Hey EROS......here's some non-fluff to comment on....

[dumboiu]

Teen May Have Shot FBI Analyst

By STEVE SZKOTAK
.c The Associated Press

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) - The 17-year-old suspect in the Washington-area sniper attacks may have squeezed off the shot that killed an FBI analyst, a Virginia prosecutor said, raising the possibility that the death penalty could be brought against both suspects.

Robert F. Horan, Jr., a Commonwealth attorney, told The Associated Press on Sunday there is ``an equal possibility'' for both suspects - John Allen Muhammad, 41, and John Lee Malvo, 17 - to have shot FBI analyst Linda Franklin outside a Home Depot on Oct. 14 in Fairfax.

The New York Times and Richmond Times-Dispatch both reported Monday that Horan suggested there is evidence Malvo was the shooter in that case.

``There will be evidence that the juvenile was the shooter,'' The New York Times quoted Horan as saying. He refused to provide any more details.

Despite murder charges filed in Maryland against the two sniper suspects, rival prosecutors in Virginia are circling the case with the promise that they could win death sentences against the pair.

At least two Virginia counties were prepared to seek charges Monday against Muhammad and Malvo, the men suspected of 13 shootings that left 10 dead and terrorized the suburbs around the nation's capital.

The suspects already face multiple murder charges in Maryland, and murder charges in Alabama unrelated to the sniper shootings. They also could be charged with federal extortion and murder counts that could bring the death penalty.

Last week, Maryland filed six first-degree murder counts against both Muhammad and Malvo. But the top elected official in Maryland's Montgomery County urged prosecutors to choose the strongest venue.

``They need to present a unified front to the public and say: 'Here's how we're going to handle this,' and wherever the case is strongest with the stiffest penalties, that's where they need to go,'' Montgomery County Executive Douglas Duncan said.

Virginia has executed 86 people since capital punishment was reinstated in 1976, more than any state but Texas. In the same period, Maryland has executed three people and is one of two states with a moratorium on executions.

Virginia Attorney General Jerry T. Kilgore has left the decision to the local prosecutors on what charges his state will seek, a spokesman said Sunday. Kilgore has urged that Virginia have the first chance to try the case because it can more easily apply the death penalty.

``The key is still that the federal government not indict before Virginia to preclude our prosecution,'' said the spokesman, Tim Murtaugh. ``It's key to act now.''

Virginia prosecutors in Spotsylvania County and Hanover County were expected to seek indictments Monday.

William Neely, the Spotsylvania prosecutor, said Saturday he would seek charges against Muhammad that could bring the death penalty. He said Malvo might also face capital charges, but that would depend on the teenager's role in the shootings.

A Justice Department source said Prince William County was also expected to file capital murder charges against Muhammad as early as Monday. Accessory or aiding and abetting counts were expected for Malvo, while prosecutors consider the evidence for bringing a death-penalty case against the teen, the official said on condition of anonymity.

Prince William prosecutor Paul Ebert did not return calls seeking comment Sunday.

Federal law enforcement authorities are reviewing possible charges relating to extortion and murder that might allow for all the shootings to be combined in a single case and would allow for the death penalty on conviction, the official said. Letters left behind in the sniper slayings demanded $10 million.

The Virginia moves come as federal and state officials suggested Maryland allow the suspects to be prosecuted in jurisdictions with stronger death penalty laws. Alabama has also charged the men with capital murder for a Sept. 21 killing unrelated to the sniper shootings.

Montgomery County State's Attorney Douglas Gansler told the AP on Sunday that he still believes his state should prosecute the case first, but ``we're open to discussions with all the jurisdictions.''

Gansler acknowledged that the toughest sentence Malvo could get in Maryland would be life without the possibility of parole, but argued that his state has the strongest case because it suffered the most losses. Six were slain there.

A 17-year-old would be eligible for the death penalty in Virginia and Alabama but not in Maryland. There is no death penalty in the District of Columbia, where one person was killed.

 

[EROS]

I find this entire prosecutorial "dance" to be disgusting and contemptuous. Look, it's a "done deal" that the two suspects are going to be executed. We're just seeing some Attorney Generals wishing to make political points by showing that their states are "the toughest". Of course, the FEDS may preempt them all with federal indictments. The whole scenario reminds me of one of those caged wrestling matches which determine the TOUGH GUY .

I'm sure that the HEH club is disgusted that it will take years to get those lethal injections going. Soooooooooooooooooo sorry. You'll just have to meet your BLOODTHIRST quota in some other fashion. Hey, I've heard that biting the head off of a chicken is a tasty mess ..............

 

[gina2000]

I have to ask these questions.....

Doesn't it bother ANYONE that our society is producing people filled with such anger?


Or that people with such bad problems feel they have no recourse and eventually act out their frustration?

 

[tedsmom]

Hey Mr. Melodrama(AKA EROS):
Perhaps we can ask Ozzy Osborne about the chicken head thing. Wasn't he famous for that?

 

[EROS]

GINA, I'm not sure that the answer lies within a "problem" in contemporary society.

Who wrote: "How can they catch me now? I love my work and want to start again....soon"

Answer: JACK THE RIPPER ................the year was 1888...............in ENGLAND.

Of course, in the last century alone we've seen mass murder on an almost unimaginable scale from STALIN, HITLER, and POL POT .

I don't believe in the whole construct of EVIL from SATAN. However, it's clear that going back to the time of Genghis Kahn, humans showed the capacity for ruthlessness and murder. ........

 

[tedsmom]

In this century we've seen mass murderers as well, in the form of Al Qaeda terrorists.

I think that some of the American people have become disgusted with those who choose to hold this country hostage, whether they be domestic or foreign terrorists. Perhaps the "message" they will understand needs to be "written" in the "language" they will understand.

 

[dumboiu]

Originally posted by tedsmom
In this century we've seen mass murderers as well, in the form of Al Qaeda terrorists.

I think that some of the American people have become disgusted with those who choose to hold this country hostage, whether they be domestic or foreign terrorists. Perhaps the "message" they will understand needs to be "written" in the "language" they will understand.

........unfortunately, that message might just be one of "martyrdom"......

 

[tedsmom]

If they want to think they're martyrs in their insane little brains, so be it.

 

[Bob O]

I hope the two suspects if found guilty are put to death ASAP!!!! That is the only true and just sentence, even if eros would let them live in his house with promises they wont committ any more crimes.
Gina, does it bother me, no!!!!! We cant control the fact that evil people are born into this society and commit crimes, all we can do is try to deter as much as possible and when they are caught deal with them in a very harsh manner as quickly as possible!! bad people do bad things, has always been that way and always will be. The problem is that when we identify these people wo dont deal with them in a harsh enough manner!!

 

[gina2000]

I've tried to spit this out at least three times to no avail.


I believe that when we ignore those who have the capability to do harm to others, we are essentially allowing ourselves to become potential victims. REactive responses, while comforting, occur after the tragedy. PROactive responses, however, have the potential to make our society safer for all including the disenfranchised, by identifying their problems and working toward a common solution which benefits society as a whole. Until we recognize that we are disenfranchising whole segments of society, WE remain the final victim in the murder game. And no amount of punishment will stop that final outcome.

I'm still spluttering and spitting, but the idea is starting to flow.....

 

[EROS]

Originally posted by gina2000
PROactive responses, however, have the potential to make our society safer for all including the disenfranchised, by identifying their problems and working toward a common solution which benefits society as a whole.

A nice thought, GINA, but not practical . We had a workplace shooting just outside of Boston 2 years ago in a high tech firm. A WHITE MAN, college educated, far from being disenfranchised, coldly murdered several co-workers and sat on a step waiting for the Police to arrive. When arrested, he mumbled something about "Killing Nazis", but a search of his apartment revealed a book about feigning psychosis. He now is doing life in prison without the possibility of parole.

He came from a very middle class background; his father was the Fire Chief of their town and highly respected. He had sought treatment previously for depression and received a course of medication/therapy.

"SOCIETY" didn't let this man down.........it's an illusion to feel that somehow his actions could have been "prevented". .......

 

[Bob O]

Gina-Not trying to be mean or attacking but it sounds like a bunch of liberal psycho-babble!!!
You are always going to have people who claim they are disenfranchised, if they are or arent. The only thing i think that could help would be more stable families and alot less teenagers having kids. Alot of the problems we have are a result of broken homes(not all problems) that were caused by the great society where we took fathers out of the equation and replaced them with a government paycheck and kept giving them more money every time they reproduced as it is just as easy to neglect 1 kid as it is 5 or more!!
We are always going to have problems/criminals but we had less problems when we had more intact families and all studies have shown that kids that come from broken homes/homes where the parents arent married have a much higher incaceration rate and are resposible for more crimes. I know personally that of the people i deal with at work that the criminal element comes alot more from single mothers/broken homes than intact families.

 

[gina2000]

EROS, for every example you cite, I'm sure I can site an example of a disenfranchised murderer. It's a useless waste of bandwidth. What you are essentially saying is that every murderer, regardless of reason, is a murderer. And regardless of their effect upon society, there is no reason to analyze the reason the murder occured. I don't agree with it, but it certainly is a timesaver. If that's the case, however, then why incarcerate? There's no hope of rehabilitation. Why burden society? If we are inherently bloodthirsty, why not admit it and be done with it?

 

[gina2000]

Bob, I am the absolutely least liberal person you will ever meet. I promise you that.

I don't believe in paying babies to have babies. I also don't believe in a free boat, a handout without work or any of the other things you think a liberal stands for. As a matter of fact, I'd make it harder on alot of people rather than easier to get a handout.

What I am trying to figure out though, is how to protect society from those members who are unable to live within its rules. Not how to help the guilty. If the by-product of that protection is help for the guilty, so be it. I'm more interested in keeping the innocent safe before they are victimized, not after.

 

[EROS]

More murder from the disenfranchised..............I doubt it ...

4 dead in Arizona shooting

A gunman believed to be a student shot to death two professors and a third person before apparently killing himself today at the University of Arizona College of Nursing, police and university officials said. Police also said a bomb-sniffing dog had a reaction to the suspect's car, which was parked in a lot outside the college.

 

[EUROPA]

Originally posted by gina2000
What I am trying to figure out though, is how to protect society from those members who are unable to live within its rules.

Very hard to do that until they break those rules. Until then there is not much we can do is there? I guess that is the burden of living in a free society such as ours. Once they have broken those rules especially a couple of the big ones there is not much you can do to keep it from happening again. There is only one permanent deterrent from keeping that person from killing again....

 

[Bob O]

Gina, Unless the movie Minority Report comes true and we have pre-cogs who can identify crimes before they take place their is nothing we can do to stop a person who is intent on committing a crime. The problem is that we keep releasing criminals back into society to victimize new people. Untill we deal with criminals in a proper manner crime will not go down. It will have spikes based on the birthrate but wont go down until we deal with the criminal element ina harsher manner and put victims needs ahead of those of criminals.