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The below excert from an internet article is one of the only columns that doesn't describe the defendant as a steroid abusing bodybuilding fanatic. Why are the press so obsessed with things like that? I mean what does it matter that he was a bodybuilder?, if he's guilty then convict him, why do they try and tye in the fact that he was a steroid using bodybuilder and tarnish the body building freternity.
If he was a competative tennis player, would they describe him as a racket fanatic who abuses bananas?
PC murder suspect blames 'Mr X'
By Andrew Norfolk
Defendant claims mystery bodybuilder fired pistol
A FORMER US Marine who is accused of shooting dead a police officer said yesterday that the murder was carried out by one of his best friends.
David Bieber, 38, said that he was not prepared to reveal the identity of “Mr X” because of the loyalty he owed to a fellow bodybuilder. He told Newcastle Crown Court that he was horrified by the killing of PC Ian Broadhurst and the shooting of two other police officers in Leeds on Boxing Day last year, but was not about to betray a “special friend” who might take reprisals against his family.
The court has been told that the shootings — five bullets were fired in eight seconds from a 9mm semi-automatic pistol — were carried out by a man who had been arrested in a stolen BMW. Mr Bieber, the defence has already accepted, was in the BMW shortly before the murder. When he was arrested five days later at an hotel in Gateshead, he was in possession of the murder weapon and 205 rounds of ammunition, and his DNA was on the gun’s trigger.
Mr Bieber told the jury that he was born in Fort Myers, Florida. After gaining a high school diploma, he qualified as a sharpshooter with the Marine Corps but left after 18 months with a “less than honourable” discharge. He became a competitive bodybuilder and when he came to Britain he gained casual work as a nightclub doorman.
On Boxing Day last year, he said he had agreed to meet an American bodybuilding friend. The man was “a bit dodgy and involved in criminal activity”. Mr Bieber explained that his friend had asked him to buy the stolen BMW for him to use. Mr X also owned a 9mm pistol for which Mr Bieber had agreed to supply ammunition. When the pair met, Mr Bieber said his friend was carrying the gun and was angry because someone had “disrespected him”. They drove to Dib Lane and Mr Bieber left the car to make some phone calls. While he was in a telephone kiosk, he saw a police car enter the road where the BMW was parked. He saw two officers approach the car and heard gunshots.
His friend later picked him up in a Rover car and asked Mr Bieber to reload the gun, which he did before asking Mr X: “Please don’t tell me you’ve shot anyone?” His friend replied that he had “shot two police officers and one of them was possibly dead”.
Although he was upset that the shooting had “disrupted my peaceful, tranquil, quiet life”, he agreed to dispose of the gun before going to Gateshead, where he was arrested in the early hours of December 31.
Cross-examined by Robert Smith, QC, for the prosecution, Mr Bieber repeatedly refused to identify Mr X. “If I was to stab him in the back, I fear for possible reprisals against my family,” he said. Mr Smith said: “Your story is patently untrue . . . and you’re struggling to meet the evidence.” Mr Bieber said: “Whatever you put to me, I won’t change. I didn’t do it.”
The defendant denies murder, two attempted murders and two firearms charges but has admitted possessing ammunition without a firearms certificate. The case continues.
If he was a competative tennis player, would they describe him as a racket fanatic who abuses bananas?
PC murder suspect blames 'Mr X'
By Andrew Norfolk
Defendant claims mystery bodybuilder fired pistol
A FORMER US Marine who is accused of shooting dead a police officer said yesterday that the murder was carried out by one of his best friends.
David Bieber, 38, said that he was not prepared to reveal the identity of “Mr X” because of the loyalty he owed to a fellow bodybuilder. He told Newcastle Crown Court that he was horrified by the killing of PC Ian Broadhurst and the shooting of two other police officers in Leeds on Boxing Day last year, but was not about to betray a “special friend” who might take reprisals against his family.
The court has been told that the shootings — five bullets were fired in eight seconds from a 9mm semi-automatic pistol — were carried out by a man who had been arrested in a stolen BMW. Mr Bieber, the defence has already accepted, was in the BMW shortly before the murder. When he was arrested five days later at an hotel in Gateshead, he was in possession of the murder weapon and 205 rounds of ammunition, and his DNA was on the gun’s trigger.
Mr Bieber told the jury that he was born in Fort Myers, Florida. After gaining a high school diploma, he qualified as a sharpshooter with the Marine Corps but left after 18 months with a “less than honourable” discharge. He became a competitive bodybuilder and when he came to Britain he gained casual work as a nightclub doorman.
On Boxing Day last year, he said he had agreed to meet an American bodybuilding friend. The man was “a bit dodgy and involved in criminal activity”. Mr Bieber explained that his friend had asked him to buy the stolen BMW for him to use. Mr X also owned a 9mm pistol for which Mr Bieber had agreed to supply ammunition. When the pair met, Mr Bieber said his friend was carrying the gun and was angry because someone had “disrespected him”. They drove to Dib Lane and Mr Bieber left the car to make some phone calls. While he was in a telephone kiosk, he saw a police car enter the road where the BMW was parked. He saw two officers approach the car and heard gunshots.
His friend later picked him up in a Rover car and asked Mr Bieber to reload the gun, which he did before asking Mr X: “Please don’t tell me you’ve shot anyone?” His friend replied that he had “shot two police officers and one of them was possibly dead”.
Although he was upset that the shooting had “disrupted my peaceful, tranquil, quiet life”, he agreed to dispose of the gun before going to Gateshead, where he was arrested in the early hours of December 31.
Cross-examined by Robert Smith, QC, for the prosecution, Mr Bieber repeatedly refused to identify Mr X. “If I was to stab him in the back, I fear for possible reprisals against my family,” he said. Mr Smith said: “Your story is patently untrue . . . and you’re struggling to meet the evidence.” Mr Bieber said: “Whatever you put to me, I won’t change. I didn’t do it.”
The defendant denies murder, two attempted murders and two firearms charges but has admitted possessing ammunition without a firearms certificate. The case continues.
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