Andrew McClurg

Well, everyone knew everyone in this very small town called Eddyville, and everyone apparently knew the Brineys.

And they left it unoccupied for 10 years.

And it was an uninhabited old farmhouse and out in the middle of nowhere, basically.

But they kept items of value apparently in there.

People had repeatedly broken into this house.

So they basically boarded up the windows and put tin over the windows to try to keep people from breaking in, but that was unsuccessful.

because they were fed up, as I think Mr. Barney, I think those were his words, they were just fed up with people breaking in.

Originally, the barrel was aimed to hit the intruder in the stomach.

Ed Briney, the husband, wired it, and his wife, Mrs. Briney, that paragon of reasonableness that she was, suggested he lower it to just shoot the intruder in the leg.

There were no trespassing signs that they had on the land for several years.

Just regular no trespass signs.

There were no warnings that there was a deadly trap inside.

A booby trap.

And he had an interest in collecting, apparently, jars and bottles that he considered to be valuable antiques.

And one day he broke into an abandoned, not abandoned actually, an uninhabited farmhouse out in the country about seven miles away.

So he removed a board or a piece of tin and entered the house.

And when he pulled on the bedroom door, the shotgun trap went off and blew away a substantial portion of his leg.

Well, first, absolutely he knew, and he admitted he knew it was wrong and criminal, and he was originally charged with a felony, but ended up pleading guilty to a misdemeanor.

It's very important principle, I think, because this is where people get it wrong.

So the fact is, is that if this had been an occupied house, if somebody breaks into my house, I don't own a gun, but if I did, if somebody broke into my house,