GUILTY CA - Samuel Cutrufelli for shooting homeowner during burglary, Greenbrae, 2012

More than a year after a man tried to kill him after breaking into his home, a 91-year-old World War II veteran’s collection of firearms and other belongings are still being held by the police.

On Jan. 3, 2012, Jay Leone, who was 90 at the time, was confronted by a ruthless home intruder at his home in Greenbrae, Calif. Police say Samuel Cutrufelli, a meth addict with an assault record, broke into the residence, put a gun to Leone’s head, tied his wrists, blindfolded him and tore his bedroom apart looking for valuables to steal.

Leone, who is a proud gun collector and World War II veteran, testified in court that he was able to get his hands free and convinced the burglar to let him use the bathroom where he retrieved one of his five guns from the bathroom.

The homeowner then confronted the criminal, sparking a gunfight. Leone hit Cutrufelli several times in the body, however, Leone was also shot once in the face during the gunfight.

Both men survived and a Marin County, Calif. jury later convicted Cutrufelli, 31, of attempted murder, robbery, burglary and other crimes. Last Thursday, Judge Andrew Sweet sentenced him to 86 years to life in state prison, the Marin Independent Journal reports. Cutrufelli also tried to later sue Leone for firing back at him “negligently.”

It is now more than a year later and the attempted murderer is behind bars, so why does Leone not have his guns, bullets, watches and jewelry back?

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LambChop said:

LE takes whatever valuable the intruder had in his possession for court. Everything will be returned to him or his estate. jmo

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Sonya610 said:

That just does not seem right. If the appeals (and he probably will) then they will continue to hold all of the man's stuff for years and he may never see it again!

It is HIS property! He obviously cherishes those possessions and if he needed money he should have the right to sell them. Seems to me the man is being victimized twice.

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Cappuccino said:

If the case is under appeal, LE needs to hold on to the physical evidence. Unless of course you want the conviction to fall apart and the prisoner freed.

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LambChop said:

Had they not caught this person his possessions would have been gone forever. This gentleman still has them they are just in the custody of the State. jmo

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Sonya610 said:

The way I see it the guy as convicted of attempted murder. Seems they should have enough evidence (especially if they collected the criminal from inside the man's home) to keep the attempted murder conviction and the theft of items would be secondary.



I did not get the impression the POLICE stopped the robbery. The man shot the burglar several times and he prevented his items from being stolen himself. I guess if he had simply killed the criminal then they wouldn't have confiscated all of his things forever. Food for thought.

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