NewsChannel5.com has reported on a weird murder case involving a Craigslist ad. This crime took place on Saturday, September 22, 2012. In addition to the text below and link, you can watch a FOX News video about this deadly crime.
As told by the victim’s brother, he and Joshua McLean (the victim) were going to a meeting to sell guns that they had advertised on Craiglist. It is not clear from the story which brother placed the ad and which one owned the guns.
But they showed up at the planned meeting place, which was the parking lot of the Nashville West Shopping Center. As soon as Joshua exited the vehicle, his brother said he heard two gunshots. He then saw Joshua lying on the ground and bleeding. Joshua died from his gunshot wounds.
There is no clear motive for this crime when you consider that the guns McLean was trying to sell were not taken by the killers. While robbers could set up a Craigslist meeting like this, the fact that the guns were not taken calls into question whether or not this was a planned robbery ambush.
One other peculiar fact is that the article said it was two men, but the brother only said he heard the gunshots. And then he could not identify the car that they drove away in. So did the brother actually say he saw two men? Was it another witness that saw two men? In the car or out of a car? And everyone somehow completely missed what they were driving? None of this is to say that the brother had anything to do with it. I simply don’t know. But the police are surely asking these questions.
Sources:
NewsChannel5.com
Jimmy - I knew Josh. There is more to the story than reported on the news. I am very sorry for the tragic loss to his family and young widow. I knew Josh to grossly exaggerate his abilities, education and most disturbing, his military service. He also had a hair trigger temper and was impulsive. An example of this is during his employment as a stock clerk at Publix grocery store he had a dispute or grudge of some kind with a co-worker. Josh slit the guys tires.
His brother Eric has very bad eyesight needing thick corrective glasses and has special needs, dependent upon Josh for day to day living. The fact that Eric did not see and could not accurately report the incident to police is not surprising.
Lauren was interviewed by a local TV station and my heart breaks for her. They were married 3 months to the day when he was killed. She expressed that she knew he loved her very much and lived to make her happy. I don’t doubt that he did and hope he was making a positive turn in his life.
I decided against verifying his military service not wanting to further add to his family’s grief if his claims proved false. They should be allowed to believe their husband, brother, son and friend was the person he portrayed - and really wanted to be - and that was he loved them and wanted to be loved in return. Josh’s actions may have been reckless and over confident but he didn’t deserve to be gunned down. He found someone he could love and protect, who loved him in return, and both wanted to start a family. If legally selling guns was a way to realiaze financial stability and the dream of a family it is even more tragic. Misguided or exaggerated he deserved better.