Friday, July 16, 2010

The death penalty

This story in todays news has had me feeling sick all day. I remember very clearly when this horrible thing happened and today's sentencing has brought up all those feelings and worse.

I don't believe in the death penalty. I think as a society we should be better than that.

But I strongly want to harm the man involved in this crime. I would happily fire the bullet, press the button or inject the lethal dose. Whatever his background, and undoubtedly it is awful, he is a wretched human and would be best not on this earth.

Generally I can see the other side of most crimes, at least imagine the motive, the accident, the whatever set of circumstances led to something horrible happening. I can feel a tiny bit of sympathy towards the criminal, even to a tiny degree.

But this story is so awful, so disgusting, that I feel nothing but horror and anger and vengence. I imagine my own daughter so terrified that she jumps out of a third floor balcony, naked, to escape the horror which has befallen her. The feeling which arises is pure loathing towards this creature which would do something so degrading, so disgusting to another human.

I feel so much for her family and the families of all those involved. I want to hug them but I know that would do nothing to ease the emotional agony they must suffer for the rest of their days. I feel for the police, the hospital workers, the social workers, the court workers, everyone who has come into contact with this case on a professional level because they would know details that would make this story not just horrible but an absolute nightmare.

I don't often feel this level of anything about crime; there is so much on the news I rarely give it a second glance, but this is one of those stories which has got under my skin, like the Bilal Skaf gang rapes, makes me angry and sad and fearful and wanting to wrap my children up in their quilts and lock the door and stay away from the world.

But of course that won't happen.

What I hope does happen is that this Brendan Dennison monster gets what he deserves in jail. I know this makes me less of a person, a good person, that I hope that I am, but I can't help it. I want him to suffer, I want some other evil creature in jail to do to him what society is not able to do.

More than anything I hope that the innocent people involved in this are able to find some sort of peace.

3 comments:

Kath Lockett said...

I feel so ashamed that I don't even know who this Brendan guy is or what he did.

What I do know is, that I don't want to know, or I'd be the one helping you load the bullets.

Shannon said...

yep very sad case. Skaf case was also sad, but 10 years on i hope the wowman are going ok and they were so brave to testify and get them locked up.
The other case that is so sad was the murder of 18 yr old Nona belomesoff who met a guy off facebook who lied to her about going camping and him being part of some animal charity and he had met her parents even, and the guy ends up killing her :( Rip Nona.

Shannon said...

It sux how Bilal Skaffs maximum of 55 years got reduced to only 29 before being able to seek an appeal.
30 years is still a long time tho, and as it is now he has served what 10? Doubt he will survive in there, or once he is out. He'll probably kill himself.