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Long reply. I haven't seen any posts on this thread accusing Andrea of being sane. There IS some discussion about the jury finding that she knew right from wrong.

My brother is a paranoid schizophrenic. HE knows right from wrong. It IS possible to be BOTH very sick AND still know right from wrong. Andrea had to have been SATURATED in Christian fundimantalism. She therefore knew that "thou shalt not kill" is pretty important commandment.

Yes, I belive she knew right from wrong too. I think she should have been found guilty too. However, I don't make excuses for her, and I am not going to make excuses for him leaving his children with a psycho.

So sorry to hear about your brother. I do know someone who is paranoid schizophrenic (which, by the way, prosecution psych. Dietz said that he believes Andrea is actually schizophrenic). I do agree that the mentally ill can know right from wrong, but the difference is that your brother, I'm sure, is properly medicated. Andrea was not, at the time of the murders. As I'm sure you know, schizophrenics can have their "moments." An ex-boyfriend's brother is PS and has definitely had his psychotic/delusional moments (scary as hell, I won't go into it). The point that I'm trying to make is what you brought up: as a Christian, yes, she knew killing was wrong. But as a mentally impaired Christian, she *thought* she was protecting her children from hell, and was even willing to sacrifice her own soul in the process. Sick as that may be, that was, for Andrea, the ultimate act of "love." To lay down HER life for her children. That doesn't sound sane, or cold-blooded, to me (and when I mention people saying she isn't sane, I am referring to the many other threads on this topic where I have encountered this attitude).

Could it be she just wanted out from under and does not care what the difference is between right and wrong? As the parent of 4 and my household can be a living hell sometimes - I could never imagine nor kill my kids. I deal with special needs, depression and a child cancer survivor. Even if Rusty was not a nice man that is not grounds for murder.