Posted on 05/08/2008 8:05:14 AM PDT by Corin Stormhands
A Giles County man paroled from prison after serving 14 years for killing two hikers on the Appalachian Trail in 1981 now is suspected of shooting two campers just off the trail in Giles on Tuesday.
Randall Lee Smith, 54, was in a Roanoke hospital yesterday after crashing a pickup truck in Giles, Sgt. Michael Conroy of the Virginia State Police said.
(Excerpt) Read more at inrich.com ...
SW Virginia Ping
The only thing that works is the death penalties. Killers almost always kill again. They kill somebody in jail, or they kill somebody as soon as they get out.
Prevent recidivism. Support the death penalty. Save (innocent) lives.
14 years for two murders ?
Why in heaven’s name wasn’t this man executed or put away for life? What is wrong with our judicial system?
I used to pass through the area all the time, Married a Princeton WV. girl.
Giles county the biggest speed trap on rt 460.
Prevent recidivism. Support the death penalty. Carry a weapon and use it!
Chattanooga: Hikers packing concealed heat
"384 incidents including killings, rapes, robberies, kidnappings and aggravated assaults occurred in national parks in 2006, according to the National Park Service."
Liberals are against defending yourself from bandits in national parks and are fighting against a bill in Congress that will allow you to do so.
These are the same people who let a double murderer out of prison after 14 years for his crimes that occurred in a national park.
When it comes to your very life, never compromise with a liberal.
Hate to disagree but most people murder out of rage at an individual, the so called crime of passion. Most won’t repeat unless exposed to a very simmilar situation. Some are serial killers who get off on it, this guy sounds like one of them.
Exactly.
But even if he had been in jail for life, I bet he would have killed somebody else (such as a guard or a more vulnerable prisoner).
Capital offenses should be punished with short life sentences. Imprisonment shouldn’t last longer than 6 months.
Probably a rabid environmentalist who doesn’t like people sullying his precious trail.
I suspect you've met Trooper Allen. I've had a few conversations with him myself.
Nope. Lunatic. Always has been
That is a very bold statement. Do you want to back it up with some facts?
That is why life sentences should be solitary and short.
How was his crime a crime of passion? A crime of passion usually results in the a very mitigated charge, btw; somebody who gets in a fight with his buddy and knocks him off his bar stool with the result that the buddy hits his head and dies is never judged by the same standard as a person who randomly kills people unknown to him (or kills them in the commission of a crime).
This guy’s first murder was of two hikers who were actually hiking to collect money for a charity. They were from Maine, and he did not know them and it was not a crime of passion.
According to various internet sites (google “Randall Lee Smith”, “Appalachian Trail” ) he “pleaded guilty to lesser charges”, so he probably was never convicted of the murders he did.
Damn.
Good idea! Then it’s over and out...
It's also a very wrong statement. Additional sources tell me that he spent some time chatting with them around a campfire (also suspected in the 1981 murders, but I don't believe confirmed). He met them on the trail.
This was cold and calculated. I suspect he went there knowing exactly what he was going to do, and didn't care who the victims were.
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