Jeffrey P. Rekowski and Ashley M. Charpie

TAWAS CITY, MI -- As he stepped down from the witness stand, a 67-year-old man police say shot two burglars in his Tawas City home -- killing one -- encouraged those charged with the crime to keep their eyes on the future.

Julius T. Heidt testified Friday, March 31, during the preliminary examinations of Jeffrey P. Rekowski and Ashley M. Charpie, both 29. Once his lengthy account was finished, he stood up and offered some words of encouragement to the two defendants. Describing how he has been sober since 1998, he told Rekowski and Charpie that despite their current struggles, there was hope for the future.

"No matter how bad this gets, accountability," he said. "A day at a time, and good luck."

Charpie dabbed her eyes with Kleenex. A shackled Rekowski, with a lengthy beard and his hair tied back, kept his head down.

Both defendants are charged with first-degree home invasion, with Rekowski also charged with armed robbery and felonious assault.

Called to the stand by Iosco County Prosecutor Gary Rapp, Heidt testified that the evening of Nov. 13, he was inside his home in the 800 block of Fir Street. The house's door was shut, but not locked, he said.

"Well, I was watching TV and a guy appeared with a knife and said he wanted cash and guns," Heidt said. "He put (the knife) up in a threatening manner to my chest, neck area."

Rapp asked him how close the knife was held to him.

"Oh, I guess about a 6-8 inch range," Heidt said. He identified Rekowski as the man who held the knife on him, but said he was wearing something obscuring his face at the time.

Heidt said he initially played dumb to Rekowski's demands.

"I acted like I didn't know -- 'What do you mean, cash and guns?' I did that twice, maybe a third time," he said. Rekowski tried directing him into a bathroom, he added. "As I was getting up, another fella appeared. He had an extension cord and acted like he was going to tie me up or put it on me. I dunno, just my instinct or whatever, I told him 'Get the F out of here.'"

Jesse A. Odell

The second intruder, whom police have identified as 21-year-old Jesse A. Odell, began ransacking the house, Heidt said. Heidt then retrieved a couple hundred dollars from a kitchen table and gave it to Rekowski, he said.

Unsatisfied, Rekowski demanded "the rest of it." Heidt said he had a 5-gallon jug of coins and a Tupperware container full of quarters, which he mentioned to the burglars. Odell was "trying to do something with" the jug of coins, Heidt said.

"I tried to convince them to go out and get a truck dolly that I had out in the yard," he continued. "I said, 'I'll show you where it is.' I made it to the front door. I actually got the door open. I had a split second thought -- 'Just bolt.' It didn't feel right. I knew (Rekowski) was younger and faster."

Heidt opted to stay in the house, he said. From there, Heidt did not elaborate much on how the shooting itself transpired. Police reports, obtained by The Times via a Freedom of Information Act request, state he managed to grab a loaded Glenfield lever-action .30-.30 rifle.

Questioned by Rekowski's defense attorney Michael Cronkright, Heidt said he fired one round into his ceiling. Though Heidt didn't testify to this, police reports state he then shot Odell in the torso and Rekowski in one buttock. He then exited his house and fired another round skyward and, eventually, neighbors called 911.

Odell was dead by the time police arrived.

Heidt didn't call 911 himself because one of the intruders had taken his cellphone, he said.

The whole ordeal lasted 10 to 15 minutes, Heidt said. He said at one point Rekowski was behind him and he was fearful he was going to slit his throat.

"At one point, I told them to just get the stuff and go," he said. "'I don't want you here and you don't want to be here.' The biggest slowdown was that stupid jar of coins."

Questioned by Cronkright, Heidt said the knife appeared to be of the folding variety, but he could not be positive.

Heidt testified he had hired Charpie -- Rekowski's girlfriend -- in September to organize some of his items for a rummage sale. She began the task in October and was inside his house about six times, the last time being about a week before the would-be burglary, he said.

After Heidt finished, Michigan State Police Detective Sgt. Bill Veltman testified that as part of his investigation, he interviewed Charpie at Rekowski's mother's house. He said Charpie told him she and Rekowski had driven by Heidt's residence and she had pointed it out to him, describing some of the items therein.

Charpie also took some photos of Heidt's property and texted the images to Rekowski, Veltman testified. The day of the incident, Rekowski, Odell, and Charpie had discussed the burglary at her apartment, Veltman said Charpie told him.

Charpie's attorney, Keith E. Moir, asked Veltman if he had threatened his client with a warrant and incarceration. The sergeant replied that he did not, and that she was not under arrest when he questioned her.

Police reports indicate Rekowski and Odell wanted Heidt's property to help support their heroin addictions.

The hearing ended with Iosco County District Judge Christopher P. Martin binding the defendants' cases over for to Circuit Court for trial. The judge set 10 a.m. on Monday, May 8, for both to appear for arraignment in the higher court.