From the Home of Rich & Peggy Martin
Grand Prairie, TX 75050

"The mind is like a parachute
it doesn't work unless it's open."

Written by: Anonymous

RICH'S RANTS

The state sponsored homicide issue is once again getting airtime in the nation's media. This resurgence of interest by the press can largely be attributed to the presence of the Texas Governor being at the top of the GOP ticket. One of the unusual facets of this subject is: virtually everyone has made up his/her mind and have their opinions encased in six feet of indelible concrete. There is no gray matter to share. Any average wordsmith can argue either extreme without putting much thought into the output.

The revelation exposed in Illinois, which has released more convicted killers from Death Row into society than it placed in pine boxes, makes a strong statement. The Illinois model is surely valid in many cases, such as in the case of death-row inmate Darlie Routirre, whom I personally feel was wrongfully convicted and hope will be exonerated before it becomes a moot point.

IMHO, the Recendes case (you know, the "railroad killer") is dangerously similar to the Illinois model. The feds sacrificed another chunk of their credibility when they guaranteed his family that the death penalty would not be imposed, if they lured him out his haven in Mexico. If you believed what the feds wrote for the papers to print, his interstate murder spree rivals that of the best stories ever told in any dime novel, which immortalized the likes of Jesse James and Billy the Kid.

Today's papers are reporting that a sailor from the nuclear aircraft carrier USS Nimitz is a serial killer with 16 victims. On TV, the man looked perfectly human, no unshaven, disheveled appearance with crazed eyes. Just a pleasant thirty-ish white man, being hauled off by the police. His motive, it appears was, he had a Jack-the-Ripper hatred for prostitutes. He'd be a better candidate to be prosecuted under the fedl hate crime statutes than those 3 guys who killed ex-con James Byrd in Jasper, TX, which by the way, two have already had their miserable lives extinguished by the State of Texas, with nary a cry from the outside world for the third.

Today's Dallas' headline is about an "Amber Alert" being canceled for 6-year-old Corinthian Ransom. Police found his little body hidden in a closet at the crime scene, where his great grandparents were stabbed to death after his 3-year- old sister was recovered in the custody of her 52-year-old kidnapper, Delores G. Powell, perhaps to be accused with intent to resell.

A month or so ago our local Monday morning news woke us up with the news: 5 bodies discovered at the Mi-T Fine Car Wash in Irving, TX. About 4 yrs ago, I lived virtually across the street from that now infamous establishment, and have apprised myself of their services. Within days the police arrested a suspect, a disgruntled employee, who confessed and led them to the body of a 6th victim, who had "disappeared" months earlier. The only reason to spare this guys life is: it would be crueler to make him rot in a Texas prison for the next 40 to 50 years than to let him end his suffering here on earth. Robert Wayne Harris' qualifications as poster boy for capital punishment are impeccable.

George Lott was an attorney, who felt the pains his profession imposes on fathers during a divorce. His ex moved out of state and visiting rights were made difficult, at best. He was accused in open court of being a "witch" based on the evidence of having been seen during one of his court- allowed visits at a motel wearing a fancy flowing robe.

Apparently, that was more than this once successful lawyer's ego could handle. He grabbed a gun, entered the Tarrant County Court House through a special door evading the electronic checkpoints meant for regular citizens, and opened fire in the court room. (Note, none of the victims were linked directly to his case. They became targets because of their exalted position in the judicial hierarchy.)

He then strolled out of the building unmolested using the same secret passage ways he came in by, walked over to the WFAA-TV (ABC affiliate) news room and gave his account on live TV before being arrested, and executed about 9 months later. Needless to say, the building full of lawyers are still squabbling over which one of them deserves the lions share of the half million dollars he bequeathed his estranged children. (I told you he was a successful lawyer, did I not.) If nothing else, it proves that the extended trials like we saw in the year-long case of OJ, are not necessary either, and may be just one more example of lawyer welfare.

Point to ponder: there's a time and a place for everything.

• THE TRUTH IS...
  • A. Powerful.
  • B. Irrelevant.
  • C. In the eye of the beholder.
  • D. All of the above.