ST. JOSEPH, Mich. – An inmate who stole a gun while being transported in the Berrien County courthouse and killed two bailiffs is accused of holding a 17-year-old girl in a backyard shed for sex, prosecutors said.
Larry Gordon, 44, of Coloma, Mich., overpowered a sheriff's deputy Monday, got his gun and killed Joseph Zangaro, 61, and Ronald Kienzle, 63. The deputy and a civilian were also wounded in the shooting. Gordon was shot and killed at the courthouse.
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Berrien County Prosecutor Attorney Michael J. Sepic said in a statement Wednesday that Gordon was in court the day of the shooting to have a domestic violence charge dismissed because he was facing new, more serious charges of criminal sexual conduct, kidnapping, production of child sexually abusive material, assault by strangulation and several other charges in the case involving the teen.
The victim was discovered when police went to Gordon's home to execute the warrant for the domestic violence charge.
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Sepic said officers found Gordon and victim in the shed. Gordon barricaded himself inside the shed before he escaped through a back door. He was tracked down with the help of a police dog.
The victim told police she had been held against her will for two weeks, and that Gordon gave her "methamphetamine in exchange for sex, forced some penetrations, and assaulted her with weapons, and assault by strangulation," Sepic's statement said.
Gordon also video recorded the sexual activity, police said.
Through this investigation, an incident was investigated involving similar conduct with a 16 year old victim in 2006 in Berrien County, which had not yet been charged.
Gordon's previous criminal convictions
- 1992 a federal conviction for possession of pipe bomb;
- 1998 in Barry County, fleeing and eluding 3rd degree;
- 1998 a federal conviction for possession of pipe bomb;
- 2002 a federal conviction for felon in possession of a firearm;
- 2013 in Berrien County, larceny in a building.