Voden is home, denies 'problem' with dogs

By Jim Keyworth
Gazette Blog Editor

Mike Voden came home from jail late Friday night to a relieved Pat Rollins.

"Mike got home last night at around 9:30," his wife told the Gazette Saturday.  "He's doing amazingly well."

Voden is accused of shooting and killing Randy Burnett during an altercation in his yard.

Rollins said Voden's stay in jail went as well as could be expected.  " He had interesting relationships with both the inmates and the staff," she said.  "He had excellent relations with the staff.  They probably were sorry to see him go because he never caused any problems.

"And he had, for the most part, good relations with the inmates, but some of them were really wacko - totally out of their minds.  They probably belonged in a different kind of facility, but we were told that's where they put people like that.  He basically got along with everyone there.

"He looks pretty good. His hair and beard need to be trimmed.  They needed to be done before he went in, but then we didn't know he was going in.  

"He's trying to fix things that didn't get fixed when he was gone.  He can't leave the property, but we have 2.5 acres here so it's not like he's stuck in a small little corner."

Rollins said the police were all over their property Friday.  "It took four cops to check our house yesterday," she recalled.  "They had to walk through the house to make sure there weren't any weapons here - after they (had already) removed the weapons.  Anyway, they (already) had Mike's guns and the little pistol on my nightstand that Mike had there for when he was out of town.  That and a BB gun to scare the crows away.  So I don't know what they thought hey were going to find here, but they didn't find it.

"They went through the entire house and they exaggerated everything that they had to check.  Then they went into the adjoining yard and I gave them keys for the pumphouse and the shed.  They just looked at the shed."

Rollins was also upset by a Saturday morning phone call from the police to Voden's attorney, Michael Bernays, in Tempe.  "This morning they called and said that Mike was trying to do something in the next yard, so his attorney called us and Mike said, 'I haven't left the house since I got home last night.  I'm still sitting here in my pajamas.  I haven't gone anywhere.  What are they trying to do?'

"It's just bogus," Rollins said.  "It's just bullshit."

But she again expressed her satisfaction with the hearing last week in Payson, during which Voden's bail was reduced from $1 million to $200,000.  "At one point the prosecuting attorney said something and Judge Duber said, "You know, in this country we have something called innocent until proven guilty.  He was telling him to back off."

She felt the prosecution was scraping the bottom of the barrel trying to portray Voden as gun happy. "They went into Mike's history in Dearborn Heights (Michigan)," she explained.  "Forty-five years ago Mike had a rubber gun and he was pretending to shoot with it.  Mike said everyone was laughing so hard they were crying.  They presented that as evidence that he's had a problem with guns."

Some Gazette readers have suggested Voden has a problem with dogs.  Here's what Rollins had to say on the subject:

"We don't currently have pets, but we did have a dog when we moved here.  We had a Rottweiler named Sinbad - the most lovable dog you could imagine.  That dog, all he wanted to do was be petted.  He learned to park himself by my chair so I couldn't wheel.  I couldn't get anything done.  I'd just pet him.

"Mike had pets when he was a kid, too.  He has a problem with wild dogs, with dogs that run on his property - crapping in his flower beds and so on.  I don't know why the guy thought it was alright to open our gate and tell his dogs they could come over here and do their business.  I don't know what he was thinking.

"Do you have pets?  You wouldn't do that would you?" she asked.

"No, we take bags when we walk our dogs on leashes," I replied.  

"You're responsible," Rollins continued.  "Well, we have no problem with responsible dog owners."

Rollins said Bernays has been advised that the NRA is interested in the upcoming trial.

"He said, 'We don't need a circus.  This is simple self defense.  He had the right to defend himself.'

"The guy had every opportunity to stop," Rollins continued, "but he just kept coming, making it clear he was going to beat the crap out of Mike.  

"It's unfortunate.  I wish it hadn't happened.  The widow said in court that Mike was the one responsible for her being a widow.  I'm thinking to myself, no he's not.  Your husband's behavior is what's responsible for you being a widow.

"It's just crazy.  The whole thing."