Richard D. Davis has been found guilty of killing Marsha Spicer of Independence, Missouri in a bizarre videotaped sex slaying. He was also convicted of 24 other counts. He now faces the death penalty, which seems a virtual lock given the videotape and heinous elements of the murder.
Davis was accused of the May 2006 killing with his girlfriend, Dena Riley. They filmed the murder for their own enjoyment and Spicer down while his girlfriend smothered her by sitting on her face. The two are also charged in the April 2006 suffocation of Michelle Huff-Ricci. Riley and Davis also have been indicted in Kansas on a federal charge of kidnapping a 5-year-old Kansas girl related to Davis.
Insanity seems the best possible defense once the tape was allowed into the case. However, even this horrific conduct is not likely to save Riley as evidence of insanity. Riley will be tried next.
Unfortunately, those making the laws can’t spare the “war on drugs” just a thought. Congressman Barney Frank who is open about being both gay and a Jew, just now proposed to legalize the possession of small quantities of weed. So even a gay Jew from a “liberal” State was too afraid of bringing this up earlier in his career and had to wait until he was nearly 70 and near the end of his career, as he stated on an interview.
So it seems that in a choice between spending money on jail time for pot smokers and spending money on poor children, the kids lose.
Well, here’s an idea; how about getting rid of the draconian prison sentences for “smoking weed,” as you put it. There is no convincing evidence that unreasonable drug sentences are going to do anything positive, other than filling jails/prisons with non-violent offenders. Of course, that would keep the prison guards and other prison staff paid, but wouldn’t do much else.
What would happen if drug addicts and users were given other penalties besides prison time? Maybe there would be more room for the truly violent predators who should never see the light of day again, and free up some government funds to feed and educate children as well. Just a thought.
But it makes victims out of every American who pays taxes. I wonder how the Government has money to keep a “criminal” in jail for years for smoking weed, but has no money to feed hungry children with school lunch programs. I would rather feed 100 hungry children so they can learn and maybe not end up in jail, than keep a murderer in jail for one year.
Rafflaw, I agree, and I am 100% against the death penalty, no exceptions. As horrible and disgusting as these two vile perps are, to me it is just as wrong for the state to kill people by administration of the method of death.
When we start making the “we should kill because they killed” arguments, we are heading down the road to being on the very same level as the perps the states are executing, which is barbaric and uncivilized. Life without the possibility of parole, in a maximum-security facility, is just as severe a punishment, and it doesn’t make killers out of state law enforcement officials.
I am a believer in the death penalty I am a living victim of a violent crime. My whole life I thought the death penalty was wrong then when my sister was murdered in cold blood by her finace I realized I wanted him to die. Why does he get to see his mom and dad? Why does he get to be in the life of the baby he cheated on my sister and concieved. She was loving and wonderful and out of the two of them if anyone deserved to die it was him.
You may be right about the “crazy look”, the guy looks like Stephen Baldwin. That aside, I’m a firm believer of only God gives life and thus only God should take it away, but as the Good Books say, “an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. I could be wrong as I’m not privy to all the facts of this case, but if these murders are sadistic or sexually motivated, I would see no benefit to keeping such people alive. In fact executing them would probably be better for both the murders and the families of their victims. And since I’m no hypocrite, and I know what I would do if my child was a victim, I would execute ANYONE that murders a child.
I know I have said it before, but I am always amazed at the perp pictures. The people always have this crazy look in their eyes. And with facts like these, crazy is probably the correct word. I am not a proponent of the death penalty, even in a case like this, but these two are scary. I would think that insanity would be the proper defense and they might be able to prove it it their actions are any example of their mental state. I just don’t think that the good people of Missouri will let a little thing like insanity stop them from voting for the death penalty. As bad as these two are, the state will not benefit from their death, nor will the grieving families. They may think that the deaths will provide “closure”,but the only thing that will provide closure is time. I hope the families find as much closure as possible in such an extreme murder case like this.