According to police investigators, James Dalton, 45, the Uber driver accused of randomly shooting eight and killing six people in the Kalamazoo area, said he did so under the demonic mind control of the Uber app on his phone. “It feels like it is coming from the phone itself,” Dalton told the police.
He said that first a pentagram, an inverted five pointed star, would appear on his phone and then a figure he described as the devil would pop up through Uber when he pressed the app button. Dalton described the figure as a “horned cow head or something like that and then it would give you an assignment and it would literally take over your whole body.”
He said that he didn’t aim, and that the demon in the Uber app controlled his arm.
Dalton has been charged with both murder and attempted murder in the Feb. 20 shootings that took place over a five hour period, apparently interspersed with Dalton picking up Uber fares in his blue Chevrolet HHR. He told investigators that at some point during the shooting spree he went home and fired a shotgun into his garden shed, in the direction of what he said was controlling him, apparently to stop it.
The alleged shooter, who was carrying a loaded 9 mm handgun and wearing a bulletproof vest when he was arrested, told officers that he decided not to get into a shootout with them because the color of the Uber app on his phone changed from black to red.
Dalton’s attorney, Eusebio Solis, told a judge at a preliminary examination earlier in March that his client doesn’t seem to understand the case against him, even though Dalton has told police that he understood that he had killed. Solis asked for and was granted an order for Dalton to be evaluated at Michigan’s Center for Forensic Psychiatry in Ann Arbor.
Dalton has no reported history of mental illness. So far Uber has not commented on these latest developments. Police say that they doubt that he was inspired by his Uber app.
[Image Source: Kalamazoo County Sheriff’s Office]
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EXECUTE HIM.
No death penalty in Michigan, which is madness.
Well that’s good, the taxpayers there get to cover his hotel fees for the rest of his life.
Still cheaper than a death sentence and the subsequent appeals, though.
How’s that work, though? Jail includes appeals as well. There has to be a point of intersection of costs.
Also, why so much to put someone down? Vets can do it to your old cat for what, $75? :D
CoreyDL
Can’t reply to your reply, so I’ll reply to your original comment. Here’s an article from Forbes that explains it.
http://www.forbes.com/sites/kellyphillipserb/2014/05/01/considering-the-death-penalty-your-tax-dollars-at-work/#7ce5a04d17f0
Makes sense, legal costs so much higher for the death row route, while prison spending has increased as well – no doubt due to the drugs these sickos need for mental and physical health.
This makes me ask how other countries do it for much cheaper. It seems like the US has such inefficiencies on anything dealing with life/death/health.
On another note, if the drugs route is too “risky” and that it might take a while and “torture” the inmate – bullets work just fine. Two oughta do it.
Madness is giving an organization as demonstrably inept as the state of Michigan the authority to outright kill people.
Someday when they figure out how to properly fill potholes we can then have a discussion about giving them the power of life and death.
But they have the authority to lock you in a cell for the rest of your life?
I’ll take death over that.
Good luck filing an appeal after you’re dead.
LOL, says someone never faced with the choice.
LOL, says someone who thinks his life has inherent value.
someday you might grow up and learn that the agencies responsible for the roads are completely separate from the agencies responsible for criminal justice, and that one does not take away from the other.
And then you’ll hopefully keep growing, and realize government is government. And obfuscation by compexification still just obfuscation.
Though I have no problem with capital punishment, if meted out fairly, I respect tradition and Michigan outlawed capital punishment soon after it became a state in 1837. You don’t change things like that willy-nilly.
Old Testament = Eye for an eye
New Testament = Turn the other cheek
Discuss.
Bonus query:
Was Jesus an anti-establishment, peace loving rebel, at least in part, due to the fact that his strict orthodox jewish father was so harsh?
no, it isn’t. you can undo a prison sentence, you can’t undo an execution.
and I’m not 100% opposed to capital punishment, but I think the burden of proof to win a conviction (proof beyond a reasonable doubt) is not stringent enough for a capital sentence.
The man is apparently delusional and severely mentally ill. I don’t know that that would be a just punishment.
It’s not about punishment. No need to torture the poor guy or anything. Just get rid of him. He’s broken and not worth fixing.
“He’s broken and not worth fixing.”
That belief has been applied multiple times throughout history.
DeadWeight mentioned the Old and New Testament.
Jesus must have been broken and not worth fixing too.
Religion goes right over my head. I completely failed to make the connection between Jesus and this guy.
The moral & constitutional appropriateness of the death penalty is a great, great topic for TTAC.
Next up: Trump vs Clinton.
Merrick Garland should/should not receive up/down vote.
Merits of The Federalist Papers in 21st Century American Society.
In Re Apple -v- DOJ (encryption).
. Strict scrutiny litmus test as it protects free speech of speaker vs rights of protestors during . such speech.
Should vendors shafted by government prepared/enabled bankruptcy of Government Motors have cause of action against against government to receive pecuniary damages.
You forgot to mention that the Super 7 is an inferior driving experience to the original Lotus 7, so your comment will be flagged (under the old “just bring it back to cars” rules).
Clinton, because she is basically sane. Yes, but it’s not a constitutional crisis if he doesn’t — just an extraordinary act of rudeness. They are observant about human nature but not too relevant about what the law should be. Apple, because otherwise there won’t be any internet anymore. There is a right–applicable to both sides–to get in a shouting match. No.
You need harder questions.
Wheeee!!!!
“Was Jesus an anti-establishment, peace loving rebel, at least in part, due to the fact that his strict orthodox jewish father was so harsh?”
“Next up: Trump vs Clinton.
Merrick Garland should/should not receive up/down vote.
Merits of The Federalist Papers in 21st Century American Society.
In Re Apple -v- DOJ (encryption).
. Strict scrutiny litmus test as it protects free speech of speaker vs rights of protestors during . such speech.”
Wheee!!! Wheee!!! And WOW. Nicely done.
I so sick of Uber taking over people’s brains.
Ruggles is seeking leave of the court, despite not being an attorney, to file an amicus brief arguing that these murders happened because Uber and similar services cut into or otherwise weaken automotive dealership franchise rights.
On a possibly-related note, while riding the R train this morning, there was a young man, normally dressed, but wearing a very convincing set of devil horns that were a good 8-10 inches long.
He’s probably friends with the guy who has the giant sticker on his coal-rolling truck that says “I’d Rather Be Cummin’ than Strokin’!”
The real joy is explaining to my 8 year old daughter (in a less than honest way) what that meant after we saw him in traffic.
“He wishes he could stop playing with his wee-wee so much, like that boy in your kindergarten class. At his age, it’s embarrassing. He’s crying for help.”
Did you go on a murderous rampage? No? Clearly public transportation is superior to Uber.
He was very well-behaved.
A bunch of year back on a subway platform in Brooklyn, I saw a disaffected-looking teenager wearing one of those “Hello I’m…” stickers introducing himself as “Satan”.
I think that app is affecting me too. Just this morning I looked at the icon and then looked at a Pontiac Aztek on craigslist. The Aztek looked really hot for a minute. Then my eyes re-focused and I came back to my senses.
Yep and then you went and looked at a ZDX just to make sure..
I was looking at 5-Series GT units on eBay today, and I actually started to like the design. Help.
Drugs are bad, mkay?
I would think the app would tell you to fire on cabs and transit buses so people would be afraid to use them and call Uber instead.
John
I understand people thinking that the devil is telling them to do stuff, what I don’t get is that they decide to listen to him.
The guy’s not really known for giving great advice.
Hey man, you should have some sympathy for the devil.
Sooo, I got this apple here. Maybe it’s a pear. Want a bite?
Would thou like… butter?
The truth is that Uber *is* evil. They are the worst kind of employer, offering no benefits or employee protection to their drivers all the while requiring them to adhere to ever-changing standards while the compensations rate is going down.
Yay! Everyone’s a self-employed contractor!
He’s now filed a complaint against Uber along those lines.
“My life is ruined because of Uber,” the letter states. “My wife is divorcing me because of Uber.”
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-nation/wp/2016/03/16/uber-driver-accused-of/
They should ask other Uber drivers if they’re seeing the same things. Maybe the guy has a point.
Just imagine the parade of witnesses in court, corroborating his claim. French taxi drivers would be euphoric.
This is one of those times where the guy’s craziness is just so crazy that I can’t help but wonder if he’s just laying the groundwork for an insanity defense.
There’s a very high burden of proof to meet in order to avoid criminal prosecution & conviction (leading to prison sentence imposed) by way of successfully meeting legal definition of “insanity”:
“Mental illness of such a severe nature that a person cannot distinguish fantasy from reality, cannot conduct her/his affairs due to psychosis, or is subject to uncontrollable impulsive behavior. Insanity is distinguished from low intelligence or mental deficiency due to age or injury.”
His story speaks so directly to that definition of insanity that it does draw his veracity into question. Did he actually cover them in order?