[Lady Sidhe]

DanaC and I were commenting on how the actions of a murderer affect his own family. Here's a quote from a book called "An Hour To Kill," a true story about Ken Register, an 18-year-old who abducted, raped, sodomized and stabbed to death one of his best friends, Crystal Todd. The following excerpt is a quote taken from his mother:

"You don't know what it's like to go to the store and have someone stare as if to say, 'That's Ken Register's mother.'"...Conversations ceased when she entered rooms. People sensed that small talk was no longer appropriate. Shirley felt in her heart that she needed to respond, that it was somehow important for her to speak up. But what was there to say? What words woul let others know what she and her family were going through?


And, contrary to popular belief, religion isn't the answer. Ken Register and his father were involved in the church; they helped to build the new church, Ken himself often accompanied the minister and did chores for some of the older church members. He attended church regularly. People took that as evidence of his moral upbringing and good character. He had, in fact, spent the morning of the day that Crystal was murdered scrubbing the floors of the new church that he and his father helped construct. He arrived early at church the next morning after visiting the mother of the murdered girl, and during the service, he played his guitar and led the music. He attended church services that day and later went to attend another church function with his girlfriend. He was a pallbearer at Crystal's funeral.

There's no way that anyone will be able to convince me that an 18-year-old boy who was raised in the church doesn't know the difference between right and wrong. He drove her out to a secluded area, raped and sodomized her, and then murdered her and threw her into a ditch.

There were 35 different cuts and stab wounds, seven bruises, and three abrasions. Some of the wounds were made before she died, some during, and some after. Her face had been cut on her left cheek, on her right eyebrow, below the right eye, and below the inside corner of her right eye, 11 stab wounds to the face and head in all. She had bruises on the left temple, upper and lower lip, right eyebrow, right upper eyelid, and in the right temporal area. There were 3 knife wounds to the neck, any of which would have been fatal. The slashes were so deep and made with such force that they sliced the bones on her spinal column, and the only thing holding her head on was her spinal column. There were six more stab wounds in her chest measuring more than a half inch long and two and a quarter inches deep. One of the wounds penetrated the right lung. One was made through the middle of the stomach and under the breastbone into the liver while Crystal was dying. Twice she had been stabbed in the back with such force that the knife stuck in the bone of the spinal column. Another 3-inch-deep wound was made between the ribs and penetrated the aorta. Most of the additional knife wounds made to her abdomen were made after she had died and penetrated the liver and small bowel. Two wounds had opened the abdominal wall, and her intestines protruded through the holes. The examination of the head showed three stab wounds on the left side that penetrated the skull and passed into her brain. One of the medical examiners said that he had never, in the 400+ autopsies he had performed, seen knife stabs so deeply penetrate the brain.



The medical examiners ruled the cause of death as exsanguination, and concluded that she was conscious during the several minutes that it took her to die and that she was cut and stabbed repeatedly as she was dying. The medical examiner said that she was conscious while she was being stabbed repeatedly in the head and face. A stab wound just above her left ear paralyzed the right side of her body, yet she continued to fight off the attacker with her left hand, which suffered multiple cuts. She was nearly decapitated, and a necklace was imbedded in the cuts. The sexual part of the forensic investigation indicated that a foriegn object was inserted into anus up to and after her death. The doctor explained that Crystal was anally raped while being stabbed, while bleeding to death, and after she died.

Medical examiners also discovered significant bruising around the vaginal and rectal areas from blunt force. Sperm was found in both the vaginal and anal areas.


He confessed to the murder when the DNA made it clear that he was guilty.

He destroyed a girl's life. He destroyed the lives of her family members. He destroyed his family's life.

And so, remind me again why he deserves to live?


Sidhe

edited to include the autopsy report...