| Guest | Re: Famous Mountain Biker Kills His Brother!
http://www.dailyrecord.com/apps/pbcs...32/1203/NEWS01
:
On Thu, 23 Nov 2006 07:05:49 GMT, Mike Vandeman <mjvande@pacbell.net>
wrote:
>Cops: Sparta man killed brother
>Victim's young daughter saw shooting, police say
>BY ABBOTT KOLOFF
>AND MATT MANOCHIO
>DAILY RECORD
>
>Post Comment
>
>SPARTA -- A township man, considered a local biking and skiing legend,
>shot and killed his older brother in front of his kindergarten-age
>niece on Tuesday morning, authorities said.
>Daniel Thropp, 43, was in jail Tuesday evening, with police saying
>they planned to file gun and murder charges against him.
>Alan Thropp, 49, was shot multiple times at his East Shore Trail home,
>where police responded early Tuesday, authorities said. He made an
>emergency call to police at 6:41 a.m.
>Police said they recovered a hunting rifle outside the house but had
>not determined who owned it and had not determined whether it was used
>in the shooting. Alan Thropp was alive when police arrived, but it was
>not clear on Tuesday whether he said anything to authorities about the
>shooting.
>"I don't think there was any ongoing feud or anything like that that
>I've heard of," said Bill Fitzgibbons, first assistant prosecutor with
>the Sussex County Prosecutor's office.
>Daniel Thropp, who lives on Hunter's Lane and owned his own
>landscaping business, had recently visited a Daily Record office and
>presented papers claiming a developer was trying to poison him to get
>his house. He also indicated in those papers that he had tried to get
>Sparta Police Chief Ernest Reigstad to sign a paper acknowledging
>Thropp's claims of "criminal poisoning."
>Fitzgibbons said he couldn't say anything about Thropp's mental
>condition, adding that it's part of the investigation. He said he
>hadn't heard about Thropp's alleged dealings with the Sparta police.
>Reigstad was unavailable for comment and did not respond to an
>interview request.
>Authorities said first aid crews tried to revive Alan Thropp, but he
>died in the Newton Memorial Hospital emergency room at 7:47 a.m.,
>about one hour after police were called.
>At the scene
>Police also said Alan Thropp's daughter, who they said was either 5 or
>6 years old, was the only witness to the shooting. They said Daniel
>Thropp was at his brother's house when police arrived but did not
>appear agitated. They said he didn't give a statement to authorities,
>and instead asked for an attorney.
>"It was very calm," Fitzgibbons said.
>Daniel Thropp was lodged in the Sussex County jail Tuesday night with
>a hearing set for today in Newton.
>Alan Thropp was divorced and had joint custody of a daughter,
>according to authorities. The little girl was staying with her mother
>in Hopatcong Tuesday night, they said.
>Lisa Champion, Alan Thropp's neighbor, described him as a hard worker
>who owned an excavating and septic business, and who would plow
>neighbors' driveways in winter. She also said he was a doting father.
>She said she saw police at the scene Tuesday morning.
>"I saw them performing CPR," she said. "I didn't know who it was until
>they confirmed (it was Alan). ... Alan was a workaholic. He was an
>awesome neighbor to have. He watched out for all of us. ... It's a
>tragedy, an absolute tragedy."
>She said that Thropp's young daughter was a bright spot in his life.
>"His life went around her,"she said. "He dropped everything. You knew
>a child was part of that house, with the toys and the swings, and the
>blow-up inflatables for the holiday. He lived for her. He was so proud
>to show her off. It just fills your heart with how much love he had
>for that little girl."
>A tri-athlete
>Daniel Thropp was described by friends as an athletic legend around
>Sussex County, with a quirky personality, who suddenly stopped
>communicating with many of his old friends a couple of years ago. They
>said they would see him around town, often at the library, but that he
>no longer participated in local athletic events.
>He had been known as a tri-athlete, who won a grueling three-sport
>race that involved mountain biking, skiing and running in Killington,
>Vt., several years running. They said he had been captain of ski teams
>at Sparta High School and Penn State University. He later went into
>finance, friends said -- but then dropped out of the business world to
>spend more time skiing, doing the things he loved.
>"I admired that he knew what he wanted to do, and did it," said Tracy
>Blake, 46, of Andover Township, who knew the Thropp family while
>growing up in Sparta.
>In papers he gave to the Daily Record, Daniel Thropp said that he
>owned Sparta Exterior Services and Sparta Lawn Care for many years. He
>also claimed in those papers that he was suffering from "acute
>exposure" to some sort of compound but indicated that no one took him
>seriously.
>"If you are a landscaper, sheep farmer or Gulf War veteran and claim
>damage you will be ignored," he wrote.
>Blake remained friendly with Daniel Thropp over the years because they
>were both members of a local bicycling club. She and other friends
>said he often showed up riding a clunker bike, sometimes his
>girlfriend's bike, without a water bottle, helmet, or proper cycling
>clothes. His friends said he easily won races competing against
>cyclists who rode much more expensive bicycles.
>"He was an extremely talented athlete, easy going, friendly, helpful,"
>Blake said.
>Blake said Daniel talked fondly about his brother, Alan. She also said
>Daniel Thropp stopped coming to bicycling events a couple of years ago
>and appeared to stop working as a landscaper. She said he seemed to
>lose contact with his old friends.
>"I don't know what's been in his mind lately," she said.
>===
>I am working on creating wildlife habitat that is off-limits to
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>years fighting auto dependence and road construction.)
>
>Please don't put a cell phone next to any part of your body that you are fond of!
>
>http://home.pacbell.net/mjvande
===
I am working on creating wildlife habitat that is off-limits to
humans ("pure habitat"). Want to help? (I spent the previous 8
years fighting auto dependence and road construction.)
Please don't put a cell phone next to any part of your body that you are fond of!
http://home.pacbell.net/mjvande
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