Posted on 12/19/2014 11:08:18 AM PST by Slings and Arrows
Colorado movie theater gunman James Holmes is “not a monster” and should be spared a death sentence, his parents plead in their first public comments since one of the worst mass shootings in American history.
Robert and Arlene Holmes’ two-page letter to the Denver Post editorial section was delivered by Lisa Damiani, one of the gunman’s court-appointed attorneys. The newspaper published the entire letter on Friday.
The parents are breaking their silence as 9,000 summonses are being mailed to prospective jurors. Jury selection is scheduled for January with a trial to begin in late spring or early summer.
Holmes, who turned 27 in jail last week, is charged with murdering a dozen people and attempting to murder 70 others inside an Aurora movie theater in July 2012. The former medical student is accused of stockpiling weapons and meticulously planning his rampage for months. Prosecutors – who are seeking the death penalty – allege Holmes also wanted to kill police by leaving his Denver apartment booby trapped with explosives.
Holmes pled not guilty by reason of insanity and has undergone two court-ordered sanity exams, which have not been made public.
“We believe that the death penalty is morally wrong, especially when the condemned is mentally ill,” his parents write in the letter. “He is a human being gripped by severe mental illness. We realize treatment in an institution would be best for our son. We love our son, we have always loved him, and we do not want him to be executed.”
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
Feet-first, with tourniquets to prevent early loss of consciousness, I presume? Yup.
BTW, in Texas, you kill somebody, we kill you back.
He had enough functional brain cells to do the deed.
Up against the wall!
School?
Agreed.
“I’m thinking belt sander. Or deli slicer.”
Naa, a weedeater.
TFB. The patrons in that theater didn’t want to be executed either.
There was once an attempt to do away with the “Innocent by reason of insanity” and replace it with “Guilty but insane”.
Asplundh Whisper Chipper with dull blades and bad spark plugs.
My brother works for Asplundh Tree Expert Co. as a Regional Manager and 12 years or so ago he had to over see an accident involving a worker going through one.
Was the most gruesome thing he ever saw to this day.
Hang him up by his croakies.
We do expedite a few from time to time to reduce the inventory. :)
Nah. Treat him he treated his victims. Riddle him with bullets. Make his parents watch.
An idea with merit.
I feel no anger toward this evil monster, and I would be perfectly willing to forgive him. I still want him executed, of course, but that’s for the safety of decent people. I want him executed in a reasonably painless manner (not completely pain-free, just no intentional inflicting of unnecessary pain), since vengeance is in God’s hands, not ours, but I want him dead.
The big bonus with capital punishment is that the recidivism rate is zero. Recidivism with felons in general is 56% the first year and 77% in five years.
The killer had the ability to kill as he did, to plan and execute that plan. We now get to execute our execution plan.
Anyone who is a threat to society should be put to death as a predator they are.
I'll bring the salt.
We have that judgement in Utah.
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