Jan 28, 2008 6:51 pm US/Eastern
Family Of Murdered Vietnam Vet Recalls Loving Dad
Broward Crimestoppers at (954) 493-TIPS.
POMPANO BEACH (CBS4) ―
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A makeshift memorial to a murdered Vietnam veteran continues to grow at the scene where he was killed.
CBS
A makeshift memorial to a murdered Vietnam veteran continues to grow at the scene and his family spoke to
CBS4 News in hopes it'll help catch the ruthless killer.
"We want the community to know that one of their stars has been dimmed and we're sorry about that for the community and we are sorry about that for our family. We just want people to know how important this is and how important it is to find the man who did this to put him away," said the victim's brother Buck and two daughters, Courtney and Lindsay.
Courtney, 23, and Lindsay, 19, along with their uncle Buck, say they simply want closure following Richard Entriken's murder.
Entriken, 60, a Vietnam vet with two Purple Hearts, was shot and killed outside of a residential drug and alcohol treatment center Saturday night as he and other staff members exited with a bag full of rent money.
Twelve years ago, Entriken founded "The First Step Sober House", a halfway house for convicts recovering from drugs and alcohol. It's mission that was close to his heart because he just recently celebrated 16 years of sobriety.
"He just had a reaching hand for everybody. He gave his time for everybody," Courtney Entriken told
CBS4's Tiffani Helberg.
His kindness and giving attitude may have lead to his death. BSO investigators say Entriken was collecting rent from tenants at his facility when three men approached him with a gun. Entriken handed the money over but they shot him anyway. A lingering concern his family always feared.
"All the time, all the time, the environment he worked in was just dangerous itself. We worried all the time especially my mother, said Courtney and her sister, Lindsay.
Richards' wife was simply too emotional and distraught to talk about her husband's death but she stands by his brother and her daughters as they recall the things they miss most about him.
"His hugs, he gave really good hugs. He had a really nice smile, seeing him wake up in the morning, he was goofy. He was just a big kid with a big heart, so much happier than anybody else in the world," recalled his daughters.
They shared a recent photograph of the entire family from his 60th birthday, perhaps the last time the family was together.
"I'm angry at the way it happened. I'm angry at how it happened. He didn't deserve to go out like that," said his daughters.
Entriken and two business partners were leaving the 1st Step Sober House with a large amount of cash when he was shot.
His partners, Chris Doherty and Mike Banas, told Broward Sheriff's deputies that three men in their late 20s to early 30s approached them outside the addiction recovery facility at 450 SW Second St.
They demanded the money, rent from the tenants, and Entriken handed it over, Doherty said. But he was shot anyway.
Police said the 3 suspects, in their late 20s or early 30s, fled the scene in a dark blue or black compact, newer model, 4-door, foreign-made vehicle with dark tinted windows.
If you have any information on the shooting call Broward Crimestoppers at
(954) 493-TIPS.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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