Man who killed rape suspect is found guilty of manslaughter

GOSHEN, N.Y. – A man who fatally shot a rape suspect he was trying to turn in to police was found guilty of manslaughter on Monday.

David Carlson claimed he fired his gun in self-defence in October 2013 as he held Norris Acosta-Sanchez at gunpoint so a neighbour could call police. Acosta-Sanchez had been charged in Rockland County with statutory rape of a teenage girl and had been staying at a summer cabin by Carlson’s home near the Pennsylvania border.

Carlson, 46, was found guilty of first-degree manslaughter by a jury in neighbouring Orange County after more than seven days of deliberations. He faces a maximum of 25years in prison when he is sentenced in January.

While Carlson’s supporters say he’s more a victim than a vigilante, prosecutors said he was the aggressor.

“Justice was done,” Acosta-Sanchez’s relative Charles Nieves told the Middletown Times Herald-Record after the verdict.

Carlson had been trying to help police catch Acosta-Sanchez in the days leading up the shooting. Acosta-Sanchez had fled police after they let him go back to the cabin he was staying in to get his wallet.

Defence lawyers said Acosta-Sanchez showed up at Carlson’s home before the shooting. They said Carlson came out with his shotgun, and the two men began walking to a neighbour’s house so Carlson could call police.

Carlson was remanded to county jail on bail of $500,000 bond or $250,000 cash.