PITTSBURGH, Nov. 20, 2008
No Bail For Woman Accused Of Killing Agent
Wife Of Suspected Drug Dealer Allegedly Shot FBI Agent During Pa. Raid
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Christina Korbe covers her face as she is taken from the Allegheny County Police headquarters in Pittsburgh Nov. 19, 2008. (AP PHOTO)
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Play CBS Video Video FBI Agent Shot And Killed FBI agent Samuel Hicks, 33, was shot and killed while serving a warrant associated with a drug distribution ring. One suspect is in custody. Hicks is survived by his wife and his three-year-old son.
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Christina Korbe, 40, was arraigned early Thursday on a homicide charge in the shooting death of Special Agent Sam Hicks on Wednesday.
Korbe told investigators she thought her home was being burglarized and that she was shooting at an intruder.
Hicks and other law enforcement officers went to Korbe's home to serve a warrant on her husband, Robert, as part of a drug sweep.
Christina Korbe called 911 during the raid and said her house was being robbed and that she had fired at a burglar. She was arrested while still on the phone with an emergency dispatcher.
She later told investigators that she never heard police announce themselves, according to a criminal complaint.
CBS station KDKA in Pittsburgh reports that local residents who know the Korbes were shocked to learn of the raid and shooting.
The Korbes often dined at the restaurant next door to their family-owned convenience store on Main Street in Sharpsburg, according to KDKA.
"It's real hard to understand," said one woman who works in the restaurant. "It's just something, you know, when I met her here, you know - very nice - when she had a meal here."
The Allegheny County Police Department, which filed the homicide charge and participated in the raid with the FBI and the Drug Enforcement Administration, said the team that went to the home to arrest Korbe's husband knocked on the door around 6 a.m. and shouted "police!" several times.
Hicks was shot almost as soon as he entered, shouting "I'm hit!" before falling to the ground, police said. He was wearing a bulletproof vest, but was wounded just above it, authorities said.
Christina Korbe was with her 10-year-old daughter and 5-year-old son when agents arrived and may have feared for their safety, said her attorney, Sumner Parker.
"It became very chaotic and confusing and based on some other things taking place. ... My client may have taken actions that she thought was appropriate and ultimately called 911 to get local police to her house based on what she thought was happening," Parker told The Associated Press.
Robert Korbe, however, knew police were at his door, according to a police affidavit.
He told investigators that, when he heard and saw agents pounding on his front door, he ran to the basement to retrieve some cocaine and pour it down a drain, according to the criminal complaint. He allegedly told investigators that, when he was finished, he was surprised that no police were in the basement, so he ran into his backyard, where he was arrested.
Parker, who also represents Robert Korbe, said he can't explain why the husband appeared to realize police were raiding his home when his wife didn't.
Robert Korbe, 39, was one of 35 people charged Wednesday in the 27-count indictment that accuses the defendants of conspiring to traffic cocaine and crack from October 2007 through September. Christina Korbe was not named in the indictment.
FBI Director Robert Mueller III was in Pittsburgh on Thursday to meet privately with Hicks' family and colleagues.
© MMVIII, CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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See all 54 CommentsThe odds are in favor of the criminal being unarmed. Gun owners are using their guns mostly against criminals that do not have any weapon at all. Basicly the odds that you are evening, if you may, are that the gun owner is a whimp and the criminal is not.
Posted by truthrocks at 09:49 AM : Nov 21, 2008
You''re an idiot if you think homeowners are whimps for defending themselves against armed thugs breaking down the front door.
Posted by truthrocks at 06:46 PM : Nov 21, 2008
LOL, I''m not a gun owner, just someone that speaks up for my rights to defend myself, and my home by any means necesary.
Btw you said that criminals had more courage than law-abiding ctizens..which is *********.
I will be posting that post of yours. And people will know what kind of person you are.
PRO-CRMINAL!!!
Are you that desperate in your attempt to defend guns? Guns are designed to kill people. We have 30,000 gun deaths per year many of them kids, teens, and women killed by their spouses or ex-spouses. What`s honest about that?
Posted by truthrocks at 05:03 PM : Nov 21, 2008
The dead don`t lie. How much more honesty can you expect?
Posted by truthrocks at 05
That''s what happens when you kick-in somebodys'' door unanounced.
Next time they should knock!!
BTW, you still on here, talking how much courage a criminal has?
Let me tell you the outcome in a home without guns. The old lady screams. The police realize they are in the wrong house. They apologize and leave. She could still sue and make a ton of money. No one gets killed. She doesn''''t have to live with killing an innocent man.
Posted by truthrocks at 02:57 PM : Nov 21, 2008
Court refuses to hear the lawsuit, police state ensues.
Guns keep everyone honest... at a price, but honest.
Piece-o-cake. He was sleeping on the couch in the den having fallen asleep watching Jay Leno. Happens to me 2, 3 times a week. That''s why he knew they were cops and she didn''t.
All that "Cops" no-knock nonsense and the Hubby STILL managed to flush his stash!
"She" is a woman. "She" has kids present. If the intruders are big enough to kick in a door, then "she" is already as a severe physical size disadvantage.
"She" merely equalized the situation.
"She" may not be at fault.
Kitt Hurst. Best one of all. Son of the Chief of Police; 1970s; out to make a name; kicks in the door of the bedroom of a house they did a no knock on.
Wrong address; 70-year old woman puts a 45 in his brain pan.
Posted by truthrocks;
In short,Yes.
The people that are breaking in, just might have a gun, so you''d need one to even the odds.
The officers defense was that he heard shots fired and feared for his life.The shots fired were fellow officers shooting a dog.
Posted by harbinger09 at 05:06 AM : Nov 21, 2008
I agree,, Just think if that Doctor was in a position to put a cap in those two scuzz buckets, as they entered their home, they''d still be alive.
What I can''t grasp, are these anti-gun people who feel that home owners "do not" have a right to protect themselves. Anybody who busts down doors to gain access to a occupied home, I don''t care who you are, without proper notification, deserves what they get.
Posted by mike18881 at 10:16 PM : Nov 20, 2008
or.... just like what happened to that family from Conn. (where the doctor was thrown down the basement stairs while his wife and daughters were repeatedly tortured and raped and set on fire) the "intruders could have been just criminals unconnected to the drug trade--after all, there is no law or signs that would prevent other criminals from victimizing people who sold drugs.
One thing is sure--the people who should have been in the home were there and those who busted in were intruders--the question is--how safe/smart is it to check id of intruders before trying to shoot/repel them from your home?
Posted by jrc_903 at 05:46 PM : Nov 20, 2008
If she "knew the raid was coming" she would have not been home--neither would her husband or her kids.
Posted by obamasNUTZ at 04:22 PM : Nov 20, 2008
No aspect of home invasion laws require homeowners to id intruders before they defend their home--now just imagine burglars/rapists/serial killers etc invading a home and identifying themselves as police to disarm/distract the homeowners. You go into someone''s home uninvited you run the risk of getting shot no matter what you holler out--the risks are too great to a home owner to ask questions after the fact.
This reminds me of several occasions when I or my husband got interpreted the same situation differently. One time, he overheard me and a friend shouting and rushed to my defense--it took a minute for him to realize we were not fighting but both excited about something and had both been discussing it, before we were in polite speaking distance.
another time, we had to deal with work personnel and it was astounding how each of us interpreted the remarks/situation totally differently.
In other words, just because the hubby knew who was at the door and why and rushed to destroy evidence does not mean the wife heard the same thing or even knew about her hubby''s drug involvement. Married couples are not the borg--they do not speak or interpret things with one mind. The premise of her thinking and/or knowing the same things as her husband(and thus reacting accordingly) is ridiculous. Definitely in her favor is that she did not keep shooting the others and that she did call 911 either before or as she was shooting.
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