SII Chat Room

If there is solid evidence the correct person has been identified, which there appears to be, given the horror of the event and the way he had his apartment booby-trapped, this to me is without question appropriate for the death penalty. This is mass murder. Intentional, pre-meditated mass murder.

I'm not posting this for the intent of discussing the shooting and what evidence there is against this guy, but just to use it as an example of what to me is a no-brainer DP case.

Steven Hayes and Joshua Kamisarjevsky.......the men that raped and murdered the wife and daughters of Dr. William Petit and left Dr. Petit for dead - no brainer death penalty case, in my opinion.

I would have had no problem at all sentencing Richard Speck to death.

He systematically tortured, raped, and murdered eight student nurses from South Chicago Community Hospital on July 14, 1966.

However, his death sentence was reversed :

On June 28, 1971, the U.S. Supreme Court (citing their June 3, 1968 decision in Witherspoon v. Illinois) upheld Speck's conviction but reversed his death sentence, because more than 250 potential jurors were unconstitutionally excluded from his jury because of their conscientious or religious scruples against capital punishment.[4][35] The case was remanded back to the Illinois Supreme Court for re-sentencing.

On November 21, 1972, in Peoria, Judge Richard Fitzgerald re-sentenced Speck from 400 to 1,200 years in prison (8 consecutive sentences of 50 to 150 years).[36] He was denied parole in seven minutes at his first parole hearing on September 15, 1976, and at six subsequent hearings in 1977, 1978, 1981, 1984, 1987, and 1990.[37]

jane wrote:I would have had no problem at all sentencing Richard Speck to death.

He systematically tortured, raped, and murdered eight student nurses from South Chicago Community Hospital on July 14, 1966.

However, his death sentence was reversed :

On June 28, 1971, the U.S. Supreme Court (citing their June 3, 1968 decision in Witherspoon v. Illinois) upheld Speck's conviction but reversed his death sentence, because more than 250 potential jurors were unconstitutionally excluded from his jury because of their conscientious or religious scruples against capital punishment.[4][35] The case was remanded back to the Illinois Supreme Court for re-sentencing.

On November 21, 1972, in Peoria, Judge Richard Fitzgerald re-sentenced Speck from 400 to 1,200 years in prison (8 consecutive sentences of 50 to 150 years).[36] He was denied parole in seven minutes at his first parole hearing on September 15, 1976, and at six subsequent hearings in 1977, 1978, 1981, 1984, 1987, and 1990.[37]

Seven minutes Nice!

I have no problem with any of the views here. Those you have named would surely be qualified for such a fate. It is my opinion that a sentence of life without parole in solitary confinement to think about what they have done would be just. I wouldn't be concerned about their 'mental' state under such a sentence. I think the death penalty is an easy out.