Murderpedia has thousands of hours of work behind it. To keep creating
new content, we kindly appreciate any donation you can give to help
the Murderpedia project stay alive. We have many
plans and enthusiasm
to keep expanding and making Murderpedia a better site, but we really
need your help for this. Thank you very much in advance.
STOPHER, VINCENT,
DOB 7-11-72, was sentenced to death March 23, 1998 in Jefferson County.
On March 10, 1997 in Jefferson
County, Deputy Sheriff Gregory Hans was dispatched to the home of
Vincent and Kathleen Becker. A struggle occurred whereby Stopher
obtained Han’s 9mm pistol and shot Deputy Sheriff Hans.
This killer was assaulting a man in March of 1997 in Jefferson County
when Deputy Gregory Hans pulled over to assist the assault victim.
While Hans was exiting his vehicle, Stopher struggled with the deputy,
taking his gun. Stopher then used the deputy's gun to shoot him in
the face, killing him.
Victim:
Deputy Gregory
Hans
The facts
In March of 1997, a Jefferson County deputy sheriff
responded to a report of a disturbance at the residence of Stopher.
When Stopher saw the deputy, he uttered a series of obscenities and
immediately attacked the deputy. He was able to obtain the officer's
handgun and shot him in the face. The deputy died of this wound.
A witness to the murder was then confronted by
Stopher who pulled the trigger of the weapon, but itjammed. Other
officers arrived on the scene and Stopher vigorously resisted arrest.
During that struggle, he grabbed the gun of another officer and
attempted to fire it but was unsuccessful. During the struggle that
occurred incident to the arrest, Stopher had to be hit on the head
before he would release the weapon. His wounds were consistent with
resisting arrest. As he was being loaded into the ambulance, he told
an officer "I hope that cop dies."
Vincent Stopher - Kentucky
A jury recommended the death penalty for a man
convicted of killing a Jefferson County sheriff's deputy. Vincent C.
Stopher turned around in the courtroom and apologized to the family of
the slain deputy, Gregory Hans, after the jury's verdict was returned.
He also told his family he would be OK. After the courtroom proceeding,
defense attorney Vincent Yustas read a statement from Stopher. "Tell
my family that I love them and tell the Hans family how much I deeply
regret what I'm putting them through," the statement said. Stopher,
25, was convicted of shooting Hans during a violent rampage on March
10, 1997. He also was convicted of 4 counts of assault and 1 count of
wanton endangerment.
