| Guest | Re: Famous Mountain Biker Kills His Brother!
On Thu, 23 Nov 2006 11:33:15 -0800, "Jeff Strickland"
<crwlr@yahoo.com> wrote:
>How come the Subject Line isn't, "Landscaper kills brother!" or "Skiing
>legend kills brother!" or simply, "Man kills brother."
The truth hurts, huh?
>Once again you prove that you are an idiot.
>
>
>
>
>"Mike Vandeman" <mjvande@pacbell.net> wrote in message
>news:0vham299oe4uf0uhepg7mnfo1beetn0q0n@4ax.com.. .
>> 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
>> 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
===
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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