Man kills neighbor over missing PS3

Edward Keith Stoddard Jr. really likes his PlayStation 3. So much, in fact, that if you were to touch his PS3, he may just kill you. Such was the fate of his neighbor, Douglas F. Abrams, who Stoddard believed had taken his console. During an argument over the missing system, police say Stoddard shot Abrams, fatally wounding him. When cops showed up on the scene, Stoddard surrendered and was taken to Land O'Lakes jail (no, really) in Dade County, Florida. It's okay to love your console, people -- just don't get jealous if it drops by the neighbor's house for some tea.

[Via PS3Fanboy]

[happy_penguin @ May 9th 2008 3:07PM]

Pathetic.

[Jeff @ May 9th 2008 3:20PM]

...it might not be so much about the console as it was just rage about having *something expensive* stolen from him.

It's still outrageous, and unjustifiable, but would it be "pathetic" if it were, say, an expensive piece of jewelry? or art? or just about anything other than a console?

maybe, maybe not. just a thought.

[Blackstar @ May 9th 2008 3:33PM]

Guns don't kill people. It's those damn game consoles.

[jaalin @ May 9th 2008 5:53PM]

go away jack nobody likes you

[mymaclife @ May 9th 2008 3:57PM]

Wow yo can now have Sociology lessons on Engadget from Jeff, who needs a college with these kind of insights?

[NineT9 @ May 9th 2008 4:11PM]

completly understandable

[death @ May 9th 2008 4:21PM]

Ahhh livin' ta life.

Can u say liberty city, give a GTA fan some ammo and a good reason.

JK of course this guy is unstable.

[OneLove @ May 9th 2008 4:20PM]

Dude just wanted to bust a cap.

[OneLove @ May 9th 2008 4:22PM]

...or maybe he thought the guy would re spawn in another state.

[Idlemind @ May 9th 2008 4:52PM]

I hope someone in Florida gets to play Electric Chair Hero in a few months...

[KEROLiUKAS @ May 9th 2008 4:58PM]

This is obviously not aobut the console, and if you're stupid, you can believe so, and say he loves the console, but it's obviously about the money/material value of the console...

[CUBSWILLWIN @ May 9th 2008 6:49PM]

the money and value has to do with the console...

[BigD145 @ May 9th 2008 8:26PM]

You can't expect much out of Florida. By law, that guy was almost in the right.

[mymaclife @ May 10th 2008 3:46AM]

He must have massive hands if you look at the size of his fingerprint next to his head!

[derF @ May 9th 2008 3:09PM]

Rot in jail, buddy.

[Tyson @ May 9th 2008 3:33PM]

No the club of fanboys are taking up a fund to get him a great lawyer and lobby for a law change that will allow defense of one's PS3, even if it means killing a man.

[Raheem @ May 9th 2008 4:25PM]

Sony Defence Force?

[Pochi @ May 9th 2008 3:09PM]

I don't think Engadget should post about murders.

I mean sure it's a gadget blog, but most easily taken things of value are gadgets now, so most violent crimes commited over thievery will likely be over a gadget.

I really don't visit Engadget to read about murder. Just my two cents, though. To each his own.

[BladeSling @ May 9th 2008 3:13PM]

I agree... I don't think you need to tell us not to kill people over a PS3 or any other gadgets.

[Jordan @ May 9th 2008 3:16PM]

I find it interesting. But thats just my opinion.

[retro77 @ May 9th 2008 3:17PM]

One more reason why we should not buy a PS3, you might have to kill someone.

[aaron @ May 9th 2008 3:22PM]

@retro

You Sir, are an idiot.

[retro77 @ May 9th 2008 3:28PM]

@aaron: boo hoo

[Amerist @ May 9th 2008 3:52PM]

I agree with Jordan. I also find it interesting. However loosely tech-related it may be, I'm still glad Engadget included this article.

[GRT @ May 9th 2008 3:53PM]

Agreed.

And we have the mainstream media if we want to get our sensationalist "video games turn everyone into homicidal lunatics" stories.

[Pochi @ May 9th 2008 3:55PM]

@Jordan, Amerist

What are the interesting parts of this story, exactly?

"Some psycho killed his neighbor because he thought he stole something."

That's interesting...?

[warrrennnnn @ May 9th 2008 7:33PM]

Uhh, pretty much, yeah. It's interesting. It's about murder for a reason that most normal people would shrug off. Making it a talking point. That's news. News that is shown on a normal news segment. Since this blog deals with gadgets and the news that surround them, this is a valid post.

I'm sorry if you take people dying offensively. I'll try to hold out for as long as possible. Keep my hands off my friend's PS3, that sort of thing.

[Pochi @ May 11th 2008 8:21AM]

@warrrennnnn

You posted "first : ]" recently.

Your opinion doesn't count.

[Shadowise @ May 9th 2008 3:10PM]

The way the article was written really makes light of the situation. Are we really in a situation when stuff like this needs a comic write-up?

[JC @ May 9th 2008 4:43PM]

The terrorists have won.

[viscid @ May 9th 2008 3:13PM]

That's what you get when you play Grand Theft Auto IV all day.

[JAmerican @ May 9th 2008 3:31PM]

I bet your Jack Thompson or related to him in some way.

[SkoGoody @ May 9th 2008 3:55PM]

I have no doubt in my mind that this guy was obsessively playing GTAIV all day right before this happened. On a serious note... I'm 26 and completely sane... But after hours spent in that world... You honestly start to blur the line between real and fantasy. GTA is one of those games that sticks with you well after playing it.

Have you ever noticed after hours of playing... you jump into your car to drive somewhere and you almost catch yourself thinking about speeding around cars or hitting pedestrians?... among other things I might add.

It's scary to think what happens when this game gets into the hands of people that don't have that little voice in their head telling them, "it's only a game." Thank heavens for my little voice...

[OneLove @ May 9th 2008 4:24PM]

you have just proven that you are not sane

[Zak @ May 9th 2008 4:37PM]

You don't kill somebody like that unless you have mental problems to begin with. It has nothing to do with video games. Nothing.

I've played video games my whole life, want to guess how many people I've killed?

[ZeroCorpse @ May 9th 2008 4:47PM]

I'll admit it: After driving in GTA IV, I do- for a split second- think about driving around other cars when I'm on the road.

The sensation doesn't last long, but I have made it a point to wait about five minutes or so after playing GTA IV to get in a car.

It's not that the lines are blurring-- It's that GTA IV presents the driving in such a realistic fashion that it almost makes it feasible to break a few traffic laws. I'm not inspired to mow down pedestrians or anything, but I do think, "I could get to the building if I just cut across the lawn." for a moment, before my anchor in reality drags me back.

A good counter for this is to think what the roads would be like if EVERYBODY drove the way you do in GTA IV. That's a scary enough thought to sober you right up.

GTA IV multiplayer games remind me of a full fledged, realistic version of the old CAR WARS board game. If only we could mount guns on the vehicles. . .

[SkoGoody @ May 9th 2008 5:43PM]

@OneLove:
I knew I set myself up for someone to say that... But I have the courage to admit it. You're kidding yourself if you've never gotten into your car after playing GTAIV and thought... "Go Motherfucker... God damn... If this was GTA... You'd be dead!" Hahaha... I swear... I catch myself saying that while I'm driving behind a slow driver all the time. Which is why I love GTA soo much... When someone's driving really slow... You either spray their car with bullets or pull them out the car and blow their brains out. Ahh... Satisfying.

@ZeroCorpse:
That is on the most remote level... but I too always look at those spots of land that I could cut across to avoid traffic... All thanks to the very realistic driving of GTA... And yes, I have thought about if everyone in the world of GTA drove like how I did... It would be a terrible game... haha. Let's just hope they never incorporate getting a "wanted" level for breaking the traffic laws in GTA... Cause then honestly... the game would then be too real for it's own good.

[monkfishbandana @ May 9th 2008 8:14PM]

@ SkoGoody

I think what your saying means that there is something wrong with you. Never after playing GTA have I (nor many others) gotten into a car and though "yeah, can you imagine if I killed those guys in front?"

And the realistic driving style of GTA? Games today cannot be realistic in that sense. Even GT, which is acclaimed to be a driving simulator, can't put you in the position of what it really feels like to control a car. When NORMAL people get into cars after playing video games, I very much doubt they give avoiding pedestrians and other very real objects a second thought.

[c.Lake @ May 11th 2008 3:24AM]

@skoGoody

Please! Stop. GTA does stick with you, but so does Final Fantasy and Zelda. Why isn't anybody shooting over thoughs games?

Shooting some one for ANY REASON other then self defense is wrong, everybody KNOWS this, no matter how many times crimals try to justify it, blame other people, or are just plain dicks. I've played GTA, its fun, its fantasy -- that's all it is.

As for that little voice... that's a whole other issue.

[retro77 @ May 9th 2008 3:13PM]

So many jokes just on the name of the jail...
-No need to bring your own lube to that jail
-I can't believe its...oh it is real butter....jail

[retro77 @ May 9th 2008 3:15PM]

This just in: convicts have escaped the Land O'Lakes jail by eating their way out, they got to the highway and all promptly fell to the ground, suffering from heart attacks.

[Juaquin @ May 9th 2008 5:05PM]

You could be the next Dane Cook

[Marc @ May 9th 2008 3:13PM]

I wonder who will be first to turn this into a M$ vs. Playstation fanboy flame war...

[retro77 @ May 9th 2008 3:16PM]

Good job

[ethana2 @ May 9th 2008 3:51PM]

We all know the PS3 is a home brew friendly domestic supercomputer packing the fiery power of the IBM Cell Broadband Engine-- but we have to ask ourselves what brew was this guy on when he resorted to the fiery power of a gun he was packing after the PS3 was taken from his friendly domestic home.
(HAHA look! Somebody died! HAHAHA!)

Give their twisted sense of humor a break guys, I understand the writers are mac users.

[Jordan @ May 9th 2008 3:14PM]

Now that is a fanboy for you...

[IT-Accountant @ May 9th 2008 3:14PM]

Wow... all jokes about fanboyism aside, that's really pathetic.

I feel terrible for being amused by this tragedy.

[jalapeno @ May 9th 2008 3:15PM]

How come these things always happen in Florida? We just can't catch a break!

[don @ May 9th 2008 3:48PM]

This is what happens when the most realistic science education in the state comes from "Epcot Center". Florida is where ignorance is born.

[Low Ranked @ May 9th 2008 3:49PM]

Florida: Where America goes to die.