THE FACTS

There is a great deal of dispute among the interested parties about exactly what happened on Wednesday, August 2, 2006, at Rayco Sales, a sporting goods store in Juneau, Alaska. The store's owner, Ray Coxe, a firearms dealer, says that he had an amicable conversation with a man named Jason Coday, whom Coxe later described as a "typical Alaskan" with a "very friendly" demeanor who was "normal, rational, polite and not dangerous."

The family of Simone Kim tells a very different story about Coxe and Coday. In their account, Coday was a "homicidal methamphetamine-abusing fugitive" who, before walking into Coxe's store, had exhibited "bizarre behavior ... including walking around with a sawed off shotgun and a bandolier of extra ammunition, hallucinating that people were laughing and him, and standing on the roof of a bank."

When Coday walked into Coxe's gun store that day, the Kim family says, "he had a garbage bag filled with his belongings wrapped around his waist. Coxe says that Coday "was wearing a backpack and had a sleeping bag or similar sleeping gear wrapped around his stomach in a garbage bag." To Coxe, Coday seemed "like someone who was living in the woods or had just gotten off a ferry."

Coxe showed Coday some guns -- neither side disputes that, or the fact that the two men talked about a price ($195.00) for a Ruger rifle. Coxe says that Coday told him he would think about a purchase and then put on his backpack "as if readying to leave the store." Coxe says he then went to the rear of the store to attend to other business. Several minutes later, a store clerk noticed $200 on the counter. Coxe had taken the rifle and left the money.

That's what Coxe says. Kim's family says that Coxe deposited Coday's money as if by sale but failed, as a federal firearms dealer, to subject Coday to a Brady background check or to "ensure that a Form 4473 gun purchase form and other records were completed." Coxe says that he called the police after Coday left the store. Even though the store had two video surveillance systems, Coxe later conceded, neither recorded that day.

Neither side disputes what happened next. Coday took the gun he had gotten from Coxe's store and two days later shot and killed a random bystander, Simone Kim, a 26-year-old who was working as a painter outside another Juneau store. Coday was subsequently convicted of first degree murder and sentenced to prison. Two years later, Kim's family sued Coxe, alleging that he had "negligently or illegally" supplied Coday with the gun that killed Simone.

Kim's family based their complaint upon two themes. First, they alleged that Coxe's store did not have the security measures in place to prevent customers like Coday from walking out of the store with guns -- there were no locks on any of the guns in the store. Second, they alleged that Coday was as dangerous as he appeared. From the Juneau Empire's 2007 trial coverage of the Simone murder case, here's what Coday did after he left Coxe's store:

Later that day, Coday bought ammunition and "high capacity" magazines at Fred Meyer, using cash, Gardner wrote. The prosecution account of that day also alleges he bought a hacksaw with the .22-caliber rounds. During interrogation Coday told police he spent the two days before Kim's death looking for places to eat, shopping around town, and sleeping in a camp in the trees behind Fred Meyer. Coday allegedly used a hacksaw to shorten the rifle's barrel. Police found the barrel and stock in the woods near the murder scene and Coday's camp.

And here from the Empire is a bit of what Coday had done just before he came into Coxe's store:

Coday is registered as a felon in Nevada. That conviction stems from a crime committed in 1997, but additional information was not available. The Nevada court system holds two sealed records under Coday's name. Coday was arrested and charged with a DUI in November 2004 in Uintah County, Utah. In January 2005, Coday was arrested in Vernal, Utah, on charges of driving with a suspended license and possession of marijuana. Forty-five days before Kim was killed, Coday was arrested in Sandy Valley, Nev., accused of harassing a family at play in a backyard swimming pool. Witnesses told Las Vegas police that a man carrying a sawed-off shotgun walked up to the fence and began yelling at Jacob Top as he gathered his children from an evening swim. Witnesses said the man had an ammunition belt and two knives draped across his body...

The History, Part I