Just keep having different reactions to this story. Initially, it was the simple 'well, what do you expect?' Another concern being a rapid upswing in sword sales followed by God Knows What. The mind shudders.

As a former lawyer, it appears to me that the only salient issue is whether the killer acted reasonably in self-defense, or under some other legally recognized defense or excuse. If the student had simply dispatched an apparently unarmed suspect for trespassing onto someone's property, it would clearly be a legally unjustifiable killing of one degree or another. If the evidence is credible, however, that the decedent did, in fact, lunge at the samurai-student, on the other hand, then I would say that the decedent's being unarmed becomes irrelevant, because his lunge could be reasonably interpreted by the samurai-student as an attempt to disarm him, thus putting him at the dubious mercy of a thus-armed trespasser and presumed burglar, meaning that the lunge per se reasonably represented to the samurai-student a potentially life-threatening action on the part of someone who was already found in the commission of a crime (trespassing, at a minimum).

give him a medal

Criminals deserve what they Get. People learn that the police arent going to protect them and they might get shot or stabbed they will stop. People only are responsible for their actions when there are consequences. Some goes for the elite criminals who think they are above the law.

The man was a repeat offender and when you play with fire you get burned, I'm glad somebody took him out he was clearly a problem.

This student alone probably would have saved taxpayers lots of money in the future, there is nothing wrong with defending your property, something the cops were unable to do, good for him

One less scumbag on the streets

Sorry Trina, but "there is nothing wrong with defending your property" isn't really the law--it's well established that you are not privileged to use deadly force to defend property alone.

The classic homeowner who justifiably shoots the burglar downstairs isn't protecting his stuff, he's protecting his life and the lives of others in the house.

That's why, for example, setting a booby trap to defend an empty property can be manslaughter or even murder.

It's also why 'Jake Prufrock' above is correct -- the question is whether the swordsman was acting in the reasonable belief that he was protecting himself (or another) from serious injury or death. Additionally, it's probably relevant whether he had nowhere to retreat or no other way to avoid using deadly force.

It is interesting that in this news story you've got the legal system with its wooden rooms where judges and lawyers play all day and then you've got the court of public opinion.

Don't really care what the "law" says in this case. I am just happy that a worthless repeat criminal was killed. I don't care that it was in a garage or near a garage.

Could have been in the middle of a nice big green field and the criminal could have been minding his own business.

As a trained martial artist, the lunge described does seem an attempt to disarm. If I am carrying a weapon at my side and someone lunges at me, I will assume they intend to attack me and draw my weapon immediately. But just as a firearms user is not trained to brandish a weapon, but instead to pull it out and immediately use it -- a swordsman is not trained to brandish a weapon except in certain circumstances, usually those when the other side is equally equipped with a weapon. The swordsman pulls his weapon and immediately uses it.

As the other commenters have put forth, this man saved the taxpayers several tens of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Pretty basic rules: 1) don't tresspass. 2) leave when asked. 3) don't menace. 4) don't survive.

The law really needs to be changed. If you've been freshly robbed and you have probable cause to believe that you're dealing with the person who stole your stuff, you have the right to kill that person.

Ideally though, you should threaten them with death first to ascertain the whereabouts your things and let them off provided they give you your stuff back plus everything else on them.

I'm just glad that piece of trash is worm chow.