Community Chat

[kivah]

@riley1

It appeared that Shanann's family and their friends never noticed Chris' odd, violent behavior. That's unusual.

[riley1]

@kivah - Sociopaths are good at hiding their real true selves. They come off as charming and could charm the skin off a snake.

[YorkieonmyPillow]

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@kivah wrote:

@riley1

It appeared that Shanann's family and their friends never noticed Chris' odd, violent behavior. That's unusual.

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What was there to notice - he hadn't killed anyone yet.

[songbird]

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@Deanie wrote:

@Love my grandkids  I am beginning to consider that our system of justice provides minimal justice for the victims of violent crimes and the only justice for the criminal. I guess that is why it is called the Criminal Justice system. All things considered, that prison justice results in more humane results for the victims and families, Sad but it is becoming overwhelmingly apparent by the sentences in these cases. What has happened? Too much of an emphasis on forgiveness completely eliminating the responsibility, repentance and restitution? Are we caught in an Ecclesiastical Whiteout whereby we keep monsters like Charles Manson alive while his victims rot in the ground? And, he had his own posse of followers throughout his prison life. Something is very wrong. I can only think of Joran Van der slooth that was not brought to justice in an oh so enlightened country but had to be so as a result of Peru and Chile. Go figure.

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I think it's better then it originally was.  The introduction of the victim's impact statement was a tremendous improvement.  It made a big impact on the punishment for the crime of murder. Up until the 1980's it didn't exist. We also have the Miranda law.  That didn't appear until the 1970's . We are one of  few Justice systems that assumes the defendant is innocent until proven guilty.  In other countries, it's the other way around. You have to remember the U.S. was a country of refuge for people. It was founded that way.  So we go to extremes to guarantee that the burden of proof is always on the prosecutor.  Even if that means someone can get away with murder.   Even the word penitentiary.  It means penance.  We believe that criminals can "repent" of their crimes. The was a system invented by the Quakers.  We adapted that. We have a very humane system compared to prisons in other countries.  The idea is to rehabilitate.  Even for people spending their lives in prison.

[kivah]

@YorkieonmyPillow

Most murderers only kill one person ---- but there are usually violent/mean traits or behaviors as children or as young adults - that people would notice --- especially his family. Surprised Shanann's family only had good things to say about him --- until he went beserk.

[puttypiesmom]

On the news they showed an abbreviated version of the courtroom proceedings when a tearful woman said she forgave him.  Turned out to be his mother!  The wife's parents do not forgive him. 

He is the monster they say he is.  Don't understand why the video cut away and didn't reveal who the woman was that was so generous with her forgiveness!  I later saw the full video.  What a terrible slant on the news that day! 

[Lindsays Grandma]

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@hsawaknow wrote:

Did he really think he would get away with it?

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Yes, in his evil, sick mind I believe he thought he would get away with it.  What he doesn't know is that in prison there are many inmates who do not like people who hurt children, he hasn't met them yet but he will.

[violann]

Watching the shooting/arson case in NJ. Doesn’t sound like much functioning of “conscience” in this one either.

There can be cogent arguments made both pro and anti Death Penalty.

However egregious the crime, not one victim has ever been restored to earthly life by the imposition of the DP, and an erroneously applied DP creates a second victim to an original crime as well as leaving the true perpetrator at liberty and unpunished.

With ongoing research into forensic sciences, it may be hoped that the margin for error in fatal crimes may be continuingly decreased.

Still, without a comparable and perhaps even more intense degree of research, the sociopath/psychopath will never “grow” a conscience.

[Deanie]

@songbird  sorry, we will have to agree to disagree. That phrase 'we have the best system of justice' has been used over and over, however if you take the hashtag example (I will not elaborate due to the obvious) the accused is now viewed as guilty. So, our fine system has morphed into a political tool. Be that as it may, I love your avatar.

[esmerelda]

What a horribly sad situation. Thank goodness for the surveillance video, so the right person was caught and punished and questions were answered.  Too bad about the deal to withhold the death penalty. 

That said, I have to add… I find it very disturbing the attitude here, the hatred. Over and over, when something like this happens.  It sounds like some of you, if you had the chance and had someone in your life that you wanted to be rid of, would have no trouble getting rid of them if you could be sure you wouldn’t get caught.

The world doesn’t need more hate.