Condemned Killer in Texas Who Cited Metallica Lyrics Put to Death

[NNN0LHI]

http://ap.tbo.com/ap/breaking/MGB4PA1XE4E.html

HUNTSVILLE, Texas (AP) - A condemned killer who twice avoided death last year was executed Tuesday night as the Supreme Court refused on a 5-4 vote to block the lethal injection.
Troy Kunkle, 38, spent more than half his life on death row for shooting a man and robbing him of $13 in Corpus Christi.

Kunkle was contrite as he looked toward his victim's daughter and son-in-law.

"I would like to ask you to forgive me," he said. "I made a mistake and I am sorry for what I did. All I can do is ask you to forgive me."

more

Why is it if you cite Metallica or Marylin Manson and murder someone you get death, but if you cite Jesus or God and murder someone you get life imprisonment or a mental institution?

[theresistance]

1. More like you become President or reich wing church leaders

I mean in terms of supporting the killing in Iraq - not killing directly.

[Skittles]

2. this is Texas

if you have no money they don't give a f*** WHAT you say

[NNN0LHI]

3. Money has a voice of its own

Know of any millionaires getting the death penalty in Texas? Or anywhere in the USA?

Don

[Skittles]

4. nope

that was my point :)

[NNN0LHI]

10. Duh. How did I not notice that? Pay attention Don n/t

[mitchum]

37. Thomas Capano of Delaware, but he's the only one

[Maddy McCall]

5. Didn't work for Karla Fay Tucker.

That's not absolute. Even redeemed murderers get fried.

[moobu2]

8. But She wasnt a Christian when she killed like some others

and God didnt tell her to do it, that seems to help in getting the debate going about treatment.

If God is talking to them in those little voices they hear, telling them to kill, society is more apt to talk illness and treatment. If it's say a dog or maybe like this case -Metallica or Marylin Manson telling them or making them in some way, you're more apt to be considered "EVIL" and not worthy of any help whatsoever.

[NNN0LHI]

9. Everyone says they have got the Lord "after" they go to death row

I was speaking of citing someone during the commission of the crime. I guess I should have been more clear?

Don

[pretzel4gore]

38. many of them do....

prison gives one plenty of time...time to think, to read and to calmly face each day....often a serious prison sentence, esp. a death sentence, stops a person from chasing the demons he had spent life chasing. i know it's fashionable to suspect jailhouse conversions, and admit most are probably phony, but some aren't...
btw every time i visit texas, knowing how easy it would be to get framed for a murder i wasn't even involved in, i always find me a nice greasy redneck soon as i cross the stateline, cut his throat and bury him deep where he never found; that way i can rest assured that IF the cops do frame me etc, i go to the gallows (whatever) in a jaunty mood....

[seriousstan]

6. You are right. They all should get the death penalty.

[Bono71]

33. I'd have no problem with the death penalty (really) if there were

never any false convictions. Unfortunately, that just isn't the case.

[MrSlayer]

7. Took long enough. This happened in 1984.

I don't get it, it's open and shut with admission. He should have fried in 85.

[Sivafae]

11. damn satan worshipping rock fans!

Maybe now the WM3 will get some needed attention.

[MnFats]

12. fuck capitol punishment. it's barbarism.

ok, ok, before you jump all over me....I know the crimes were barbaric.
does that justify letting our nation slide to the same level of inhuman treatment?
Only nations like North Korea, China and Saudi Arabia are in our corner on the death penalty. That's some good company, all right.

[NNN0LHI]

13. Jump all over you?

There is no place for capital punishment in a civilized society. Every rational person I know agrees with that.

Don

[MnFats]

14. a couple months ago i posted a few lines in opposition to the D.P.

...and got flamed for the next couple of hours. it was pretty wierd, being DU and all....

[NNN0LHI]

15. Did you tell them to feck off? No? Try that next time

It works pretty good on some of the more belligerent folk.

:P

Don

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

18. Punishism is a mental disease. It knows no bounds.

Yeah, you find a lot of this even here.

Send them to an extremely civilized, with little crime, Western European country and watch their tiny heads explode.

[Mandate My Ass]

25. Punishism is a mental disease, and it's rife around here

Six execution dates before all was said and done. That's ghastly.

[Jack_DeLeon]

17. I disagree...

however I guess you would just label me irrational. :eyes:

[egoprofit]

24. ok and you would want a guy who killed someone for $13...

to be your next-door neighbor??? didn't think so.

[PunkPop]

27. I would want a guy who killed someone for $13 to spend

the rest of his life in jail.

Is that supposed to be some kind of argument for the death penalty? "Kill them before they move in next door!" Good stuff. Well thought out.

[Jack_DeLeon]

16. Good....

that fucker avoided the death penalty for far to long.

Whats this bullshit about him trying to avoid the death penalty because he was "supposidly" high on marijuana when he commited the acts.

That is complete bullshit, marijuana doesnt turn people into killers. That being said even if he were high on marijuana or any other drug that still doesnt give you a free pass to commit murder.

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

19. LWOP is not a "free pass." (nt)

[goodboy]

20. "why is it if iyou cite metallica or MM and murder someone you get death"

Why is it if you cite Metallica or Marylin Manson and murder someone you get death, but if you cite Jesus or God and murder someone you get life imprisonment or a mental institution?

To answer your question...I think it goes without saying that everyone knows those who kill because God told them to are truly crazy...both in their beliefs and their actions. Could it be that fanatical religious beliefs require a person to be crazy in the first place? would a rational human being hold such beliefs? I don't know.

[TNOE]

34. Well, we have a President who claims to talk to God

and he is killing because he said God told him too. And rather than be in a mental institution - he's the leader of the free world. Go figure.

The only condolence I see to this poor man's death - is that at least now he is free from his schizophrina and the probably still open wounds from his childhood being born into his own private hell.

The rightwingers would have been against his mentally, emotionally unstable parents aborting him, but when a mistake was made - they are all for taking his life.

[Judi Lynn]

42. Absolutely primitive. Doesn't make a bit of sense.

They have no overview whatsoever. They can only see what's right in front of themselves at the moment, subject to their ignorant, delusional grasp of the world. Nothing matters beyond their pleasure, or satisfying their pompous sense of "justice," which is only rage at anything which doesn't bring them pleasure.

Incapable of progress beyond Mom and Dad and being slow-witted children.

That's what makes them Republicans.

[noonwitch]

21. He should have cited "Ride The Lightning"

But he ended up with a lethal injection, instead.

Jesus, Metallica, whatever, I don't support the death penalty ever.

[primavera]

22. So what is this for Texas?

Execution number 4,726 for the month?

[egoprofit]

23. hey guy was it worth the $13? an ironic number indeed n/t

[Judi Lynn]

26. Too bad we can't all be as brilliant as the death penalty enthusiasts.

You take a person who is certifiably mentally ill, and pump a lot of drugs into him, and you're going to have someone who is not operating as he would if he had his wits about him.

A story from yesterday:

TEXAS
January 25, 2005

The state of Texas is scheduled to execute Troy Kunkle, a white man, Jan. 25 for the 1984 murder of Stephen Horton in Nueces County. Mr. Kunkle was 18 and two months old, had no criminal record, and was under the influence of alcohol, marijuana, and LSD at the time of the crime. Four other teenagers were involved in the crime. None of them received the death penalty. Tragically, Troy, a schizophrenic teenager who received no real guidance or counsel in making the most important decision of his life, turned down a plea bargain. The case proceeded to trial without any evaluation of Troy's mental health or his competency to make such a momentous decision.

Although Mr. Kunkle is schizophrenic with a family history of mental illness who was subjected to particularly shocking child abuse, no fact finder or court has ever considered whether this life history mitigates in favor of a life sentence.

Mr. Kunkle was physically and emotional abused by his father, including an incident where he was thrown against a wall so hard that his spleen was bruised. Both parents also suffered from mental illness. When Mr. Kunkle was a baby, his mother was committed to a mental hospital for attempting to choke him.

However, at the time, Texas law did not provide jurors with a mechanism for giving consideration to this mitigation, and Troy's lawyers never did the investigation necessary to present these facts to the jury. Recent interviews with the jurors indicate that this information would have saved Troy's life. When the U. S. Supreme Court forced Texas to change its laws and allow jurors a chance to spare the lives of defendants like Troy, Troy asked for a new trial where he could present this evidence to the jury. However in a cruelly ironic twist, the appellate courts refused to take his history into account because it was presented to them too late in the process.
(snip/...)

http://www.demaction.org/dia/organizations/ncadp/campaign.jsp?campaign_KEY=225

[Southern Dem 2005]

28. Question, Judi Lynn

While I think this story is heart-rending, what do you propose should be done with criminals like Mr. Kunkle? It sucks that he had a rough life and apparently had drug problems. However, that doesn't change the fact that he killed someone and that there are lots of people who had a worse childhood and haven't killed anyone. You can't bring back the person he killed. Since he has committed an act that can't be undone, what punishment is fitting? I personally don't approve of the death penalty, but then I haven't had a loved one murdered.

[Judi Lynn]

29. Life in prison with no parole.

Emotional reactions to horrendous loss and suffering can't be the base for a society. We need something better than that, and real strength comes from a firm foundation in true morality.

Getting revenge is not moral. Check the "Good Book(s)." If a civilization doesn't aspire to a higher and better world you're headed back into the lower depths. Might as well check it in.

Revenge is dirty. Revenge is ultimately "all about me," while justice is concerned with the well-being of the entire community.
It's more mature, more intelligent.

Revenge is cheap, and wrong. It never really changes the problem. It's an indulgence of a wish for immediate satisfaction, which comes from WEAK PERSONALITIES. Why encourage people to be infantile? Real life demands we all grow up, and accept the inevitable changes, and recognize you actually do not control your life. That's strength. Anything less is failure.

People who lament about wanting the state to kill people for them so they'll feel safer are unbalanced, are not strong psychologically, nor spiritually. The only way you become strong is to actually deal with the hardships in your life.

[Mandate My Ass]

30. Beautifully said

Another good source of information is Cesar Beccaria's 1746 treatise on crime. The punishment should be enough, and only enough, to protect society from further harm. Anything beyond that hurts society more than the criminal. Looking at our per capita murder rate compared to countries without capital punishment I would tend to agree.

[Southern Dem 2005]

31. I don't disagree with either Judi Lynn or MMA, but

wouldn't you agree that the argument can be made that the death penalty isn't revenge but is an example of the punishment fitting the crime? I know that is the "eye for an eye" argument but a lot (possibly the majority) of people in the U.S. think it is a valid argument. Additionally, the death penalty clearly protects society from further harm by that individual. I agree that the death penalty does not act as a crime deterrent--you only have to look at Texas, which keeps executing criminals but has a very high crime rate. I will say that IF you eliminate the death penalty in favor of life without parole then it really has to mean no parole.

[Mandate My Ass]

32. No I can't say I agree with that argument

It's revenge pure and simple. Polls have shown a majority of Americans already do support LWOP over the death penalty when it really means no parole.

It's a barbaric and flawed practice which is arbitrarily applied but only amongst those who have been marginalized by society already.

Violent crimes actually escalate in the vicinity of an execution after it's carried out. It's a failed system and it's way past time we do away with it. Violence begets more violence and in the wake of this another "innocent" will be killed. In my belief system, if I deem someone unworthy to live, I have sunk to the level of a murderer already, especially when I know the deterrant value does not exist.

Check out the human rights scores of the other countries who practice the DP. Not pretty.

[progressoid]

36. Well said

[Roland99]

35. Boy...that'll sure stop murder!

[Jack_DeLeon]

39. No it wont...

but it certainly will stop him from murdering again.

IMO the punishment should fit the crime, in this case it did.

[daleo]

40. Technically, he should have been killed by a schizophrenic executioner

For the punishment to truly fit the crime. The executioner should have also just turned 18, and should have been badly abused as a child. He should also have came from a family with a history of severe mental illness.

[DemonFighterLives]

41. I couldn't help but laugh

Now that's justice!

[Roland99]

43. So would life in prison

and it would be much less costly to the taxpayer.