Trucker who fatally shot abortion protester, businessman in Michigan gets life prison sentence

Man who killed abortion protester gets life term

CORUNNA, Mich. — A trucker who stunned a small Michigan community by killing an abortion protester and a businessman was sentenced Thursday to life in prison during a court hearing that began with an apology and ended with a verbal attack on the judge.

Harlan Drake said he was sorry for causing pain to the families of his victims. But minutes later, he seemed bored by the hearing, urged the judge to “get on with this” and called him a racist and a hypocrite.

Shiawassee County Circuit Judge Gerald Lostracco lamented that he could not order “hard labor” along with the life sentence.

Drake, 34, was convicted of first-degree murder in the September shootings of James Pouillon, 63, and Mike Fuoss, 61.

Pouillon was a well-known — and often disliked — anti-abortion activist who was gunned down while holding a picture of an aborted fetus outside Owosso High School, about 90 miles northwest of Detroit. Fuoss was shot 17 times in his office at a gravel business about seven miles away.

There was no doubt that Drake killed them. His lawyers, however, said he was mentally ill at the time and didn’t understand what he was doing. The jury rejected an insanity defense.

“This case was not about abortion,” Lostracco said. “It was about your intention to be a hit man” to settle grudges, he said.

Drake replied: “Coming from a hypocrite and a racist, I really appreciate that, judge.” He returned to his seat at the defense table and was immediately surrounded by five officers.

Prosecutors told jurors that Drake was trying to avenge his mother, Kim Staples, whose name is tattooed on his chest. There was no suggestion, however, that she had any role in the killings.

Staples didn’t like Pouillon’s aggressive protests, and she didn’t get along with Fuoss, a former boss, according to trial testimony.

Authorities said Drake had planned to kill a third person who had formerly employed his mother, but he didn’t know where to find him on the morning of Sept. 11.

“I deserve to go to jail forever,” Drake told the judge Thursday.

Relatives of the victims spoke at the sentencing hearing.

Madison Pouillon, 16, said her grandfather drove her to school moments before he was shot with his anti-abortion sign across the street. She said she began praying for him when officials, citing safety, would not let her leave the building.

The teen cried and couldn’t finish reading her statement. Her mother, Holly Pouillon, 38, picked up the paper, turned to Drake, expressed her daughter’s forgiveness and added, “May God be with you.”

Jim Fuoss, 58, said his family has endured much misfortune in the past seven months. His slain brother’s wife, Barb, died of brain cancer on April 10.

Defense lawyers say Drake has been treated for depression since his semitrailer slammed into a car in Ottumwa, Iowa, killing two teens in 2004. He was not cited.

Drake attempted suicide in jail after killing Pouillon and Fuoss.

His lead attorney, Robert Ashley, told the judge that the sentencing was the “last chapter in a very tragic story.”