Theodore Wafer will do at least 17 years.

[emu steve]

What is sad about this case is that it was NOT a home invasion. The victim wasn't in his house.

Pounding on doors is usually a cry for help.

Thieves don't knock on doors, create a ruckus, and announce their intentions. They try to do things with minimal notice hoping not to be detected and certainly don't want to enter an occupied house. That is when things can really go wrong. The thief could get shot. And thieves don't want to shoot people either. That isn't their motivation.

I CAN understand how he would have been afraid but the 'rational' thing would have been to say dead-bolt the door, call 911 [["It's the middle of the night and someone is pounding on my door"), etc.

To paraphrase the NRA's Wayne LaPierre, 'About a good person with a gun'... Sometimes good people do bad things when they are compromised. E.g., Someone at home might have had too many to drink. No problem he/she is at home, not driving, not threatening anyone, etc. etc. and all of a sudden a completely unexpected incident comes up and things go wrong. "Sure, I was compromised. Had too many to drink, but I was home minding my own business..."