"Welcome Brother". These, purportedly, were the words that Pastor Fred Winters of the First Baptist Church of Maryville, spoke to the man who walked up onto the stage, before he opened fire, killing the Pastor and wounding at least four other congregants of the church in Maryville, Illinois.
The gunmen had, moments before, been standing in the aisle of the church and the Pastor saw this and asked him if he needed help. Obviously, he did. And whatever wrongs, up until that moment, that had been perpetrated on this lost soul - whether it was a lost job, a lost girlfriend...some other factor in his life, whatever...that ultimately contributed to this terrible outcome...this particular person's solution was to spray bullets. His answer was to walk into a church and say nothing and then, pull his gun from his hoodie and pump three shots into the man that would have been the one, most able to help him. Maybe the one person out of many, who would have stopped what he was doing and really, really listened to his problems that had brought him to that moment in his life. Instead, he pumped three bullets into this peaceful man of God and for good measure, he apparently shot and stabbed other congregants during his attempt at escape. He was held at bay, by some churchgoers, until police arrived.
With this particular local terrorist, he didn't turn the gun on himselft, after committing his deed, as many do. Maybe, he just didn't get the chance, because whether he tried to flee the scene or not, he was stabbed by someone in the church and was taken into custody. So, this murderer didn't solve the issue of what do do with him, like so many others do, by handing down his own death sentence and execution.
Illinois has the death penalty. But, in 2003 the Governor at that time, commuted all the death sentences and cleared death row. A moratorium created by the then, Governor in not executing those on death row, was upheld through the administration of the disgraced Governor, Rod Blagojevich.
This kind of killing is a modern phenomenon. Sure, I'm sure this has happened before in our history. But, this is something that, it seems, to plaster our television and computer screens on a monthly basis. What do we do? What, as a society do we do to begin to reduce these particular occurrences? Shouldn't death for these particular offenders be a guarantee of the system? Shouldn't it be ingrained in the mind of anyone who'd contemplate such indescriminate killing of the innocent, that your death is assured - whether it's already part of their cowardly plan, when they figure to turn the gun on themselves or as the end result of the process that ends in their swift execution?
Most the arguments against the death penalty: what if an innocent person is unjustly convicted and executed... etc, shouldn't hold up in this instance and others, just like it. Like other cases like this one, dozens of eye witnesses saw everything. They scuffled to subdue the gunmen and some were stabbed for their efforts and then held him until the police arrived. He committed this crime and he's guilty and of course will be presumed innocent, until proven guilty. I started this blog yesterday, when it happened and right here, would have been saying something about the 'mental incapacity' defense. Now, the suspect has been charged and the 'mental defect, through Lyme Disease', defense is already being floated, for the suspect, Terry Selacek, 27.
Alright then. He should be examined to determine if he's competent to stand trial and if he knows and understands the charges brought against him...and most importantly, if he understands the concept and knows the difference between right and wrong. If he's competent and he certifiably knows the difference - Great. He chose 'wrong'. And he should be given a fair trial and swiftly executed.
Might this, over time, presumably save some lives. I believe that over time, this would surely save the innocent lives of some, at some future date, for some who might be sitting in a church or a school and some coward just might think better of going through with some cold-blodded multiple murder. People, in doing good...will say, "If we can save one life, it would be worth it." I believe the swift death of those that would commit this particular crime, would save far more than one life when our society deals consistently this way, with this particular type of killer. And, it would be worth it...
The gunmen had, moments before, been standing in the aisle of the church and the Pastor saw this and asked him if he needed help. Obviously, he did. And whatever wrongs, up until that moment, that had been perpetrated on this lost soul - whether it was a lost job, a lost girlfriend...some other factor in his life, whatever...that ultimately contributed to this terrible outcome...this particular person's solution was to spray bullets. His answer was to walk into a church and say nothing and then, pull his gun from his hoodie and pump three shots into the man that would have been the one, most able to help him. Maybe the one person out of many, who would have stopped what he was doing and really, really listened to his problems that had brought him to that moment in his life. Instead, he pumped three bullets into this peaceful man of God and for good measure, he apparently shot and stabbed other congregants during his attempt at escape. He was held at bay, by some churchgoers, until police arrived.
With this particular local terrorist, he didn't turn the gun on himselft, after committing his deed, as many do. Maybe, he just didn't get the chance, because whether he tried to flee the scene or not, he was stabbed by someone in the church and was taken into custody. So, this murderer didn't solve the issue of what do do with him, like so many others do, by handing down his own death sentence and execution.
Illinois has the death penalty. But, in 2003 the Governor at that time, commuted all the death sentences and cleared death row. A moratorium created by the then, Governor in not executing those on death row, was upheld through the administration of the disgraced Governor, Rod Blagojevich.
This kind of killing is a modern phenomenon. Sure, I'm sure this has happened before in our history. But, this is something that, it seems, to plaster our television and computer screens on a monthly basis. What do we do? What, as a society do we do to begin to reduce these particular occurrences? Shouldn't death for these particular offenders be a guarantee of the system? Shouldn't it be ingrained in the mind of anyone who'd contemplate such indescriminate killing of the innocent, that your death is assured - whether it's already part of their cowardly plan, when they figure to turn the gun on themselves or as the end result of the process that ends in their swift execution?
Most the arguments against the death penalty: what if an innocent person is unjustly convicted and executed... etc, shouldn't hold up in this instance and others, just like it. Like other cases like this one, dozens of eye witnesses saw everything. They scuffled to subdue the gunmen and some were stabbed for their efforts and then held him until the police arrived. He committed this crime and he's guilty and of course will be presumed innocent, until proven guilty. I started this blog yesterday, when it happened and right here, would have been saying something about the 'mental incapacity' defense. Now, the suspect has been charged and the 'mental defect, through Lyme Disease', defense is already being floated, for the suspect, Terry Selacek, 27.
Alright then. He should be examined to determine if he's competent to stand trial and if he knows and understands the charges brought against him...and most importantly, if he understands the concept and knows the difference between right and wrong. If he's competent and he certifiably knows the difference - Great. He chose 'wrong'. And he should be given a fair trial and swiftly executed.
Might this, over time, presumably save some lives. I believe that over time, this would surely save the innocent lives of some, at some future date, for some who might be sitting in a church or a school and some coward just might think better of going through with some cold-blodded multiple murder. People, in doing good...will say, "If we can save one life, it would be worth it." I believe the swift death of those that would commit this particular crime, would save far more than one life when our society deals consistently this way, with this particular type of killer. And, it would be worth it...
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