This blog was something I can say I actually enjoyed a little bit. Researching and looking over different cases that have ultimately ended in the capital punishment is something that I found to be very interesting. Throughout the last few weeks I have learned quite a bit of information. From who the top 10 criminals are on death row, to facts about the death penalty here in the keystone state.
I also got to explain some stories of things that have actually hit close to home, to a crime of one of my good friends cousin. People who commit crimes worthy of the death penalty are not people who should be allowed to walk around the communities of good honest people. These men, and sometimes even women are taking lives from others who do not deserve to have their lives taken. Innocent people who are on a good path enjoying their lives, while the miserable take these peoples lives.
Capital punishment is a very doing when it comes to our legal systems. This is a way of showing the criminal just a bit of the horror that all their own victims had experienced. I do still believe it is wrong to exonerate people who have a low I.Q. because if they are able to graduate high school, they know if they are murdering and raping someone. The death penalty is an argument that is going to go on for the rest of time, we all have our own opinions, and many states and countries are not going to rule out this way of punishment.
Monday, April 18, 2011
Ted Bundy
Theodore Robert Bundy is one of the most notorious serial killers we know in America. With charming looks, being a student in college, and volunteering for a crisis hotline joined by Ann Rule who eventually wrote a novel about him; you would never believe the things this man could do. Bundy has confessed to forty murders within his time that he was convicted and charged with, but that does not account for the murders he did not admit to doing. Some even believe that he started his killing spree at the age of fourteen. Many disappearing's were happening at around the same time, yet Ted Bundy went right along with his day.
The man who was doing all of these killings always wore a cast and asked pretty little girls in parking garages to help him carry his books or a package to his old Volkswagen beetle. He would then hit them on top of the head, suffocate them, and finally rape all of the women. He liked to leave the bodies in a wooded area, usually the Taylor mountains in Washington state. Bundy was even questioned at one point but cleared because he did not seem to fit the person of interest.
Bundy eventually moved to Utah and killings began to happen there and in the Colorado area. He was eventually arrested by the Salt Lake City police for possession of burglary tools. As the police searched his car they found handcuffs, masks, and many other weird things. During a police line up a victim, who fortunately made it away from Ted when he tried to murder her, identified him as the killer. In January of 1977 Bundy was extradited to Colorado to be tried for murder. After escaping from jail two times, Bundy went on a murdering spree and killed many girls, raping some, and invaded a fraternity house. Eventually he was caught again and obviously sentenced the death penalty for his wrong doings by electrocution. This was a man who was completely out of his mind, wanting to murder any girl he ever saw and completely deserved the death penalty.
The man who was doing all of these killings always wore a cast and asked pretty little girls in parking garages to help him carry his books or a package to his old Volkswagen beetle. He would then hit them on top of the head, suffocate them, and finally rape all of the women. He liked to leave the bodies in a wooded area, usually the Taylor mountains in Washington state. Bundy was even questioned at one point but cleared because he did not seem to fit the person of interest.
Bundy eventually moved to Utah and killings began to happen there and in the Colorado area. He was eventually arrested by the Salt Lake City police for possession of burglary tools. As the police searched his car they found handcuffs, masks, and many other weird things. During a police line up a victim, who fortunately made it away from Ted when he tried to murder her, identified him as the killer. In January of 1977 Bundy was extradited to Colorado to be tried for murder. After escaping from jail two times, Bundy went on a murdering spree and killed many girls, raping some, and invaded a fraternity house. Eventually he was caught again and obviously sentenced the death penalty for his wrong doings by electrocution. This was a man who was completely out of his mind, wanting to murder any girl he ever saw and completely deserved the death penalty.
"We serial killers are your sons, we are your husbands, we are everywhere. And there will be more of your children dead tomorrow."
Scott Peterson
"Laci Peterson missing at eight months pregnant" is what all of the news stations had running across there screens on Christmas eve of 2002. Peterson had gone missing from her house that afternoon after saying goodbye to her husband to go on a walk. While this happened Laci's husband, Scott Peterson, had gone fishing at the local marina. Laci had been missing about four months before her unborn sons body was discovered on the northern California shore line on April 13, 2003.
One day later a women walking her dog found a body about three miles away from the marina that Scott had usually went fishing at. This completely opened up the case with new eyes, all investigators watching Scott Peterson and questioning him because of the close range. Four days after discovering both bodies Scott Peterson was arrested in the murders of his wife and unborn son Conner. DNA did end up proving for sure that the bodies did belong to both of the missing Peterson's.
October of 2003 is when the trials officially began, with over thirty witnesses actually being called in to testify. After four weeks of testimony the judge ruled Peterson to stand trial on two counts of murder. Luckily for Peterson the judge moved the court hearing to a different city to finds jurers who did not know very much about the case. Finally in June of 2004 the trial begins, expected to last up to six months while Scott may end up with the death penalty or life in prison with no parole. December 13, 2004 jurors decide that Peterson should receive the death penalty by injection.
In my personal opinion this was a very good outcome. Evidence did build against Scott in the murders of his wife and son, and all seemed to fit everything right in place. Men like this should not be allowed to walk the streets and are a disgrace to our communities.
One day later a women walking her dog found a body about three miles away from the marina that Scott had usually went fishing at. This completely opened up the case with new eyes, all investigators watching Scott Peterson and questioning him because of the close range. Four days after discovering both bodies Scott Peterson was arrested in the murders of his wife and unborn son Conner. DNA did end up proving for sure that the bodies did belong to both of the missing Peterson's.
October of 2003 is when the trials officially began, with over thirty witnesses actually being called in to testify. After four weeks of testimony the judge ruled Peterson to stand trial on two counts of murder. Luckily for Peterson the judge moved the court hearing to a different city to finds jurers who did not know very much about the case. Finally in June of 2004 the trial begins, expected to last up to six months while Scott may end up with the death penalty or life in prison with no parole. December 13, 2004 jurors decide that Peterson should receive the death penalty by injection.
In my personal opinion this was a very good outcome. Evidence did build against Scott in the murders of his wife and son, and all seemed to fit everything right in place. Men like this should not be allowed to walk the streets and are a disgrace to our communities.
Sunday, April 17, 2011
Wrongful Execution?
What happens when a man is found innocent after being executed fifteen years earlier? Absolutely nothing because we can not being people back alive. There was not always DNA testing available, so the police always followed leads and interviews. Now that DNA testing is available many have been found innocent from the convictions that actually put them on death row. According to ask.com more than fifteen death row inmates have been released since 1992.
To me personally that is quite a lot. To still have whoever has committed that crime on the loose still is a bit of a terrifying thought, knowing that they are able to do the same thing again. That does not even account for what people have been innocent after the fact that they have been murdered. According to the Death Penalty Information Center there was a list of eight people who were found to have been executed but possibly innocent. Killing an innocent man is completely wrong in my eyes and the legal system needs to start really making sure they are convicting the right people.
To me personally that is quite a lot. To still have whoever has committed that crime on the loose still is a bit of a terrifying thought, knowing that they are able to do the same thing again. That does not even account for what people have been innocent after the fact that they have been murdered. According to the Death Penalty Information Center there was a list of eight people who were found to have been executed but possibly innocent. Killing an innocent man is completely wrong in my eyes and the legal system needs to start really making sure they are convicting the right people.
Tuesday, April 5, 2011
Under 18?
Seventeen year old, commits murder and believes he can get away with it. We'll set this as the scenario, in a state that believes the death penalty of a juvenile is alright. Only nineteen states believe in this law, the others completely disregard it if the offender is under the age of eighteen at the time of the crime. Yet why, if you commit the murder you should be ready to serve the time.
Being so young and committing murder is a very wrong thing to do, yet you do know what you are doing. Many children have an abusive childhood and think that what their own parents due to them is okay to do to others. Obviously it is not, and that is no excuse to make it okay for them to not receive some type of serious punishment. Although receiving the death penalty under the age of eighteen is a little unreal.
Yet, if you commit the murder when you are under the age of eighteen but would not receive the death penalty until ten or twenty years later is a different story. Some way or another you need to receive the correct punishment for what you did, no matter how old you are. Whether it is almost life in jail, or a very very long time. And sometimes even in certain cases, the death penalty may be necessary no matter how old you were when you committed the crime.
Being so young and committing murder is a very wrong thing to do, yet you do know what you are doing. Many children have an abusive childhood and think that what their own parents due to them is okay to do to others. Obviously it is not, and that is no excuse to make it okay for them to not receive some type of serious punishment. Although receiving the death penalty under the age of eighteen is a little unreal.
Yet, if you commit the murder when you are under the age of eighteen but would not receive the death penalty until ten or twenty years later is a different story. Some way or another you need to receive the correct punishment for what you did, no matter how old you are. Whether it is almost life in jail, or a very very long time. And sometimes even in certain cases, the death penalty may be necessary no matter how old you were when you committed the crime.
Monday, April 4, 2011
Jessica Treiber
It was March of 2001, and I can remember it like it was yesterday. It was dark out by then and I was about nine years old at the time. I looked out my front window of my house and saw smoke, next thing I know there is firefighters from Westlake fire department trying to put the blaze out. This was the house of Stephen Treiber, he lived about a block down the road. When we first moved in here, came into my families household to fix the plumbing and we believed he was pretty weird then. He had two daughters; Kaitlyn who was right around my age and we played together all the time. His other girl Jessica, who was two years old when this incident happened and was murdered in the fire.
The house was a total blaze, Stephen Treiber came out alone...without his daughter Jessica or either of his dogs. He said that the fire must have been someone setting him up, a note came out of no where made of letters from newspapers and magazines asking for ransom. As forensics went over the evidence a little hair came up in the glue, from Treiber's dog. This man had many other things on him as well, his suspected arson of his parents house that is right across the road of his own home before it was burnt down. He had also set many fires as a young boy in the re veins.
This man was eventually sentenced with the death penalty and held responsible for the death of his two year old daughter. He did ask to have it looked at again and have a retrial because the first one was not fair. The judge did overlook it and is still considering the options to this day. This man who we believed was a good person, let into our own house, and I was in his as well; killed a poor innocent child to not pay child support of 250$ a month. We can only be happy that a man like him is off of the street, and no longer able to do something like this ever again.
The house was a total blaze, Stephen Treiber came out alone...without his daughter Jessica or either of his dogs. He said that the fire must have been someone setting him up, a note came out of no where made of letters from newspapers and magazines asking for ransom. As forensics went over the evidence a little hair came up in the glue, from Treiber's dog. This man had many other things on him as well, his suspected arson of his parents house that is right across the road of his own home before it was burnt down. He had also set many fires as a young boy in the re veins.
This man was eventually sentenced with the death penalty and held responsible for the death of his two year old daughter. He did ask to have it looked at again and have a retrial because the first one was not fair. The judge did overlook it and is still considering the options to this day. This man who we believed was a good person, let into our own house, and I was in his as well; killed a poor innocent child to not pay child support of 250$ a month. We can only be happy that a man like him is off of the street, and no longer able to do something like this ever again.
Monday, February 28, 2011
Now, what do I think?
There is so much talk about the death penalty in everyday life, in a milliion different ways. There is so many different arguments when it comes deciding if this state or that state should have capital punishment enforced, and I do need to go with the fact that it should be. Thousands of arrests are made each and everyday, from robbery to selling drugs, or from rape to murder. The rapists and the murderers are the ones we all need to be worried about, so many are out there and we do not even realize it, the next big killer could even be your next door neighbor!
In my personal opinion, capital punishment is totally justifiable in certain situations. For people who commit crazy, intense murders they completely deserve what the consequences are. If someone is going to go brutally murder an innocent person they one hundred percent deserve exactly the same thing back. Criminals who sexually assault little girls or even little boys and then murder them, need to seriously be taken into consideration for this.
Recently in Erie a younger man, I believe somewhere from 18-24, was shot and murdered on spot within the last year. His killer received a about a 24 to 36 month sentence in jail, now tell me how fair that is? She then created a group called "Mothers against teen violence", what a great thing to create. This will really help alot of the mothers who are not getting total justice when it comes their childrens killers getting off as easy as pie. To commit murder or any crime worthy of the death penalty is a horrible sin that every offender should be given the maximum limit of time, or capital punishment.
In my personal opinion, capital punishment is totally justifiable in certain situations. For people who commit crazy, intense murders they completely deserve what the consequences are. If someone is going to go brutally murder an innocent person they one hundred percent deserve exactly the same thing back. Criminals who sexually assault little girls or even little boys and then murder them, need to seriously be taken into consideration for this.
Recently in Erie a younger man, I believe somewhere from 18-24, was shot and murdered on spot within the last year. His killer received a about a 24 to 36 month sentence in jail, now tell me how fair that is? She then created a group called "Mothers against teen violence", what a great thing to create. This will really help alot of the mothers who are not getting total justice when it comes their childrens killers getting off as easy as pie. To commit murder or any crime worthy of the death penalty is a horrible sin that every offender should be given the maximum limit of time, or capital punishment.
Friday, February 25, 2011
2 Year-Old Murdered
Within the last year in the city of Erie the crime rate has been going up more and more each and every day. If you turn on the news all you hear about is rape, murder, robbery, and things going wrong. Never do we hear about the little bit of goodness that is going on til the end. In September of this past year a man named Aaron Noyer was charged with the abduction, rape, and murder of two year old Elizabeth Neimic, one of my good friends cousin. Her parents reported her missing at about 11 AM the next day, when police came they were clueless. Eventually they did find Noyers fingerprints inside Elizabeths room.
When police arrested Noyer he said he did go through Elizabeths window to rob the house-hold. Clearly that had meant he took Elizabeth, now the only question was where is she? Eventually he did admit to the fact he had took her to the train tracks right along Twelfth street, just passed Greengarden Blvd, he had murdered her right there. Noyer has also been in trouble before because he set arson to his home with his eleven brothers and sister; with other miscellaneous charges. Now, personally I believe he sounds like a pretty violent man. To have him off of the streets of Erie does make me feel a little bit better, yet their are still many out there like him with this kind of mental sickness.
In the state of Pennsylvania you are not aloud to give someone the death penalty if they are considered mentally retarded. Well, this was a total gateway for Noyer to get out of this due to the fact that his IQ is only a 57. Noyer was noted to have finished high school, without any special education classes. This is something I completely disagree with, to have someone who is able to sit there and laugh about raping and murdering a little girl and to be able to state in detail in his court hearing exactly which roads he took to get to the train tracks, and exactly how he killed her is not mentally retarded. This is a case that just disgusts me, in some ways the court system helps out the criminals more than the victims.
goerie.com
When police arrested Noyer he said he did go through Elizabeths window to rob the house-hold. Clearly that had meant he took Elizabeth, now the only question was where is she? Eventually he did admit to the fact he had took her to the train tracks right along Twelfth street, just passed Greengarden Blvd, he had murdered her right there. Noyer has also been in trouble before because he set arson to his home with his eleven brothers and sister; with other miscellaneous charges. Now, personally I believe he sounds like a pretty violent man. To have him off of the streets of Erie does make me feel a little bit better, yet their are still many out there like him with this kind of mental sickness.
In the state of Pennsylvania you are not aloud to give someone the death penalty if they are considered mentally retarded. Well, this was a total gateway for Noyer to get out of this due to the fact that his IQ is only a 57. Noyer was noted to have finished high school, without any special education classes. This is something I completely disagree with, to have someone who is able to sit there and laugh about raping and murdering a little girl and to be able to state in detail in his court hearing exactly which roads he took to get to the train tracks, and exactly how he killed her is not mentally retarded. This is a case that just disgusts me, in some ways the court system helps out the criminals more than the victims.
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
China Death Penalty
China has a very interesting death penalty, there is 68 different acceptable reasons to give some one capital punishment. Including anything from tax fraud to murder, given by shooting the prisoner or lethal injection. To even consider giving someone the death penalty for tax fraud or robbery, is quite wrong in my eyes and millions of others. Yet, no China citizen has really ever gotten a fair trial due to lack of lawyers, being believed to be innocent until proven guilty, and not being able to extract the evidence found while these accused people are being tortured.
Due to the fact that they do use what is said while the police officers torture the prisoners, they fess up to certain allegations even if they are not guilty! This of course gives the courts 'evidence' to prosecute these people, which is not fair what so ever. Many civilians have attempted to try and get the death penalty abolished, it has never happened. In 2008 China was the number one country for death penalty occurences with an amount of 1,700 executions. As China tries to expand what they are doing with their technology, many companies look at the execution rate and realize something needs to be done. Since China won the 2001 Olympics their government did say that they were going to do something about what was going on inside their legal system.
The Chinese death policy since 1949 was "kill less, kill cautiously" and did not change up until recently to "preserve the death penalty, but use it cautiously." Personally, if this is what the United States policy was, I would have been to a different country by now. What ever people can honestly live under this rule and watch every single little step they make, my heart goes out to them because in my opinion that is cruel and unusual. Ensuring a good legal system and court policies would be one thing that the chinese could really do to get rid of some of these out-dated ways to execute people. China needs to wake up and realize what they are doing, and get themselves together...quick!
Shan, Yu. (2008). The death penalty in china. Retrieved from http://www.siiaonline.org/?q=blog/the-death-penalty-china
China: the death penalty, a failure of justice. (2006). Retrieved from http://asiapacific.amnesty.org/apro/aproweb.nsf/pages/appeals_adpan_china
Monday, January 31, 2011
Pennsylvania Death Penalty
For the past couple of days I have been wondering on what rules is the death penalty acceptable? As I researched it a little bit I fell upon a good website which gave me some great information (about.com). Dated back to the 1600s the death penalty was given to just about ANYONE by publicly hanging them, if you committed robbery, rape, piracy, and other crimes. Now, that is a little bit unjust if you ask me
Finally, some time in the 1793 William Bradford, who was the Attorney General at the time, published an enquiry about the death penalty and how it just did not really help when it came to certain crimes. One year later Pennsylvania finally abolished the public hangings and capital punishment for any crime except murder "in the first degree". This was the very first time murder had been put into different degrees.
I believe that making capital punishment only be allowed if that person committed murder is absolutely the right thing to do. Yet, to not give someone the death penalty if they have murdered someone and "there IQ is to low" is absolutely WRONG. For someone to say they did not know what they were doing when they were brutally murdering someone is horrible.
Finally, some time in the 1793 William Bradford, who was the Attorney General at the time, published an enquiry about the death penalty and how it just did not really help when it came to certain crimes. One year later Pennsylvania finally abolished the public hangings and capital punishment for any crime except murder "in the first degree". This was the very first time murder had been put into different degrees.
I believe that making capital punishment only be allowed if that person committed murder is absolutely the right thing to do. Yet, to not give someone the death penalty if they have murdered someone and "there IQ is to low" is absolutely WRONG. For someone to say they did not know what they were doing when they were brutally murdering someone is horrible.
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