Gun trial witness: Feds out for ‘vengeance’

Posted: January 31, 2009
10:55 pm Eastern

 

By Bob Unruh
© 2009 WorldNetDaily

 

An expert who testified against the government in a disputed Wisconsin gun case involving what the defense has described as a “broken” gun says federal agents ever since have been retaliating and the government’s actions are costing his business hundreds of thousands of dollars.

“I am a witness in a still pending case, and I am being ‘leaned on,'” Len Savage, of Historic Arms LLC, told WND. “This is not the first time ATF has taken out vengeance during a court case.”

The dispute stems from Savage’s testimony during a Wisconsin gun dispute. There a man loaned out a gun, it fired several shots at one time at a gun range, and the federal government prosecuted him for transferring a “machine gun.”

Savage’s testimony contradicted government opinions that the gun was, in fact, a machine gun, because the type of rifle was known to have a problem with misfiring. The defendant, David Olofson, nonetheless, was convicted and his case is on appeal.

The agent whose opinion Savage had contradicted, Max Kingery, shortly after was assigned by the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives to review a gun part that Savage was proposing to build and sell as part of his business.

The government’s review involved Savage’s part, a conversion unit intended to allow a small number of owners of a specific type of legal machine gun to be able to shoot ammunition costing 1-2 cents per bullet rather than 25 cents.

But the agent added several pieces of metal, some chain, some wires and some duct tape to the conversion unit, allowing it to fire, and then classified the conversion unit itself as a machine gun.

“Max Kingery was assigned to evaluate the submitted product from my company. He is the one who contrived the test, and made the determination,” Savage told WND.

But he said he’s not going to let the decision go unchallenged, and he’ll contest the government’s opinion at a trial over its “arrest” of the gun part in question.

That case now has become formal, with the filing of documentation in federal court in the Northern District of Georgia and naming as a defendant “One Historic Arms Model 54RCCS ‘7.62x54R Caliber Conversion System’ machine gun, Serial No. VI.”

“Plaintiff requests that the court issue a warrant and summons for the arrest and seizure of the defendant property; that notice of this action be given to all persons known or thought to have an interest in or right against the defendant property; that the defendant property be forfeited and condemned to the United States of America…” the government’s civil filing claims.

Several WND messages left with two different offices of the federal agency over a period of two days requesting a comment were not returned.

“Don’t forget the guy who did the evaluation is the guy I testified against four months previously,” Savage said. “That’s impropriety.”

He said, in fact, if anyone made a “machine gun” in this case, it is the government, since its agents added the materials needed to make the conversion unit fire a bullet.

“I didn’t submit it with those parts,” he said.

He said he had proposed building about 350 of the units to sell to customers who already have been approved by the government to have and use the type of machine gun they would fit. But the government’s decision to add parts and define it as a machine gun stymies not only that plan, but apparently is costing him possession of the unit he submitted for examination.

Savage told WND the logic behind the addition of the parts and then the determination the conversion unit is a machine gun doesn’t follow.

“If you tie a string on both triggers of daddy’s double barreled [shotgun] then that would be a machine gun too,” he said, citing the government’s definition of anything that causes multiple shots with a single trigger action.

He said the government did, in fact, make just that determination, but eventually backed away partly.

In 1996, the Firearms Technology Branch of the federal agency determined that “a 14-inch long shoestring with a loop at each end” when attached to a rifle “caused the weapon to fire repeatedly until finger pressure was released from the string.”

“Because this item was designed and intended to convert a semiautomatic rifle into a machine gun, FTB determined that it was a machine gun…,” the agency confirmed in a 2004 letter.

However, in 2007, it followed, “Upon further review, we have determined that the string by itself is not a machine gun, whether or not there are loops tied on the ends. However, when the string is added to a semiautomatic firearm … the result is a firearm that fires automatically and consequently would be classified as a machine gun.”

Savage said such logic should apply in his case, because his conversion unit – without the addition of the extra materials added by the government – doesn’t fire.

He said the government is in the processing of “arresting” the conversion unit, and then a trial will be scheduled for a determination. The government wants ownership of the unit as well as its costs in the case.

Savage wants a determination that his unit is a repair part or conversion unit.

And he said if the government wins its argument, there will be further complications, since the agency has made conflicting determinations in the past.

Specifically, he said, the AFT has ruled that for MAC type machine guns, the upper portion “that contains the bolt, recoil system and barrel … to be a ‘gun part,’ not even a firearm.”

“All of these without exception would fail the ATF’s contrived test,” he said. “If I took the tape and zip tie route that ATF demonstrated in detail and put that on the stock unit, I have a zip gun, just as illegal.”

“This ‘test’ will turn any upper that has a feed device into not only a firearm, but a machine gun,” he said.

Savage’s testimony in the Olofson case, in Berlin, Wis., harshly criticized the government’s weapons testing procedures. In that case, the defendant was convicted and sentenced to 30 months in jail for loaning a rifle that misfired, letting off three bullets at one time.

The government then classified it a machine gun, and convicted Olofson of “transferring” such a weapon. He surrendered to federal authorities and is serving his term, prompting the Gun Owners of America to issue a warning about the owner’s liability should any semi-automatic weapon ever misfire.

“A gun that malfunctions is not a machine gun,” Larry Pratt, executive director of GOA, said at the time. “What the [federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives] has done in the Olofson case has set a precedent that could make any of the millions of Americans that own semi-automatic firearms suddenly the owner [of] an unregistered machine gun at the moment the gun malfunctions.”

When U.S. District Judge Charles Clevert imposed the sentence, a commentary in Guns Magazine said, “It didn’t matter the rifle in question had not been intentionally modified for select fire, or that it did not have an M16 bolt carrier … that it did not show any signs of machining or drilling, or that that model had even been recalled a few years back,” said

“It didn’t matter the government had repeatedly failed to replicate automatic fire until they replaced the ammunition with a softer primer type. It didn’t even matter that the prosecution admitted it was not important to prove the gun would do it again if the test were conducted today,” the magazine said. “What mattered was the government’s position that none of the above was relevant because ‘[T]here’s no indication it makes any difference under the statute. If you pull the trigger once and it fires more than one round, no matter what the cause it’s a machine gun.’

“No matter what the cause.”

Savage had told the agency in an earlier letter the decision to install the additional parts on his conversion unit “in order to induce full auto fire [is] clear and reliable evidence that they were contrived to deny my constitutional rights.”

He said during an interview with Jews for the Preservation of Firearms Ownership that Olofson had been instructing a man in the use of guns, and the student asked to borrow a rifle for some shooting practice.

“Mr. Olofson was nice enough to accommodate him,” Savage said. So the student, Robert Kiernicki, went to a range and fired about 120 rounds. “He went to put in another magazine and the rifle shot three times, then jammed.”

He said the rifle, which was subject to a manufacturer’s recall because of mechanical problems at one point, malfunctioned because of the way it was made.

Savage said once the government confiscated the gun, things got worse.

“They examined and test fired the rifle; then declared it to be ‘just a rifle,'” Savage said. But when agents demanded another test, a different ammunition was used and the result was a machine gun classification.

David Codrea, in the Gun Rights Examiner, wrote, “Given enough added parts that are not part of the submitted design, I know a lot of people who could turn a banana into machine gun.”

“Why are they doing this, especially since many other caliber conversion uppers exist that are not so classified? Will this area be revisited? Or is this payback for Savage testifying on behalf of David Olofson and in other cases?”

Brownsville man headed to court

By Josh Krysak, Herald-Standard

01/30/2009

Updated 01/29/2009 07:01:43 PM EST

A Brownsville man facing multiple charges after he allegedly shot a Clarksville man in the leg in Georges Township last year will have his day in court following a preliminary hearing Thursday.

State police said George Bodnovich, 42, was charged in early November before Magisterial District Judge Randy S. Abraham with aggravated assault, recklessly endangering another person and simple assault after he allegedly shot Jonathan Harmon, 26.

According to Trooper David L. Bell, Bodnovich shot Harmon in the leg after Harmon allegedly shot Bodnovich’s dog while hunting for coyotes.

Abraham held all charges against Bodnovich for Fayette County Court following the hearing Thursday.

Bell said the incident occurred when Bodnovich was walking in a wooded area near Hi-To Sportsman Club with three friends and his dogs.

Harmon was in the same wooded area riding an all-terrain-vehicle and allegedly hunting for coyotes, Bell said.

While hunting, Harmon allegedly mistook one of Bodnovich’s dogs for a coyote and shot and killed the animal, Bell said.

However, Bell noted that the dog, named Seneca, was wearing an orange neoprene vest when Harmon shot it.

Bell said Bodnovich confronted Harmon about the incident and allegedly shot Harmon in the right leg during the argument.

Harmon was treated at Uniontown Hospital, Bell said. 

Updated 01/29/2009 07:01:43 PM EST

©The Herald Standard 2009

Cop reaches into foamy sewage tank to rescue dog

Thu Jan 29, 9:01 pm ET

KALAMA, Wash. – A Kalama police officer reached into a tank of sewage to rescue a dog that had jumped inside. The officer, Jeff Skeie, was able to grab the sinking dog by the ear Tuesday and pull it out by the scruff of its neck. He had waste only on the sleeves of his uniform until the dog gave itself a vigorous shake, spraying him head-to-toe with sewage.

The dog was a stray that took off while its pen was being cleaned. It jumped in the sewage treatment plant‘s digester and was unable to swim in the foamy liquid.

After the rescue, The Longview Daily News reported, the officer took a long shower and the chocolate Labrador had a bath. It was adopted later in the day by a woman who named it Hershey.

___

Information from: The Daily News, http://www.tdn.com

 

Court Reinstates Washington Murder Conviction

The Associated Press, Wednesday January 21, 2009

WASHINGTON – The Supreme Court has reinstated the murder conviction of the driver in a gang-related, drive-by shooting that horrified Seattle in 1994.

By a 6-3 vote, the court on Wednesday reversed a federal appeals court that had thrown out the second-degree murder conviction of Cesar Sarausad II.

The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco overturned the conviction because of unclear jury instructions. But the high court, in a majority opinion written by Justice Clarence Thomas, said there was “no evidence of ultimate juror confusion.”

“Rather, the jury simply reached a unanimous decision that the state had proved Sarausad’s guilt beyond a reasonable doubt,” Thomas wrote.

In a dissenting opinion, Justice David Souter said an uncertain instruction from the trial judge merged with a “confounding prosecutorial argument” that included a “clearly erroneous statement of law.”

“In these circumstances, jury confusion is all but inevitable and jury error the reasonable likelihood,” wrote Souter, who was joined in his opinion by Justices John Paul Stevens and Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

Sarausad was convicted for his role as the driver in the shooting that killed a teenage girl outside a Seattle high school.

Sarausad was a 19-year-old freshman at the University of Washington at the time of the shooting. He drove the car from which Brian Ronquillo shot and killed 16-year-old Melissa Fernandes. She had nothing to do with the gang rivalry that led to the shooting.

Ronquillo was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to 52 years in prison. Sarausad got a 27-year sentence.

Sarausad admitted being the driver but denied knowing that Ronquillo had a gun, much less that he was planning to kill anyone.

The jury instructions at issue concerned whether, to be convicted of second-degree murder, Sarausad had to know that Ronquillo intended to use a gun and that someone could die as a result.

The case is Waddington v. Sarausad, 07-772.

 

Court sides with police officers in search case

The Associated Press, Wednesday January 21, 2009

WASHINGTON – The Supreme Court ruled Wednesday that police officers in Utah who searched a suspect’s home without a warrant cannot be sued for violating his constitutional rights.

In ruling unanimously for five officers attached to the Central Utah Narcotics Task Force, the court also abandoned a rigid, two-step test that it adopted in 2001 to guide judges in assessing alleged violations of constitutional rights.

Trial and appellate judges “should be permitted to exercise their sound discretion” in evaluating such claims, Justice Samuel Alito said in his opinion for the court.

Under the 2001 ruling, courts first had to determine whether an action amounts to a violation of a constitutional right and then decide whether the public official, often a police officer, should be immune from the civil lawsuit.

Officials can’t be held liable in situations where it is not clearly established that their actions violated someone’s constitutional rights.

The case grew out of a search of the home of Afton Callahan of Millard County, Utah, in 2002.

An informant contacted police to tell them he had arranged to purchase drugs from Callahan at Callahan’s trailer home.

Wearing a microphone provided by police, the informant entered the trailer and signaled police that a deal had been made. They entered the trailer without a warrant and arrested Callahan on charges of possession of methamphetamines.

Utah courts ruled that the evidence that was seized from Callahan’s home could not be used against him. Other courts have allowed prosecutions to go forward under similar circumstances.

Callahan later sued the officers for violating his constitutional rights. A federal judge ruled the officers could not be sued because there is disagreement in the courts over whether the search was illegal.

The 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver said the lawsuit could proceed because the officers should have known that people have a right in their home to be free from unreasonable searches and seizures.

The high court said Wednesday that the officers are entitled to immunity from Callahan’s suit.

The case is Pearson v. Callahan, 07-751.

 

US Army Police Officer Electrocuted In Iraq; Army Questions Account

By KIMBERLY HEFLING, Associated Press Writer Kimberly Hefling, Associated Press Writer – 58 mins ago

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AFP/File – A US Army AH-64 Apache helicopter fires a missile into a mountainside during preparations for Operation …

• Slideshow: Iraq

WASHINGTON – The Army on Wednesday challenged an injured military police officer‘s account that he received a severe shock while he was showering in Iraq.

Instead, an Army investigation found that Pfc. Justin Shults, 21, was shocked Oct. 18 on metal steps attached to a shower trailer, the Army said in a statement. It said the shock was caused by an “improperly bonded electrical conduit pipe” on the ground.

Shults‘ account generated attention because at least two soldiers have been electrocuted while showering in Iraq, and the military has faced criticism for the electrical work done where troops live.

In stories published earlier this week, Shults said he was knocked unconscious when he adjusted a wall heating and air conditioner unit while showering. Shults, who is in outpatient care at Fort Sam Houston in Texas, described severe burns to his limbs and groin.

Shults said he stands by his recollection of what happened. But he also acknowledges, given the amount of time that has passed and the fact that he was unconscious, that he could’ve been confused about where he was when he was shocked. He said it’s been difficult to get answers about the incident.

“I would like to know what happened, and if anyone was responsible, who it was,” Shults said Thursday.

The Army statement said Shults’ injuries were “tragic.” It says he was shocked when he tripped on the stairs and came in contact with the pipe, which was used to protect the electrical cable inside.

The statement says the pipe and wire were part of existing Iraqi infrastructure, and that the shower trailer was not maintained by military contractor KBR Inc. Shults had said he blamed KBR for what happened, and that he’d talked to some KBR workers as they installed the shower trailer a few months before he was burned.

On Monday, an Army spokesman did not respond to questions about the incident.

After the incident was first reported Monday by the San Antonio Express-News, Sen. Bob Casey, D-Pa., called Shults, who is from Hamburg, Pa., and mentioned the incident on Tuesday during a press conference on electrocutions in Iraq.

 

5 Sheriff’s Officers Split 2nd $1 Million in Lottery Winnings Since 1-1-09

From the Gaston Gazette

January 26, 2009 – 2:28 PM

Kevin Ellis

Five Gaston County Sheriff’s officers who have been pooling their lottery money for less than a year reportedly hit it big in Saturday’s Powerball drawing by matching all five white balls.

They’ll split a $1 million payday – taking home checks worth $136,000 each after taxes, but all five still showed up for work at the county jail Monday morning.

“We’re professionals,” said Fay Costner, one of the five big winners. “We showed up for the sake of the community and the safety of our fellow officers.”

The other four winners, according to Costner, are: Joseph Heffner, Thomas Summey, Charles Martin and Barry Ervin.

They all have shifts to pull again today, but have an off day Wednesday, and plan to travel to Raleigh then to pick up their winnings, Costner said.

This marks the second $1 million win for Gaston County lottery players in less than a month. On Dec. 31, Matthew Alton, 20, of Gastonia matched the five white balls on a ticket he bought at the One Stop Grocery at 510 E. Franklin Blvd., Gastonia.

The odds of matching all five balls: 1 in 5,138,133. Powerball made those odds a little more difficult after adding Florida to the multi-state lottery game Jan. 1.

Costner bought the lottery tickets Friday from TAS Drug at 500 W. Church St., Cherryville. Head cashier Violet Grantt said she has known Costner for years, and was glad to see the group of law enforcement officers win.

“They’re very nice people,” Grantt said. “I’m really happy for them. It couldn’t have happened to nicer people.”

The five contribute $20 every five weeks on their lottery playing, Costner said.

“The return was great,” she said of winning. “It feels real good.”

None of the five ever considered skipping work Monday to collect their winnings, she said, although they did call Sheriff Alan Cloninger to tell them of their good fortune.

“He was overjoyed,” Costner said.

They created a buzz around the department Monday, but they carried on their duties as usual, said Capt. D.A. Yelton. All five hold key positions in the jail, so it was not surprising to see them at work, he said.

“They’re all professional and they know the importance of their jobs,” Yelton said. “It never dawned on me that they wouldn’t be here.”

You can reach Kevin Ellis at 704-869-1823.

Odds of matching all five white balls: 1 in 5,138,133

Odds of matching all five white balls and Powerball: 195,249,054

Randy Erwin/Photo illustration

For the second time in less than 30 years Gaston County lottery players have won $1 million in Powerball

Fight At Gaston County Courthouse Results in 2 Arrests

From The Gaston Gazette

January 27, 2009 – 11:01 AM

Michael Barrett

A fight near the entrance to the Gaston County Courthouse ended with two men being arrested Monday.

Willie Deese Adams, 33, of the 1500 block of West State St., Lincolnton, and Danudi Wendu Dawkins, 31, of the 100 block of Ebeneezer Road, Kings Mountain, were each charged with disorderly conduct.

Adams and Dawkins were near the front doorway of the courthouse when they began fighting. Both were throwing punches and shoving each other, according to arrest warrants and affidavits.

A deputy with the Gaston County Sheriff’s Office had to step between the two men to break up the fight.

Adams and Dawkins were each held at the Gaston County Jail on $5,000 bond.

 

Danudi Dawkins (bottom Photo)

Willie Adams 

 

Danudi Dawkins 

Dallas, NC Police Shoot, Kill Man Who tried to Grab Officer’s Gun

January 24, 2009 – 4:12 PM
Corey Friedman
DALLAS — Chris Brown heard the gunshots. Then, he saw his uncle lying facedown in the grass.

“By the time we got outside, he was on his belly,” Brown said. “There was a cop sitting on his back-Dallas Police. He was not moving. I automatically knew he was gone.”

Police shot and killed 44-year-old Terrance Kennedy around 12:30 a.m. Saturday in the front yard outside 518 E. Peachtree St. Kennedy allegedly tried to grab an officer’s gun, but relatives and neighbors say he had run from the police and was shot in the back.

“My understanding is he was attempting to take one of the officers’ sidearms,” said Police Chief Gary Buckner.

Officer R.R. Flick and Sgt. J.C. Propst were involved in the shooting. The chief said Kennedy reached for Flick’s gun, but he wouldn’t say which officer fired at Kennedy or whether both shot at him.

The N.C. State Bureau of Investigation is probing the incident and will determine if the shooting was justified. Buckner said the Dallas Police Department is conducting a parallel internal investigation.

“We’re definitely going to get to the bottom of it and find out what happened and exactly what took place,” Buckner said.

Kennedy’s sister, Sondra Brown-Thompson, said he was sitting on the porch of her home, 520 E. Peachtree St., when police arrived. Officers were trying to serve an arrest warrant on Kennedy.

Relatives said Kennedy ran from the officers and was shocked with a Taser stun gun and blasted with pepper spray. They say he didn’t reach for a gun and believe the shooting was unnecessary.

“They could have tased him once, maybe tased him twice and put handcuffs on him,” Brown-Thompson said. “They didn’t have to shoot him.”

Buckner said he couldn’t discuss whether the Taser and pepper spray were used due to the SBI and internal investigations.

Dallas Police said in a news release that Kennedy was shot once and died at Gaston Memorial Hospital.

Flick and Propst were placed on administrative leave, a customary procedure when police officers are involved in a shooting. Flick has worked for the department since February 2006 and Propst was hired in June 2006.

Kennedy, who was also known as Tiny Brown, grew up in a large family with four brothers and four sisters. One sister, Kenyada Kennedy, runs a neighborhood grocery store at 211 S. Davis St.

“Terrance was a good boy,” she said. “He loved his nieces and nephews. He helped the neighborhood. He was a great guy, he was a brother to us, he was a loved one.”

John Paul Kennedy said his brother, Terrance, worked for him at his remodeling business and had also worked for a roofing company.

Terrance Kennedy has an extensive criminal record and was sentenced to a combined 32 years in prison. Most recently, he was released in July 2007 after serving almost 12 years on convictions for possession and sale of a Schedule II controlled substance.

A deputy in the Gaston County Sheriff’s Office warrant repository said Kennedy had a Dec. 21 arrest warrant for a charge of assault on a female.

With a tear-streaked face, Brown-Thompson walked back and forth in her gravel driveway Saturday afternoon, shouting that Kennedy didn’t deserve to die.

You can reach Corey Friedman at 704-869-1828.

BEHIND BARS
Terrance Kennedy, who was shot and killed early Saturday morning after allegedly reaching for a police officer’s gun, has an extensive criminal history and has served five prison sentences, according to the N.C. Department of Correction. His convictions and prison terms are listed below.

Sentence began: Aug. 31, 1995
Released: July 13, 2007
Convictions: Possession with intent to sell Schedule II controlled substance (three counts), sell Schedule II controlled substance (three counts)

Sentence began: Jan. 6, 1987
Released: Aug. 13, 1993
Convictions: Assault with a deadly weapon inflicting serious injury (two counts), common-law robbery

Sentence began: Jan. 19, 1984
Released: Nov. 4, 1985
Convictions: Felony breaking and entering, common-law robbery, assault on a female

Sentence began: Feb. 2, 1982
Released: Dec. 13, 1982
Convictions: Breaking /entering and larceny, larceny – more more than $200

Sentence began: Dec. 9, 1980
Released: Feb. 22, 1982
Convictions: Misdemeanor breaking and entering (two counts), larceny – more more than $200 (two counts)

Seneca, SC Officer Survives After Being Declared Dead

By Michael Inbar

TODAYShow.com contributor

updated 2 hours, 19 minutes ago

On Dec. 27, doctors delivered heartbreaking news to the family of police officer Ken Kirby: He had died of a massive heart attack.

On Jan. 26, Kirby was back to work.

Dubbed “Officer Lazarus” by the people of Seneca, S.C., 52-year-old Kirby came back from the dead after his wife Tina, daughter Courtney and son Matthew had already said their goodbyes. Very much alive, he was joined by all of them as they sat down with Matt Lauer on TODAY Tuesday to recount their medical miracle.

‘He’s gone’
Kirby told Lauer that he had been healthy “as an ox” for his entire life — until he began feeling ill just after Christmas.

“My wife and I had taken down our Christmas decorations, and I started feeling nauseous, starting getting sick,” Kirby said. “I remember the tightness in my chest and the pain in my arms that started in my left arm, mostly in the triceps area. It was unreal; it’s nothing I’d ever felt before.”

Tina immediately knew something was seriously wrong, and paramedics were called to the Kirby home. Ken went into cardiac arrest and actually flatlined before doctors were successful in reviving him.

But after doctors worked on him for 45 minutes, Kirby flatlined for a second — and, doctors believed, final — time.

“They came to us to say, ‘We’re sorry, but we can’t get a pulse back, he’s gone,’ ” son Matthew told Lauer.

A faint pulse
Tina said the attending physician asked her if she wanted to see her husband to say goodbye. “I walk into this room, and they are still doing compressions and bagging just for my sake,” she said. “He’s purple and black from head to toe, and swollen.”

But Jennifer Cape, a nurse at the Oconee Medical Center, continued to monitor Kirby. Some five minutes after Tina had said goodbye to her husband, Cape noticed a barely-there pulse had returned. Astounded doctors took an ultrasound and found a slight heartbeat.

Still, the chances of Kirby’s being able to maintain life seemed slim at best. He needed to be rushed to a bigger hospital facility in Greenville for surgery. His son Matthew called in some favors with his dad’s fellow police officers to clear a path for the ambulance.

“I called everybody I could think of to say, ‘Hey, do you what you can to get that ambulance through there as fast as you can get it and help him out,’ ” Matthew told Lauer.

Doctors operated on the main artery to Kirby’s heart, which had a 93 percent blockage. And just one hour after surgery, the man who had been pronounced dead was sitting up in his hospital bed and greeting his family.

Daughter Courtney told Lauer that strangely, family members can’t recall the moment in which they were told their father had passed away.

Today Show From left, Ken Kirby’s daughter, Courtney, his son, Matthew, and his wife, Tina, joined him in the TODAY studio.

A second chance

“We can’t draw back on those feelings anymore,” she said. “I guess it’s been so much since then, we’ve tried to sit down and go, ‘OK, can I feel what I felt then?’ and we can’t. There’s a lot we don’t even remember.”

Kirby says he is making the most of his second chance at life. He’s kicked his cigarette habit and cut down on his large intake of caffeine.

More importantly for wife Tina, she has a second chance at telling her husband how much she loves him. She says the couple had always talked their way through any issues in their 33-year marriage, but in the days before Ken’s heart attack, the pair had been quarreling.

When told her husband had died, Tina says, “I asked my pastor, ‘What am I doing to do, how am I going to live with the fact that I didn’t get a chance to tell him I loved him, and that I was sorry?’ ”

Tina has made her apologies, and the reunited couple now look to the heavens in thanks.

Today Show Nurse Jennifer Cape thought she detected a faint pulse five minutes after doctors thought Ken Kirby was dead.

“God had his hand in it,” Ken Kirby told Lauer.

Today Kirby is slowly easing back into work. Doctors had feared the lack of oxygen during his time flatlined could cause brain damage, but he told Lauer there have been no adverse effects.

The family has also had the happy opportunity to thank plucky nurse Cape for sticking by Ken and detecting his returned pulse. In an interview with TODAY, she said Kirby “was as purple as any deceased body I’ve ever seen — no way did we ever think this man would make it. If he made it to Greenville, it would be a miracle.”

The family recently visited Cape at the hospital, and there were hugs to spare.

“It’s very gratifying to have people come to you and tell you that your work matters,” she said. “It really was a miracle.”

Video

Cop alive after being declared dead Jan. 27: Ken Kirby is lucky to be alive after being declared dead from a heart attack. TODAY’s Matt Lauer talks to Kirby and his family about the scare.