the man that shot him said he feared for his life and from his best friend robby police learned he did enter the garage to steal. he described he was not the first kid to go sneaking into unlocked garages. he says they weren t after money, credit cards or valuables, this stunt happened often enough that it had a name, garage hopping and the target was usually beer. the reason for garage hopping or garage shopping, i ve heard it called both was for kids to go in and look for alcoholic beverages that they could easily get and take. until this shooting that wasn t on anybody s radar in law enforcement. no, i had not heard of garage hopping. these friends say they had never gone garage hopping but they know all about it. you all know people that do it or have done it. yeah. they understand it s illegal. yeah. but it seemed harmless.
finds themself in the position that i was put into. reporter: the judge sentenced him to 70 years in prison. i almost wish he never said sorry. because it was so empty and his face had just no expression. it was, like, scary almost. we were all like taken aback. i was like take it back. there was no meaning in that. reporter: and they say garage hopping is no longer popular. have attitudes changed about all of that since then? of course. yeah. i haven t heard a thing about it since. it s unheard of. now it is? yeah. reporter: diren s friends hope that people will forget the one deadly mistake diren made, and remember the bright, charming guy they loved. you know, you re all pretty young to have to go through this. you feel like this has changed you? yeah. one hundred percent. yeah, every day you wake up, you think, obviously, something like that could happen and you need
believe diren dede was armed and ready to attack. and because he felt his life was threatened by the movement specifically of mr. dede, he had to take the steps, unfortunately, to take his life. the danger of a burglar is when there s a confrontation and they all want to escape and they ll do whatever they can to get away. reporter: the defense said there was no debate over one central fact diren dede went into that garage to steal. and on the stand, kaarma s lawyer got diren s friend robby to admit that, despite warnings, diren didn t see much wrong with garage hopping. i think diren never felt like it was a crime. but you were warning him. you were telling him it wasn t right, it was reckless, it was dangerous. right? yeah. yeah. like, i understand on this way. but he maybe didn t understand. reporter: in fact, the defense suggested that diren was part of a local burglary ring that was stealing more than just beer, and may have been behind
not the first kid in missoula to go sneaking into unlocked garages. he said the kids weren t after money, credit cards or valuables. this stunt happened often enough that it had a name garage hopping. and the target was usually beer. the reason for garage hopping, or garage shopping, i ve heard it called both, was for kids to go in and look for alcoholic beverages that they could easily get and take. until this shooting, that sort of wasn t on anybody s radar in law enforcement? no. i had not heard of garage hopping. no. reporter: these three friends of diren s say they ve never gone garage hopping. but they know all about it. you all know people who do it? yeah. or have done it? yeah. right? they understand it s illegal? uh-huh. but it seemed harmless? yeah. exactly. i mean, it s just they re like, hey, dude, this is a way for you to get some extra beer. you know, when you re on a saturday night. i mean, did did you think
as robby described it, diren was not the first kid in missoula to go sneaking into unlocked garages. he said the kids weren t after money, credit cards or valuables. this stunt happened often enough that it had a name, garage that it had a name, garage hopping. and the target was usually beer. the reason for garage hopping, or garage shopping, i ve heard it called both, was for kids to go in and look for alcoholic beverages that they could easily get and take. until this shooting, that sort of wasn t on anybody s radar in law enforcement? no. i had not heard of garage hopping. no. reporter: these three friends of diren s say they ve never gone garage hopping, but they know all about it. you all know people who do it or have done it? yeah. right? they understand it s illegal? uh-huh. yeah. but it seemed harmless? yeah. exactly. i mean, it s just it s like, hey, dude, this is a way for you to get some extra beer, you know, on a saturday night. i mean, did you thin