartzennegar has already gotten his sagging ass kicked by the Ca. Nurses Association. Don't mess with a pissed off Nurse...and most of them are pissed these days..

[Ishoutandscream2]

10. Exactly! Working ER is pure hell

Not from personal experience, but my mom and father-in-law both worked ER at Parkland. Mom worked there about the time of the Kennedy assassination (no, she wasn't there when he was brought in) and my father-in-law was working there up until 10 years ago. The stories he told me were simply amazing. He had to have a security guard with him at all times, including when he walked to his car after work.

Yes, ER people see it all. I'm sure her experiences, along with her size, helped her defend herself.

[CTyankee]

13. Oh god, Parkland. My elderly mother was taken there

when she had a fall in her assisted living facility in Farmers Branch. The facility said that Parkland had the best trauma unit in the city, to which I said "yeah, but for gunshot wounds and she broke her arm." I got her out fast to RHD. Parkland was a freakin' zoo. Plus, that's the one that has the McDonald's right in the hospital. Unbelievable...

[Nikki Stone 1]

11. Makes the Harlem woman in the wheelchair seem downright merciful

She only got the young male perp in the arm with a bullet. He got medical care and will be fine.

[slackmaster]

14. My kind of woman!

You go, girl!

[Rex]

17. Good.

nt

[lonestarnot]

18. Don't fuck with the nurse!

:woohoo:

[AnneD]

21. OK show of hands....

How many of you posting on this thread are Nurses....fess up.
:thumbsup:

[shadowknows69]

22. Sure this woman's name wasn't Annie Wilkes?

Although apparently she wasn't this intruder's "biggest fan"

[Joey Liberal]

23. She's one tough broad!

Good for her!

[Javaman]

31. What an interesting life for the criminal...

Born, lived, committed numerous crimes, dies by strangulation via a nurse. I bet he never saw that one coming.