vitale murder... look at suspects high school yearbook picture.

[Papa Deuce]

while it lasts... it will diasappear soon, I would guess.

www.foxnews.com

 

[Meezers]

Oh yeah....great looking kid there!

 

[poohandwendy]

He is frightening...seriously, you can see the evil in him. It's scary.

Kinda annoying that the school would allow such a picture to be in the yearbook. Um, hello? He purposely looks like 'spawn of satan'...maybe not appropriate for a HS yearbook, eh?

 

[Cindy B]

Yikes! Of course with all these killers (excuse me alleged killers, don't want to get sued) the media tends to find all the worst pictures of the suspects.

If its not a terrible yearbook picture, its some military picture with the black wire rim glasses and such.

 

[Papa Deuce]

Yikes! Of course with all these killers (excuse me alleged killers, don't want to get sued) the media tends to find all the worst pictures of the suspects.

If its not a terrible yearbook picture, its some military picture with the black wire rim glasses and such.

To be sure. But if you read the story itself, they have other pictures to look at.

 

[poohandwendy]

What is so amazing to me is that he is my sons age...I just cannot imagine anyone at that age being so twisted. Prime of your life, what a shame.

 

[poohandwendy]

the media tends to find all the worst pictures of the suspects.

LOL, one would think a HS yearbook picture would be a safe one to use, ordinarily. I can't blame the media for this one...this kid WANTS to be seen that way.

 

[Cindy B]

To be sure. But if you read the story itself, they have other pictures to look at.

So is it a requirement by station managers to find the most hideous looking picture of the alleged perpetrators to ilicit sympathy for the victim?

I've often wondered that. Every time I see a hideous frightening picture I wonder if the media actually goes for that angle versus finding them smiling with a birthday or Christmas picture.

But it also goes the other way. I know I don't watch much local news, but everytime there is a child shooting death (usually in West Kensignton) they find cute pictures or smiling photos to bring sympathy for the victims families.

So in my mind

Unfortunate death = cute, smily picture

Alleged murderer, criminal, etc.. = Lets find the craziest most awful picture we can find so others can see their "evil".

So technically by putting those awful pictures out there, wouldn't that prejudice future jurors for the case.. they will in fact remember that "evil" picture?

Just a thought. And yes Papa, I did find the other pictures. I thought that the profile one was actually flattering.

 

[poohandwendy]

So is it a requirement by station managers to find the most hideous looking picture of the alleged perpetrators to ilicit sympathy for the victim?

I've often wondered that. Every time I see a hideous frightening picture I wonder if the media actually goes for that angle versus finding them smiling with a birthday or Christmas picture.

But it also goes the other way. I know I don't watch much local news, but everytime there is a child shooting death (usually in West Kensignton) they find cute pictures or smiling photos to bring sympathy for the victims families.

So in my mind

Unfortunate death = cute, smily picture

Alleged murderer, criminal, etc.. = Lets find the craziest most awful picture we can find so others can see their "evil".

I would agree with you , except in this case...I think this kid WANTS to illicit a response by his appearance. He is making a point. Both middle fingers straight up kind of point. This was his high school yearbook photo...not one the media had to dig through photo boxes to find the scariest one possible.

But along the same lines, this kid will go to court cleaned up and dressed like he belongs in a military academy. Is that any more 'right'?

And btw, shouldn't there be sympathy for the victims family? Why is that a bad thing? I mean, they are the victims...usually this is the last photo the world will see of the child, isn't it only right that they try to show their very best?

 

[happybratpack]

I was just shocked when they showed the two different pictures together on CNN. One nice clean looking, the other one this one. It's scary, you just don't know with people.

 

[Cindy B]

I would agree with you , except in this case...I think this kid WANTS to illicit a response by his appearance. He is making a point. Both middle fingers straight up kind of point. This was his high school yearbook photo...not one the media had to dig through photo boxes to find the scariest one possible.

But along the same lines, this kid will go to court cleaned up and dressed like he belongs in a military academy. Is that any more 'right'?

Funny, I wouldn't find that "look" any frightening than other high school students I see on a daily basis. Some of these kids are the high honors kids too. I had that gothy, semi scary look in high school as well, but was a high honors student. I saw my appearance as an anti point versus the big hair Aquanet establishment. (thats what I called it--sorry!)

I hate pictures of myself, and I hate getting my picture taken. Therefore, I am mostly cringing! Heaven forbid if anything happens to me, they will have to dig and dig and find a nice non frigtening picture for the media! LOL!

Yes, you make a valid point for dressing up for court. That is an established practice for all defendants though. You could make a case saying that this established routine of dressing up defendants is not only to play the jury but also to honor the tradition and respect of the judge.

 

[poohandwendy]

Funny, I wouldn't find that "look" any frightening than other high school students I see on a daily basis. Some of these kids are the high honors kids too. I had that gothy, semi scary look in high school as well, but was a high honors student.

I am not talking about long hair and black eyeliner, I am not talking about not saying 'cheese' for the camera... I am talking about a purposeful mean/angry disposition for the HS yearbook photo. Not just a candid shot of you and your friends, but a photo you are presenting for the public to see. It has nothing to do with grade potential or intelligence.

I have seen many goth looks, many anti-establishment looks...but this is unlike any HS yearbook photo I have seen. Like I said before, I am surprised they allowed it to be published in the yearbook.

It's amazing parents can see their child looking like that in the yearbook and not have their child being involuntarily evaluated for 72 hours minimum to find out if this an angry phase or something more. (they may have, I don't know...but this is definitely not your average anti-establishment honors student and it doesn't take a rocket scientist to see it)

 

[Cindy B]

We must see this photo from a different perspective. I dont see that as evil or terrible photo or misrepresenting themselves. Granted its not the best yearbook photo, but hey doesn't everyone have a terrible drivers license picture?

I don't see that photo as terrible or misrepresenting. I actually see it as a goth wanna be type kid, like most of my students at the high school where I work. And I've seen kids wear all types of stuff in the yearbook pictures. The only ones I haven't seen them print in the yearbook are the ones that they are actually putting the middle fingers up during the shoot or an accidental breast shot for a braless female student!

I work with emotionally disturbed teenagers at a high school. They don't bother me or scare me. Maybe because of my perspective, that is why that picture doesn't seem evil or scary. Some of my tougher kids look "normal" to others, while some have the "antiestablishment" wadrobe. Some of my kids have so many handicaps that looking different is way down on the importance scale to them compared to daily funtioning. Will I be surprised if I see one of my former students in the paper for some alleged act? Hopefully I will never see it, but it can/may happen.

There are some that are greatly disturbed and won't make it. Our district unfortunately has a very high suicide rate.

You have a more valid emotional perspective on it with a child that age/grade.

Same picture, two different viewpoints.

 

[Pin Wizard]

Scary.

A 16 or 17 year old was arrested yesterday for shooting pellets at three school buses this week. What the heck is wrong with people?

 

[Martha7]

If you go over to the Court Tv website, (www.courttv.com), you can read a lot more information about this kid on their message boards. It does seem as though he had a very unstable upbringing, and that the parents seemed to be off in their own worlds. The Court TV boards are interesting, because the posters like to engage in a lot of "sleuthing." There are tons of "Somehow this crime scene doesn't add up..." posts. Many of them feel that this kid didn't act alone. I was trying to follow the case somewhat yesterday, but all I could find was Wilma coverage on TV. I spent some time on the message boards and got the following: In a nutshell, it seems that the kid was involved in some kind of credit card fraud, (stealing credit card applications from the neighbors', including the victim's, mailboxes). He then may have ordered some supplies for hydroponically growing marijuana with the cards. Some think that he ordered these supplies and arranged for them to be delivered to the Horowitz/Vitale household, and was poking around outside that morning, looking for the boxes. They feel that either Pamela Vitale saw him creeping around and confronted him, or that she was getting ready to get her shower and he came in and confronted her. (One opinion was that she never would have answered the door in her t-shirt and underwear.) This could explain why the shower ran for a long time, (some thought that the kid took a shower after killing the victim.) A goth cross was carved into her back. Why would he have done something like that to implicate himself, and then taken a shower to remove evidence? The whole thing is strange, and there are differing reports about whether or not he had scratches on his body from the struggle. So, did someone else kill her and try to implicate this kid, or did he do it? There should be plenty of evidence and DNA evidence to resolve it. Whatever the outcome, she certainly had a good reputation in the community and her death was tragic. The Nancy Grace show on Court TV will have plenty of coverage, since she was a friend of Pamela Vitale and is a friend of Daniel Horowitz.

 

[Stitchfans]

Afraid to say I work at a high school and I have seen worst. Some of the students really scare me with their Gothic look.

 

[eeyore kelly]

His look is the same look millions of kids have. I don't agree with what he did, but I wouldn't guessed murderer from his picture.

 

[binny]

I was just shocked when they showed the two different pictures together on CNN. One nice clean looking, the other one this one. It's scary, you just don't know with people.

I was looking at that too. What do you suppose happened to him to make him change from a seemigly happy/normal kid to a monster with evil in his eyes?

And, more importantly, what can we do (as parents) to prevent it from happening again?

 

[Martha7]

It seems that he has had a tough life, not that it's any excuse for criminal behavior! His parents were divorced, and apparently, his stepdad was on the verge of separating from Scott's mother. Scott's half-sister, (I think), was killed some years ago in a car crash. They were living in a house built of straw, attached to someone else's house, with one or two other families. The mother did work with "rearranging DNA" for people, (some wierd, spiritual business she had, I guess.) The biological Dad was all involved in his environmental causes. Doesn't sound like it left a lot of time for this kid...As I said in my previous post, it doesn't seem like such an open and shut case to me. It's all very odd and I wouldn't be surprised to find out that more people were involved. Don't know if Scott has confessed or what the story is at this point. It should be an interesting week of Court Tv, especially since Daniel Horowitz is putting himself all over the tube, which wouldn't be my first impulse, but how can anyone guess as to how they'd react in a similar situation?