College students' killer to be executed (Danny Rolling)

[Scurrilous]

Gov. Jeb Bush signed the death warrant to execute Danny Rolling, the man who murdered five students in Gainesville.

<snip>

"Danny Rolling, the notorious serial killer who murdered five college students and plunged the town of Gainesville into a frenzy of fear 16 years ago, will be executed next month, Gov. Jeb Bush said Friday.

The governor signed a death warrant to execute Rolling, who joined Ted Bundy and Aileen Wuornos in the history books as Florida's most horrific killers. Rolling, 52, exhausted all of his appeals in June and is scheduled to be strapped to a gurney and given an injection of deadly chemicals at 6 p.m. Oct. 25.

In quick succession in August 1990, Rolling killed five students, four of them young dark-haired women, the other the male roommate of one of the victims. He raped three of the women, then stabbed and mutilated them. He decapitated one of the victims and left the head on a shelf facing the front door, posed for police to see.

The five bodies were found on successive days as the fall semester began at the University of Florida. All five victims were students at UF or nearby Santa Fe Community College."

http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/15590187.htm

[geek tragedy]

1. Not a poster boy for opposition to the death penalty.

No tears shed here.

[flamingyouth]

2. I remember those murders well.

Horrible, brutal crimes.

[UncleSepp]

39. That happened my first semester at UF

It was a very strange time.

[Mike Daniels]

70. I remember these taking place when I was finishing up college in JMU

The reports at that time of the killer posing one victim's head on a shelf was so out of the realm of "human" that I've never been able to shake that image.

[bluestateguy]

3. Zappo!!

[Kolesar]

4. A hard-on for the "party of life"? eom

[jhrobbins]

5. What I mainly remember about him is that song he wrote...

about a killer on the loose. The weird thing was that it sounded pretty good, except of course for the lyrics.

[BlueJazz]

6. I don't believe in the Death Penalty ....even for Mr. Rolling.

[Berry Cool]

7. You are a stronger person than I

and I will admit that.

The death penalty is something I have a tough time with opposing. At least in the case of people like this.

[BlueJazz]

12. Oh...I know...it's tempting. But you know.....People like Mr. Rolling ...

...are the price that Society pays for not having support for individuals that are Mentally unbalanced and not having support for abused children...etc...etc..

We...as nation don't want to spend the Money for support so we then pay the price by having Danny Rollings....

[Marymarg]

10. No sympathy from me

I no longer believe in the death penalty either. But I will never use the title (of respect) "Mr." for a cold-blooded killer.

[BlueJazz]

14. Fair Enough n/t

[ronnykmarshall]

71. You beat me to it.

"Mr" is not a title I would call this piece of crap either.

[LostinVA]

26. I agree with you on this

As much as I emotionally would like to see him executed, I -- personally -- cannot condone it. Murder is murder, whether by this dude or by the state.

[mvd]

52. It's just one of a few reasons why I will never support the DP

I'm morally against the taking of life, even scum life like this guy. If I did support it, this guy would be first in line. But most of the rest of the world has the right idea - I'm perfectly satisfied with the guy rotting in prison. As for the costs, I believe that there should be no poverty, so there's no double standard for the costs of feeding - plus, jail is no picnic.

[MnFats]

53. agree with you, BlueJazz....capital punishment is murder.

A barbaric practice accepted by only a few nations in the world.... China, North Korea, Saudi Arabia.....and us...
plus.... look at how many condemned prisoners have been exonerated in recent years....can we trust the system not to execute an innocent person?

not to deny or deflect the brutal, vicious nature of this man's crimes but....

[tabasco]

8. OK by me.

I support the death penalty when there is DNA or other irrefutable evidence of guilt.

I do not support the death penalty for convictions based on eyewitness testimony or other unreliable evidence.

I really think prison - three hots and a cot - is too god for some of these killers.

[wakeme2008]

15. I have no problem with three hots and a cot for LIFE

cost less than trying to kill him and in most cases much much hard on them knowing they will never be free....

[tabasco]

16. For a guy living in a tent and stealing for every meal ...

three hots and a cot ain't doin' too bad.

Look at that asshole Speck. He was having a grand old time in prison.

[Rageneau]

36. We sure don't seem to be very "anti death penalty" here.

I thought we were a bunch of bleeding heart liberals who want to let all the killers out of prison so they can prey on decent Americans?

I thought we believed in coddling psychopathic killers like Rolling for life, with color TV and lobster on saturday night?

What happened to us? Did we suddenly go 'hard'?

Personally, I used to be very anti death penalty, and still generally oppose it. But when someone like Rolling, is so obviously guilty of so heinous a series of crimes, I'm willing to make an exception.

[Mike Daniels]

44. Except that people like Rolling thrive in prison

Remorseless asswipes like Rolling don't ever regret their actions and just end up causing more misery in the pen. Hell, it doesn't even guarantee that they can't commit further murders. If memory recalls, an Ayran Brotherhood type just recently did in a former comrade while in prison for some other crime.

If Rolling and others who commit similar crimes were stuck in an concrete 8 x 10 for life with just a slot to pass their food tray back and forth I'd be content with doing away with the death penaly in every instance. Unfortunatly, as long as they get to interact with others in the rec yard or cafeteria they are still experiencing more of a life than their victims got to experience.

[Spearman87]

57. Here in Florida we’re a pretty "pro-death" state

In the Dem gubernatorial debate, both candidates expressed strong support for it (In the Rep debate, the issue did not even come up :)).

I would not have any trouble with life in prison either, but I can never lose sleep over the thought of someone like Rolling getting Zapped

[TheCowsCameHome]

9. He won't be missed. Better double the circuit breakers for this one.

[Poppyseedman]

11. I'd pull the switch

if we still fried these scumbags.

[pretzel4gore]

13. john ellis bush

what's with the 'jeb' bullshit?

[tinfoilinfor2005]

17. Amazing. Jeb and I agree on something.

Now I await his decision on the appropriate punishment for world wide psychopathic murderers.

[et in Arcadia ego]

18. I remember Danny well..

And his crimes that stand tall aside the worst serial killings in this country's history, with details so horrible they need not be repeated here.

All his years in jail and his showboating in court only reinforced the reality he never had remorse for a second for any of his victims.

Good Fucking Riddance.

[GOPNotForMe]

19. ....

My landlord and ex-boss stayed at the condo I am living in now while all of this insanity was going on because it had (and still does) an alarm system. Creeps me out to hear all the stories of 15 or more people staying in an apartment together for sheer safety in numbers. Must have been dreadful.

I will not shed a tear for Danny Rolling, but I still can't get behind state-sanctioned murder. It can't bring any of those poor souls back.

[LiberalHeart]

20. Years ago I read a pretty good book about the killings.

BEYOND MURDER by John Philpin and another guy -- I think his name is John Donnely or something close to that.

Anybody remember that woman whose last name was London (Sandra?) that Rolling sang to in court? They were in loooooove ... It was weird and icky.

[et in Arcadia ego]

21. yeah

It was a friggin mockery of what he had done. They should have stood him on the Firing Line right then and there..

[mike_c]

22. no death penalty, not even for psychopaths like Mr. Rolling....

It's just revenge. It doesn't deter anyone from committing crimes. Nothing is gained from killing folks like this.

If we had a successful way to deal with crimes like this, Mr. Rolling would one day be free, and his neighbors would be safe. Anything else is tacit admission that all we're interested in is revenge. Not in my name.

[et in Arcadia ego]

23. Fine..

Let's send old Danny to stay at Mike C's house.

:eyes:

[Puglover]

66. Very reasoned answer to the discussion

Welcome to DU. Enjoy your stay here.

[geek tragedy]

30. One successfully deals with murderers by preventing

them from killing again.

Mission accomplished here. It's not a failure of society that this monster isn't walking free.

[Exiled in America]

40. So does life in prison.

[Behind the Aegis]

42. Actually, no it doesn't.

There is quite a murder rate in prisons. Actually, GT is correct. If the killer is executed, we are certain, beyond a shadow of a doubt, he will not kill again. That said, I still do not support the death penalty.

[TheCowsCameHome]

31. I'll bet it deters Mr. Danny Rolling from killing again.

[mitchum]

34. "What is the nature of a thing?"

I would surmise that the nature of Rolling is to kill. It's absurd to think that "...Mr Rolling would one day be free, and his neighbors would be safe" Absurd.

[seriousstan]

35. "Mr. Rolling would one day be free"? Fuck that, I hope he moves in

WITH YOU. I mean, you seem to believe in some miracle cure for this monster so I must believe that you would be willing to test your faith in the "cure".

[michreject]

38. revenge is good for the victim's family

He knew it would end this way before he started killing people. Fuck him.

[noonwitch]

55. Mandatory life without parole

That's what they get in Michigan. I'm not particularly sympathetic to guys like this, but I don't think that the state should execute people, even guys like this. I would never want to be on a jury that had to decide a death penalty case.

Life should mean life. No hearings, no parole ever. If the murderer can't handle genpop, we have a special place for them in Michigan. It's called I-Max. 23 hours each day are spent alone in a cell, with few books (and only paperbacks), no tv, no anything. One hour a day, each inmate gets shackled and brought to a small, outdoor cage where he can exercise (he's unshackled once in the cage).

[TacticalPeek]

24. 'Bout fucking time.

Pretentious asswipe.

[Danger Mouse]

25. Disgusting scumbag.

No sympathy here. Light him up like a Christmas tree.
I only support the death penalty for swine like this. Those losers who killed a bunch of people over an x-box are down there in florida too, right? Hope they have room in the death chamber for their ringleader. Another piece of filth.

[brentspeak]

27. What took so long?

In Virginia, one of the two monsters who murdered the Harvey family was just sentenced to death, but it's going to be a least five years before he's executed.

[Vidar]

28. If only Jeb could be next.

[mitchum]

29. I remember seeing him on the street in a SC college town several...

months before he turned up in Gainesville.

No tears for this monster

[Zorro]

32. It's called justice

There are some people in society that truly deserve their execution.

Danny Rolling is one of those people.

[cobalt1999]

54. I agree.

Justice to me is an appropriate punishment for the crime.

Appropriate punishment for this crime is death. Too bad it won't be as bad for him as it was for his victims.

No sympathy or bleeding heart here.

[NaturalHigh]

33. Rolling is one of the sickest pricks I've ever read about.

I remember his murder spree very well. Good riddance to this POS.

[turbo_satan]

37. I lived in Gainesville when it all went down...

I lived in the same neighborhood as the victims; my wife-to-be and I were grad students at UF at the time. It was a very, very strange period of time -- very frightening and very surrealistic. My wife is still freaked out about it, even 16 years later. The entire town felt like it was under siege and the rumor-mill was out of control. Everybody thought the angel of death was coming to their home next. (Come to think of it, it probably wasn't a tenth as bad as what the residents of Baghdad are going through every day).

Anyway, I still can't muster the hate to want to administer the lethal injection myself, nor does my wife have the consummate rage. It'll be interesting to see what one of the world's leading experts on the death penalty has to say. Michael Radelet was a sociology professor at UF back then, although I think he's since moved on. Regardless of all us bleeding-heart lefties (and Gainesville is a VERY blue city amid a sea of red), there will probably be a very big party in G'ville when they do the deed.

[Exiled in America]

41. I am amazed at how absolutely stupid and contradictory people can be.

It is simply staggering to the mind sometimes.

[williesgirl]

43. He deserves to die for what he's done. Unfortunately, his dealth will be

much easier than his victims. Why should taxpayers have to continue to house and feed this piece of shit any longer? Sorry but I think this is what the dealth penalty was enacted for. My heart goes out for his victims' families at this time.

[Bill McBlueState]

45. "I'm opposed to the death penalty, but not for this guy!"

Every single time there's news of an impending execution, there's a chorus of replies along the lines of, "I'm usually opposed to the death penalty, but for this guy I'll make an exception."

How many exceptions do you get? One either trusts the state with the machinery of death, or one doesn't. You can't oppose capital punishment but make all sorts of exceptions. It takes moral courage to oppose state-sanctioned murder, and that means supporting human rights no matter how vile the human.

The rest of the developed countries in the world that have abolished the death penalty don't have override clauses for especially repugnant perpetrators, and neither should we.

[Mike Daniels]

46. And this is why the US will probably never abolish the DP

Because there will always be someone who deserves to be the expection.

[ileus]

47. it comes 16 years too late....

better late than never I suppose.

[Name removed]

48. Deleted message

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

[lonestarnot]

49. Better to let the fucker rot in a cell for the rest of his miserable life

and cheaper too! If my child were a victim, I wouldn't settle for the death penalty unless I could kill the fucker myself, all by myself, otherwise, put him in a cell for the rest of his natural miserable life.

[Name removed]

50. Deleted message

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

[Mike Daniels]

51. The cost of a life sentence being cheaper than execution argument

is, I believe, based almost exclusively on the costs incurred by the government during the appeals process. By the time appeals are exhausted I could see the legal "billing" to the state costing more than what it would have been to lock someone away for life.

I could be mistaken on this but it's the only way I see the cost argument making sense.

[lonestarnot]

62. Well I see it makes sense to you and you are absolutely correct,

it is the costs on appeal that make housing these freaks cheaper than exterminating them.

[casper8675]

56. Let the families of the victims decide

I think we they should put him in a room with the families of the victims.Give the family members steel pipes. If they allow him to leave that room alive , put him in jail for the rest of his life. Let them decide between mercy or revenge.

[MrSlayer]

58. Good. Bye asshole.

Should have been done a long time ago.

[saigon68]

59. Feel the Love on this thread

It sounds like RimJob's site

[lonestarnot]

63. Sorry but I can't find it in my heart to love baby rapers or serial

killers, aka bushitler, but Jesus loves them as they are certainly the lowest, therefore the least among us (although I don't think that is what the text referenced in actuality.)

[Mike Daniels]

64. Spare me the FR comparisons....

especially when most of the major leaders of the Democratic party still support the DP in some fashion.

Furthermore, I find it hard to muster up any sympathy, pity or compassion for someone who decapitated one of his victims and placed the head on a shelf for dramatic effect and who pulled a Jack the Ripper with another corpse.

Personally, I'd be totally content to let this vile piece of filth spend the rest of his life rotting in a Super Max-style prison. The isolation and deprivation would be just punishment for the void he has created for numerous survivors of his victims.

Unfortunately, there is a significant portion of people on DU who feel that something like this is still too extreme for someone like Rolling. I'd personally love to hear what punishment, outside of the death penalty, is true justice for someone like Rolling who has proven to be a useless waste of carbon based life.

[Puglover]

67. I think the ONLY reason most major leaders

of the Democratic party support the DP is pandering to the "moderates" That being said I have no pity for this man. At all.

I still however do not support the death penalty for all kinds of reasons. As far as appropriate punishment? I think solitary confinement,no visitors, no correspondence and an hour a day outside alone for life would be close. But I'm not the decider. :)

I know if I were given the choice between the needle and the above I'd take the needle hands down.

On yet another edit. Sheesh. I do NOT believe everyone who is in favor of the DP is a Freeper. Far from it. I used to be one of them. However I do believe that slavering, bloodthirsty,gleefilled, I'd pull the switch myself behavior is very Freeperish. I don't mean to imply that your post had any of that. It did not.

[saigon68]

68. Bill Clinton does --- but only if the perp saves his pie

to eat AFTER the Hanging is over

LOL

[Puglover]

69. OUCH!

n/t

[Mike Daniels]

74. Clinton using that case as his " I support the DP as well" moment

was definitely not a shining point in his presidential campaign.

[Nutmegger]

60. I seen a bumper sticker that said this:

"We kill people who kill people to show that killing is wrong."

The DP does nothing but satisfy our barbaric urge to harm someone when they have harmed us.

[Parche]

61. DP

Even though I despise Jeb, and I know a few people dont like the DP

This guy is the most deserving of it, he killed 5people, he should not live himself.

[Phillycat]

65. I am not at all opposed to the death penalty.

Good riddance to Rolling. Buh-bye now!

[digno dave]

72. That tape he left of him singing was CREEPY

nt

[FILAM23]

73. About damn time

death penalty appeals take too long. Process needs to be speeded up
so execution takes place no more then 36 months after conviction

[JVS]

75. IIRC Jeb Bush became Catholic, maybe the Bishop would like a call.

Perhaps excommunication is in order.


From Wiki:

In addition to his business, civic and charitable activities, Bush underwent a religious conversion during his early career years. At the urging of his wife, Columba, a devout Mexican Catholic, the Protestant Bush became a Roman Catholic. He and his wife belonged to the Epiphany Catholic Church in Miami for many years. Bush is also a Third Degree Knight of Columbus according to an August 3, 2004 speech his brother President George W. Bush made at the 122nd Knights of Columbus Convention in Dallas. The following is an excerpt from the speech:

"I'm proud to say that my family has contributed to your ranks. A few years ago, Governor Jeb became a Knight. And he-yes-and he recently took his Third Degree. I'll see him this weekend. His son is getting married. I'll pass on the word, aim for the Fourth."
Rather than fade into the annals of political history after his 1994 defeat for the governorship, Bush refocused and worked hard to re-establish himself. This self-described cynic's religious conversion and substantial civic involvement added different dimensions to his business background. Four years down the road, at 45 years of age, a new Jeb Bush emerged, and in 1998 became Governor of Florida.

/wiki

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeb_Bush#Personal_transformation

[fladonkey]

76. This is an extremely....

sad and complicated case.

FYI - Rod Smith, former candidate for governor was the State Attorney at the time that Rolling was tried and convicted.

It took a long time to catch Rolling and later to try him because the sheriff's department at first arrested the wrong man. I can't remember his name but he was a troubled former student. Rolling was very elusive. I personally think (and I'm not a psychologist) that he is a psycopath. He did not show any remorse at his trial.

Unfortunately, the sister of the male victim was herself killed in another sensational case about 5 years ago.