MIAMI (AP) - A sex offender was found guilty Wednesday of kidnapping and raping a 9-year-old girl and burying her alive in a case that led to a crackdown around the country on people convicted of sex crimes. Hallelujah and saints be praised. The US justice system isn't totally bankrupt yet. It still seems to work on people without money.
Jurors deliberated about four hours before returning the verdict against John Evander Couey in the slaying of Jessica Lunsford, who was snatched from her bedroom in 2005 about 150 yards from the trailer where Couey had been living. Why did it take so long?
Her body was found in a shallow hole, encased in two black plastic trash bags. She had suffocated, and was found clutching a purple stuffed dolphin. Don't forget how she had tried to poke some airholes in the bag before she died.
The jury next must decide whether Couey, 48, should get death by injection or life in prison. Tough one, I know. Unfortunately given the odds here I'll bet you'd do better to play "eenie-meenie-minie-moe". You don't think the US is too wussified yet, do you?
Couey admitted to investigators shortly after his arrest that he committed the crime, but the confession was thrown out because he did not have a lawyer present as he had requested. Retarded law. Especially since he revealed details only the killer would know.
The evidence at trial included DNA from Jessica's blood and Couey's semen on a mattress in his bedroom, as well as Jessica's fingerprints in a closet in the trailer. That's all I need to know. Hang him. But wait, there has to be more or it wouldn't be fair!
Jail guards and investigators testified that Couey repeatedly admitted details of the slaying after his arrest and that he insisted he had not meant to kill the third-grader but panicked as police searched for her. It's the police's fault, eh?
Couey had a record as a sex offender. In 1991, he was arrested on a charge of fondling a child. In 1978, he was accused of grabbing a girl in her bedroom, placing his hand over her mouth and kissing her. I'm sure he can be rehabilitated. But he can't live anywhere near me.
But authorities had not known that Couey was living near the Lunsford home even though he was required to tell them he had moved. Why? Things too complicated to figure out before you have about 10,000 cases like this to help point the way? Gotta take a few polls to accurately decipher public opinion before actually doing implemented some half-hearted wussified measures to drive the problem further underground rather than just kill it?
Jessica's killing prompted Florida and a number of other states to pass new laws cracking down on sex offenders and improve tracking of them through databases and satellite positioning devices. Killers would be much easier to track if they were all cremated and buried in a landfill somewhere.
#2
no florida should let her dad do the punishing of this man. if that was my lil girl i could think up a few things too make what lil life he had left an excrutiating hell.
#5
DMFD: Maybe. Or maybe some fellow death-row inmate/inmates will see what this excuse for a human being did, and take matters into their own hands. It could happen, or better yet just make him the new "Bitch".
Posted by: Charles ||
03/07/2007 20:00 Comments ||
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#6
Nope, sorry, this mook should be executed but it should be done the proper way. Have the Florida Supreme Court review it (once) and make sure everything was done right. Then the US Federal Court reviews (once) to ensure everything was done right. Wouldn't want a miscarriage of justice.
Then he gets strapped to a gurney, gets an IV in his arm, and gets three drugs in quick succession while staring at a drab ceiling in a drab room. Then he's dead, and no one misses him.
That's justice.
Posted by: Steve White ||
03/07/2007 20:51 Comments ||
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#7
Bury him up to his head near two large Fire ant hills then pour honey on his head after 2 days, dig him up and impale him .
#9
Iff I rememeber correctly, Couey had already confessed before trial even began, plus allegedly stated that he will likely kill again if released back into society - the trial, then, is about what degree of punishment fits Couey's actions = crime, i.e. LIFE IMPRISONMENT, LIFE IMPRISONMENT vv MENTAL INSTITUTION/WARD, or DEATH BY EXECUTION.
Methinks he'll get the last one, since if I also rem correctly Couey was found competent to stand trial.
KOLKATA, India (Rooters) - When dozens of chickens went missing from a remote West Bengal village, everyone blamed the neighbourhood dogs.
But Ajit Ghosh, the owner of the missing chickens, eventually solved the puzzle when he caught his cow -- a sacred animal for the Hindu family -- gobbling up several of them at night.
"We were shocked to see our calf eating chickens alive," Ghosh told Reuters by phone from Chandpur village, about 240 km (150 miles) northwest of capital Kolkata.
The family decided to stand guard at night on Monday at the cow shed which also served as a hen coop, after 48 chickens went missing in a month.
"Instead of the dogs, we watched in horror as the calf, whom we had fondly named Lal, sneak to the coop and grab the little ones with the precision of a jungle cat," Gour Ghosh, his brother, said.
Local television pictures showed the cow grabbing and eating a chicken in seconds and a vet confirmed the case.
"We think Global Warming lack of vital minerals in the body is causing this behaviour. We have taken a look and have asked doctors to look into the case immediately," Mihir Satpathy, a district veterinary officer, said by phone.
"This strange behaviour is possible in some exceptional cases," Satpathy said.
Hundreds of villagers flocked to Chandpur on Wednesday to catch a glimpse of Lal, enjoying his bundle of green grass for a change.
"The local vets said the cow was probably suffering from a disease but others said Lal was a tiger in his previous birth," Ajit added.
#3
Occasionally, horses will discover the joys of meat, and from then on out, unless they get some meat to eat every now and then, they can become dangerous. One I heard about hunted stray cats.
The same with iguanas. Pet stores advise owners to never feed them meat.
#5
Maybe they could feed the legions of stray dogs to the cows. Or, my idea, round them up and export them to North Korea! I'd call it Bow Wow Chow. Canned Canine!
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
03/07/2007 21:09 Comments ||
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#10
"Lack of minerals" > IOW, the calf is emaciating from starvation. Sounds like a case for the Animal Police on Channel 55's ANIMALPLANET, since PETA is not around.
Anisa al-Shuaibi, a woman who claims that she was physically abused and raped repeatedly in the Central Jail in Sanaa, has been receiving threats to her life, she said. Four days ago, a man called my friend and threatened her, she said.
Her friend, Nabilah al-Matari, 28, supports her story. A man told me in the phone to stay away from Anisa. Otherwise, I will be killed along with her, al-Matari said. The threats have made al-Shuaibi feel even more vulnerable. My night is not a night and my day is not a day, she said. All the time I am afraid of an attack. I was fired from my job and I have no one to support me financially, she said. Only Mohamed Naji Allawo and some lawyers from Hood organization supported me. Her kids, Harun al-Shuaibi, 7, and Reem al-Shuaibi, 6, are not yet enrolled in school. I am really scared to put them in school, she said.
She said that beside the threats she exposed to, she is exposed to some financial temptations. Once, I was going to buy myself qat and I found a man in a police car waving seemingly a lot of money in order to get me to drop the case, she said. She has received many such offers. Al-Shuaibi said that she chewed qat to be able to forget her problems.
The head of the Criminal Investigation Unit, Rizq al-Jawfi, has denied Shuaibis allegations of abuse and has refused to show up in court several times.
When he did show up last Wednesday for questioning, prosecutors interrogated him without al-Shuaibis lawyers present, said Abdul-Rahman Barman, al-Shuaibis lawyer from Allawo Corporation for advocates. This is in violation of the law. We have a lot of questions, we are hoping to ask him in front of the prosecution, he said. It is illegal to question al-Jawfi without the other side present, he said. Other officers who are involved in Shuaibis case will be interrogated too. Al-Shuaibi says that her agony feels endless.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/07/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
Sana Yemen
Anisa al-Shuaibi, "Manolo fetch me my qat"!
Khat contains the alkaloid cathinone, an amphetamine-like stimulant which causes excitement and euphoria. In 1980 the World Health Organization classified khat as a drug of abuse that can produce mild to moderate psychological dependence, and the plant has been targeted by anti-drug organizations like the DEA.
Staff Sgt. Pedro Jesus Colon, 25, came home to the Bronx last week - in a flag-draped coffin. Another of New York City's sons to fall on the field of battle, another to be be mourned, not only by family and friends and comrades in arms, but by his nation. And by his hometown.
When the Army announced his Feb. 19 death, it listed that hometown as Cicero, Ill. But Colon was really a child of the Bronx. One of our own. His mother died when he was 9, and in his late teens he left home. At first he lived with a friend's family in Cicero. But eventually, unbeknownst to his own family back here, he ended up homeless. Until a social worker helped him find emergency housing.
It was rough going - food pantries, living out of plastic bags - but Colon didn't complain. He didn't talk much about his living situation to teachers or coaches or even friends. He survived. Did better than survive. He made sure he got his high school diploma, and then he realized his dream of joining the Army.
Colon enlisted in August 2001. Then he reenlisted. He was on his second tour of duty in Iraq when he died from wounds suffered when his unit came under attack by enemy forces in Baghdad.
After struggling, Pedro Colon had found a purpose in life. May he find peace in the death of a hero. May his family find comfort in knowing that they do not mourn alone.
Posted by: 49 Pan ||
03/07/2007 8:27 Comments ||
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#4
I come to the 'Burg expecting to get fired up and pissed off about Jihadis, then have some good laughs, to balance all that out.
As exampled with this post, every onceinawhile one of you assholes makes me cry.
Thank you.
Posted by: Mike N. ||
03/07/2007 9:20 Comments ||
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#5
"For in that sleep of death what dreams may come
When we have shuffled off this mortal coil,
Must give us pause: there's the respect
That makes calamity of so long life;" - Hamlet, William Shakespeare
#6
Brave men die because they love their fellow humans and wish to defend them more than they love life.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
03/07/2007 20:46 Comments ||
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#7
WALTER REED controversy > some hardcore Radical Netters were obscenely "complaining" that "baby-killers/Muslim-killers" whom work for Dubya. Cheney, etc. and their "War for Oil",
"Halliburton", etc are criminals, crim dupes, and assorted fascist Stormtroopers/SS whom have no right to complain about the quality of their hospital care, given their "crimes" against decency and humanity, + support for Dubya-WOT, by virtue of their mil service or NOT stopping Dubya.
Memo to Mr Prasad: You know your appeal isn't going well when a supreme court justice says he would like to hang you from a lamp post. I suggest you start begging. Now.
Observing that everyone wants to loot this country, the Supreme Court on Wednesday said the only panacea to rid the country of corrupt elements was to hang a few of them from the lamp post.
"The only way to rid the country of corruption is to hang a few of you on the lamp post. The law doesn't permit us to do it but otherwise we would prefer to hang people like you from the lamp post," a Bench of Justices SB Sinha and Markandeya Katju remarked during arguments put forth by counsel for an accused.
As counsel R Singh tried to make some submission, Justice Katju further said, "Everywhere, we have corruption. Nothing is free from corruption. Everybody wants to loot this country. The only solution for this menace is to hang some people in the public so that it acts as a deterrent for others."
The Bench's scathing observations came during the hearing of a bail application moved by one Braj Bhushan Prasad, a dismissed employee of Bihar Government for his alleged involvement in the Rs 1000 crore fodder scam in which the name of Railway Minister Lalu Yadav had also figured prominently. The counsel's submission that Bhushan was a mere budget accounts officer further infuriated the Bench, which observed "Look at that! you are supposed to audit the funds, but see what you have done."
Posted by: John Frum ||
03/07/2007 16:37 ||
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#1
Can we recruit this guy as a Supreme Court judge?
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
03/07/2007 17:13 Comments ||
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Yeah, but it was a NICE tractor.
BAHAWALPUR, Pakistan -- A farmer in Pakistan confessed to convincing doctors to remove one of his wife's kidneys so he could sell it and buy a used tractor, his wife said.
Police are investigating Safia Thaheem Bibi's claim. If convicted of unlawfully removing a kidney, her husband, Shakeel Ahmed, faces up to 10 years in prison, The Sunday Telegraph reported.
Bibi, 22, said she discovered she was missing a kidney when she returned to the hospital after developing an infection following unrelated surgery. She confronted her husband, whom she said told her he had received $1,100 for her kidney and bought a used tractor to use in his rice fields.
Organ donations are unregulated in Pakistan, and in some villages most able-bodies adults have sold one of their kidneys, the newspaper reported.
MARDAN: A brother killed his sister and her lover on finding out about their illicit relations at a local village in Mardan. Ayub, 25, the son of Mir Akbar and his lover used to meet secretly within their village in Mardan. One day, the girls brother, Qayuum, son of Hazrat Nabi, saw Ayub entering their house from the back door. Qayuum became livid and killed Ayub and his sister on the spot fleeing before the police arrived. The police are currently searching for the culprit.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/07/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
I protest having my picture in this context. We knew the value of exogamy---hell even chimps do.
Posted by: Cave man ||
03/07/2007 4:28 Comments ||
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#2
The police are currently searching for the culprit.
The Punjab University (PU) has declared the Bachelor of Arts (BA) degree of former NWFP transport minister Naqibullah Khan bogus, a PU official told Daily Times on Tuesday. He said the Federal Education Ministry had asked the university a few days ago to verify the degree and that after verification the degree was found to be a fake.
The official said Naqibullah Khan had allegedly used the degree of a private student from Sialkot to get himself elected. According to the particulars mentioned on the fake degree, Naqibullah Khan graduated from Islamia College, Railway Road, Lahore, in June 1970. His roll number was 15655. He got a second division by getting 331 marks. His optional subject was Persian. The registration number on the degree is 70-z-530 and serial number 332452.
A source in PUs examination branch said verifying the degree was not difficult as the degree had the registration number of a private candidate from Sialkot whereas Naqibullah had shown himself to be a regular student at Islamia College. PU Registrar Prof Dr Muhammad Naeem Khan said the Education Ministry had been told that Naqibullah Khans degree was bogus. However, he refused to go into details.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/07/2007 00:00 ||
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A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
MARDAN: A brother killed his sister and her lover on finding out about their illicit relations at a local village in Mardan. Ayub, 25, the son of Mir Akbar and his lover used to meet secretly within their village in Mardan. One day, the girls brother, Qayuum, son of Hazrat Nabi, saw Ayub entering their house from the back door. Qayuum became livid and killed Ayub and his sister on the spot fleeing before the police arrived. The police are currently searching for the culprit.
The Punjab University (PU) has declared the Bachelor of Arts (BA) degree of former NWFP transport minister Naqibullah Khan bogus, a PU official told Daily Times on Tuesday. He said the Federal Education Ministry had asked the university a few days ago to verify the degree and that after verification the degree was found to be a fake.
