"Peace Activist" shot (by brother?) in Flower Moun

[Greybeard]

My bro called and mentioned this happened late last night, maybe 6 miles southwest of our range. From what I know of the geography, it sounds like the brothers might have been meeting 1/2 way between Denton and Trophy Club (where there ain't no cheap houses)...

http://www.star-telegram.com/news/story/145672.html
Brother held in peace activist's death
BY BILL MILLER
wmiller@star-telegram.com

FLOWER MOUND POLICE DEPARTMENT
Mark Francis Honish, 44, was arrested in the fatal shooting of his brother, a well-known peace activist, who was found dead in a pickup on U.S. 377, a Flower Mound police spokesman said.
FLOWER MOUND -- A Trophy Club man has been arrested in the fatal shooting of his brother, a well-known peace activist, who was found dead in a pickup on U.S. 377, a police spokesman said.

The Tarrant County Medical Examiner’s Office identified the dead man as David Honish, 52, of Denton.

He was found at about 11:30 p.m. Thursday by a Flower Mound police officer who had stopped to check on the pickup parked along the highway with its engine running, said Officer Paul Boon, police spokesman.

Investigators "following up on leads'' arrested Mark Francis Honish, 44, near his home in Trophy Club, Boon said.

No other details were immediately.

David Honish was a well-known peace activist in Denton County, said Trish Major, communications director for the Dallas Peace Center.

She said he participated in numerous demonstrations in Dallas County in recent years, including protests against the war in Iraq and Halliburton.

Major said he declined to protest against gun ownership in American society because he advocated the right to keep and bear arms.

"In reviewing David Honish’s e-mails all in a bunch I came to realize that his main passion was saving lives, especially the lives of those in uniform," Major said. "With that in mind, it is especially tragic that he lost his life in what seems like a random, thoughtless act." The area where David Honish was found is just north of Farm Road 1171, also called Cross Timbers Road, in far northwest Flower Mound.

Honish had a gunshot wound to the head, but no weapon was found in the truck, Boon said.

"That kind of rules out suicide,'' he said. "We're treating it as a homicide.''

Also, the engine was running, the headlights were on and the driver's side window was open, Boon said. The truck was a white 1999 Ford F-150, according to the medical examiner's office.

"He wasn't shot and then ... drove off the road,'' Boon said. "He pulled over like he met someone and then he was shot.''

[Wildscar]

You beat me by like seconds.
Heres another story.


Scratch that. llwatson beat us both. She's quick on the draw. So quick that I didnt even see it.

http://www.texasshooting.com/TexasCHL_F ... php?t=7949

[Greybeard]

When starting this thread, I did not realize who the "principals" in this shooting were. The site of the supposedly-to-be-built gun range is roughly 4 miles due south of where it appears this shooting took place. I noted one guy in the other article referred to it as a "gun accident".

Found this http://www.bizjournals.com/dallas/stori ... tory4.html from late last year. Said to be open in May. And this is?

Anybuddy been by the site lately? Last I saw was a cool sign and a little dirt had been moved around.

[Crossfire]

I drive by there everyday. Nothing but a sign and some really tall weeds. I doubt we will see anything else now.

Glad I didn't put any money into that facility!

[KBCraig]

I heard the news report today on the radio, on TSN News. They said both brothers were "gun enthusiasts".

I have a hunch this may all boil down to financing the Tactical Edge facility.

Kevin

[Greybeard]

Kevin, methinks ya hunch likely pretty solid. Seems like their web site was pushin' $3000 (or maybe $5,000?) "pre-construction lifetime memberships". A buddy who lives in Keller sent me the link and made the comment last year, "I think I'd like to see a building first ..."

[Greybeard]

http://www.star-telegram.com/news/story/146389.html

Posted on Fri, Jun. 22, 2007

E-mail led to arrest in peace activist's death

By DOMINGO RAMIREZ JR. and LESLIE WIMMER
ramirez@star-telegram.com, lwimmer@star-telegram.com

FLOWER MOUND POLICE DEPARTMENT (photo)

Mark Francis Honish, 44, was arrested in the fatal shooting of his brother, a well-known peace activist, who was found dead in a pickup on U.S. 377, a Flower Mound police spokesman said.
Brother held in peace activist's death

FLOWER MOUND -- A threatening e-mail found with the body of a Denton peace activist revealed a long-standing sibling feud and led to the arrest Friday of the man’s brother, according to an arrest warrant affidavit.


The printout of a June 6 e-mail from David John Honish to his brother Mark Francis Honish read, "You don't roar at me and wag your finger in my face, EVER AGAIN IN THIS LIFETIME [obscenity]! I explained to you in Feb 2006 that I was finished taking [obscenity] from you. I meant it. There will be severe consequences for noncompliance ... because of your own stupidity and your ongoing felony possession of firearms," according to the affidavit.


David Honish, 52, was found shot to death Thursday night in his pickup parked off U.S. 377. Within hours, Mark Honish, 44, was arrested at his Trophy Club home.


Mark Honish, an airline pilot, was in the Flower Mound Jail on Friday on suspicion of murder.


David Honish's body was found about 11:30 p.m. Thursday by Flower Mound patrol officer Chris Carroll, who had stopped to check on the pickup, which was parked beside the highway with its engine running, police spokesman Paul Boon said.


Tire tracks were found nearby, the affidavit states.


Investigators stopped Mark Honish on Friday morning as he was pulling out of his driveway, according to the affidavit.


When he was told of his brother's death, Mark Honish said, "He has been threatening me, but you probably know that by looking at the e-mail in his truck," the affidavit says.


Blood was found on the running board of Mark Honish's truck, and its tire treads matched the tracks left at the crime scene, according to the affidavit.


David Honish's ex-wife told investigators that the brothers did not like each other and had been feuding for some time, the affidavit says.


David Honish was a well-known peace activist in Denton County, said Trish Major, communications director for the Dallas Peace Center.


She said he participated in numerous demonstrations in Dallas County in recent years, including protests against the Iraq war and Halliburton.


Major said in her correspondence with David Honish, "I came to realize that his main passion was saving lives, especially the lives of those in uniform."


David Honish was a member of the Veterans for Peace of North Texas Chapter in Carrollton, which worked closely with Peace Action Denton at demonstrations and events, officials said Friday.


Major said he declined to protest gun ownership in American society because he advocated the right to keep and bear arms.


Neighbor Gordon Skinner said Friday that Mark Honish had an odd habit: "I know he carries a gun wherever he goes."


David Honish was a medic in the Vietnam War, according to Bernard Jezercak, secretary and treasurer of the Carrollton group, who said he had known Honish for seven years.


"He was a good guy; he lived simply and was true to his beliefs as far as peace and ending the war and that sort of thing," Jezercak said "He's lived his life that way."


Staff writer Bill Miller contributed to this report. Domingo Ramirez Jr., 817-685-3822. Leslie Wimmer, 817-685-3800.

[Skiprr]

Neighbor Gordon Skinner said Friday that Mark Honish had an odd habit: "I know he carries a gun wherever he goes."

Odd habit? Oh my...

[Greybeard]

Quote from the e-mail: "because of your own stupidity and your ongoing felony possession of firearms," according to the affidavit."

Nothing seen in articles thus far whether either had a CHL ... but quote indicates the "alledged" shooter may have been ineligible ... He certainly is now ...

A little more research found old posts cited in DMN article:

Preliminary platting of the property will be submitted for review by the Roanoke Planning & Zoning Commission at their 1 DEC 03 meeting. Construction loans have been approved pending private capitalization. Multiple private investor sources are being explored at present.
Among these is the Founding Member Lifetime Membership available now at $1500 discount from the planned post construction price of $5000. Lifetime membership includes significant other & all dependent children age 18 or younger. Benefits of lifetime membership include a free CHL course, one firearm purchase per year AT DEALER COST, a 10% discount on the services of our MASTER GUNSMITH, and other benefits listed on our web site at http://www.h3tacticaledge.com
The range will be a 25 yd indoor range capable of safely handling all cartridges up to and including the .50 BMG. Range ventilation will exceed the OSHA standards for air quality. This will not be your average grubby gunshop folks.
We plan to have a safe, clean, upscale environment where anyone regardless of gender will be comfortable coming to shoot or take a CHL class. We plan to offer the best range facilities and CHL classes at a fair price, with firearms & ammo sales at competitive discount prices that will make us your first choice for your shooting needs. We look forward to being your one stop shooting facility in the very near future.

Posted by: David Honish at November 23, 2003 11:09 PM
A current update on this range was posted yesterday on our web site at http://www.h3tacticaledge.com
Long story short, we need $400K in private investment to qualify for the loans to make this happen. Would like to get it from other shooters
that want a bargain & exceptional benefits at the
best indoor range in the DFW area. Plan B is guys in suits that do investment capital for a living having partial control. In keeping with the plan A version, we are offering half price family memberships, four years for $1,000. If only a hundred astute shoppers snapped up this bargain we could start construction the next day.
Your $1,000 entitles you to more than just range use. All benefits are listed on our web site, but one firearm a year @ cost & a free CHL course
a year would pay for your membership.
I like your idea of the lifetime individual membership. I understand, I'm divorced myself. I'm surprised we had not thought of it sooner. Will work out the details with my brother & have info on it in the near future for you. Your excellent suggestion indicates a need for a suggestion box in the store when built, and on the web site. Guess we can't think of everything and appreciate your thoughts on how to improve. We'll try not to disappoint you.

Posted by: David Honish at December 7, 2003 03:16 AM

Edited to add:

09:28 PM CDT on Friday, June 22, 2007

By JAY PARSONS and MATTHEW HAAG / The Dallas Morning News
jparsons@dallasnews.com, mhaag@dallasnews.com

On June 6, David Honish e-mailed his younger brother Mark a clear message: "You don't roar at me and wag your finger in my face EVER AGAIN IN THIS LIFETIME [expletive]!" according to police records.


ROBERT FLAGG / WFAA-TV
A police officer on routine patrol found David Honish, 52, dead in his white Ford F-150 pickup truck around 11 p.m. Thursday. The engine was still running. "There will be severe consequences for noncompliance," he went on to write.

At 11:31 Thursday night, a Flower Mound police officer on routine patrol found David Honish's white Ford F-150 pickup parked along the dimly lit dirt shoulder of U.S. Highway 377 at FM1171. Its engine was running, and the headlights were on.

Officer Chris Carroll walked up to the pickup, expecting to find that the driver needed help.

Inside, the officer found a man slumped over the steering wheel with a gunshot wound in the face. The dead man was David Honish, a 52-year-old peace activist from Denton. Next to him was a printout of the e-mail exchange with his 44-year-old brother, police said.

Investigators from the Denton County sheriff's office and the Texas Rangers arrived and made a cast of northbound tire tracks near the pickup's driver-side door.

Meanwhile, Flower Mound police Capt. Richard Brooks called David Honish's ex-wife, "who stated that the victim and his brother Mark Honish do not like each other and have been feuding for some time," according to a probable-cause affidavit.

His opinions: Read letters Mr. Honish sent to the Denton Record-Chronicle
Texas Ranger Tracy Murphree and sheriff's Deputy Larry Kish drove to a cul-de-sac called Woodlands Court in nearby Trophy Club. As they arrived, a black Ford pickup was pulling out of the driveway. The only clean spot on the truck was the driver's side door – "the likely place where blood would have fallen," according to the affidavit. The door appeared to have been wiped down, authorities said.

Ranger Murphree approached the driver, who identified himself as Mark Honish, records show. Mr. Honish said he was leaving for work as an airline pilot. The ranger told Mr. Honish that his brother had been shot and killed.

Mr. Honish replied: "He has been threatening me, but you probably know that from looking at the e-mail in his truck," according to the affidavit. Ranger Murphree never told him the victim was shot in the truck, the affidavit says.

The ranger noticed six drops of blood on the driver's side of the truck's running board, mud on a tail pipe that matched mud from the crime scene and a tire tread pattern that matched the cast, arrest documents show.

The investigators arrested Mark Honish and charged him with his brother's murder. Mr. Honish was being held Friday in Flower Mound Jail in lieu of $500,000 bail.


Mark Honish
"That's like something on TV," said Larry Libscomb, who leases land in Roanoke to Mark Honish for a temporary shooting range while a permanent one is being built. "He's just as normal as you and me. I hope he didn't do it."

It's unclear what the brothers had feuded over, and police would not speculate on a motive. The men's relatives and Mark Honish's ex-wife could not be reached for comment Friday.

David Honish's ex-wife wouldn't shed any light on a possible motive.

"I was horrified, just horrified," said Michelle Boslet, who lives in Pennsylvania "I have a daughter by him and it's been a hard day. He's a good person. I haven't seen David for a long time. I really, really can't say anything and don't really want to."

Shooting range
Mark Honish is the president of the Tactical Edge shooting range – touted as the nation's largest at 40,000 square feet – scheduled to open this year in Roanoke. The city approved the project in 2003, but it was delayed because of a lack of funds.

David Honish's role in the business was not clear, but he appeared to be involved. Tactical Edge vice president Paul Wolf did not return phone messages Friday.

David Honish
On the Web site Aubreyturner.org, David Honish wrote in 2003 about the pair's plan to start the gun range: "Long story short, we need $400K in private investment to qualify for the loans to make this happen. Will work out the details with my brother & have info on it in the near future for you."

An Army veteran, David Honish was the driving force for the North Texas Veterans for Peace, which often gathered on an overpass near the University of North Texas campus, said Bernie Jezercak, the group's financial officer.

"He was a very fine individual," said Mr. Jezercak, who had known Mr. Honish for about six years. "He was usually our frontman."

The group last met Memorial Day weekend, and Mr. Honish was there as always, he said.

"He was his usual jovial and insightful self," said Mr. Jezercak, who added that Mr. Honish was known to be opinionated.

Dan Burnam, coordinator for Peace Activist Denton, said Mr. Honish was not a member of the Denton group, but that they met in 2003 at a demonstration and had reconnected at several "peace actions" in the past few years.

In October, Mr. Honish was among about 40 people who demonstrated against torture and the war in Iraq outside the office of U.S. Rep. Michael Burgess in Lewisville. They were part of the local version of "The World Can't Wait" campaign, a North American movement protesting Bush administration policies.

Mr. Burnam said he received an e-mail from Mr. Honish on Wednesday with the subject line "Reasons not to re-enlist" in which he had talked about opening the gun range with his brother.

Brothers' backgrounds

U.S. 377 and FM1171, Flower Mound Mark Honish had owned a company called Blackhawk Air Services between 1997 and 2002, according to state records. He recently worked for Basin Aviation, a Midland-based company that provides charter flights. A company official said Mr. Honish worked sporadically.

Mark Honish's only previous criminal history appears to be a September 2005 arrest in Dallas County on a weapon possession charge, which was later dismissed by a grand jury.

In the June 6 e-mail – only a portion of which police released – David Honish blames his brother for "stupidity and your ongoing felony possession of firearms," without further explanation.

David Honish had been arrested twice on charges of weapon possession in Denton County. A 2006 incident was dismissed.

In May, he was sentenced to 12 months of probation and 80 hours of community service for a January incident in Denton. A police officer found David Honish, wearing "army-style clothing," standing behind a building with a "ninja kubaton," a heavy metal object made to be held in a fist with spikes extending from the knuckles, according to court records.

Court papers state that a witness told police Mr. Honish had been crouching behind bushes at an apartment complex and appeared to be window peeping, which Mr. Honish denied.

Staff writer Emily Tsao and Donna Fielder of the Denton Record-Chronicle contributed to this report.

[Greybeard]

This came up at http://www.thehighroad.org where many of us have hung out for years ...

-------------------------------

April 18th, 2004, 01:28 AM #1
rem280guy
New Member

Join Date: 04-18-04
Location: North TX
Posts: 6 Anybody want to invest in an indoor range / gunshop?

Investors needed for indoor range / gunshop / gunsmith / CHL classroom facility to be built in business friendly, gun friendly North Texas. http://www.h3tacticaledge.com Site to be built in Roanoke, TX. 20 miles north of Ft Worth, 15 min west of DFW airport, 5 min east of TX Motor Speedway. Site is on US HWY 377 1/2 mile south of State HWY 114 and 1/8 mile north of State HWY 170. City park / sports complex two blocks away, planned major shopping mall on HWY 170 250 yds away within eyesight. Cabelas planning to build store on IH-35 approximately 6 miles away will draw additional customers to area. Site already approved by city council & planning and zoning commission. Investors compensated with flexible compensation of fixed rate of return, partial equity in business, or combination of both. Copy of business plan available to qualified investors. Approximately $400K capital needed to qualify for already approved construction / inventory loans. Investors or investor groups with at least $50K investment sought.

Our market survey shows over ONE MILLION shooting sports enthusiasts within a one hour drive radius. There are 25,000 CHL holders in a 25 mile radius that require renewal every two years. We have letters of intent to contract for range use from several municipal law enforcement agencies, and additional interest from county, state, & federal agencies. There are no competing facilities within a 100 mile radius that will compare on a qualitative basis to what we plan to build.

Indoor range will be two bays of 12 lanes each. 22 lanes of 25yds and 2 lanes of 100yds indoors. All lanes to be tactical moving targets with wall and ceiling baffles to permit full auto use & optimum law enforcement training capability.

We will have a full time MASTER GUNSMITH on staff! We have a handshake agreement with an operator of a successful gunshop in the area for 20 years to merge his operations with us at the new location. His expertise in what sells in the local market and ATF regulatory compliance issues comes with him. Two classrooms for CHL and other classes & 2300 sq ft of retail gunshop complete the picture. Conservative business plan reflecting unrealistically high expenses and low revenues for a safety margin projects an upward trending profit starting in month 3 of operation, with a projected profit of 40% for year two. Can your stock broker offer you that?

Contact: sav99guy@aol.com (817) 271-6369
rem280guy@yahoo.com (817) 729-1723
__________________
David Honish

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[Greybeard]

One of many opinion letters by the victim to Denton Record Chronicle ...

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http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent ... 522c2.html

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent ... 7d819.html

Taxpayers stuck again? (Dec. 26, 2006)

The taxpayers of Denton should know that they may get stuck with the bill for the incompetence of the outgoing district attorney and local police. They have violated their oaths to uphold Texas law.

On June 17, 2005, Gov. Perry signed HB 823 into law, taking effect Sept. 1, 2005. The amendment clarified existing law on possession of a handgun in your car.

The new law states five conditions to determine lawful or unlawful carry. If a person is in a private vehicle, not engaged in any offense higher than a Class C misdemeanor, not otherwise prohibited by law from fire arms possession, not a criminal street gang member and not carrying in plain view, then you may possess a loaded handgun in your car.

It seems that the local gendarmes have ignored the law as written. Instead they prefer to enforce "the old law."

This has the same legal standing as preferring to hang horse thieves from the nearest tree would have. There is no "old law." There is only the law, and it was amended 16 months ago.

Local officials should comply with the law as written to avoid the cost of false arrest and malicious-prosecution litigation that may result from their ignorance.

Hopefully, the new incoming district attorney will honor his oath to uphold the law, rather than pretend to make up his own laws.

David Honish, Denton
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[TexasBuck]

if you GOOGLE David Honish, you see he was a nut with a hell of a rap sheet on the Denton County Justice site. I am lost on the anti-war, anti-establishment, anti-government, anti-patriot act, BUT PRO GUN???? Was going to build a shooting range? The media wants to make him a grear person, and he may have been. But a little research shows he was a nut. Mark thought he was crazy as well

[Liberty]

if you GOOGLE David Honish, you see he was a nut with a heck of a rap sheet on the Denton County Justice site. I am lost on the anti-war, anti-establishment, anti-government, anti-patriot act, BUT PRO GUN???? Was going to build a shooting range? The media wants to make him a grear person, and he may have been. But a little research shows he was a nut. Mark thought he was crazy as well

Maybe David deserved to get murdered????

[TexasBuck]

What kind of spin was that? No, no one deserves what happened to him. I simply said he is being painted to be a saint, and that is simply not the case. I do not know what happened, it wasn't good. But that was one ridiculous post.[/code][/quote]

[Liberty]

What kind of spin was that? No, no one deserves what happened to him. I simply said he is being painted to be a saint, and that is simply not the case. I do not know what happened, it wasn't good. But that was one ridiculous post.[/code]

[/quote]
I wasn't trying to spin anything. It did look to me like you might have been implying that the real bad guy was the one who was murdered. I was hoping you might clarify. No offense intended.