Burglar Dies After Being Tied to a Tree by Homeowner in Alabama

TALK ABOUT YOUR BIZARRE STORIES … DOES A CITIZEN HAVE A RIGHT TO DEFEND THEIR HOME?

68 year old Nathaniel Johnson finds himself in some hot water as the alleged burglar he tied to a tree has died. According to the Washington County Sheriff’s Office in Alabama,  around 10 p.m., Cleveland Gully broke the lock, and and was when Johnson tackled him to the ground, tied his hands behind his back and brought him to the  tree. Washington County Sheriff Richard Stringer said, “He began to tie him to the tree still in the standing up position.” Stringer went on to say, that Johnson used electrical wire and rope from a clothesline to tie him to the tree and then masking tape, “multiple layers of masking tape that he had wrapped around his mouth and all the way around his head.” Johnson called police; however, when police arrived to the scene, the burglar was dead.

FOX10 News | WALA

The Washington County Sheriff’s Office is investigating the death of an alleged burglar who was tied to a tree by a homeowner.

It happened on Spurgeon Road in Leroy late Friday night.

The homeowner is still being questioned.

“I would say this is a very unusual case,” said Washington County Sheriff Richard Stringer.

Stringer has interviewed 68-year-old Nathaniel Johnson all night in the county jail.

Deputies say his attempt to catch an alleged burglar went wrong, killing 31-year-old Cleveland Gully, who lives nearby.

Gully’s uncle is in disbelief his nephew is gone.

“I was surprised that it happened,” Michael Gully said. “He just wasn’t a violent person that I know of.”

According to the story Johnson told deputies, his home had been robbed before, and he wasn’t letting it happen again.