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Nurse, 51, strangles intruder in her home
Self-defense - Susan Kuhnhausen wins a deadly struggle against a convicted felon armed with a hammer
Friday, September 08, 2006
MAXINE BERNSTEIN

An emergency room nurse who arrived home Wednesday night to find a strange man inside her Southeast Portland house strangled him to death with her hands after a violent struggle.

Neighbors say Susan E. Kuhnhausen, 51, had just gotten off work at Providence Portland Medical Center and was still in her scrubs when she returned to her tidy home in the 7900 block of Southeast Alder Street shortly after 6 p.m.

Police say there was no obvious signs of forced entry in the front of the house. So Kuhnhausen was surprised to find an intruder inside. The stranger, neighbors say, was armed with a hammer. But the veteran emergency nurse went into crisis mode and escaped with only a few bruises and scrapes.

After the struggle, she ran to a neighboring house for help, and the neighbor called 9-1-1 at 6:51 p.m. By the time police arrived, 59-year-old Edward Dalton Haffey,, a convicted felon with a long record, lay dead in her home.

"Everyone that I've talked to today says 'Hurray' for Susan," said Anne Warnock, the neighbor who called 9-1-1. "She's a very brave and courageous woman. If they're picking teams, we want to be on her team."

Under state statute, a person can use a reasonable degree of deadly force when defending themselves against an intruder or someone who is burglarizing their home. But police said the case was unusual in that a homeowner acting in self-defense strangled an intruder, as opposed to using a weapon, such as a firearm or knife.

"But when you're fighting for your life, you will use whatever means is necessary," said Portland Officer Cathe Kent, a police spokeswoman. "In this case, the homeowner did what she had to do to get out safely."

A man who answered the phone at Kuhnhausen's home Thursday night declined to comment.

The neighbor said Kuhnhausen wasn't too shaken up when she fled to her house.

"You didn't need to calm her," Warnock said. "She's an emergency room nurse. She's used to dealing with crisis. She was very clear thinking and took care of the problem."

An ambulance was called to take Kuhnhausen to Providence Portland Medical Center for treatment. She walked to the gurney, Warnock said. Police said she was treated and released from the hospital Wednesday night.

Haffey -- a slight man of about 5-foot-9 and 180 pounds, according to his driver's license -- was released from prison in November 2003, following a 20-year sentence for robbery out of Douglas County and a 1994 conspiracy to commit aggravated murder conviction in Polk County, according to Perrin Damon, an Oregon Department of Corrections spokeswoman. Since 1985, Haffey also has been convicted of delivery and manufacture of drugs and possession of burglary tools.

Kuhnhausen's size, at about 5-foot-7, 260 pounds, may have also given her some advantage over her opponent, neighbors said. 

She's been a nurse for 30 years and has served as secretary of the Oregon Emergency Nurses Association.

In a 2005 association newsletter, she wrote about how she'd "probably seen it all" on the job and was pushing for legislation to prevent violence against nurses in the workplace.

"I've been assaulted twice and bit, hit, kicked and punched by patients . . . who know better . . .," she wrote.

"The potential for violence at the hospital always exists and we need to send a message that it's not okay to assault any public servant whether it be a police officer, firefighter or nurse."

Paula Derr, a Life Flight nurse who is a fellow member of the emergency nurses association, said Kuhnhausen is an outstanding nurse and strong advocate for protecting nurses.

She said Kuhnhausen is helping raise a grandchild at her home. Neighbors said the child was not in the home Wednesday night.

Derr says she's not surprised how Kuhnhausen reacted to the stranger in her house. "She was struggling for her life, like any of us would," Derr said. "She's strong, solid in stature."

Residents of Kuhnhausen's neighborhood were pleased with her actions, and glad she wasn't hurt too bad.

They spoke of other break-ins around the neighborhood in recent months, as well as car prowls. Deanna Hall, who lives nearby, said a man entered her home in midafternoon July 13 when she was home with her three young children. She said she had to keep him at bay with a knife until he ran out, and police arrested him.

"I wish I had that much strength," Hall said, talking of Kuhnhausen.

She said Kuhnhausen's ability to withstand what she sees in the emergency room for three decades says a lot about her character.

"Anybody that could be the type of nurse she has been for so long says a lot about her compassion and love," she said. "But she knows when to put her foot down. And, she doesn't take crap from anybody."

Margaret Johnson might have looked like an easy target.

But when a mugger tried to grab a chain off her neck Friday, the wheelchair-bound 56-year-old pulled out her licensed .357 pistol and shot him, police said.

Johnson said she was in Manhattan's Harlem neighborhood on her way to a shooting range when the man, identified by police as 45-year-old Deron Johnson, came up from behind and went for the chain.

"There's not much to it," she said in a brief interview. "Somebody tried to mug me, and I shot him."

Deron Johnson was taken to Harlem Hospital with a single bullet wound in the elbow, police said. He faces a robbery charge, said Lt. John Grimpel, a police spokesman.

Margaret Johnson, who lives in Harlem, has a permit for the weapon and does not face charges, Grimpel said. She also was taken to the hospital with minor injuries and later released.

Strangling an armed opponent is far more badass than shooting an unarmed one.  Wheelchair or no.

Haffey -- a slight man of about 5-foot-9 and 180 pounds,

Kuhnhausen's size, at about 5-foot-7, 260 pounds, may have also given her some advantage over her opponent, neighbors said. 

MAY have?  Fuck that's a huge advantage. She was only 2" shorter but was 80 pounds heavier.  She weighed 20 pounds more than me and I'm not a lightweight for 5'-11".

Kuhnhausen's size, at about 5-foot-7, 260 pounds

What is the difference between a reasonable degree of deadly force and an unreasonable degree of deadly force? How the corpse looks afterwards?

What is the difference between a reasonable degree of deadly force and an unreasonable degree of deadly force? How the corpse loots afterwards?

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/14859827/?GT1=8506 (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/14859827/?GT1=8506)

Turns out the intruder was actually a hit man hired to kill her by her ex-husband.

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

WTF?  Remind me never to hire that guy to kill anyone for me.

Haha touché. Although at least we didn't invite deep-fried candy bars.