August 21, 2008

Hell's Ready for You, Joseph Edward Duncan III

I remember when the story of Shasta and Dylan Groene was heavy in the news. Everyone seemed to be praying that Shasta and Dylan Groene, brother and sister, be found safe and sound after they were kidnapped. It's unfortunate that Dylan lost his life at the hands of a disgusting waste of a human being, Joseph Edward Duncan III. Duncan pleaded guilty to the kidnapping and Dylan's murder. Now his fate is in the hands of the jury who can either choose to execute him or send him to life in prison without parole.

I personally think that the bastard should fry, although our "humane" way of executing brutal murderers such as Duncan is far too kind. Actually, I think he should be eviscerated and shot in the head, just in the fashion that he chose to kill little Dylan. ...and to think, Dylan may have been able to be saved...

Cooper said the description of the boy's injury — he was eviscerated, his sister said, with his "guts" hanging out — indicated it was "a very potentially salvageable injury."

"We see this on the battlefield fairly often," Cooper told the jury. "They can live for several hours like that."

Cooper also said Duncan may have had enough time to get Dylan Groene to a hospital from the remote western Montana campsite where the shooting occurred.

Now that his case is before the jury deciding his punishment, he's decided to represent himself. I can't help but believe he is getting some sadistic pleasure out of reliving his crime while at the same time trying to convince the jury that he isn't such a bad guy after all...

Duncan, acting as his own attorney in the sentencing phase, suggested in cross-examining Cooper that the girl was exaggerating her brother's injury.

"How much in your experience do children tend to elaborate or exaggerate and fill in details ... especially after a traumatic experience like that?" Duncan asked.

Children who exaggerate are typically much younger, between 4 and 6, and lack the vocabulary to describe what happened to them, Cooper said.

Duncan asked whether the "guts" mentioned by the girl could have been RamDon noodles the boy had eaten earlier.

There's a special place in hell for people like Duncan. I can only hope the jury gets him a one way ticket there sooner than later.