Man who won 17.5 million dollar lottery jackpot in 1990,at age 30,is found guilty of murder & faces 25 yrs.to Life,in NY
Joe1orbit
Hello,
Over in New York, a jury yesterday returned a split verdict in the case of a
38 year old lottery millionaire named Joseph Rukaj, who was charged with
shooting his pregnant former girlfriend and her father in law, to death.
Joseph, stupid Joseph, who could not simply be satisfied with a MILLION
dollars and live a quiet and isolated life, chose to get involved in this
complex family dispute, and thus he has thrown away all the luck that he had in
winning a 17.5 MILLION dollar lottery in 1990. How stupid, At the tender age of
30, he wins 17 and half million bucks. Instead of ISOLATING himself, and
creating an impenetrabe fortress of security, this idiot chooses to continue to
mingle with his Albanian relatives and friends, eventually getting caught up in
this love triangle. Pathetic!
The jury found him guilty only of murdering his lover's father-in-law. He was
acquitted of killing his former girlfriend, despite the fact that he shot them
both to death. His defense was that he was AMBUSHED by them both, and that the
pregnant ex-girlfriend was the one who shot him first, in the chest, before he
drew his own gun and killed them both, in self defense.
Seems like he had a pretty good case, but juries consist of irrational
humans, and that is why Joseph still faces 25 years to Life in prison at his
May sentencing. It seems clear to me that if Joseph was ambused by two people,
he had a right to respond with deadly force towards BOTH of them, not ONLY
towards the person who actually SHOT him, which was his ex-girlfriend. But the
societally brainwashed jury declared that he ONLY had a legal right to shoot
the woman who had shot him, and not her father-in-law accomplice.
The father-in-law was shot 3 times in the back, but that does not prove
anything. The evidence suggests that he PART of the ambush, and only tried to
flee AFTER his daughter-in-law had shot Joseph, and after Joseph had pulled out
his own gun to retaliate for his own shooting. He had every right to retaliate
with deadly force against ALL members of the ambush, even those who tried to
flee the scene, AFTER they had already shot Joseph.
How sad that a man who wins 17.5 million dollars, through pure luck, at the
age of 30, is STUPID enough to stay involved with his ridiculous Albanian
family and to pursue relationships with other Albanian families. He should have
moved to a millionaire's enclave, and isolated himself, reveling in the
incredible good luck of being 30 years old, never having to work another day in
his life, and never gotten intimately involved with ANYONE, in terms of
fathering children or taking live-in lovers, etc...
Oh well, the world is full of Inferior humans, making Irrational choices.
Since Joseph is now 38 years old, and does have a chance of ONLY serving 25
years behind bars, and possibly less, if he can win early parole, I would urge
him to hold on to EVERY PENNY of the 17.5 million bucks that he still has. He
should not give away ANY of it, to ANYONE. Save every penny, and hope that by
his late 50's he will be able to win early parole and at least enjoy his later
years living a lavish and carefree lifestyle.
Take care, JOE
The following appears courtesy of the 3/21/98 online edition of The New York
Times newspaper:
March 21, 1998
Lotto Winner Found Guilty in One Killing, Cleared in 2nd
WHITE PLAINS -- In a split verdict Friday, a jury here found that a man who had
won millions in the state lottery acted in self-defense when he shot and killed
his former lover outside her Chappaqua home, but found him guilty of
second-degree murder in the death of her father-in-law during the same gun
battle.
Joseph Rukaj, 38, who was wounded in the gunfight, had been charged with
first-degree murder and attempted kidnapping in the shooting deaths on Sept.
11, 1996 of Rigaletta Nikc, 31, and her father-in-law, Marc Nikac, 58, who
spelled his surname differently. Prosecutors charged that the deaths were the
result of a family feud over Rukaj's assertion that he was the father of one of
Mrs. Nikc's daughters.
Rukaj, who won $17.5 million in a New York State Lotto drawing in 1990, was a
cousin of Nikac, and the bloodshed has split the family. Each day during the
seven-week trial, bickering relatives, many wearing mourning clothes, filled
each side of the courtroom.
Prosecutors argued that Rukaj shot the two during an attempt to kidnap Mrs.
Nikc's 5-year-old daughter, who he said was his child. They played tape
recordings of some of the 16 telephone calls Rukaj made that day to tell Mrs.
Nikc that he was going to come and take his daughter. Prosecutors presented
witnesses who testified that Mrs. Nikc had sought an order of protection
against Rukaj just hours before she was shot.
During the trial, prosecutors conceded that DNA results confirmed that Rukaj
was the girl's father and that Mrs. Nikc had shot Rukaj in the chest before she
was killed with a shot to her head. But they said that she was trying to
protect her daughter.
The victims and the defendant were immigrants from Albania, and the defense
contended that the killings occurred because a centuries-old Albanian code of
honor, known as the Kanun, requires retribution for a disgrace. The defense
argued that Rukaj had brought shame to Mrs. Nikc by filing a suit in Family
Court asserting that he was the girl's father. In retaliation, the defense
argued, Mrs. Nikc and her family plotted to kill Rukaj.
After the killings, which occurred about 8 p.m. in the darkened driveway of the
Chappaqua home, Rukaj drove to the New Castle police station to report that he
had been shot and had returned the gunfire.
When the police interviewed Mrs. Nikc's husband, Antonio, at the house,
however, he told them he did not have a gun. The police did not search the
house, but the next day, Nikc admitted to them that he had taken a gun from his
wife's side and hidden it behind a ceiling tile, the police said.
Rukaj was acquitted of attempted burglary but convicted of criminal possession
of a weapon. Though he had been charged with first-degree murder, Westchester
County District Attorney Jeanine Pirro decided not to seek the death penalty.
"Make no mistake," she said Friday, "we will seek the maximum in this case."
Rukaj, who has been held in the Westchester County jail on $3 million bail
since the shootings, is to be sentenced by Judge Kenneth H. Lange of
Westchester County Court on May 18. He faces 25 years to life in prison on the
murder charge and 15 years on the weapon charge.
----------------------------------------
The following appears courtesy of yesterday's Associated Press news wire:
N.Y. Lotto Winner Guilty of Murder
By JIM FITZGERALD
WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. (AP) - A lottery millionaire who claimed he had to shoot his
way out of a blood-feud ambush was acquitted Friday of killing his former
lover, who was pregnant, but convicted of murdering her father-in-law.
Joseph Rukaj was accused of killing Rigaletta (Vickie) Nikc and Mark Nikac in
front of Mrs. Nikc's posh, chalet-style home in September 1996.
Rukaj, 38, had pleaded self defense, saying he was ambushed by his former
girlfriend's family after he claimed to be the father of her five-year-old
daughter. Mrs. Nikc, 31, apparently shot and wounded Rukaj in the chest before
she was killed.
The jury acquitted him of murder in Mrs. Nikc's death and of attempted murder
of Mrs. Nikc's husband, Antonio, who had run back into the house, apparently
under fire from Rukaj.
The jury, though, apparently decided the self-defense claim did not apply to
the killing of Mark Nikac, 58, and convicted Rukaj of his murder. Nikac was
shot three times in the back and may have been unarmed.
Rukaj's attorney, Jay Goldberg, who had claimed that all involved were armed,
called the verdict ``preposterous.''
``I guess they rejected the theory that Mark had a gun or that Mark was part of
any ambush plan,'' Goldberg said.
Rukaj faces 25 years to life in prison when he is sentenced May 18. Judge
Kenneth Lange revoked his $2.9 million bail.
Antonio Nikc said he was ``pleased'' with the verdict, but added, ``I'm very
upset he didn't get it for Vickie. They died together and he should be
sentenced for both.''
Rukaj, who had won $17.5 million in the state lottery in 1990, said he drove to
the Nikcs' home in Mount Pleasant to ``make peace'' after embarrassing the
family by filing a paternity claim.
Both the defendant's and the victims' families emigrated from Albania in the
1960s and became successful real estate investors in New York City.
Rukaj's lawyers claimed he was ambushed in an old-world attempt at revenge for
his affair with Mrs. Nikc, who was ``sacrificed'' under an ancient Albanian
code that dictated she should be the one to kill Rukaj.
The prosecution ridiculed the theory, claiming Rukaj was out to wreak misery on
a lover who had jilted him and to kidnap their 5-year-old daughter.
``It's no ambush,'' said prosecutor Robert Prisco, ``when the defendant sets
the time and place and shows up with a gun.''
After the carnage, Rukaj drove in his blood-soaked shirt to the nearest police
station, where he told officers of the shootings, saying, ``They shot me and I
shot them.'' But when asked again who shot him, he said only ``The woman.''
Jurors, fearing their verdict might prompt retribution, were sequestered before
deliberations.
AP-NY-03-20-98