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    The Sideshow

    Fight over an orange leads to family murder-suicide

    A man in Ohio went on a murderous rampage, killing two sisters-in-law, his son and then finally himself. And it all was over a fight over whether to feed his wife toast or an orange.

    When police arrived on the scene after reports of a shooting, Paul David Gilkey, his two sisters-in-law and son were all already dead.

    "They had given Darlene a meal, toast and I believe a banana, toast and tea prior and when [Paul] already had an orange peeled for her and that seemed to be the issue that spurred [Paul] to his rampage," Hocking County Sheriff Lanny North told local affiliate NBC4.

    Gilkey did not murder his wife, who is bedridden. He also let his stepson Ralph Sowers III, 36, leave the scene unharmed. Police say they believe the family had been caring for Gilkey's wife, who had been ill for some time.

    Gilkey's cousin Matthew Henderson said his own wife called the Gilkey home immediately after the shooting and spoke with Paul's wife, who said that her husband "shot everybody" and then went outside. "I said, 'What's he doing?' (She said) 'I think he's waiting on more people to come so he could kill them,'" Henderson said.

    Henderson said Gilkey had been showing signs of instability but that he thought any violent behavior on Gilkey's part would be self-inflicted and only after his wife had passed away from her terminal cancer. Gilkey had already served 10 years in prison for beating a man to death with a fence post in 1974 and in 1986 allegedly stabbed his own father.

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    • Louie Lou I  •  Manchester, Michigan  •  4 mths ago
      beat to death with a fence post, that would not be a nice way to go. They should have hung him in '74, then his dad isn't stabbed and all these people are still alive
      • Rhad 4 mths ago
        Sounds like a Quantum Leap mission.
      • Santo 4 mths ago
        yea, but just think all the income this animal generated since his first murder. And he did not kill any lawyers, judges, politicians, or lawmakers; just some inconsequencial human beings. The only good thing out of this is that he killed himself.
      • mary j 4 mths ago
        I does not say that he went to prison for stabbing his father. It was "alledged." A fence post does not to me say violent murderer, it says pushed to far, pick up the nearest thing and push back.
    • veela  •  Oshkosh, Wisconsin  •  4 mths ago
      Well, this is just great. His poor wife has terminal cancer and now her husband and family members are dead. As if she didn't have enough to worry about. If he really cared about his wife, he wouldn't have done this.
      • S S 4 mths ago
        Veela I think he is sitting somewhere right now wishing he ate the orange himself
      • Sybil 4 mths ago
        This was about himself or he would have behaved differently.
      • jerru 4 mths ago
        Well, the shooting himself part is probably doing her a favor.
    • Granny B  •  4 mths ago
      why would a person who MURDERED a person in 1974 be out and ABLE to stab his father in 1986??? My God, what do you have to do in this country to be kept in jail??? On the other hand, I know a boy in New Hampshire who got a 25 yr sentence because he was always getting into fights and the judge thought he might EVENTUALLY kill somebody so he was given the same sentence as if he had. There is no justice in this world...
      • larry 4 mths ago
        Justice means Just Us , he must be white
      • Wilkby 4 mths ago
        You know what you have to do to be kept in jail? Get caught with some drugs
      • Eagle 4 mths ago
        You sure the jail there is not run by private company, which the judge has stock holding in it?
    • Carl D  •  Everett, Washington  •  4 mths ago
      Fully rehabilitated and released, way to go justice system!!
      • Richard 4 mths ago
        Thank your local liberal for this one.
      • Matt 4 mths ago
        Yes Richard, everything is the fault of liberals. Get an original thought, how about it?
      • Ruth 4 mths ago
        Where do you come by the idea our prison system is supposed to rehabilitate inmates? This man had serious mental illness issues...obviously...and he should not have been paroled because he had already demonstrated he was not one of the people who murder who never murder again, not if he tried to stab his father. He should have been kept in prison and medicated if he could not take his medications and keep his peace if paroled. The powers that be in this country, the guys who don't like all those nasty taxes, have no intention to solve this problem. To care for the mentally ill requires money, money that will not thereby head towards certain members of the 1%. This story will be repeated again and again until this nation takes steps to protect the public from persons who have no intent to control themselves if they have social issues or mental illness issues. Sadly, the mentally ill in many cases do not have any control until they hurt or kill then they can be taken care of cheaply in prison...not a solution that helps the victims families but a cheap solution nevertheless. Gotta save the tax payers all that pretty green paper, blood...not so important apparently.
    • Andrew  •  4 mths ago
      You know, I can't help but notice one tiny, very subtle detail:

      "Gilkey had already served 10 years in prison for beating a man to death with a fence post in 1974..."

      It seems to me when that particular sentence can be applied to someone, perhaps we should consider not letting them wander around aimlessly among the citizenry any more.

      Then again (and call me odd for thinking it if you like), I would probably decide the phrase "beating a man to death with a fence post" was a clue I shouldn't get involved with that person.
      • Mary 4 mths ago
        Logical thinking, Andrew.
      • mary j 4 mths ago
        I does not say that he went to prison for stabbing his father. It was "alledged." A fence post does not to me say violent murderer, it says pushed to far, pick up the nearest thing and push back.
    • David  •  Gilbertsville, Pennsylvania  •  4 mths ago
      That's right...let the guy who murdered someone back on the streets,,,and let the snake politicians continue to do what they do....The american justice system & the judge who let this guy go, they have blood on their hands, they just don't know it!!!!
    • Matthew  •  4 mths ago
      Over an ORANGE. Finally, a family more high-strung then mine.
    • SpaceRanger  •  Houston, Texas  •  4 mths ago
      Take away oranges and toast and only outlaws will have oranges and toast
    • Birdy  •  San Francisco, California  •  4 mths ago
      What is this world coming too!!! This just makes no sense what so ever! Stories like this make me so angry but don't worry, I'm not going to turn into the green monster and start tossing people around! I mean come on. We all have problems, issues, crises we face on a daily basis. I realize taking care of someone with a terminal illness is no walk in the park but from this mans history, he should've been getting treatment elsewhere and not be the caretaker of his wife! RIP to all that lost their lives.
    • Uncle Ruckus No Relation  •  Fayetteville, North Carolina  •  4 mths ago
      Wait wait wait...he beat a man to death with a fence post but someone out there felt he was safe to enter society again? Then he stabbed his father 12 years later and someone decided he was fit to walk amongst us? Not to enter the realm of race bating but honestly as a white male what must you do to get a long and shall I say just prison sentence? I won't even go off on the tangent on who marries someone of this mentality. Apparently marrying psychopaths or dating them and spitting out children isn't only trending now but is a great American past time.
    • Ann H  •  4 mths ago
      Strike three! Too bad the justice system didn't see it coming all along with a fence post murder and a stabbing. Rehabilitated? Hardly! Now more innocent lives are lost and the terminally ill wife must go on living her final days knowing her husband killed all of these people.
    • Phil R  •  Muncie, Indiana  •  4 mths ago
      That's nice. He beat a man to death with a fence post, stabbed his father and he was set free to murder others too. Oh well, this is America.
    • LB  •  North Port, Florida  •  4 mths ago
      The death penalty in 1974 would have saved a few lives.
    • Grim Reaper  •  4 mths ago
      This story omits many key elements of the shooting. Local newspapers give a more complete account of why this occurred. It was not just an argument over an orange.
    • ImAlwaysRight  •  4 mths ago
      It's a good thing all those pot smokers are in jail so that prisons are too crowded to keep the rapists and murderers in.
    • Ashley  •  Apache Junction, Arizona  •  4 mths ago
      Calm down, commentators. They had to release this guy after his crimes in 1974 and in 1986 because we need more room in the prisons for those nonviolent drug criminals (not that I'm being facetious or anything like that...).
    • The Wiz  •  Winter Park, Florida  •  4 mths ago
      Gilkey had already served 10 years in prison for beating a man to death with a fence post in 1974 and in 1986 allegedly stabbed his own father....

      Why do they even release people like this from prison???
    • Andrea Enke  •  4 mths ago
      ...buncha savages in this town...
    • Kevin  •  Brea, California  •  4 mths ago
      The orange was the trigger but something else was the fuel.
    • scott  •  Richardson, Texas  •  4 mths ago
      This is not a gun control issue, the man had already killed before and stabbed his own father...he should have been in jail or buried already..I own guns and I use them for target shooting , hunting game for food and shooting anybody who steps on my property and trys to take my oranges !
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