Nurse, 51, kills intruder with bare hands

[voivod]

PORTLAND, Oregon (AP) -- A nurse returning from work discovered an intruder armed with a hammer in her home and strangled him with her bare hands, police said.

Susan Kuhnhausen, 51, ran to a neighbor's house after the confrontation Wednesday night. Police found the body of Edward Dalton Haffey 59, a convicted felon with a long police record.

Police said there was no obvious sign of forced entry at the house when Kuhnhausen, an emergency room nurse at Providence Portland Medical Center, got home from work shortly after 6 p.m.

Under Oregon law people can use reasonable deadly force when defending themselves against an intruder or burglar in their homes. Kuhnhausen was treated and released for minor injuries at Providence.

Haffey, about 5-foot-9 and 180 pounds, had convictions including conspiracy to commit aggravated murder, robbery, drug charges and possession of burglary tools. Neighbors said Kuhnhausen's size -- 5-foot-7 and 260 pounds -- may have given her an advantage.

"Everyone that I've talked to says 'Hurray for Susan,' said neighbor Annie Warnock, who called 911.

"You didn't need to calm her. She's an emergency room nurse. She's used to dealing with crisis."

[Phatie]

<snip>
"You didn't need to calm her. She's an emergency room nurse. She's used to dealing with crisis."

Obviously with advanced knowledge of carotid arteries. I'd venture to guess a little overkill was involved.


Excerpt: http://www.gvg.org.uk/carinfo.htm#index

Each person has two carotid arteries, one on either side of the neck. You can feel the carotid artery pulsating if you place your fingers just behind and to one side of the Adam's apple in the neck. The carotid arteries supply blood to the brain and originate inside the chest from the main artery coming directly from the heart (the aortic arch). There are also two smaller arteries at the back of the neck (vertebral arteries), one on either side, which supply a smaller amount of blood to the brain. They can become more important if, for any reason, the carotid arteries become narrowed or blocked.

[janthraxx]

[fast98dodge]

Good for her!!!

He obviously went into the wrong place to rob/murder/etc...

It sounds like he was a menace to society and got what he deserved...

Just think, she did us a favor... He's not stealing our precious oxygen anymore...

[Axxman300]

ahhhh....sweet justice.

[ZeoBandit]

5'7" and 260 punds? I wouldn't fuck with her!!!

[voivod]

Intruder killed by nurse was hit man, police say

PORTLAND, Oregon (AP) -- When Susan Kuhnhausen returned home from work one day earlier this month, she encountered an intruder wielding a claw hammer. After a struggle, the 51-year-old nurse fended off her attacker by strangling him with her bare hands.

Neighbors praised the woman for her bravery, and investigators said they believed the dead man -- Edward Dalton Haffey -- was burglarizing Kuhnhausen's home.

But after an investigation, police now say the intruder Kuhnhausen strangled was apparently a hit man hired by her estranged husband -- Michael James Kuhnhausen Sr. -- to kill her.

The 58-year-old husband was taken into custody Thursday and charged with conspiracy to commit murder and attempted murder. He was ordered held on $500,000 bail.

Haffey had worked as a custodian under Kuhnhausen at an adult video store, according an affidavit filed by the Multnomah County District Attorney's office.

Kuhnhausen and his wife were in the process of getting a divorce, and she told officers "her husband was distraught about the divorce and wanting to reconcile but that she was insisting on the divorce," the affidavit states.

A background check showed Haffey had served lengthy prison terms for conspiracy to commit aggravated murder and convictions for robbery and burglary.

Inside a backpack Haffey left at the scene was a day planner with "Call Mike, Get letter," scribbled on the week of September 4, the affidavit said. Michael Kuhnhausen's cell phone number was jotted on the inside of a folder, it said.

An emergency room nurse who lives in a southeast Portland neighborhood, Susan Kuhnhausen arrived home on the evening of September 6 to find Haffey coming at her with a claw hammer.

She was struck in the head and wrested the weapon away, but the struggle continued and Haffey bit the nurse, according to police. A large woman, she was eventually able to get the slight Haffey into a chokehold and police later found him dead in a hallway. An autopsy revealed the cause of death as strangulation.

Police say she acted in self-defense.

There was no sign of forced entry into the home, but according to the affidavit, Susan Kuhnhausen offered an explanation for the lack of evidence of a break-in: Her estranged husband had the security codes for the home's alarm system, and would have been able to disarm it.

Michael Kuhnhausen denies any involvement, the affidavit states.

Susan Kuhnhausen was out of town attending a nursing conference and did not immediately return a phone call seeking comment.

She left this message on her voicemail: "I'm not able to answer all the calls that I've received in the past few days. I'm being comforted by your concern and your support. I want you to know that our lives are all at risk for random acts, but more likely random acts of love will come your way than random acts of violence."

[Rokgtar]

Talk about an occupational hazard!

I'll bet her ex-husband was shocked to hear the outcome!

[fast98dodge]

The exhusband to be probably gave the hitman a key or was good at picking locks or something... That "no signs of forced entry" actually stuck with me and had me wondering that there was something else to the story...

[VH122]

The exhusband to be probably gave the hitman a key or was good at picking locks or something... That "no signs of forced entry" actually stuck with me and had me wondering that there was something else to the story...

Or it might be an obese jilted ex trying to get back at her future ex?

[Ted Van Halen]

My wife is a nurse. She is the same hgt but 1/2 the weight of Susan "Killer" Kuhnhausen so I think I could still take her one on one.

[Viking]

Obviously with advanced knowledge of carotid arteries. I'd venture to guess a little overkill was involved.

Overkill? The guy was coming after her with a frickin' hammer! Now that the rest of the story is out, he obviously intended to kill her.

Overkill is what would happen if someone broke into my house.

[LLFHS]

Overkill is what would happen if someone broke into my house.

Dental records would pretty much be useless, eh Vike?