Aaron Vargas, around age 11
Last winter, a crime occurred in the tiny town of Fort Bragg, CA, that crime which shocked the very conservative community, led to an even more shocking revelation, one which has thus far proven to be the ruin of a young man’s life. On February 8, 2009, Aaron Vargas, 31, drove to the home of Darrell McNeill, 63, entered his trailer and shot him once in the chest. McNeill’s wife Liz, was at home and witnessed the shooting. Vargas stayed for about 20 minutes and though he never threatened her, he would not allow Liz McNeill to call the police, until he was certain that her husband was dead. Vargas then disassembled the antique muzzle-loaded pistol he had used and left it on the counter. He then got back in his car and drove to his parents home, where he was soon arrested. During that rather brief and incredibly tense visit, Aaron told his parent that he had just killed the man who had molested him for several years, beginning at the age of 11. Twenty years earlier, the McNeill and Vargas families had been neighbors. Michael McNeill and Aaron were friends. According to Aaron, it was during a camping trip with the McNeills when he was 11 years old that Darrell first molested him. Michael McNeill would later come forward and report that he too, had been molested by his father Darrell. The molestations and psychological torture continued for many years. Aaron‘s defense attorney Tom Hudson told the Press Democrat: "There was a continuation of harassing Aaron and molesting Aaron. The older Aaron got, the more sporadic the sexual action became. But on the other hand, the more energetic McNeill was in trying to further contact him." According to Aaron’s fiance Selena Barnett, Darrell McNeill had been making frequent visits to their house, and repeatedly asking to see, and even babysit the couple’s 9-month-old daughter. Aaron’s sister Mindy Gallani recently told me: “He was afraid of him coming after his daughter.” She went on: “I mean he molested his own kids.” It was a few days before the shooting, that Michael McNeill called Aaron and told him about the years of abuse he suffered at the hands of his own father. The years of sexual and mental abuse, the stress of keeping that terrible secret, and the continued harassment now with his own daughter as a potential target, all pushed Aaron to the breaking point that Sunday night in February. His sister said: “I don’t think Aaron had the intent to kill him, I think he went over there to scare him, to tell him to leave my family alone.” Since that fateful night, Aaron has been sitting in a jail cell. The wedding he and Selena had planned has been postponed, his baby daughter growing up without her Daddy. Also, since that night, several other men have come forward and reported that Darrell McNeill had molested them as well. As for McNeill’s family, they support Aaron, and regularly show up in court on his behalf. They even protest on the street in front of the Mendocino County Jail, where Aaron is being held. Darrell‘s widow, Liz said: "What I learned that night, I didn't know had happened.” Liz has urged the district attorney to reduce the charges against the man who killed her husband. Aaron Vargas has been charged with first degree murder, his trial is set for January. Tomorrow, we will ask the question…Could the police have prevented this outcome? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
Comments
Tomorrow, we will ask the question…Could the police have prevented this outcome?
Aaron made the choice that February day.... What could have the Police done to prevent this outcome if he didn't report the crimes that had been commited. Now, becasue he "Murdered" a man (not to say he was a good man) it is the Police's fault. Aaron only has himself to blame for his actions.
um lets see; are the police to blame? well yes when you realise that two separate and unrelated people had not only lodged complaints with the police with one of those people even providing evidence - i.e. photographs found in McNeils possession on YOUNg boys naked! that should have at least earned him a child pornography charge, after which prehaps victims may have come forward if it was not buried because this waste of oxygen was such a "pillar of the community". the other victim made a declaration and what happened to his complaint - nothing when he refused to to encourage an young employee of McNeil's to act as bait. these crimes were reported... and the police didnt do shit. i wish this guy had of had his dick cut off and had lived only long enough to have to suffer with the whole town knowing what a creep he was before being being burned at the stake. good luck Aaron, sometimes what you can't do for yourself, you find the strength to do for others.
I understand what you say about the police. They had no idea. However, "Aaron only has himself to blame for his actions." I think the man that was sexually molesting him throughout the most crucial times in a persons development MAY have had a hand...
I am not a fan of killing - but this case is an exception. I have read other articles about it. People did go to the police and nothing was done. In each of these types of cases - someone in authority did not do their job.
If you go to www.saveaaron.com you'll read about how the abuse was reported to the police several times over a couple of decades. The police did NOTHING. What are we to do when the police fail to protect us. "Aaron only has himself to blame".... come on. He was abused, stalked, harassed, etc. by this predator. He felt his child was in danger. As a parent, I would do whatever necessary to protect my child. I couldn't imagine being a victim of the sexual predator who was after my child. Imagine the psychological damage done to Aaron by this abuser, and the protective instincts he was feeling for his child, all while feeling as if nobody will help, not even the police. That is a desperate situation.
I feel deeply for Aaron and his family through this tragedy, but can not see how anyone can condone retaliation through murder. What type of message does that send to our children as they grow up? That if someone harms you it's okay to kill them? I know the justice system has failed many victims and that is a tragedy in and of itself. If everyone takes justice into their own hands, how can that improve the already violent world we live in? I feel angry at the police that nothing was ever done, but I can not bring myself to logically accept that murder is an acceptable answer. I hope that McNeill is rotting in hell and am VERY glad that he can no longer hurt anyone else. Child molesters are the most sick depraved low life scum of our society and thanks to the damage they cause there are MILLIONS of children and adults effected. BUT nothing can come from violence begetting more violence. The cycle has to stop somewhere.
yeah so sad, it stops when this son a bitch was dead. get real. if someone does you smacks you in the face of course its wrong to take their life, but are you gonna try and tell me that if some continually RAPED and MOLESTED your kid for over 20 years and then was gonna do it to your grand kid you would'nt think it would be better for them to be dead?! stop hiding behind PC"ness and just admit it. if someone messed with my kids i'd kill them. next your gonna be saying that Hitler deserved to live too. im sorry but i would rather teach my kids that they can protect themselves. we are not talking about some jerk who took your lunch money here, we are talking about a predator who was only gonna stop for 2 reasons 1) death or 2) old age when he is just told old to physically carry it out. thank god death came first. eye for an eye...
I hope Aaron gets aquitted. He had every right to fear this man, and I'll bet he suffers from PTSD to boot. His tormentor knew he had gotten away with it for years, and probably felt like he could get away with it with Aaron's child too. If the guy who killed Dominic Dunne's daughter could get out after four years for killing in the heat of passion, then Aaron should never see one day in prison. If anything, he saved countless children from suffering the same fate.
As someone from the Fort Bragg community, I'm actually shocked at the amount of support Aaron is getting. Of course I feel badly for what he had to go through in his youth, and there was no excuse for that molester's unspeakible crimes, but since when is it okay to play judge, jury and exicutioner? No justice was served that day and now a daughter will most likely go without a dad.
In all reality there are actually 4 daughters without their dad now. I have love for all this has affected.
why not kill the sick basterds that molest our children? we are paying for them to live in jail with our tax dollars, just for the justice system to let them out a few years later to continue to molest children! our goverment is corrupt! an eye for an eye is what i say! Aaron is not to blame, if the police would have done their job maby this would not have happened! rejoice darrell is dead!!!!
I think the defendant is on trial for murder, not a victim on the stand for what happened to him. Why all this fuss and website to somehow justify or mitigate the charge. If every victim of every crime set up a website and killed someone that did something wrong to them, we would have a world of killers. There are avenues to pursue and ways to deal with being a victim. If the guy admitted killing- he should plead guilty and look tothe court for a reduced sentence. This is a sentencing issue- NOT a guilty/innicent issue.
To "No-one Wins" - clearly you have never been raped or molested in your lifetime and have no idea what you're talking about. Do you even have children? Because if you do, what kind of parent would willingly expose their own child to the same treatment? I hear where you're coming from, but please don't say you're "shocked" about the support Aaron is getting, because thats just SO naive! HE was the victim. Yes, things got out of hand, but we all face consequences for our actions - bottom line is that Darrell McNeill didn't deserve any better treatment than what was dished out to him at the end - sad but true. I'm in Port Elizabeth, South Africa, and I would be there in a second to support Aaron. Rather get down on your knees and pray to God that you and members of your family are never subjected to the same treatment that Aaron was.
YES, let's spring Aaron Vargas and get him off the hook. He deserves to beat this rap. Just because the fragile justice system fails under good conditions, why bother with it when it fails under normal conditions. Let's kick the prosecution of justice until it dies or has the decency to play dead. Let's embrace our most primitive fears and sensibilities over accusations of child abuse and allow frontier justice to masturbate shamelessly right in front of us. Let's put Aaron and other alleged victims of justice on pedestals so high no one dare challenge their right to play judge, jury, and executioner, especially of the truth. Don't forget this is about decency and the right of alleged victims to harness the same dark forces, values and demons that have more in common with the perps and predators among us than anyone wants to admit.
excuse me? alleged victims/ accusations!? are you living in disneyland are are sympathetic to paedaphiles who always claim to be "unjustly accoused"??? there are 12 victims all, with reporting the employment of the same MO by that scum... dont try and make this a Lets Defend the Justice System debate because this is definatley not the right forum! it failed! and 12 people and their families are suffering! and a peice of shit is dead! you make me sick. your precious JUSTICE system is based on frontier justice.
It's amazing how quick so many people are to judge Aaron. The poor guy had been tortured for years by this monster...had to deal with this nightmare all by himself...He did the world a favor by finally DEFENDING HIMSELF and putting a final end to a decades long horror. Perhaps those judging Aaron cannot relate, don't have sympathy nor empathy (I also wonder if those people are not also monsters themselves?)? I was also sexually abused as a child, so maybe that is the reason I FULLY SUPPORT AARON VARGAS. I think it's very unfortunate that it had to end that way...but the abuse HAD TO END. No one else was had stepped up to the plate. Aaron needs therapy to get over his enormous hurts, NOT JAIL.
It is so hideous to see this kind of of things. Nobody would ever be able to imagine the traumatic moments and fear that Aaron was going through. Unfortunately, the Criminal Justice system doesn’t care about the reason as to why people kill, but let me tell you, nobody can defeat God’s justice system.
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