Suspected killer got lowdown on men using online sex offender registry

[CHIMO]

Suspected killer got lowdown on men using online sex offender registry
Last Updated Mon, 17 Apr 2006 21:07:17 EDT


A Nova Scotia man suspected of killing two registered sex offenders in Maine before taking his own life had looked up details about the men on the state's online sex offender registry, police say.

Stephen Marshall, who shot himself in the head with a .45-calibre handgun when police stopped the bus he was riding, had logged on to 34 individual names on the registry, police said.

The registry provides addresses and conviction data of offenders.

"We know that Marshall logged on and got specific information on <34> individuals, two of which were the victims," Steve McCausland, a spokesman for the Maine state police, told CBC News.

http://www.cbc.ca/story/world/national/2006/04/17/newmaineshooting20060417.html

[Redstone]

1. They won't molest any more kids, will they?

Redstone

[Warren Stupidity]

11. great attitude.

Are you just trolling or do you seriously advocate vigilante executions?

[saigon68]

32. Don't be so hard on Redstone

You always know where he stands.

This "take no prisoners attitude" is present on lots of the posters here.

I disagree often with him on the death penalty etc.

[madmark]

48. i wouldn't argue for a change in the laws; but I am not entirely

broken up over the killings. And like it or not, these two molesters have been specifically deterred.

[last1standing]

13. Yep. Murder solves everything. Permenantly.

I'm glad we have so many here a DU who are willing to tell the rest of us who deserves death and who doesn't. So what that there's nothing that says the people on the sex offenders list were child molesters. So what that even if convicted of child molestation there is still a chance they were innocent. So what that they served their time according to the laws of the state. I guess once you're on that list you should consider yourself hunted for life, however short that may be.

There were some who felt the same way about Jewish people not so long ago....

[DBoon]

25. In a tyranny, the state decides who is allowed to live

in "free" America, every citizen with a gun can decide.

[last1standing]

28. It's funny how some rights mean more than others.

Even here at DU, a place I'd expect to understand the constitution, there are so many willing to support depriving others of their lives without due process. Are these people really Democrats? Maybe I'm in the wrong party if it's filled with hatemongers.

[Kingshakabobo]

16. Yes, It's a good thing that guy Elliot got a face full of lead with his..

MISDEMEANOR conviction.

Too bad the shooter offed himself so quick. maybe he coulda found an abortion clinic or two to "straighten out."

:sarcasm:


(i'm not equating sex offenders to abortion clinic visitors but this shit reminds me of vigilantes like Eric Rodolph)

[DBoon]

26. and he won't murder any other human beings

by shooting himself he showed he consistently believed dangerous criminals should be murdered by private citizens.

[lastliberalintexas]

35. Not everyone on the offender list molested children

Some just exposed themselves in public and other such minor offenses.

This is just one more example of why these registries are bad ideas concocted by short-sighted politicians who want to have an "accomplishment" to waive in front of the voters by the next election cycle. The registries do nothing but stoke fear and prejudice and do nothing to truly deal with the very real problem of molestation and rape.

[Tiberius]

43. You're a sick individual Redstone

And your comments belong on Free Republic, not here. Get off your moral high horse. One of the guys committed a crime which you can hardly say deserves the death penalty:

"The mother of one of the victims, William Elliott, 24, of Corinth, told The Boston Globe that his name was on the registry because of his 2002 conviction for having sex with a girlfriend when he was 19 and she was two weeks shy of her 16th birthday."

[fleabert]

47. no he's not.

I might disagree with him on this matter, but this one sentence does not make him a sick individual.

[smirkymonkey]

2. Poor kid - he was probably molested and wanted to get back

at them. He just looks so sweet - I know he committed a crime by killing these men, but personally I don't really find it so morally wrong for someone who was molested to strike back like that. It's just sad all the way around.

[last1standing]

15. Good thing he wasn't ugly....

He might not be getting so much sympathy from you.

A mentally ill man just killed two other mentally ill men. I have sympathy and sadness for all of them. I can find the moral fortitute to say it was wrong. Exceptionally wrong.

Maybe if more people were interested in trying to find a solution to the problem, instead of cheering on murderers who act out misplaced fits of vengence, we wouldn't have a busload of men, women, and children who probably just saw their first bloody, brain-splattered suicide in real life.

Yeah. I can find a lot of moral outrage here. I'm so sorry that you can't.

[rpannier]

27. He probably was???

or maybe he was a psycho who got a thrill out of killing people and this was easy and convenient.
Either way, we'll never know.

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

3. The article sheds no light on why this person went on his killing

spree. The other passengers on the bus are lucky they weren't physically injured, but I fear some will have emotional scars for a long while. This whole thing is a tragedy.

[lastknowngood]

child molesters cannot be fixed. As sad as this is it likely saved

10s or even hundreds of children's lives.

[0007]

5. There's an answer out there somewhere.

Sure wish we could find it to help all the suffering people involved

I certainly don't have an answer or even a logical suggestion.

[BR_Parkway]

30. If we know enough that these people need to register because they

are so likely to re-offend - then we need to change the laws. Conviction equals life in prison, no parole. Then they will never be near another child to harm.

While they're fixing the law, they would need to more clearly define who is a sex offender - 19 yo guy with a 16 yo girlfriend is not a sex crime.

[lastliberalintexas]

36. That isn't the real purpose of the registry

Politicians passed these laws in order to show their constituents that they were doing something about this problem, but in reality it (very like the drug laws) does nothing to deal with the root causes of molestation and rape issues.

And again, not everyone on these registries molested children.

[unblock]

6. i find this a disgusting attitude

vigilanteism is indefensible, especially as it does not sound like these particular sex offenders did anything directly to their killer.

if sex offenders can't be fixed, then society should lock them up forever or, for death penalty fans, execute them.

but creating an environment where sex offenders are out in public yet at risk of murder by individuals unrelated to their crimes is completely unacceptable in a civilized society. unfortunately, this makes turns some rotten people into martyrs and this will force governments to rethink the sex offender registry, which can be a good thing IF you can keep the vigilanteism at bay.

[RoyGBiv]

8. The article doesn't say "child molesters"

I don't know anything about Maine's registry law, but in many places a "registered sex offender" does not necessarily mean "child molester," although that seems to be the common myth. A sex offender in OK can, for example, be someone who habitually hires prostitutes.

I'm rather uncomfortable with the idea that it's okay just to shoot someone in the head because they got their name on a list.

[Warren Stupidity]

12. So what if it did?

These people were tried convicted and punished. If they deserved to be executed then it is up to the people to pass laws that make their crimes capital offenses and for the state, not whacked out individuals, to carry out those sentences. Vigilante executions are bullshit no matter what the excuse is.

[RoyGBiv]

14. Umm, yes ...

That was the point of my secondary comment. Sorry if I didn't make that clear.

[flvegan]

33. Gray, "rape of a minor" statute, and Elliott "sexual abuse of a minor"

according to the site. However, I agree that when an article states "sex offender" folks shouldn't just assume it was the sexual abuse of a minor.

I also don't agree with what Marshall did, and not knowing the status of their cases, I can't see why the two murdered individuals were amongst the masses and not in jail.

[Centered]

40. Ding we have a winner

The solution to the problem is so simple it escapes most people.

I am very opposed to the sex offender list. Now with that said please let me explain.

I believe if you have "paid your debt to society" and released from jail... you should be truely FREE. If the crimes are so severe or the risk of recommitting are so high WHY THE HELL ARE THEY OUT OF JAIL???

Get rid of the list and just put them in jail for life (depending on the severity of the offense). I really don't like the idea of these lists espically what could be the next list...

[Pavulon]

42. Execute them or

use the states power to commit them to institutions for the criminally insane. While I am sure the young man felt justified in putting a 45 slug through their heads he did the states job.

Any one convicted twice on DNA evidence, IMHO, is a incurable and should never walk free again. I could care less if they die or if they rot in prison.

An appeal process should be in place for them but these people who molest children destroy the victim's life. They leave a lifetime of pain for the survivor. They should be treated as soul murders.

[Pavulon]

41. Those mean that the state

actually bothered to prosecute these people. It is not uncommon for states to be slack about prosecuting cases like this.

I don't justify the killing but feel the same about these guys as a turd that goes down the pipes..

[MARALE]

34. Not everyone on that list molested children

I know a kid, 19 years old, who wrote a computer virus and attached it to photos of children to infect pedofiles. He got caught by the authorities for transporting the photos and is now himself a registered offender. Not a smart thing for him to do, but he is not a sex offender. Just a dumb kid. Now he will spend 8 years in jail and be on the list for the rest of his life.

[Ex Lion Tamer]

46. Yes, they can.

Some of them remain dangerous, but most respond to treatment.

[Stuckinthebush]

4. He's from Cape Breton

I thought there wasn't much up that way. Anyway...it is a tragedy all around. I bet he was a victim himself of a sexual predator.

Sad.

[GrumpyGreg]

9. Cape Breton is georgeous and there's lots to do !

[Stuckinthebush]

44. Oh yes, I agree

I just remember it being sparsly populated.

[muntrv]

7. How about distinguishing

between violent sex offenders and non-violent? The way the system is set up, a drunk who goes streaking at a football game is lumped in the same category as serial rapists.

[GrumpyGreg]

10. There are different levels in Massachusetts !

[bpj1962]

31. Sex Offender Registry

In the wonderful Commonwealth of Virginia urinating in public is considered indecent exposure which falls under the Sex Offender category. If you are convicted you must register or face jail time. Most of the time they try to plea it down to disorderly conduct.

[Centered]

38. Completely Agree

There are too many laws on the books with multiple defineations. Sex Offenses and Domestic Violence are two examples. There should be a better break down of severity so someone who commits a minor offence though still a criminal is not charged with the same offense as someone who commits a more severe version of the same crime.

I am sure there are more examples but those are 2 that just popped into my head.

[KingFlorez]

17. It wasn't right, but he did the people a favor

The world has two less sex offenders to be worried about now

[last1standing]

19. Maybe we should give all mentally ill people guns.

Then we could wall them away and let them kill each other. It doesn't matter what they have or haven't done. After all, they're a drain on society so this could be a good way of ending that.

Instead, why don't we just gas anyone who fails a psychiatric evaluation, or close all the prisons by executing anyone who commits a misdemeanor or felony? It's not right, but we wouldn't have to worry about them anymore. What a relief!

I'm so glad there are people who support vigilante homocides here at DU. It shows how progressive some Democrats really are.

Do I even need to put up a sarcasm smilie?

[Skittles]

29. what if he had gotten the wrong address?

come on - think rationally - there is simply no justification for vigilante justice

[Google_Bomb]

18. Maine Sex Offender Registry

[gatlingforme]

20. I don't have much sympathy for the victims, but it is wrong.

[tuvor]

21. Suspected killer got lowdown on men using online sex offender registry

A Nova Scotia man suspected of killing two registered sex offenders in Maine before taking his own life had looked up details about the men on the state's online sex offender registry, police say.

Stephen Marshall, who shot himself in the head with a .45-calibre handgun when police stopped the bus in which he was riding, had logged on to 34 individual names on the registry, police said.

The registry provides addresses and conviction data of offenders.

"We know that Marshall logged on and got specific information on <34> individuals, two of which were the victims," Steve McCausland, a spokesman for the Maine state police, told CBC News.

http://www.cbc.ca/story/world/national/2006/04/17/newmaineshooting20060417.html

[bluestateguy]

22. I hope the A's can get their pitching back on track this season

I am also eagerly awaiting the season finale of the "O.C."

[TheDebbieDee]

24. Well, I can't wait to see the season finale of.....

Desparate Housewives.

Plus, I've got a great chili recipe that I'm just dying to try out!

[Blue_Tires]

23. makes me wonder if he was abused himself as a child

regardless, taking the law into your own hands in this situation is wrong...

[Name removed]

37. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Justice]

39. Really unfair portrayal of victim Elliott in my view

The mother of one of the victims, William Elliott, 24, of Corinth, told The Boston Globe that his name was on the registry because of his 2002 conviction for having sex with a girlfriend when he was 19 and she was two weeks shy of her 16th birthday.

http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2006/04/18/maine_killings_raise_questions_about_sex_offender_registries/

[Warren Stupidity]

45. Yeah that is way worthy of execution. sheesh.