Miami Herald, The (FL)
November 20, 1982
NATL MURDER SHOOTING RELATED JUVENILE CRIME
BOY, SISTER KILL FATHER IN AMBUSH
Author: UNITED PRESS INTERNATIONAL
A teenage boy and his sister assembled a small arsenal, waited at their home then
ambushed and killed their father for "revenge," the 16-year-old boy has admitted to
police.
Although Richard J. Jahnke, 16, and Deborah Jahnke, 17, are being tried as adults for
the Tuesday murder of their father, Internal Revenue Service agent Richard Jahnke, 38,
the state will not seek the death penalty, Laramie County Attorney Tom Carroll said.
Young Jahnke told police, "I shot my father for revenge."
A police report said Deborah Jahnke stated she and her brother had "gotten into an
argument with the deceased at their home and when their mother and the deceased left
the house to go out for dinner she and her brother decided to 'execute' Richard C.
Jahnke."
The nature of the argument was not disclosed by authorities.
The girl told police she and her brother placed several loaded firearms throughout the
family's home north of Cheyenne then selected the weapons they would use.
The boy waited in the garage with a shotgun, while the girl was in the livingroom with a
.30 caliber carbine, the police report said.
Young Jahnke then allegedly shot his father as the man attempted to open the garage
door. The childrens' mother, Maria Jahnke, witnessed the shooting from the car and was
not injured.
Law enforcement officers apprehended the boy at a house in north Cheyenne about
three hours after the shooting. The girl was picked up Wednesday in a park while fleeing
from deputies.
The boy is charged with first degree murder and conspiracy to commit first degree
murder. Deborah Jahnke is charged with aiding and abetting the murder and conspiracy
to commit murder.
Copyright (c) 1982 The Miami Herald