Jack Retta

Deadly force

Retta was connected to the knife slaying of a local couple. State troopers surrounded his "fortified" house where Retta held them off with a shotgun, until emerging briefly to shoot at a tree where snipers had taken cover. Hit by return fire, Retta retreated, called 911, then threatened officers again. He was shot to death. Prosecutors took the extraordinary measure of indicting him posthumously solely to inform a grand jury investigation into whether this killing was justified.