Only those who haven't had their outboard motor stolen think that outboard motor theft isn't a capital offense. The only way that 23 year old kid didn't get his just reward is if he wasn't trying to steal anything and his presence at the old man's place was mistaken as to purpose. When Todd's motor gets stolen, he jump to this side of the street.
Of course it's unfortunate when anyone dies, often sad and sometimes tragic. But in a world where actions have consequences, there's nothing sad nor tragic about this kid's death. What's sad and tragic is that the old man has to live out his days knowing he snuffed out a stupid kid who attempted to steal his motor. As an almost old guy, I feel sorry for the old man. It's unfortunate that the kid didn't have enough respect for himself to not take that which didn't belong to him, nor respecting the old man and his property. Absent respect, fear is a less ideal but useful mechanism to deter theft. Fear of getting killed for potentially small payoffs is the type of analysis that can be understood by those who don't understand respect.
I'm done feeling sorry for societal losers who take advantage of our justice system's methods of rewarding theft, which it definitely does. And because it does, there are only a few things we can do about it. According to Thurston Country Sheriff's deputies, we can lock our doors, install security systems (the noise may scare off intruders, but don't expect the deputies to respond - they don't respond to security alarms), keep a dog (like the security alarm, barking dogs deter many intruders, and keep ourselves lawfully armed. One thing we should absolutely not expect is for a Sheriff's deputy to respond to a home intrusion (besides we have a 30-60 minute response time) in time to prevent or deter anything. The deputies just show up after the fact to take a report.
The only reason to call 911 and the police is after a successful burglary for insurance purposes. If the burglary attempt was unsuccessful due to your having shot, or choked as the case may be, the perp, there is no point in calling the Sheriff, he can't help with anything useful and may make the unpleasant experience even less pleasant.
The proper procedure is to call Dogfish; he has a backhoe with which a very deep hole can be dug, into which the perp's misguided corpse is tossed and buried. If the perp was a tweaker, even his own mother won't report him missing. Only his parole officer cares about him in this whole wide world. And he'll forget about him soon enough.
Sg, a peacenik liberal who stands for truth, justice, and what the American way oughta' be, but isn't.