MMI,

You and I have had this discussion before, and I see little has changed. However, in the situation described, a victim killing a robber AFTER the fact, while the robber is running away, that certainly does seem to me to be unjustified. By that time there is no threat to your life, or the lives of anyone else, and you would then be killing someone for the price of a few possessions. If I were on a jury on such a case I would have no problem with convicting the killer of manslaughter, at least.

However, there is still the situation of killing a robber while in the act! If you come upon a person robbing your home, or you are accosted by someone on the street, I maintain that you have a right to defend yourself and your property by any means, up to and including lethal force. You have no way of knowing the intentions of the burglar/robber, no way of knowing whether or not he is armed, and a reasonable fear of being injured or killed. I see no problem with stopping the robber, even if it means killing him.

As for booby-trapping your property, as far as I know it's illegal here in the US to do something which is deliberately fatal, or reasonably can be considered to be life-threatening. That doesn't prohibit you from trapping your property in such a way that the robber will be caught but not killed. It's just considered bad form to actually kill them in this manner. Too much chance of an innocent person setting off the trap accidentally.