www.whyville.net Jan 2, 2004 Weekly Issue



Hermionez
Times Writer

Sniper Attacks

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The sentencing phase of Lee Boyd Malvo's trial ended Tuesday, Dec. 23. For those of you who don't know, Lee Malvo is the 18-year-old who helped shoot 10 people over a three week period in October 2002. His stepfather, John Muhammad, was the other sniper. Malvo only killed one person out of ten, but he helped with all of the others. All of this took place in Virginia.

Malvo's defense attorney tried to argue that Muhammad brainwashed Malvo, that Malvo had no idea what he was doing. The jury dismissed this and decided that Malvo is guilty of capital murder. In the week before Christmas, they had to decide whether Malvo should get the death penalty or life in prison -- on Dec. 23, they chose life in prison.

My main question is, do you agree with capital punishment? Should this 17-year-old kid die for what he did? I think so. He changed hundreds of people's lives, all for the worse. He was part of 10 deaths. I think he deserves to be killed. There are some cases where I wouldn't want capital punishment. But what he did was heinous and cruel.

Of course, his fate isn't up for us to decide. It was for the jury to decide. But do you think he should die or should he go to prison? Post it in the BBS below. I'd like to see what people think.

Before this article closes, I would like to share some quotes from the victim's families:

"Because of you, he didn't have a chance to see his great-grandchild. That's insane of you to do. You're evil," said Myrtha Cinada, daughter of one of the shooting victims.

Denise Johnson, whose husband Conrad Johnson was the final victim in the shooting spree, recalled how her husband "used to write little 'I love you' notes on the mirror ... using my $15 lipstick."

"It's a life that was taken for no reason, no reason at all," she told the jury. "His death is a hurt that will never go away."

"My biggest question was what motivated them to do this," said Larry Meyers Sr., whose brother Dean Meyers, 53, was gunned down Oct. 9 at a gas station in Manassas, Va. "I'd just like to unlock the box to see what went into making, not one, but two individuals do this."

Source: http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2003/12/19/national/main589555.shtml

 

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