Police: Gwatney killer a stalker

[babsbunny]

http://www.arktimes.com/blogs/arkansasblog/

Thursday, August 14, 2008 - 15:45:36
Police: Gwatney killer a stalker
Searcy police have provided Arkansas Times with two police reports that indicate Timothy Dale Johnson, suspected of slaying Democratic Party chair Bill Gwatney, harassed a Searcy woman in 2004, 2005 and 2006.

According to a report tagged by officers as "harassment" and filed Feb. 17, 2005, workers at a Searcy dentist's office told police that before Christmas 2004, Johnson had come in and claimed he was very upset due to the loss of his dog. Sometime after the first of the year, the report goes on to say, Johnson came back and requested to speak to a particular female employee.

"He then asked her if he could take her out on a date," the report states. "She told him that she was happily married and that they could just be friends. He agreed and left the office. On Valentine's Day, he brought her some flowers. He then came in today (2/17/05) and handed her a disturbing letter which upset her greatly. She did not read it until the subject had left the office already. She then called the P.D. to file a complaint."

[XRubicon]

1. What did he write on the wall at Target?

Anyone know? I bet it is a clue to his motive.

[Greyskye]

3. supposedly

he was complaining about a hallway being too narrow. :shrug: Another DU thread had what he had supposedly written. Nothing there really spoke to a motive.

[XRubicon]

5. Maybe he was just a nut.... nt

[ben_meyers]

10. The reports are that he quit his job

and wrote "Target is run by dumb jocks and sorority bitches" among other things.

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-demshooting15-2008aug15,0,730296.story

[XRubicon]

11. Target is run by Republicans?

Just kidding- no offense to dumb jocks and sorority bitches...

[nc4bo]

2. I'm reserving my right to say that this guy is a certified nutcase and he

probably has a few limpy books on the coffee table or ontop of the toilet seat.

He probably shreds paper napkins into very fine slivers of confetti and pulls the wings off of butterflies for fun.

It is my right to reserve my opinion on this situation - subject to change as the story develops.

[malaise]

4. Didn't the cops say he had no record?

Isn't the stalking report part of his record.

I'm waiting for more information.

[nc4bo]

6. they're lyin err....misinforming already. Benefit of the doubt being given.

Case still developing and all.

[EFerrari]

8. Could be the report was never filed properly.

Stalking cases have a weird dynamic, sort of like rape cases. Victims feel guilty and don't file or are discouraged from filing and when they do, the record goes missing.

I was stalked for three years by a fine upstanding citizen with no prior "record" and never filed a report myself. It would have been too hard and frankly, even though I had witnesses, I was afraid the cops wouldn't believe me.

[nc4bo]

9. yep, you could be right. It happens more often the people think. nt

[romulusnr]

16. yeah, it's a little odd

that they said he had no record. Technically it is true though, he wasn't charged with any crimes and there was no restraining order or anything, they were just reports. But um, over the course of two years, he bugged this woman? Creepy much? A remotely well adjusted person gets the picture before two years are up! Ref. what i said in prev thread about antisocial shut-in.

[LiberalEsto]

7. He also voted Republican (big surprise!)

It's mentioned further down in the same blog that you cited

AND he had 2 sets of keys with a Gwatney dealership emblem

[ben_meyers]

12. from the blog

He voted Republican more often than not in primary balloting. He voted Republican in 2002 and 2004 primaries and the 2008 presidential primary. He voted in the Democratic primary and Democratic runoff primary in 2006. There was no record of a vote in this year's May primary on either side.

[LiberalEsto]

14. Repukes often vote in Democratic primaries

to make sure the weakest Democrat gets the nomination. I wondered whether that's what the shooter did.

[theboss]

18. Because he does strike me as that kind of 3 Dimensional thinker

Maybe the guy was just nuts.

[clear eye]

13. Freeper Response

Below a selection of quotes from DU expressing distress at rightwing talk radio's incitement to violence (and excluding the dozens of posts of sympathy, sorrow, and prayer) Freeper poster says, "These wackjobs don’t care one tiny iota that a family has just lost a father and a husband. They aren’t expressing sympathy, sadness, grief, or anything besides pure hatred for those who have the guts to express points of view that they don’t like. They aren’t wishing the family well during this difficult time or hoping for a speedy recovery for Gwatney. Oh, no. They’re too busy getting their panties in a wad entertaining their delusions to bother feeling sympathy or horror over this tragedy."

<http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/2061391/posts?page=65>

[romulusnr]

17. that doesnt even make logical sense

how can we "hope for a speedy recovery for" a person that "a family has just lost"?

i hope for a speedy recovery for all those deluded repugnicans who've been duped by the Cons.

[brentspeak]

15. And the question is: how did he get his gun, or why wasn't it taken from him?

[applegrove]

19. If we didn't know it already he is some sorta psychopath. The stalking

and the murder give it away.

[theboss]

20. It's usually a clue.

Yes.