“Robbery used to be a capital crime. Until jurists started noticing that robbery victims inevitably turned up dead or disappeared without a trace.”
Several years ago a study was made on Wash. DC crime sentences. Average time served for Armed Robbery was 5.5 years. Average time served for Murder was 7.5 years.
Even a DC educated convenience store robber can do that math.
“Get rid of the witness. Much less chance of getting caught. If I do get caught it will only add 2 years to my sentence.”
Your argument does not hold water.
I think it does - the penalty for murder should be death. Texas executes less than 1 person for every 100 homicides, and it's reputed to be draconian in its penal measures. China executes 1 person for every 2 homicides, and its homicide rate per capita is 1/4 of ours. It has four times our population, but roughly the same number of homicides per year.