The Beltway Sniper

Tonight at 9:11 PM John Allen Muhammed was executed for one of the beltway sniper killings in 2002. Too bad we can't undeadify him and execute him again for each of the murders he was convicted of. Sound harsh? Tough. What this guy did with his stepson Lee Boyd Malvo, he can't be killed bad enough for.

Do you remember those three weeks? People getting killed in gas stations, parking lots and even just mowing their grass. One of the other of these lowlifes hid in the trunk of a car and killed these folks from long range and for no reason.

So tonight the folks of Virginia put this one dog down. Even liberal DA Kaine was willing to give Muhammed the death penalty. That's how heinous these crimes were. Good for Mr. Kaine for having the guts to stand up and do the right thing. There was absolutely no reason to keep this scumbag alive for the next 25 years or so until he nature took him. The poison in the syringes was much less expensive.

It's too bad that more states don't have the death penalty. As it is only 37 of the 50 states have the statute. Ok, I realize that means only 13 states don't have it, but I would like to see all have it. I wouldn't want to live in a state without it.

Since 1976 1,176 people have been executed in this country while 3,315 have been sentenced to death. Texas leads the way in both categories with 443 executions with 369 awaiting their turn. That's an average of over one execution a month for the last 33 years. Actually it's 13.4 executions a year.

But the number of people getting sentenced is over 100 a year while only 35.6 get executed. I think we need to pick up the pace. We will never catch up at this rate. The amount of money it takes to keep these guys on death row is astronomical. It would save the states a lot of money in the long run.

Sure there are plenty of people that are against the death penalty, but what do they know? They see the world through their rose colored glasses and believe that all can be redeemed. I think they should do some ride-a-longs with their local PD's and take a good look at the type of folks that have been in and out of prison. Maybe then they will see that only the absolute worst of the worst are executed. Even if the death penalty isn't a deterrent, having it can give some states a chance at justice for their victims.

Without it we risk more John Muhammeds.