Good news, Westerfield gets death penalty

[Dan Murphy]

7 year old Danielle van Dam

MSNBC news story

<IMG width=170 src=http://a799.ms.akamai.net/3/799/388/a34cfd9cf92758/www.msnbc.com/news/1615197.jpg>

Sad Westerfield

 

[Steve H.]

 

[Princess_Aurora]

YIPPIE!!!

One more for the Hang 'em High club!

 

[EROS]

The celebration and glee of the HEH crowd follows in a "fine" tradition. I'm appalled,.............but we know that the DIS isn't all "sweetness and light"



Charles Dickens to the Editor of The Times, Letters. Nov. 13, 1849

I was a witness of the execution at Horsemonger Lane this morning. I went there with the intention of observing the crowd gathered to behold it, and I had excellent opportunities of doing so, at intervals all through the night, and continuously from day-break until after the spectacle was over... I believe that a sight so inconceivably awful as the wickedness and levity of the immense crowd collected at that execution this morning could be imagined by no man, and could be presented in no heathen land under the sun. The horrors of the gibbet and of the crime which brought the wretched murderers to it faded in my mind before the atrocious bearing, looks, and language of the assembled spectators.

When I came upon the scene at midnight, the shrillness of the cries and howls that were raised from time to time, denoting that they came from a concourse of boys and girls already assembled in the best places, made my blood run cold. As the night went on, screeching, and laughing, and yelling in strong chorus of parodies on negro melodies, with substitutions of 'Mrs. Manning' for 'Susannah', and the like, were added to these. When the day dawned, thieves, low prosti_tutes, ruffians, and vagabonds of every kind, flocked on to the ground, with every variety of offensive and foul behaviour. Fightings, faintings, whistlings, imitations of Punch, brutal jokes, tumultuous demonstrations of indecent delight when swooning women were dragged out of the crowd by the police, with their dresses disordered, gave a new zest to the general entertainment.

When the sun rose brightly-as it did-it gilded thousands upon thousands of upturned faces, so inexpressibly odious in their brutal mirth or callousness, that a man had cause to feel ashamed of the shape he wore, and to shrink from himself, as fashioned in the image of the Devil. When the two miserable creatures who attracted all this ghastly sight about them were turned quivering into the air, there was no more emotion, no more pity, no more thought that two immortal souls had gone to judgement, no more restraint in any of the previous obscenities, than if the name of Christ had never been heard in this world, and there were no belief among men but that they perished like the beasts.

 

[MaryAnnDVC]

Thanks, Dan. That IS good news!

Proud Member of the HEHC
Mare

 

[EROS]

BLOODLUST AND VENGEANCE won't bring this poor child back, but they certainly have a way of pacifying the masses........... just as they did in London 150 years ago ..............

 

[Gail T AGAIN]

First before I killed him, that is way to easy, I would cut of his "jewels" and watch him smither and blem to death and if not then one arm at a time, then one leg at a time, then watch him die.

 

[snowwhitemom]

Even if it will take them 11 YEARS to do it, I am pleased to hear this I must admit.

 

[TennVolTony]

GOOD! They should just take him to a public square and hang the SOB!

Killing him is TOO good for him.....

 

[EROS]

There are a few Catholics, my DW included, who truly understand the sanctity of life

"Capital punishment feeds
the cycle of violence in
society by pandering to a
lust for revenge. It
brutalizes us, and deadens
our sensitivities to the
precious nature of every
single human life."


-- Most Rev. David B.
Thompson, Bishop of
Charleston, S.C.,
December 3, 1998

 

[TheLionKing]

It's pretty rare that I even get into the HEH "debates" on the community board.

But if it took them 2 weeks to decide this, then there must have been some serious arm twisting going on in the jury room.

Juries are not infallible.

I am not sure what I think about this punishment.

 

[Jennyfyar]

I think he deserves to die. Killing him will not bring Danielle back, but it may deter even one murdering rapist from doing this to another little girl.

 

[chelsea&amp;austinsmom]

Thanks Dan I missed that one today on the news.

 

[UncleKyle]

It's so sad that it's gonna take 15 years of appeals and then he dies such an easy death........where is the rope and tree?

 

[snoopy]

I'm with TLK, I don't know how I feel about this verdict. I'm very rarely comfortable with the death penalty, the only time I can recall feeling 100% sure that the criminal should be put to death was with Timothy McVeigh.

That of course is not to take away from this poor innocent child's death. What happened to her is unthinkable and beyond tragic.

But I can't help but feel that this guy has a mother out there, a sister, someone who loves him, probably. I can't rejoice in what must be a tragedy for them as well. I know its not the same was what Danielle's parents went through, but its tragic just the same for the people Westerfield will leave behind.

At the same time, I can't imagine that this guy will ever be rehabilitated.

I'm rambling, I know, but this is what crosses my mind whenever I hear someone got the death penalty.

 

[Cindy B]

Snoopy--

I have to agree with you.

You basically said how I feel as well.

Yes, it is horrible this happened. Yes, he, (Westerfield) was someone child/uncle/brother.

I know that the family of Westerfield is mourning as well as Danielles family.

Yes, she did NOT deserve to die. I know that both families will feel guilt.. (like how could I have prevented this/what made this happen/why our family/what could I have done to prevent this)

But unfortunately the answer is nothing.. this is the terrible side of free will.

I have a seven year old as well, and my life would be empty without him.

 

[Planogirl]

I'm relieved and sad all at once. Relieved because the poor little girl gets justice but sad because this is all so brutal from top to bottom.

 

[we3luvdisney]

"If we execute murderers and there is in fact no deterrent effect, we have killed a bunch of murderers. If we fail to execute murderers, and doing so would in fact have deterred other murders, we have allowed the killing of a bunch of innocent victims. I would much rather risk the former. This, to me, is not a tough call."

John McAdams - Marquette University/Department of Political Science

 

[holycow]

I'm with you on this one Dan!

Holycow

 

[we3luvdisney]

Originally posted by EROS
BLOODLUST AND VENGEANCE won't bring this poor child back, but they certainly have a way of pacifying the masses........... just as they did in London 150 years ago......

Let's round up all our folks on death row and ship them overseas. There must be some government somewhere willing to take them. After all, so many of them are willing to preach to us about how we awful Americans still have the death penalty.
GREGORY KANE, August 12, 2001