crazy killers

Three high profile crimes committed here in town over the last two years were committed by mentally ill men.

Samurai Sword Murderer

The I-270 Shooter

Nightclub Shooter

In all of these instances these men were or are seriously ill. In the case of the Alrosa Villa shooting that took the life of Dimebag Darell Abbot, the shooter was killed by a police officer.

I'm sorry that people had to die. But in these cases, these men weren't getting treatment for their illness. The I-270 shooter was diagnosed, but not treated for schizophrenia. The nightclub shooter was discharged from the marines when he was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia. His mother not only didn't know if he was taking his meds, she bought him the fucking gun that he used to kill four people.

So the surviving defendants in two of these cases are being examined by psychiatrists and forcibly given medication in order to get them ready to stand trial. They'll be coherent in the court room. Then they'll be sentenced to die or to life in prison. And the concern shown over their "treatment" and medication will end.

I know they killed people. I understand that it's tragic and horrible for the families of the victims.

But I grieve for the sick men as well.

My brother shares their diagnosis. He's rational on meds. And he understands the concepts of right and wrong. But when he's not medicated, you can't apply the same kind of logic or rationality to him that you'd use with a normal person.

Am I saying he shouldn't be subject to the same laws? No. He needs to be reigned in like everyone else.

But if you want the jury to see what kind of person committed the crime. Let them go to trial in the same condition that they were in when they committed the crime. See them ranting and shivering. Frightened and angry. Psychotic and wild-eyed. Threatening and gesturing.

Then let the jury pass judgment on them. See how many death sentences are passed on people who really shouldn't be held responsible for the crimes they commit. Put them in a mental hospital. Forever if you want to. It's not like a vacation. These people are already imprisoned in sick, failing minds anyway.