"This time last year I was plotting to kill a man. I was going to walk up to him, reintroduce myself and then blow his balls off. I was going to watch him writhe like a poisoned cockroach for a few seconds, then kick him onto his stomach and put three bullets in the back of his head. This time last year I had a gun, and a silencer, and a plan."
Westword's best
writer makes a couple admissions.
posted by raaka
on May 15, 2004 -
27 comments
Three Strikes Laws May Increase Murder Rates A recent
article in the journal
Criminology & Public Policy suggests that the politically popular "three strikes" laws may have the perverse effect of causing more murders. Because the sentences for murders and "third strikes" are the same, criminals have an incentive to change their M.O. to murder witnesses and police officers. Maybe using baseball metaphors in determining crime policy isn't such a good idea after all.
posted by jonp72
on Dec 11, 2002 -
16 comments
Washington, D.C. Killing Linked To At Least Three Of The Montgomery County, Maryland Shootings The ballistics tests reported last night established the connection between the District shooting [Thursday night]and three of the Thursday morning attacks in Montgomery.
and in the same story:
Man Tied to Militia Groups Sought for Questioning, N.C. Police Say . . . The Raleigh News & Observer said a bulletin from the ATF said the man had once lived in North Carolina and had been affiliated with militia and white supremacist groups.
I can't find out
why the authorities want to talk to this man, just that he isn't a "suspect" yet, but is wanted for questioning.
posted by Corky
on Oct 5, 2002 -
15 comments
This week in 1978, the most bizarre and hideous of murders was committed. Georgi Markov, a Bulgarian dissident was
jabbed in the thigh with a deadly umbrella. The umbrella inserted ricin into him, killing him on September 11th, 1978. To this day, his killer has not been punished.
Question to ponder: Does the US CIA have their own 'deadly umbrellas'?
posted by RobbieFal
on Sep 13, 2002 -
38 comments
This week, two boys in Florida were tried for the bludgeoning-murder of their father. With accusations raised of the actual killing to have been done by another, adult male with alleged sexual ties to the two boys,
the boys were found guilty only of a lesser second-degree murder charge, claiming the adult must have done the actual deed... yet the jury was unaware the adult accused and being tried for that very idea was
acquitted of all charges the previous week. The issue? Both trials were handled by the same prosecutor
who presented completely different theories to each jury... in other words, not settling on a confident belief of who actually performed the killing, the prosecution tried to get both the adult and the pair of boys convicted for it. Isn't that risky? Or, if you like a different flavor of debate, isn't that completely unethical?
posted by XQUZYPHYR
on Sep 7, 2002 -
40 comments
Be careful how you sing "My Way" After being ridiculed for an off-key version of My Way, the irate singer kills one heckler and wounds another. Philippine karaoke bars have begun to remove the song from their playlists as this was the climax of several violent incidents when this song was played.
posted by Lanternjmk
on Feb 19, 2002 -
8 comments
Convicted Hockey Dad Killer to get only 3- 5 years? i know he only threw a few punches, but he was 275 lbs and his victim was 165 lbs. I'm sorry, but killing a guy nearly half your size in front of children - in front of both of their children even - is reason enough for throwing the book at this thug. 20 years = 10 years if he stays cool in the pokie - a pittance if you're the victims kids. Hopefully the Mass judge will make an example out of this totally unneccessary tragedy.
posted by tsarfan
on Jan 11, 2002 -
48 comments
Pedestrian Killer Pointless bloody fun. Zoom around a patch of roadway, squishing people as they try to make it across.
posted by Su
on Dec 23, 2001 -
14 comments
England vs. USA Over the death penalty. Initially I felt like saying "butt out" but America tends to get involved in other countries when our citizens are in trouble (like that kid in Singapore way back).
posted by owillis
on Sep 10, 2001 -
7 comments
This is just disturbing. A baby boy "was stolen from his slain mother's womb by another woman, who passed the baby off as her own until she killed herself under police scrutiny." The references to similar cases at the bottom of the article, especially the one involving the car keys, are quite messed up as well.
The content is somewhat graphic - be advised.
posted by Hankins
on Oct 4, 2000 -
8 comments
Baby killing accomplice in trouble with law again. This news item seemed to have fallen through the crack. I am tempted to make some sociological comment about the criminal mindset of people who resort to frivolous baby killing, but, I am too ourtaged to write anything remotely coherent.
posted by tamim
on Sep 28, 2000 -
3 comments
Microsoft unsympathetic toward ending serial killings.
"Spokane County Sheriff Mark Sterk held an extraordinary public meeting two months ago and asked the public for fresh tips. He even wrote to Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates, asking him to donate software to help analyze 10 years of homicide files; according to a sheriff's spokesman, Microsoft said no." => Lack of confidence in their software, or lack of a value system for MS?
posted by greyscale
on Apr 23, 2000 -
5 comments
