MoreyUnit

I wonder where they are going to put this d-bag? Hopefully they wise up and send his ass out of state and pray none of the COs there find out what he is in for.

I am not suggesting that you should hug this guy and love him, but the victim's own wife was a lot more forgiving than any officer. Are you that trained as hard-asses that you can't feel sadness for the situation? Feel sad for your loss, and feel sad for the two kids whose lives are forever wasted because of one mistake. Don't seek vengeance, for it is not yours to take. That comes not only from the Bible, but from your job training.

One mistake? A mistake is locking your keys in the car or leaving your cell phone at the grocery store. It's not blowing some guys brains out because you want to take his car for a 10 minute joy ride. I can only assume that this sick relativism you have developed is a direct result of having an incarcerated family member. I could care fuck-less about those kids. They made their choice, now they get to live with it.

My feelings toward them have nothing to do with being a "hard-ass". It's got to do with a world, filled with people like you who treat open murder like you forgot to put your gas cap back on. Maybe this world needs a little vengeance, some "eye for an eye", just to put things back in perspective.

I don't liken murder unto locking your keys in the car or forgetting to put your gas cap back on. If you are hung up on the semantics of my use of the word "mistake," then I apologize for not having a thesaurus handy to suit your needs. The kids made a decision that they can't take back. It would not matter if they planned it out or if it was a quick and careless decision.
Again, I'm not saying we should hug them and love them as if they didn't take away our brother in arms. What I am saying is that we should consider the notion that they were teenagers, having lived probably only a fifth of their lives, never had the opportunity to experience adulthood or the freedom of independence. Yes, of course it is their fault, and yes, by all means do I support the justice system in removing killers from society (not to pass judgment, but to prevent further misdeed.) However, I also feel a strong sense of sadness that they'll never have a life, IN ADDITION TO (not separate from) the sadness of our loss. I have no doubt that even if these guys weren't caught, they would have it hanging in their conscience for the rest of their lives, and they knew that it was wrong. It would have driven them to alcoholism and drugs to try and bury the memory, and they would turn to crime.

The very wife of the man we lost, Susie, asked the court for a lighter sentence on the boys that killed her husband. It shouldn't be so hard for us to exchange our anger and hate, to be sad and somber for them as well as ourselves.