Solved case · 2004
Also known as Killing of Jim Pouillon · Jim Pouillon's murder
The short answer
On September 11, 2009, anti-abortion activist Jim Pouillon was shot and killed while protesting outside Owosso High School in Owosso, Michigan. The same gunman, Harlan James Drake, also fatally shot businessman Michael Fuoss at a separate location that morning. Drake was convicted of two counts of first-degree murder and sentenced to two life terms.
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Suggest coverage for Murder of Jim PouillonOn the morning of September 11, 2009, 63-year-old activist Jim Pouillon was shot and killed while leading a protest against abortion across the street from Owosso High School in Owosso, Michigan. He had been protesting against abortion since 1988 and was a member of Operation Save America. Pouillon relied on an oxygen tank to breathe. His death was evidently the first known killing of an activist while protesting against abortion.
Pouillon was shot at 7:20 a.m. EDT by a gunman firing from a passing vehicle. A witness recorded the vehicle's license plate number. Around the same time, police were alerted to a second shooting: businessman Michael Fuoss had been shot 17 times at a gravel business he owned. While killing Fuoss, the gunman reportedly told him, "You should be nicer to your employees." Within an hour of Pouillon's shooting, police traced the recorded license plate to Harlan James Drake, a trucker born March 8, 1976, and arrested him. Drake indicated he had shot both victims.
Police said Drake was offended by anti-abortion material Pouillon had displayed near the school in the preceding week. Drake stated he killed Pouillon because he and his mother were upset by a graphic, bloody sign displayed where children could see it. A spokesperson for the Center for Reproductive Rights said the shooting did not appear tied to the abortion debate and that Drake was not an abortion-rights activist. Authorities said Fuoss had no connection to the anti-abortion movement.
While in custody awaiting trial, Drake attempted suicide by breaking a television and using the glass to cut his wrists. His attorney, Robert Ashley, argued Drake suffered from depression stemming from a 2004 motor-vehicle accident that killed two teenagers — an accident in which Drake was involved but not found legally responsible — and that this rendered him mentally incompetent at the time of the killings. On September 30, 2009, Drake was found incompetent to stand trial and was remanded to the Michigan Department of Mental Health. He was later declared fit to stand trial. During testimony, Drake described committing the murders and made jokes, testimony described as damaging to his defense. On March 11, 2010, a jury found Drake guilty on both counts of first-degree murder. On April 22, 2010, he was sentenced to life imprisonment and expressed remorse for the pain caused to the victims' families.
Anti-abortion groups and leaders described Pouillon as a martyr. Lori Lamerand, president of Planned Parenthood East Central Michigan, called the killing tragic and expressed concern about potential retaliation. President Barack Obama called the killing "deplorable," saying violence is never the right answer regardless of which side of a public debate one is on. Pouillon's family offered conflicting accounts of him: his daughter Mary Jo Pouillon described him as not wanting to hurt anyone who hadn't hurt his family, while his estranged son, Dr. James M. Pouillon, wrote that his father used the protests to harass and threaten women, including female family members.
Jim Pouillon began protesting against abortion.
Harlan James Drake was involved in a motor-vehicle accident that killed two teenagers; he was not found legally responsible.
Jim Pouillon was fatally shot while protesting outside Owosso High School in Owosso, Michigan; businessman Michael Fuoss was fatally shot at a separate location by the same gunman. Harlan James Drake was arrested within an hour.
Drake was deemed incompetent to stand trial and remanded to the Michigan Department of Mental Health.
A jury found Drake guilty on two counts of first-degree murder.
Drake was sentenced to two life terms and expressed remorse.
Victims first. Every legal label is set from public records and court outcomes, not from the prose.
Anti-abortion activist fatally shot while protesting outside Owosso High School on September 11, 2009.[3]
Businessman fatally shot 17 times at his gravel business by the same gunman on September 11, 2009.[3]
Convicted of two counts of first-degree murder for the killings of Jim Pouillon and Michael Fuoss; sentenced to two life terms on April 22, 2010.[3]
From the record
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