Michael Hetle, 54, was found guilty of shooting his National Guardsman neighbor as first-degree murder on Thursday.
A former cop who was turned into a NASA executive shot two people dead in a line of duty was found to be guilty of shooting his next-door neighbor who was also known to be a National Guardsman. The main reason for the incident was a prolonged fight over dog poop, loud music and garbage along with other grievances.
Check out the video here.
Javon Prather, 24, was the neighbor of Michael Hetle where a jury settled up in a courtroom of Fairfax County where a NASA executive was found guilty for killing his neighbor.
Hetle, the NASA executive, will face life imprisonment as he was sentenced on January 28 based on preliminary evidence.
He even tried to argue in the courtroom that he fired as an act of self-defense in order to protect his family where he claimed that he was threatened by Prather for months before they both had a deadly encounter. However, the jury of the court did not believe the claim after they found video footage of the shooting incident exchanged between the two as evidence.
Fairfax County Prosecutor shared the case in the courtroom that Hetle, NASA executive, had previously sent an email to the neighborhood association about the warning that Prather could result in a tragedy.
Hetle fired a total of seven shots in only six seconds that murdered his neighbor who was next door, leaving the victim’s wife and nearby residents in a state of shock.
The video footage recorded the deadly encounter where Prather can be seen knocking on the door of Hetle.
‘It was this look of pure rage,’ Hetle said in court when describing Prather’s face before he opened fire. ‘His eyes were wide and bloodshot.’
Hetle was cleared in terms of any criminal activity, as he was previously found in other shooting incidents as the family of the victim settled the suit for $75,000.
