Prosecutor drops charges in man's doorstep death

The state couldn't disprove the defendant's claim that the victim attacked him outside his home and he was defending himself.

By CHRISTOPHER GOFFARD

© St. Petersburg Times, published May 16, 2000

NEW PORT RICHEY -- When deputies saw the large quantity of blood around the body of Douglas Anglemyer, they wondered whether Mark Lanphar was telling the truth about how many times he smashed the man's head against his doorstep.

By Lanphar's account to authorities, it was three or four times, and done in self-defense after Anglemyer -- the estranged husband of Lanphar's girlfriend -- came to his house and attacked him. Lanphar was charged with second-degree murder in connection with the December 1999 incident outside his Star Trail home.

Monday, prosecutors dropped that charge, saying they could not disprove Lanphar's version of events. The medical examiner could not say precisely how many times Anglemyer's head struck the ground, but it could be as few as Lanphar claimed, said Pasco Prosecutor Mike Halkitis.

"There were no (independent) witnesses," Halkitis said. "The defendant is the only witness to what's going on." Lanphar, the prosecutor said, claimed he hit Anglemyer's head against the doorstep while trying to get him off him, though the amount of blood initially led detectives to believe Anglemyer's head hit the surface 10 or 12 times.

"We felt that we couldn't rebut the defense of self-defense in this case," Halkitis said. "The defendant's story is, "He attacked me.' We cannot disprove it's justifiable homicide."

On the night he died, Anglemyer, 31, a concrete-block installer who lived in Tarpon Springs, called his wife demanding to see her, according to the wife, Patricia. She also told investigators he had been harassing her. Lanphar said Anglemyer came to his house and began pounding on his door.

That bolstered the case for self-defense, Halkitis said, as did the fact that Anglemyer was physically larger than Lanphar by three inches and 20 pounds.

Lanphar, 38, a heating and air-conditioning installer, declined to comment Monday.

Anglemyer's mother said she was "thrilled" by the news the man who killed her son wouldn't be prosecuted.

"It's an answered prayer," said Betty Anglemyer, 62, of New Port Richey. "Jail doesn't do anybody any good." She said she has forgiven Lanphar and believes he didn't mean to kill her son.

"When you don't forgive somebody, you hurt yourself more than you hurt anybody else," she said. "Anger will give you ulcers."

- Staff writer Christopher Goffard covers courts in west Pasco County. He can be reached in west Pasco at 869-6236 or (800) 333-7505, ext. 6236. His e-mail address is goffard@sptimes.com.

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