Big Lake pastor given time

DAWN DE BUSK

Frontiersman reporter

WASILLA - A Big Lake pastor being sued for wrongful death by the mother of one of the two men he shot to death more than two years ago has been given an extension to respond to the lawsuit, the plaintiff's attorney, Eric Jensen, said Friday.

Bonnie Pigott, of Nevada, filed the wrongful-death complaint against the Rev. Phillip D. Mielke on April 13, about a year and a half after a Palmer Superior Court jury acquitted the Big Lake Community Chapel pastor of four counts of manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide stemming from the shootings of Frank Jones IV, 23, and his friend, Christopher Palmer, 31, at around 5 a.m. on April 24, 2003.

Jones and Palmer reportedly broke into the chapel that morning to steal food from a food bank in the basement.

Mielke confronted the two men inside and then fired at them through a window as they ran away. Bullets from Mielke's .44-caliber weapon struck Palmer's lower back as Palmer ran to his car outside.

Although Palmer died almost immediately, in a ditch near the church, Jones escaped to the nearby home of Palmer's girlfriend and bled to death there a few hours later.

Mielke was given a deadline of May 17 to respond to the lawsuit. However, Jensen said Friday that Mielke's attorney has been involved in another trial outside the Valley.

"James Gilmore has been busy trying Greenpeace. So in this case, he was given an extension. I'll give him as much time as he wants," Jensen said.

If the plaintiff's attorney had not agreed to provide an extension, a default judgment could have been filed against Mielke.

In some instances, a default judgment has allowed the plaintiff to receive the full amount being requested in the lawsuit.

Pigott is asking for $100,000 in damages for the extreme physical and emotional pain her son suffered before he bled to death.

The case has been assigned to Palmer Superior Court Judge Beverly W. Cutler.

Dawn De Busk can be reached at 352-2252 or dawn.debusk@frontiersman.com.