The Death Penalty - Does it Work?

[DonJ]

I know that this might stir up a major debate but I don't think of it as being Politcal as much as a social issue.

Exclusive: Convicted killer speaks out the night before his execution

For those of you who don't want to register, I'll Copy & Paste here:

Twenty years ago, he murdered a father of two and Thursday night he is set to die for his crime. Hours before his execution, Troy Kunkle sat down to speak for the first and only time since his arrest.

Kunkle has spent more than 7,000 nights on death row, but Wednesday will be his last. On Wednesday, he gave a glimpse into the mind of a murderer before his execution.

Kunkle says he has never stopped fighting for a chance at life, even after spending 19 years on death row.

"Hope is really something that's kept me going the last 20 years," Kunkle said. "Somebody who doesn't have hope I guess wants to die."

On the night of August 12, 1984, Kunkle, then 18, wanted to kill. Drunk and high, the former Roosevelt High School student and four friends drove to Corpus Christi. Kunkle robbed 31-year-old Stephen Horton of $13 and put a bullet in his head.

He gained infamy afterwards as "the killer with no remorse," after reciting lyrics from the song "No Remorse" by Metallica after he committed murder.

Asking him if he has remorse now, Kunkle says, is saying that he didn't have remorse then.

"Well to be honest with you, it was basically a situation where a juvenile mistake made with juvenile peer pressure," Kunkle said.

It's that argument Kunkle's defense attorney made after his conviction. They say the jury never had a chance to consider his troubled childhood with abusive and mentally ill parents.

He doesn't believe he was given a fair trial.

"Honestly, no I don't, really," he said.

Right now, Kunkle's hope comes from experience. This will be his second date with death. In July, the U.S. Supreme Court issued an eleventh-hour stay of execution.

But that stay was lifted in October, and Kunkle is now out of appeals.

As he looks toward the death chamber, he reflects on an adult life spend entirely behind bars.

"I have to look at myself in the mirror every day. I have to look at my mother's tears when she comes to visit," Kunkle said. "There's nothing about this to be proud of. Really, it's a shame and embarrassment, to be honest with you."

And for the inmate who says he's reformed and found God he knows what his final thought will be.

"I'm hoping that I will be forgiven," Kunkle said.

The Horton family says they will not attend the execution, but say it is a just price and that they have no remorse.

Stephen Horton was a really good friend of mine. And he was killed as a result of this random violent crime. Testimony came out in court that this scumbag and his buddies were doing LSD and drinking loads of beer. They had already robbed some tourists out at Padre Island and went into Corpus Christi looking for somebody else to rob. They came across Steve walking home from a pool hall and picked him up. This Kunkel character was egging on one of his buddies to go ahead and shoot Steve but this other guy didn't want to do it. So, Kunkel snatched the gun from the hand of the other guy, put the barrel up to Steve's head and pulled the trigger. They dumped his body unceremoniously on the side of the road after getting the grand total of $13 from this wallet.

It is still hard talking about it.

They caught up to him later after an undercover cop heard him bragging about wasting somebody down in Corpus. He sure wasn't feeling any remorse then.

At the time, I thought that the Death Penalty was justified in this case. I've been looking forward to it happening but now that it's arrived, I just don't know any more. It has been twenty years now and it seems to have been forgotten by most if not all of society.

Is the Death Penalty serving it's function as a deterrent to violent crime? I would like to think so. But I think it is one of those things that will never definitely be answered one way or the other.

[Shard92]

I will give you the simple answer without debate. Yes, the person in question once executed, never kills again.

[3fingersalute]

I know that this might stir up a major debate but I don't think of it as being Politcal as much as a social issue.

Exclusive: Convicted killer speaks out the night before his execution

For those of you who don't want to register, I'll Copy & Paste here:


Stephen Horton was a really good friend of mine. And he was killed as a result of this random violent crime. Testimony came out in court that this scumbag and his buddies were doing LSD and drinking loads of beer. They had already robbed some tourists out at Padre Island and went into Corpus Christi looking for somebody else to rob. They came across Steve walking home from a pool hall and picked him up. This Kunkel character was egging on one of his buddies to go ahead and shoot Steve but this other guy didn't want to do it. So, Kunkel snatched the gun from the hand of the other guy, put the barrel up to Steve's head and pulled the trigger. They dumped his body unceremoniously on the side of the road after getting the grand total of $13 from this wallet.

It is still hard talking about it.

They caught up to him later after an undercover cop heard him bragging about wasting somebody down in Corpus. He sure wasn't feeling any remorse then.

At the time, I thought that the Death Penalty was justified in this case. I've been looking forward to it happening but now that it's arrived, I just don't know any more. It has been twenty years now and it seems to have been forgotten by most if not all of society.

Is the Death Penalty serving it's function as a deterrent to violent crime? I would like to think so. But I think it is one of those things that will never definitely be answered one way or the other.

I think it is serving its purpose.........but only to a point. There will always be people who will do a crime, with no regard or thought to the consequences thinking they may not get caught.

And then there is the old saying about the president which I think applies to anybody really. All you need to have is a willingness to trade your life for thiers.

[geoscomp]

I will give you the simple answer without debate. Yes, the person in question once executed, never kills again.

Exactly
unfortunately, the murder rate doesn't seem to indicate that it serves as a deterrant to other people

[PuterGeekGirl]

Exactly
unfortunately, the murder rate doesn't seem to indicate that it serves as a deterrant to other people

Why would it when it takes 20 years to happen? Where's the deterrant in that? Then in the meantime you live off the government and get your meals and all handed to you. Before starting the flames, I'm not saying life in prison is by any means ideal...I just think it takes way to long for these executions to happen once convicted and sentenced to death. I agree there needs to be a good process so the wrong person doesn't maybe get sent to their death, but 20 years? Come on...that just drags it on for everyone involved.....needlessly.

Sorry to hear about that DonJ...thats gotta be tough having known the person that this happened to...and how awful it was for him at the end.

[jaeger]

As it is now, when a death sentence really means 20-30 years in prison with a very good chance of appeal to a lesser sentence, no, I don't believe it has much of a deterrent value. The rules for applying the death sentence need to be strictly measured and sentencing carried out within 2 years.

[Cleetus]

Dennis Miller said it best when he said that the Death Penalty isn't about being a detterent, it is about Revenge. I agree with him with that, and with his belief that revenge can be a good thing.

[JaxSon]

Sorry to hear of your loss, bro.

But I say fry the b@stard! And do it within a reasonable amount of time. Having to wait 20 years and sucking up all of those tax dollars by feeding this guy is ridiculous. The guy did it. He admits it. Case closed.

[geeksRus]

to answer your question, Don, it works every single time...

[ilovetheusers]

Dennis Miller said it best when he said that the Death Penalty isn't about being a detterent, it is about Revenge. I agree with him with that, and with his belief that revenge can be a good thing.

I agree 100%.

**** this guy. He should have died a long time ago and horribly at that. I honestly don't see how he can say he didn't get a fair trial when he admits that he did it. He had a bad childhood? So ****ing what? My parents beat the **** out of me and I've done assloads of drugs and booze in my life and never once did I think, gee, lets kill someone. He made a decision when he pulled the trigger and he's paying for it.

As an FYI, the only issue I have with the death penalty is that if you are not 100% sure about it, you can't take it back and say you're sorry. So I guess I'm not 100% for it but in this case where the guy openly admits what he did, to hell with him.

BTW Don - Sorry about your friend.

[thirdfey]

I don't think it has deterred people from commiting crimes but it has converted a lot of inmates to Christianity or Islam.........how come you never hear of a guy converting to Judaism on deathrow?

I am Pro death penalty, i just feel the system needs to be changed before it can truly be effective.

[Tekboy]

Sorry about your friend, Don. I hope you can find peace about this after the perpetrator is gone.

If you want to use the Death Penalty as a deterrent, then I think people ought to be able to see it on CSPAN or something. It needs to be something tangible, and it needs to be ugly.

Flame me if you wish, but I bet it would be more of a deterrent that way.

[3fingersalute]

I will give you the simple answer without debate. Yes, the person in question once executed, never kills again.

Yes, your answer is simple, but does not answser the question Don asked. He asked if it helps to deter people from murdering in the first place.

[TechZ]

Sorry to hear about it DonJ.

I think if the action as a result of what crime a person does is more swifter, it would make a difference, but do people who are gonna commit these crimes think of the deterrants when they are about kill someone, or something like that, I dont think so.

[DonJ]

Well, the saga continues:

Metallica Murderer Gets Death Chamber Reprieve

For a second time this year, condemned inmate Troy Kunkle avoided the Texas death chamber when the U.S. Supreme Court stopped his scheduled execution the same day he was supposed to receive a lethal injection.

About 40 minutes after he could have been put to death Thursday night, Texas Department of Criminal Justice officials in Huntsville received word the high court indefinitely had blocked the punishment.

The vote from the court was 5-4 on an appeal where Kunkle's lawyers were seeking a review of the case, arguing jurors who decided in February 1985 that he should be condemned were not allowed to fully consider Kunkle's troubled background in their deliberations.

The justices in July also blocked the execution, although the ruling in his case then came about nine hours before he was scheduled to die. The same court last month had refused to review his case, clearing the way for setting of Thursday night's execution date.

Kunkle was in a small holding cell next to the Texas death house when he received word. He was condemned for a fatal shooting in Corpus Christi 20 years ago.

"Ecstatic," Kunkle said when asked to describe his feeling. "Praise God."

"He seemed completely surprised," Michelle Lyons, a Texas prison spokeswoman said.

His lethal injection would have been the second in as many nights in Texas and the 24th this year, equalling last year's total in the nation's most active capital punishment state. A record 40 were carried out in 2000.

According to testimony at his capital murder trial, Kunkle was 18 when he fatally shot Stephen Horton, 31, then chanted: "Another day, another death, another sorrow, another breath" -- the refrain from the Metallica song "No Remorse" on an album called "Kill 'Em All." A pool of blood is depicted on the album cover.

Defense lawyers contended Kunkle, born in Nuremberg, Germany, where his father was stationed in the military, was raised in a troubled home environment and left mentally scarred by parents who had been treated for depression. They said jurors were not properly allowed to consider.

In their appeal, Kunkle's lawyers argued the execution should be stopped in light of a recent Supreme Court ruling that held some capital murder defendants in Texas were not given enough chance to present such mitigating evidence.

"Plainly, Mr. Kunkle's sentencing hearing was marred by the same constitutional flaw," attorney Robert McGlasson said. "The jury heard evidence that could have persuaded it to spare Mr. Kunkle's life, but was limited to instructions that gave it no vehicle for expressing that conclusion."

Nolan Horton, 74, whose son was killed in the attack, said he was angered by the appeal.

"The most stressful part to me is, I'm very upset with the court system, the people sitting on those appeals courts," he said. "My name for a lot of them is do-gooders. They're afraid they're going to step on toes. Some of those toes need to be stepped on.

"It takes so long -- the little trivial things they come up with as excuses."

Court records show on the evening of Aug. 11, 1984, Kunkle and four friends got high on drugs and beer and drove from San Antonio to the beach at Corpus Christi, 140 miles to the southeast. They robbed a man of $7 at a convenience store, then drove around looking for someone else to rob.

Stephen Horton was walking home after playing pool at a bar and they offered him a ride. When he got into their car, testimony showed Kunkle shot Horton in the back of the head with a .22-caliber pistol. His body was pushed out of the car and his wallet taken. It contained $13.

Kunkle and his friends were arrested in San Antonio.

Three companions received prison terms ranging from 30 years to life. Kunkle got death. No charges were filed against a fifth person in the car.

So, poor Troy "was raised in a troubled home environment and left mentally scarred by parents who had been treated for depression." Too freaking bad! What about Steve's two kids who are now mentally scarred for life because their dad was horribly taken away from them at an early age? What about them, huh?

I'm about sick to death with this thing myself. I didn't hardly get any sleep at all last night.

Thanks to all for the encouraging comments. This thread has been a good form of therapy for me. Thanks again.

BTW, I have always been a fan of Metallica. And I'm sure they don't appreciate being mentioned in the same sentence with this lowlife.