The Death Penalty: Justice?

 by Just_Lin

In the news recently was a story regarding the death penalty being given to a man who had committed a horrible crime in Connecticut.  He did not commit this crime alone but had a partner who has yet to go on trial.

In some cases I do not oppose the death penalty but, to be honest, I guess I am a snob to some extent as I do not trust the verdict of the death penalty in the hands of some jurors in some particular states.  That is not the case in this particular circumstance in Connecticut.

To briefly give an overview of the crime: Two men entered the home of a doctor and his family and brutally and mercilessly beat the doctor into unconsciousness.  One of the men then drove the doctor's wife to the bank to withdraw $15,000 while the other man held her husband and two daughters, ages 11 and 17, hostage at the house.  While in the bank, the woman passed a note to the teller explaining that her family was being held hostage.  After the woman left, the teller alerted the police.  When the woman was driven back to her home, she was raped and murdered by the man who had taken her to the bank.  The other man had raped her 11 year old daughter.  I'm not sure of the exact sequence of events, but at some point, the father managed to crawl out of the house and crawl to a neighbor's home to seek help.  He had been beaten so badly that the neighbor didn't even recognize him.  At about this time, the police were positioning themselves outside the family home.  Still inside the house, the two men then tied the young girls to their beds, doused them with gasoline and lit them and the house on fire.  The men were apprehended by the police as they fled the home.

I can't even imagine how the doctor can bear the loss of his wife and daughters in this manner at the hands of these men.  I think it is his full focus now to testify against them and have them receive the death penalty.  One down and one to go.  The one who has already received the death penalty is the one that drove the wife to the bank then raped and murdered her.

There is no doubt who committed this horrendous crime.  Their guilt is beyond question.  They exemplify evil, in my book, and deserve to be put to death.  Frankly, I find their crime to be so cruel and horrendous that I would have no problem with pulling the switch myself.  No problem at all.  I can't say that it is true justice.  These men will not feel the terror the the doctor's family felt.  They will not feel the flames licking at their flesh and burning them the way those young girls did.

How do you feel about the death penalty?