Copper Thieves Steal Lives

I put this video together and sent it to the Iowa Legislature in support of House Study Bill 660, a proposed bill that aims to crack down on copper theft. My stepfather of 25 years, Earl Thelander, lost his life in an explosion at this home caused by copper theft. Some of the video quality was lost converting the file from QuickTime to MPEG-4 -- but I thank you for taking the time to view it nonetheless. For more information on what happened to Earl, please visit: http://iowacoldcases.org/case-summaries/earl-thelander/

Category:

News & Politics

Tags:

• Copper
• theft
• Iowa
• propane
• explosions
• unsolved
• homicides
• Earl
• Thelander
• crime
• legislature
• Documentary
• News

[TheRudeClown]

i hope they catch the person responsible in this matter. I caught one last month in my barn taking copper pipe and when i confronted him, he pulled a knife on me but dropped it after he saw the shotgun pointed at him

[jrewing02]

@TheRudeClown Thank you for your comment. I'm glad you had your shotgun with you! Did you know the person you caught in your barn?

[jrewing02]

@TheRudeClown Thank you for your comment. I'm glad you had your shotgun with you! Did you recognize the person in your barn?

[MrBaldridge1988]

sorry about your loss did they ever catch the theif

[jrewing02]

@MrBaldridge1988 Thank you for your kind words. Unfortunately, there still have been no arrests in the case.

[hvguy]

wow.... i would partly blame the lazy law enforcement.

[jrewing02]

@hvguy Thanks for commenting. I think LE know they screwed up by not calling the fire dept, as that is standard procedure in events like these. If the fire dept. had been there monitoring gas levels, Earl would never have entered the home later in the day and been killed, despite the copper thieves stealing the copper.

[TheRudeClown]

@jrewing02 i was told by the police that he was a person who is a known troublemaker in the area. the pipe had carried water from the barn to the house for heating during the winter.

[jrewing02]

@TheDarkBlob No, Earl and my mother owned the rental property from which the copper was stolen. Earl discovered the gas leak early morning and law enforcement officials were called. Later in the day when Earl returned to see how things were going, officials were gone and the "crime scene" hadn't been taped off, so Earl felt it safe to work. When he plugged something in, remaining fumes (he didn't smell) ignited the explosion. He didn't know LE had not called the fire dept to monitor gas levels.

[CreationPhotography]

sin is the leading cause of death  JESUS is the leading cause of salvation

[TheDarkBlob]

was it he who stole it???