[Gen.Blather]

“Why a plea deal here.”

I couldn’t bring myself to read the article; too depraved. But, a plea deal was probably offered because the prosecutor didn’t think he could get a stronger penalty. (I’m speculating.) It might also be that the prosecutor feels he could lose some or all of the evidence on a technicality and the jury might go for a lower sentence.

A lot goes on behind the scenes and even if the newspapers knew about it, their reporting is generally so bad they’d never get it across.

[DoughtyOne]

I think those are rational thoughts. It does disturbs me that the media can manipulate public opinion to the degree that it does, but why do authorities allow them to do it?

How hard would it be to list what this man did to these women, and demand justice? Certainly today’s women could be made to see this is an instance where a man took every decision a woman could make away from her, times three.

Boy, if a verdict was ever a done deal, this would have to be one IMO.

[Bubba Ho-Tep]

Eh. It makes sense on a lot of levels. They spare the cost of a trial, which would turns into a sideshow and force the three women, who have been staying out of sight, to go public. Then there's the inevitable appeals of a death sentence, which would cost more public money, since I assume he's not paying for a legal team, and would drag on for years. Then there's the extra cost of maintaining a prisoner in death row for all those years, and the extra cost of transporting them back and forth to court for all those appeals. And then you get to the "win or lose" matter of getting a death penalty in a case concerning the killing of an unborn child, which could be defended any number of ways.

I'm not saying that he doesn't deserve to fed feet-first into an incinerator, but how much money do you want to pay for that satisfaction?

[Recovering Ex-hippie]

The women victims said they were relieved he will not be released...I think they agreed with the plea deal so they won’t have to go through the trauma again in a trial.

God Bless them.