(Those of you who are expecting an amusing Bag Lady post today may want to skip this particular post)
I don’t usually use this blog to make social comments, but watching the news last night made me so angry, I haven’t been able to stop thinking about this. The story was about the trial of Robert Pickton, convicted of second degree murder in the killings of 6 women, whose remains were found on his pig farm in BC.
Apparently, the Crown is filing an appeal because he was found guilty of Second Degree Murder, rather than First Degree Murder. We, the taxpayers of Canada, have already paid something to the tune of ELEVEN MILLION DOLLARS to convict this piece of excretement, but the Prosecutors are not happy with that. They WON, but apparently that’s not good enough. The defense is also expected to file an appeal.
The families of the rest of his victims want another trial, too. This sick, twisted individual murdered some 30 - 40 women (the exact total will never be known), and his actions have already cost society in countless ways. I can understand the desire of the families to have the “closure” another trial would bring. It won’t bring their family members back to them, but they would have the satisfaction of knowing that the murderer of their loved one is behind bars. ON THE OTHER HAND, how much of their desire to see justice done is fueled by the publicity another trial will bring? Isn’t it enough to know that the criminal will be behind bars for the rest of his life? Whether there is a piece of paper somewhere saying that Robert Pickton is in prison because he killed (insert name here) or not, he WILL be in prison. Isn’t that enough?
How much should we as a society be willing to spend on this sick bastard? As a tax-paying citizen, I am appalled at the idea of pouring more money into this case. He has been convicted. Send him to prison. We are going to pay for his room and board for the remainder of his life. We have already poured enough of our money into the pockets of his lawyers. Let it be done with!
The Crown is acting like a spoiled brat who won, but discovered the medal was plastic. What does it matter if it goes into the history books with a second-degree conviction? As long as he serves his sentences consecutively, and remains in prison for the rest of his life, I, for one, don’t care. And I am angry that the cost of this trial is coming out of my pocket. The eleven million dollars is already spent, but I don’t want to have to pay another astronomical amount of money to repeat the process. That money could be better spent on social reform programs to help the women on the fringes of society who have been put in a situation where they risk falling into the hands of men like Robert Pickton in the first place!
13 comments:
Yep. It's a head-shaker all right. The Crown is trying to beat the defence to an appeal and it also wants to try the freakshow on all 26 counts at once.
The biggest issue for me is if this drags on, then all the time he spends in custody prior to conviction counts for double. He could get life with no parole for X years, but be out in a week.
There's also the possibility of acquittal.
NB dfBagLady, you do annoyance and ranting very well. Good for you.
Thanks, dfLeah.
Glad that I'm not the only one shaking my head. This pisses me off no end, but what can one do about it?
I agree that it's pointless to re-try him on a more serious charge unless they can get a more serious punishment out of it.
In the US, they put Al Capone away on tax evasion charges, since they couldn't get the evidence to lock him up for all the really evil stuff he was responsible for. It got him off the streets, which was all that really mattered in the end.
Sometimes its best to let go of your ego a little and ask whether the real goal (in this case, locking up the bastard for life) has been achieved. If convicting him for postage stamp fraud would've accomplished the same end, it would've still been good-- he can't kill anyone else now.
Exactly my point, Bunnygirl. It seems a pointless waste of tax-payer's money to carry this any further. Of course, he was entitled to a defense, and we have the same system as the US - a lawyer will be provided if you can't afford one, blah, blah, blah - but his defense team has already cost the tax-payers a fortune. There is very little physical evidence (pigs will eat anything!), but they found enough DNA evidence to link him to several of the missing prostitutes he preyed on, so I say "put him in prison for the rest of his life and throw away the key". Just make sure he can't do this again!
Gad, this situation just galls the hell out of me!
I agree wholeheartedly, just let him rot in prison. It makes you wonder if the Crown Prosecutor hasn't got a bit of limelight still in his eye and doesn't want to let it go?
Good post Sis!
Thanks, Reb! I, too, wonder about the blinding limelight...
Wow, this does sound totally ridiculous.
And I'm with Leah- you do a great job of ranting: irate but quite level-headed.
Thanks, Crabby. A written rant is a far cry from how I handle things in real life. In real life, I stumble and blubber and cry, and can't string two words together coherently, which is why I generally try to keep my temper. It's better to keep your mouth shut and have people take you for a fool than to open it and prove them right....(or something like that).
Hmm, I haven't heard of this case before, nor do I live or pay taxes in Canada...but after reading this post, I'm angry for you!
Can't believe the guy murdered that many women, how creepy.
There was a missing hiker case in Georgia recently in the U.S. and when they found her body, the guy had beheaded her. Why are some people SO sick!?!
Mamacita, that's a damned good question! There are some very sick individuals out there!
This guy murdered prostitutes because they live on the fringes and wouldn't be missed. It took the police a long time to realize they had a serial killer on their hands, but now that he's been convicted, I say lock him up, throw away the key and let's not spend any more money on him!
I agree with you.
The sicko was caught and he will pay.
The semantics of the appeal are frustrating to say the least. Now if it was my family I'd probably be upset at the second VS first thing...but he'll be in jail for the rest of his life.
I personally don't see why it is second and not first...but in the end he is paying for his crimes. If they were going for the death penalty that would be different, but we don't do that up here...and it would change what he did.
I mean wouldn't change what he did...
Exactly the reason this is so annoying! The punishment will be no different whether it's first degree or second. Life in prison, or life in prison. If we did have the death penalty, it would make some semblance of sense to bother re-trying him, but as things stand, it's just semantics!
Post a Comment