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A Columbia County Boy's Recollections and Memories of Columbia County Florida (2012) Lenvil H. Dicks

the bottom step joined onto the actual floor of the room. It was then that I realized what the noise that I
had heard was because where that spent rifle casing was laying, since the rifle ejects to the right, it could
only have come from one position, and that position was the only place in the gallery where I would be
in clear and unobstructed view.

However, there was a large wall-hung cabinet, the edge of which protruded into the space where a
person’s vision would have traveled in order to aim a rifle at me, and upon further examination 1 found a
bullet hole right in the very comer of that cabinet where Brandon had aimed about one inch too far to
the left, and instead of the bullet finding me, it found the cabinet.

I opened the cabinet door and lo and behold! The inside of the cabinet on the side where Brandon had
stood was splintered at the place where the bullet entered the cabinet, and the spent bullet was actually
lying inside the door of that cabinet. I felt like somebody had kicked me in the stomach because it was at
that moment that I realized that Brandon had attempted to shoot me. At that time he was already on
parole for breaking and entering, and was convicted of armed burglary, but at my request Brandon had
been put on parole instead of being sent to prison.

However, I saw that he was charged with attempted murder, and he was sentenced to 30 years in State
Prison for violating parole for armed burglary, and for attempted murder on me.

1 asked the judge to see to it that the order was entered that upon my death of natural causes, and after
the absolute minimum amount of time the law required Brandon to serve, that he would attempt to get
him out of prison on parole.

In my heart 1 have forgiven Brandon for attempting to murder me, but I do not want to see him out of
prison as long as I am alive, because knowing him as I do I feel confident that either he, or some hired
gun, will make the same attempt on my life again.

I have sold that house and thus no longer live there. I have seen to it that Brandon has no idea where I
am now living, due to the fact that at one earlier time when he was in county jail he tried to enlist the aid
of another jail inmate who was being discharged to slip around and murder me. That inmate came to me
and told me of the plan that Brandon had tried to hire him to put into motion, and showed me a very
detailed drawing of the layout of my entire house together with an exact and accurate representation
where every item of furniture was located. The one error Brandon had made in his drawing, and I am
convinced that he did this on purpose, he showed the location of a hidden safe where 1 was supposed to
have kept a lot of money, which the inmate being discharged could go into and clean it out after my
death.

Actually, I had no such safe in my house, and I assume that was a device Brandon thought up to
encourage the fellow he had enlisted to try to kill me.

That inmate attested to all that as a witness for me in Brandon’s trial, and it went a long way to having
him convicted.

As I was sitting in my chair that night, I have no doubt that at the exact moment that the bullet came out
the end of the rifle barrel my guardian angel just shoved it ever so gently to the left, so that it would hit
that cabinet and not hit me. Except for that, there is no way he could have missed me because he was
within 20 feet of where I was sitting, and I would not be an easy target to miss.

As I said, I have forgiven Brandon for the actual act of trying to shoot me, and I pray to the Lord that he
will send his Holy Spirit to touch Brandon in some way that would change him, and make something of
his life in the event he ever gets discharged from prison.

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