An Iowa truck driver was convicted of second-degree murder on Friday for fatally shooting a woman in an Aurora parking lot, according to a Monday news release from the 18th Judicial District Attorney’s Office.
John Thoren, 44, is charged with second-degree murder, a class two felony, and violent crime/use of a weapon.
On the night of October 28, 2022, Thoren was sleeping in his semi-truck at a Boot Barn parking lot on 6360 South Parker Road. He said he awoke around 2:30 a.m. to an unknown woman throwing rocks at the driver’s side of his truck, according to the release.
The woman, Rachel Holmes, 46, was shot with a 9mm gun and pronounced dead on-scene. Thoren called 911 to report the shooting, but did not render aid, according to the release.
Thoren was taken to police headquarters and interviewed by homicide detectives. When questioned, he said he was scared for his safety and admitted to shooting the victim. Investigators found discrepancies in the version of events Thoren told officers who first arrived on scene and what he later told homicide investigators, according to the arrest affidavit.
When asked why he didn’t drive away or call 911 to defuse the situation, Thoren told investigators that he was scared and felt cornered. “My number one intention was to protect myself,” he said, according to the affidavit. “That was my intent, whatever I had to do to do it.”
Thoren also stated that he does not believe in warning shots, according to the affidavit.
Following the interviews, he was arrested and booked into the city’s jail with a $500,000 bond. Officers found minimal evidence of damage to Thoren’s semi-truck, according to the release.
“While citizens have the right to bear arms and protect themselves from imminent danger, the evidence doesn’t support this defendant’s claims that his life was in danger,” District Attorney John Kellner said in the release. “Jurors recognized this was not a case of self-defense.”
Thoren will receive his sentence on July 22.
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