Posted on 09/05/2007 11:45:22 AM PDT by JZelle
SPOTSYLVANIA, Va. (AP) A teenager was charged yesterday with killing and raping his sister and beating his niece with a sledgehammer in a crime the sheriff called one of the most brutal he has seen.
Walter Smith Jr., 16, was charged with the first-degree murder and rape of his sister, Betsy Mary Smith, 22, and aggravated assault against his 2-year-old niece, Andrea Costello.
The teenager was charged after he recounted Monday morning's events to Spotsylvania detectives, said Sheriff Howard Smith. Based on what he told them, police said, Miss Smith was beaten with a sledgehammer and stabbed before being raped. When Andrea began crying, she was struck in the head with a sledgehammer. Miss Smith, the little girl and a 1-year-old boy were then locked inside the room.
"This is probably one of the more brutal cases that I've been involved in here," said Sheriff Smith, who has been with the sheriff's office for 22 years.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtontimes.com ...
Life in prison
NOT REHAB
In Va., the Death Penalty is used.... not as often as Texas, but often nonetheless.
What on earth is wrong with this boy? Prayers for the children & family. I hope he is charged as an adult & faces the death penalty.
At 16, his carcass should be swinging from the gallows (Of course if found guilty).
There was a point in time when this POS would have just been "found dead" and not a soul would care!
Anyone capable of doing that will should never be allowed in public again. There is no way you can prove to me he would ever be a non violent psycopathic time bomb.
Wow. I don’t even know what to say. The story is kind of confusingly written, IMO. Is everyone in the town named Smith? The mother seems to be in complete denial. She says her son doesn’t remember, yet he recounted the events to the police...?
Very sad and sickening story.:(
I suspect that the antidepressants the kid was on were a factor. Some of the side effects can be pretty scary, especially if the person using them is not clinically depressed. While these meds are a useful tool we still know next to nothing about them and they are wildly over-prescribed.
Unfortunately, this kid probably will not be executed. Too much Globalist UN inspired backdown from liberals and republicans regarding executing those under 18.
If Virginia does execute this punk, more power to them. Just too many libs and repubs who will put pressure to prevent execution
IIRC, capital punishment was ruled unconstitutional if the person is under 18 at the time of the crime.
Too bad the little monster is under 18 ... If he was older, he’d have a date with The Needle.
Yes, I forgot it said he was 16.
The death penalty is not available here because Smith is 16. A defendant must be 18 when the crime is committed to be death-eligible.
What on earth is wrong with this boy?.... Evil is carnate and stalks the world daily.
We are drugging killers.
Roper v. Simmons made it unconstitutional to execute someone who was a minor when the crime was committed.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roper_v._Simmons
Of course, once the general population of a maximum security prison finds out that he raped and murdered his sister he might wish he was on death row.
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