Couple Faked Death With Stolen Corpse

[leftchick]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20050508/ap_on_re_us/faked_death

GEORGETOWN, Texas - Molly Daniels spent weeks surfing the Internet, gathering information for a bizarre and grisly plot of deception. She learned how to burn a human body beyond recognition. She sought clues on ways to deceive arson investigators, and took meticulous steps to create a new identity for her husband.

Daniels then dug up a woman's corpse, staged a fiery car accident to fake her husband's death, and had him re-emerge as her new boyfriend. Authorities say it was all to collect a $110,000 life insurance policy while hiding her husband, Clayton Daniels, from the cops.

Molly Daniels pleaded guilty this past week to felony charges of insurance fraud and hindering apprehension, and was sentenced to the maximum 20 years in prison.

"This was a ghoulish, horrific crime," prosecutor Jane Starnes at the sentencing hearing Thursday.

[Bunny]

1. Well, I guess that's one way to handle it.

:eyes:

[rodeodance]

2. why dig up a women's body ? Stupid.

[LiberallyInclined]

7. the pelvic bones would be an immediate giveaway-

that the bones did not belong to a man.

she should have spent a little less time surfing the web, and a little more time watching a few of the many incarnations of CSI on CBS.

[UpInArms]

3. where to start?

well, let's see -

wife (age 22)- 2 children ages 4 and 1
husband (age 24) pleads guilty to assault
husband (age 24) fails to report for 6 months probation - gets 30 day jail sentence

wife (age 22) going off to prison for 20 years
husband (age 24) can be sentenced to up to 20 years in prison

"It was about keeping our family together," she tearfully told jurors.

this person's brain is powered by a tea candle :eyes:

[Bunny]

4. And where did the arson charges come in? Setting the car on fire?

SNIP
Clayton Daniels is in custody awaiting trial on arson charges. He could face up to 20 years.
SNIP

[dingaling]

5. up to 20 years

That is bullshit. "A horrific crime..." the prosecutor says. I dont think so. Compared to what else goes on, this is nothing. "Extenuating circumstrances" should have been taken into account and a lessor sentence should have been given, at least for the lady.

[LivingInTheBubble]

6. lessor sentence should have been given, at least for the lady?

Why?

"She learned how to burn a human body beyond recognition. She sought clues on ways to deceive arson investigators, and took meticulous steps to create a new identity for her husband.

Daniels then dug up a woman's corpse, staged a fiery car accident to fake her husband's death, and had him re-emerge as her new boyfriend."

The "lady" seems to have done most of the crimes mentioned here.

[Trajan]

9. The fact is: ....

NONE but insurors were close to being harmed by these acts: ... but even THEY didnt have to pay out ...

NO one was killed ...

The only real loss was the theft of the corpse ...

As horrid as that sounds, it is still just a stolen thing, not a homicidal act .... Justice cannot be based on appeals to emotion ...

To give these people 20 years while child rapists and murderers are given less time would be a travesty ...

[KittyWampus]

10. Guess You've Never Had A Loved One Die.

"The only real loss was the theft of the corpse ...

As horrid as that sounds, it is still just a stolen thing"

And setting fire to anything endangers the entire neighborhood.

[Trajan]

14. I have had a loved one die ....

If I consider my emotions about that loved one, above and beyond the actual actions of the defendant, then I am offering an EMOTIONAL APPEAL .... It suits ME to possess those emotions ... but to try to establish justice by MY emotion would be a huge mistake ...

Emotional appeals are the LAST basis we would want as a foundation of our justice system, and is a bona fide fallacy ... A dispassionate and unprejudicial approach to law and sentencing is the only humane approach ...

This sentence, given the facts of this case, is excessive ...

[proud2BlibKansan]

12. I was just thinking the same thing

This couple is pretty low on the smartness scale, but who (other than their own kids) was really harmed by their crime?

[pie]

15. I agree. The sentence is absurd.

I think three years would be more than enough.

[colorado_ufo]

16. Apples and oranges.

Child rapists, etc., are a different subject and - I agree - the law is in great need of overhaul on such matters.

As I see it, the basic problem with this woman's behavior is that 1) she wanted something and 2) was willing to do anything to have it. This is the bases for all wrong behavior. She had no consideration for the deceased elderly woman's dignity as fellow member of the human race, or for the possible consequences of her arson, or for the crime of fraud against the insurance company (which, by the way, eventually raises premiums for other policyholders), or for the effect on her children of this crime or bringing in their father as a different man, or for anything else. Not even for herself: the jerk confessed to sexual assault, and she was willing to cold-bloodedly plan this ghoulish crime in order to keep the louse around (great father figure).

Do you really think someone with her problem-solving mentality would not be capable of future criminal behavior, perhaps worse? The bottom line is, she is someone who would do anything to get what she wants, which is truly frightening.

[Trajan]

17. Prior restraint ...

Firstly: indeed child rapists and these individuals are the 'apples and oranges' which you referred to ... yet in a court of law: they are lawbreakers, one and all .... Society has developed law and justice systems for thousands of years, and our current model, like others, have had to draw lines and establish proper punishments for each and every infraction type ....

I, as a citizen and a human being, want only that punishments fit the crimes for which they are handed down .... GIVEN THAT their are child rapists, AND there are individuals like these who commit theft and arson, that WE, as citizens, have an obligation to treat those convicted of these crimes to make the distinctions between WHICH crime warrants a long sentence and which, in comparison, would warrant a lighter sentence ...

Therefore, I have, as many reasonable human beings have, decided that child rape is amongst the WORST, MOST despicable acts which a person could commit ... and that someone who commits theft, and even those who commit arson, is committing a LESSER crime than that of a child rapist ...

It is valid to make THESE distinctions, as citizens of a just society, because it is in our collective interest that 1) justice be carried out in a consistent and universal manner and 2) sentences properly reflect the gravity of the criminal act(s) which cause sentence top be handed down ....

With that in mind, it is fair to compare the weight of sentences to the weight of the criminal acts which caused them .... Therefore, your assertion that this is a 'apple and oranges' argument is invalid, because it is the comparison of sentence of each crime to the gravity of the crime itself, in other words: comparing the apples to the apples, and the oranges to the oranges ...

It isnt so easy to dismiss these distinctions with such a trite citation of a cliche when it isnt an apt analogy for the argument ...

Furthermore: I cannot ascribe to your rule that ANYONE with problem solving ability, and who has committed some sort of crime, should be locked up for long prison sentences simply on the basis that they 'could, possibly' commit some future crime .... ALL of us are 'capable' of committing a crime ...

Thankfully, our system of justice requires a COMMISSION of an criminal act to actually occur before citizens are hauled off to prison for long sentences ... Proir restraint based on your fear is unjustified ...

[Turbineguy]

8. Easier ways to make 110 grand

1. Do NOT listen to my stockmarket advice.

2. Borrow money from a friend, donate it to the Republican Party, set up a dummy corporation, get a government contract.

3. Ditech your house, take advances on your credit cards, send the money to the Caymans, file for bankruptcy.

There must be lots of other ways where you can keep from getting dirt under your finger nails.

[TahitiNut]

11. Clayton sure had to trust his wife a lot.

After all, once he was "dead" couldn't she get away with murder?

[0007]

13. This would make good comedy!

The lady should have learned to cook books like Ken Lay.