Four strikes and out.(Exercising The Right)

Virgil Kindig of Memphis, Tennessee, has had numerous harrowing experiences during his 96-plus years. On one occasion, he was flying a cotton duster in Arkansas when the aircraft's engine failed and the wings sheared off. The plane plunged into a river. Kindig survived the crash, but his wife, Mary Lee (they married in 1932), fainted when he returned home, as she had heard he was dead.

Mary Lee passed away in 1994. A few years later Virgil married the current Mrs. (Ruby) Kindig. They had known each other for years through their church.

On March 8 of this year, a young woman knocked at the Kindigs' door. Claiming that her van had broken down, she asked if she could have five or ten dollars. Mr. Kindig gave her $20 and let her use the phone. After she left, he discovered that a checkbook was missing from his desk.

Assuming that the stranger had stolen it, Mr. Kindig was taken by a niece to his bank the next day to place a stop payment order on his checks. While he was gone, there was another knock at the door of the Kindig home. Mrs. Kindig, who is on kidney dialysis, and confined to a wheelchair due to a broken hip, answered. The same woman, this time accompanied by a male confederate, told her that Mr. Kindig had said they could retrieve something from inside the house. Mrs. Kindig invited them in.

The conniving couple (later identified as James Tweatt, 38, and Cindy Wilson, 29) stole a handgun, and a number of gold coins, silver dollars and half-dollar coins Mr. Kindig had stored in jars in his office. Police were called, but they were unable to find the thieves.

Around noon on March 14, Wilson returned again. This time she knocked Mr. Kindig to the floor when he answered the door, and then stole his wallet before fleeing. Police were summoned, but left after a brief investigation.

At around 3 p.m. that same afternoon the Kindigs heard yet another knock. Assuming that it was either a neighbor, or the police returning for more information, Mr. Kindig opened the door. It was Tweatt and Wilson. While Wilson served as a lookout, her accomplice dragged Mr. Kindig to a couch in the living room and tied his hands and feet with a cord cut from a stained-glass lamp on the sofa table. Placing a large hunting knife ...