Another humbling post: involves a WWII vet, a gun, and a moral decision that changed MANY lives

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[ARCHIVED THREAD] - Another humbling post: involves a WWII vet, a gun, and a moral decision that changed MANY lives (Page 1 of 3)

Posted: 1/4/2006 8:40:22 AM EDT

OK - last one.

This one is about a relative of an acquaintance of mine. His story has impacted my life in so many ways I won't bother to list them here.

His name is Richard Keech. Richard is an 82 year old man. This is Richard and his family.

This was Richard back in the day.

This guy is a former Marine, a WWII vet and a former Japanese POW. If I recall correctly, Richard is also a Bataan Death March survivor. Many of Richard's current ailments are a result of his mistreatment at the hands of the Japanese while he was held as a POW. Do you think that is the worst thing he would possibly have to endure in his life? Read for yourself............then decide.

www.richard-keech.org/modules/news/

THIS IS THE ROAD I CHOSE

I looked out over our walls this morning toward those lovely green hills behind the prison. This is March and it's springtime in California.

As I stood there enjoying the scene I could imagine myself sitting on my Motorcycle cruising down an empty four lane black top as it winds thru those hills. That's a world I love, traveling the West on a motorcycle.

For a very brief moment I felt a twinge of regret. That's the road I should be on I thought.. Free and roaming the hills on my Honda, not here on the edge of the field in a prison yard surrounded by razor wire and high walls.

That moment fortunately was very brief. Then, I came to.

You see, I could be out there, I had a choice, but thats not the road I picked. I picked this one, the one I'm on, the better one.

At this point I hear some of you saying, "You had no choice? You committed a crime and are now paying for it!" Sounds reasonable doesn't it? It must be most reassuring to the good citizens of our State, knowing its criminals are being so punished.

Sorry to disillusion you folks but you've got it wrong. This is not a punishment. You're talking to the "winner." I am a "traveler" you see, on a long fascinating journey, not a "prisoner."

To be honest, I am traveling down a rather rough road at the moment with a lot of pot holes in it... But, it won't be the first rough road I have ridden on, and it certainly won't be the last. The fact is, it promises to produce just as much adventure and fun as any of the others in the past. So, let me repeat again, "I had a choice, and this is the road I picked."

At a critical fork in the road of life, a short time back, fate gave me a chance to choose which of two paths I wanted to follow. It was a fair offer. Fate even let me look ahead a bit to see where each one led. (I have always found "Fate" to be fair in its dealings with me.)

That peek into the future made the decision easy. Down one road I saw nothing but tragedy, death and shame. Down the other I saw life and freedom for my family and honor for myself. Thats the road I picked. Thats the road I am on now.

So, here's my story. Read it, then tell me what your choice would have been, had you been me.

First of all, what was the problem that forced me to make such a drastic choice? Well, listen up!

My daughter had married a "sadist," a man who got his sexual thrills through causing pain to others. His greatest thrill being when it was a woman in pain.

My daughters life was at risk. Torture is addictive, and each new high requires a stronger dose of pain to be inflicted on the victim. Battered women and the wives of spousal abusers all die young. The Police told me this, adding in the same breath that spousal torture is virtually impossible to prosecute.

Done out of sight of witnesses, to leave no bruises, there is no prosecutable evidence to show a jury. As a note of reassurance the Police would usually add, "Call us when he kills her. We'll have a good chance of nailing him then."

(Thanks guys. That makes me feel better.)

I researched the problem at our local library, hoping the experts could show me how to help my daughter. I learned a lot. But all bad news. The consensus among the experts was that this particular aberration of the brain is incurable. A sadist will continue to inflict pain and thrill to the screams of the victim until the day he dies.

And there you have the problem in one sentence. Curiously enough the solution is contained in the same sentence. The clue is the phrase: "Until the day he dies."

The solution: move that day up just a bit. Not politically correct, but practical. If someone is going to die, why not the abuser?

And here is where it quits being theoretical. If, to save my daughters life, her torturer has to die, than it is my duty as her father to see that it is done.

A duty I accept, proudly yet sadly. I find no pleasure in taking a life (I never even go hunting). But, duty is duty. And, protecting my family is my duty.

Now I am not stupid. I am well aware of what the laws say on this. If I have to kill a psychotic torturer to save my daughters life, I will have to break a law. I know that.

This is where the road into the future forks, and fate gives me a choice on which to take.

I could stand back and watch her abuser torture and terrorize her and do nothing. After all it's up to the law to protect her. I could watch her die, a broken woman. Taking this road I would break no law. Taking this road I would die a broken man myself and I would die of shame.

Or, there's the other choice Fate gave ms. I could break a law. I could kill the abuser. I could honor a fathers duty to his daughter. My family would be free once again from terror. Everyone could return to productive happy lives. And I would go off to prison.

Not a bad deal really. You see at 78 I am already on borrowed time. I shall spend no more than ten years in prison, no matter what any Judge says. I can live with that.

Now, I do have sort of a "leg up" on prison life. I spent 3 and 1/2 years in Japanese prisons during WW2 as a prisoner of war. I learned about guards and prison diets from experts. I could handle it then. I darn well can handle it now.

So there you have my story. As you can see I am on a long journey traveling down a road of my choice. I am not a prisoner.

Of course the road I picked has pot holes in it. But so did the run over the mountains from Puebla, Mexico, to Oaxaca that I rode some 5 years ago on my ride to Panama. And, I loved every Mile of it.

Rough roads are exciting roads that usually end up in interesting places.

So, don't waste tears on me, dear friends. Life has been good to me. I have no regrets. I shall pray that each of you at 82 can look back and say the same.

Richard Keech
Semper Fi

That's right. Richard bought a gun with the sole purpose of protecting his daughter. Richard decided to intervene one night when his daughter was being abused, right in front of him. He was confronted by his daughters husband, who threatened him to stay out of it. Keep in mind, at this point, Richard was a 70 some odd year old man, debilitated by injuries he suffered as a POW. Richard chose to protect his daughter and, by doing so, sacrificed himself. Richard has spent that last few years locked up in tha California prison system. He is, after all, a criminal who committed a haneous crime. He is not with his wife of more than 50+ years, who visits him every chance they are allowed.

He has no regrets.

If you write Richard, he will write you back.

Richard Keech K86028
Pleasant Valley State Prison
C3-121L
PO Box 8503
Coalinga, CA 93210

Posted: 1/4/2006 8:52:25 AM EDT

[#1]

Good for him! How many years did he get? I assume that it was Murder One they got him on because it was premeditated. Hopefully he is being well cared for.

Posted: 1/4/2006 8:56:52 AM EDT

[#2]

Quoted:
Good for him! How many years did he get? I assume that it was Murder One they got him on because it was premeditated. Hopefully he is being well cared for.

He was given 35 years at age 70+. He knew it meant the rest of his natural life. He knew what it would cost him.......but he also knew what it would save others......and he chose.

He was originally sent to maximum security prison as part of the general population. He has since been moved to a lower security facility.

Read the website. He shares many of his stories, including those of being a POW. They are sadly incredible to think of what he and so many others endured.

Here is just one example:

11/25/99

This is Thanksgiving time. This is the day when we Americans celebrate our good fortune and give thanks to the Lord for the blessings bestowed upon us.

The American way to do this is to gather one’s family around a table loaded with good food, symbolic of a bountiful harvest, and express our thanks to the Lord for having helped us make it through another year. To most families this means; we’re all still healthy, we still love each other, and we’ve survived another tough year. For this we give thanks to the Lord.

Although I’m an American and this heritage is important to me, I won’t be celebrating it with my family this year. (Or ever again.) I’m a prisoner.

I have much to be thankful for, though and I will spend the day with dear friends, just not with my family.

My first Thanksgiving in prison was last year. I spent it in one of the worst prisons in the State, Salinas Valley State Prison. That prison was not a good place. To put it simply, my remaining life span has been doubled by my leaving there.

Nevertheless, I had a wonderful Thanksgiving last year at SVSP. I had so much to be thankful for and I dined that day in true American fashion with a dear friend, my cell partner, Wayne Davis.

It wasn’t a great meal. (even though it was the best I had eaten at cost conscious SVSP) but that isn’t what Thanksgiving is all about..I couldn’t have asked for better company....I was “with family” albeit my prison family.

We were “locked down” that day, as usual, which meant we would be served our meal in the cell. Great! No need to rush, take your time, enjoy the food and the shared conversation of good friends. My cell partner was a great guy, a true gentleman, a scholar. We talked the same language, I like to think.

I had much to be thankful for. My daughter and grandson were no longer being terrorized by a sadist, her ex-spouse. All of my family were in good health and doing well. For all of this I was deeply grateful.

So, what if I was sitting in a cell at SVSP, where we were restricted to our cells sometime for weeks at a time? Where Medical Care for my deteriorating physical condition was almost non-existent and we were all looked on as though we were the lowest form of life by guards and staff? Who wants to live forever anyway? I would spend this Holiday as an American, with “family.” who could ask for more?

Actually though, I did want to live a little while longer so I pushed every button I could find to get myself transferred out of the “The gulag” SVSP. I never knew which button did it, but one day it happened. (Editor: The thousands of letters from friends and fellow veterans to the State Senators and and prison officials surely had a lot to do with it as well as the pushes from family members). I was transferred to the California Men’s Colony, the showplace prison of the State. That’s where I am now.

So we come to this year and the Thanksgiving day tomorrow. I have so much to be thankful for. I am now in a prison that believes prisoners are “human beings”. That means an awful lot. You on the outside have no idea what it’s like to be seen as a “nothing” (You don’t like the way you are being treated? Shut up! You are a “nothing”. You have no say!) I am thankful to be out from under that.

I am thankful to be once again, or should I say still, with a group of great guys. I have many friends here at CMC. They’re a courageous group of happy losers. They are really very brave, and I admire them for this.

So I will dine tomorrow with friends at least, if not family. I certainly won’t be alone.

What will our Thanksgiving day menu look like? Well, it’s our “Holiday Menu”. That means that there will be a special breakfast and a special supper.

Holiday breakfasts are enjoyed by all. Listen to this: You get two cartons of milk, a hot cereal, sugar, two fried eggs, hash brown potatoes, toast with whipped butter, an orange and a cup of coffee. This food is well prepared, it’s hot and tasty. We will eat better than half of the world tomorrow. We will indeed be thankful.

Supper will be a typical American Thanksgiving dinner menu, except the turkey will be served in slices, will be all white meat, and there will be no”seconds”. It will be a darn good meal. We will eat well tomorrow. (sorry about the other half of the world.)

The important thing is to step back for a moment and count our blessings. These remind us again that we are all in God’s hands and we have been blessed.

How have I been blessed? Let me tell you the ways.

I have been blessed with a wife who still loves me after 50 years of marriage. I have been blessed with a caring son and two loving daughters who believe in me and still listen when I offer advice. I have been blessed with a cadre of loyal dear friends who man a wonderful fan club of letter writers to brighten my life in prison.

These are my blessings. I thank you Lord!

Richard Keech
Semper Fi

Posted: 1/4/2006 8:58:19 AM EDT

[#3]

damn....

If this is a free country why in the hell is that man in prison.

Words fail.

Posted: 1/4/2006 9:01:23 AM EDT

[#4]

Quoted:
damn....

If this is a free country why in the hell is that man in prison.

Words fail.

There is a petition for his release so that he may die at home with his family, including his wife of 50+ years.

harrisonheritage.com/adbc/keech.htm

Posted: 1/4/2006 9:03:29 AM EDT

[#5]

While I agree that some people just need killing, murder is murder, plain and simple and nothing can be done to excuse it. There were other choices besides A) do nothing or B) kill the bastard.

Posted: 1/4/2006 9:03:31 AM EDT

[#6]

Wow. My patrol cap is is off to that man.

Posted: 1/4/2006 9:06:24 AM EDT

[#7]

Tag cause my printer is out of paper and I cant print the petition right now.

Posted: 1/4/2006 9:06:29 AM EDT

[#8]

Quoted:
While I agree that some people just need killing, murder is murder, plain and simple and nothing can be done to excuse it. There were other choices besides A) do nothing or B) kill the bastard.

You must have missed the part where he states:

"I had a choice, and this is the road I picked."

and

At a critical fork in the road of life, a short time back, fate gave me a chance to choose which of two paths I wanted to follow. It was a fair offer. Fate even let me look ahead a bit to see where each one led. (I have always found "Fate" to be fair in its dealings with me.)

and

That peek into the future made the decision easy. Down one road I saw nothing but tragedy, death and shame. Down the other I saw life and freedom for my family and honor for myself. Thats the road I picked. Thats the road I am on now.

and, lastly

So, don't waste tears on me, dear friends. Life has been good to me. I have no regrets. I shall pray that each of you at 82 can look back and say the same.

Posted: 1/4/2006 9:06:58 AM EDT

[#9]

Quoted:
While I agree that some people just need killing, murder is murder, plain and simple and nothing can be done to excuse it. There were other choices besides A) do nothing or B) kill the bastard.

And you say this as a father yes?

Posted: 1/4/2006 9:08:24 AM EDT

[#10]

Sad situation.

But what the fuck's wrong with his daughter??? Was she abused as a kid to want to keep going back for more as an adult??

Posted: 1/4/2006 9:09:21 AM EDT

[#11]

While I agree that some people just need killing, murder is murder, plain and simple and nothing can be done to excuse it. There were other choices besides A) do nothing or B) kill the bastard.

Like what? Be specific. The police can only pick up the pieces. They are not there to prevent but to find the guilty party and gather evidence after the fact.

Posted: 1/4/2006 9:10:16 AM EDT

[#12]

Quoted:
While I agree that some people just need killing, murder is murder, plain and simple and nothing can be done to excuse it. There were other choices besides A) do nothing or B) kill the bastard.

Yeah like let his daughter be killed, right?

Posted: 1/4/2006 9:17:02 AM EDT

[#13]

For the doubting Thomas' out there, please read the entry "YOU HAVE TO PLAY THE HAND THAT WAS DEALT YOU" found HERE

You will also see that there was a grandchild involved.

And, appearently, 9mm works well on cocky Brits. I don't know about Zombies, but the record shows they do fine on others.

Posted: 1/4/2006 9:17:02 AM EDT

[#14]

So if the guy threatened him and others with a knife why was it not self defense?

Posted: 1/4/2006 9:17:19 AM EDT

[#15]

I really hope his daughter learned her lesson and got some psychiatric help. If she goes back to a

Agreed though: While I respect what the old man did- and salute his sacrifices for the country- he took the law into his own hands. There had to be options other than simply killing the guy. Though why did he get such a sentence if the abuser was abusing her right in front of him- and then threatened to turned the knife on the old man?

That said, the idiot abuser needed to die. I just think it should have been by law. Aren't there laws about this kind of thing? Had this guy brainwashed his daughter?

It's not black and white unfortunately.

I'm kind of conflicted on this one.

Posted: 1/4/2006 9:19:26 AM EDT

[#16]

I wonder if anyone thought about wisking the daughter away and never going back? If this was tried, then the father had no other recourse and I applaud him for what he did.

He absolutely did the honorable thing.

Posted: 1/4/2006 9:20:35 AM EDT

[#17]

As a father of two daughters, this really hits home.

I have so much respect for this man.

Posted: 1/4/2006 9:25:25 AM EDT

[#18]

My daughters life was at risk. Torture is addictive, and each new high requires a stronger dose of pain to be inflicted on the victim. Battered women and the wives of spousal abusers all die young. The Police told me this, adding in the same breath that spousal torture is virtually impossible to prosecute.

I went to the web site and couldnt find any info on WHY his daughter married and then STAYED with someone who abused her OVER and OVER again. Did I miss it or is it just not there?

Posted: 1/4/2006 9:26:15 AM EDT

[#19]

Quoted:
While I agree that some people just need killing, murder is murder, plain and simple and nothing can be done to excuse it. There were other choices besides A) do nothing or B) kill the bastard.

Hmmm, I wonder what you would have done had it been your daughter being treated like this....

Its easy to say about someone else, just hope you'll never be in his shoes....

Posted: 1/4/2006 9:26:23 AM EDT

[#20]

Quoted:
So if the guy threatened him and others with a knife why was it not self defense?

Welcome to California.

Posted: 1/4/2006 9:27:17 AM EDT

[#21]

Richard should be telling a different story and should have a better lawyer.

The story should go something like:

I was at my daughter house. My SIL became abusive to me and my daughter. I tried to call the police but he would let me. I shot my SIL after he pulled a knife and threatened to kill me and my daughter. I didn't want to shot him. I never planned to shot him.

Posted: 1/4/2006 9:28:06 AM EDT

[#22]

I take my hat off to him out of respect for his dedication to protect his daughter (I just had a baby girl in Sept 05), but I would think a man of his intellect and experience would try to exhaust all possible options to protect his daughter, including packing her up one night when hubby the Sadist was out, and moving her to a new state. Preferably one very far away from her abuser. Or, what about well-hidden video camera in the daughter's home? it just seems he thought all along the only way to protect her was to kill the bastard (possibly the truth). The other thing I want to know is, what the hell was the daughter thinking not leaving his ass after the 50th beating? There seems to be no personal responsibility of the wife to safegaurd herself from harm. She just continues to endure it. That dumbfounds me. I guess some people believe the beatings are earned, or deserved, not to just pack up and leave. Just a sad story all around.

Posted: 1/4/2006 9:29:27 AM EDT

[#23]

There were other options. Murder, however, is easier. That's why he is in prison.

Posted: 1/4/2006 9:33:49 AM EDT

[#24]

Quoted:
Richard should be telling a different story and should have a better lawyer.

The story should go something like:

I was at my daughter house. My SIL became abusive to me and my daughter. I tried to call the police but he would let me. I shot my SIL after he pulled a knife and threatened to kill me and my daughter. I didn't want to shot him. I never planned to shot him.

Yep. His problem wasn't that he premeditated the murder, it was that he DIDN'T premeditate a way to not go to jail for it.

Posted: 1/4/2006 9:35:20 AM EDT

[#25]

Quoted:
There were other options. Murder, however, is easier. That's why he is in prison.

I guess that's it.

He wanted to extract a little blood for how he was treating his daughter. She wasn't going to do anything about it, so he did.

Heck. Prisons these days are probably a cake walk for him. Bataan Death March? Japanese prison camp?

Posted: 1/4/2006 9:36:13 AM EDT

[#26]

Quoted:
While I agree that some people just need killing, murder is murder, plain and simple and nothing can be done to excuse it. There were other choices besides A) do nothing or B) kill the bastard.

Like what? Politely ask her husband to stop being a sick fuck?

Posted: 1/4/2006 9:36:44 AM EDT

[#27]

Quoted:
Quoted:
Richard should be telling a different story and should have a better lawyer.

The story should go something like:

I was at my daughter house. My SIL became abusive to me and my daughter. I tried to call the police but he would let me. I shot my SIL after he pulled a knife and threatened to kill me and my daughter. I didn't want to shot him. I never planned to shot him.

Yep. His problem wasn't that he premeditated the murder, it was that he DIDN'T premeditate a way to not go to jail for it.

Maybe he figured the honorable thing was to tell...the truth.

Posted: 1/4/2006 9:37:12 AM EDT

[#28]

Quoted:
Quoted:
While I agree that some people just need killing, murder is murder, plain and simple and nothing can be done to excuse it. There were other choices besides A) do nothing or B) kill the bastard.

Like what? Politely ask her husband to stop being a sick fuck?

Was she into the sadism? She might have liked it for all we know.

It's not black and white.

Posted: 1/4/2006 9:37:52 AM EDT

[#29]

I want to support him 100%...............but, what is the "rest of the story"? How could of a jury convicted this man under these circumstances? How about the self-defense aspect of it? I wish the website offered more details of the trial.

If this story is true as it appears to be.............how can this man be in prison? It's shameful.

Posted: 1/4/2006 9:38:10 AM EDT

[#30]

Quoted:
Quoted:
Quoted:
Richard should be telling a different story and should have a better lawyer.

The story should go something like:

I was at my daughter house. My SIL became abusive to me and my daughter. I tried to call the police but he would let me. I shot my SIL after he pulled a knife and threatened to kill me and my daughter. I didn't want to shot him. I never planned to shot him.

Yep. His problem wasn't that he premeditated the murder, it was that he DIDN'T premeditate a way to not go to jail for it.

Maybe he figured the honorable thing was to tell...the truth.

To quote the father from Bonfire of the Vanities..."If the truth won't set you free then...lie."
There's nothing honorable about rotting in prison when you don't have to.

Posted: 1/4/2006 9:39:45 AM EDT

[#31]

Quoted:
To quote the father from Bonfire of the Vanities..."If the truth won't set you free then...lie."
There's nothing honorable about rotting in prison when you don't have to.

Your character is revealed, Rik.

Posted: 1/4/2006 9:41:12 AM EDT

[#32]

I googled his name and found an NYT story link. Supposedly he shot the guy in the side, then followed him and shot him four more times. That's probably why they convicted him.

query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?sec=health&res=9903E2DC1F30F93BA3575AC0A961958260&n=Top%2fNews%2fHealth%2fDiseases%2c%20Conditions%2c%20and%20Health%20Topics%2fPost%20Traumatic%20Stress%20Disorder]Link

Edited to add link.

[shrank 1200 foot long URL code - Paul]

Posted: 1/4/2006 9:43:46 AM EDT

[#33]

Quoted:
Richard should be telling a different story and should have a better lawyer.

The story should go something like:

I was at my daughter house. My SIL became abusive to me and my daughter. I tried to call the police but he would let me. I shot my SIL after he pulled a knife and threatened to kill me and my daughter. I didn't want to shot him. I never planned to shot him.

+1

Posted: 1/4/2006 9:45:11 AM EDT

[#34]

Quoted:
I googled his name and found an NYT story link. Supposedly he shot the guy in the side, then followed him and shot him four more times. That's probably why they convicted him.

query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?sec=health&res=9903E2DC1F30F93BA3575AC0A961958260&n=Top%2fNews%2fHealth%2fDiseases%2c%20Conditions%2c%20and%20Health%20Topics%2fPost%20Traumatic%20Stress%20Disorder

Edited to add link.

Well, the dude liked pain... I suppose the old timer was giving it to him.

Posted: 1/4/2006 9:45:46 AM EDT

[#35]

letter sent

Posted: 1/4/2006 9:46:13 AM EDT

[#36]

Quoted:
While I agree that some people just need killing, murder is murder, plain and simple and nothing can be done to excuse it. There were other choices besides A) do nothing or B) kill the bastard.

What he did wasn't murder, and I don't give a fuck WHAT the state of Commiefornia says. He protected both his daughter's life and when confronting the sick fuck, who promptly threatened his life with a knife, he ended the threat.

I googled his name and found an NYT story link. Supposedly he shot the guy in the side, then followed him and shot him four more times. That's probably why they convicted him.

Good. My only beef with him was he didn't piss in the still smoking bullet holes.

He ought to get a medal, and some ought to get a fucking clue.

SG

Posted: 1/4/2006 9:49:50 AM EDT

[#37]

Wow. It's hard to really judge such a situation with so little information.

I will say that I don't think it's possible to deal with this sort of problem using the law in any State with a remotely fair legal system. If we change it around so anyone suspected of wife-beating gets totally reamed, then what happens to the normal guys in nasty divorces (some of whom have posted here) whose wives accuse them of everything under the sun? But then, the State was never meant to solve all problems.

What suprises me is that he seems to have accepted from the start that he would go to prison for this. Why should such a man as this have no hope to avoid prison when so many dirtbags get away clean with murder? If he had simply said nothing more then that the guy was threatening his life and he acted in self-defense, wouldn't he be a free man? He doesn't even have to tell a single lie. Not to mention the old Shoot, Shovel, Shutup plan, in which the police might never find anything at all.

Posted: 1/4/2006 9:51:00 AM EDT

[#38]

Quoted:
So if the guy threatened him and others with a knife why was it not self defense?

+1?

Posted: 1/4/2006 9:53:22 AM EDT

[#39]

Quoted:
He ought to get a medal, and some ought to get a fucking clue.

I definitely sympathize with the guy. Judging by the prosecutor's comments, this case was not about whether or not the gentleman's actions were right or wrong, but the fact that he took the law into his own hands.

Posted: 1/4/2006 10:06:55 AM EDT

[#40]

As a juror in that case I probably would've wound up hanging the jury. There is no way that I would convict a man of doing what he did.

And for those of you who think that the jury is merely the triar of fact, that isn't entirely true. The jury has the right to ignore any law that they see as wrong when trying a case (just don't say that if you actually want to get on a jury, prosecutors and judges don't like that a whole lot).

Posted: 1/4/2006 10:07:30 AM EDT

[#41]

Hmm in Texas I'm not sure this man would be in prison. We do have the so called "he needed killing" defense which could let someone convicted of murder off with probabtion.

Posted: 1/4/2006 10:12:31 AM EDT

[#42]

Quoted:
Quoted:
To quote the father from Bonfire of the Vanities..."If the truth won't set you free then...lie."
There's nothing honorable about rotting in prison when you don't have to.

Your character is revealed, Rik.

Oh what the fuck EVER. If you want to be honest to the point of spending the rest of your life in prison needlessly, more power to you.

Posted: 1/4/2006 10:36:15 AM EDT

[#43]

Quoted:
Quoted:
So if the guy threatened him and others with a knife why was it not self defense?

+1?

This is in the his own words, he doesnt say anything about a knife.

It's Saturday, May 21st. In due time the ex-son-in-law shows up. He's giving me his screaming Cockney act. This is supposed to disgust me enough so that I will back off and leave him alone. A trick minorities around the world play on their masters. His yelling scares the little boy, who I am holding. Any doubts I might have had on where this is leading leave me now. I hand the boy back to his mother and ask her to take him back to his room to change his diapers. I don’t want him to be frightened further. I turn to the ex and ask him to move out to the sidewalk. I say, "I want to talk to you."

This works. He follows me out to the sidewalk. His yelling won’t frighten the grandson from here. He never shuts up though. He's still playing the crude Cockney bit to the hilt.

I try again and again to get a word in edgewise. I'm trying to save his life. Things only get worse. He still hasn't heard a word I've said. He actually thinks he's got me scared. He looks threatening. Poor fool. "You're going to hear from my lawyers tonight," he screams. He hasn't heard a word I've said.

I feel I have done my best. It’s his call now. I raise the stakes, I put my ten years in the prison out on the table as I call his bluff. I pull out the 9 millimeter automatic I have carried for every visit since his return from England. I release the safety and fire. My ten years in prison is my bet. He has just bet his life. He lost.

So, those were the cards that were dealt me. There will be no further torture of my daughter. My grandson will grow up to be a normal boy. And I can walk away from the Hell I have been living in to lead the simple life of an inmate in a California Prison.

He knew what would happen when he decided to kill the guy. If you play you pay.

Posted: 1/4/2006 10:42:07 AM EDT

[#44]

Quoted:
Quoted:
To quote the father from Bonfire of the Vanities..."If the truth won't set you free then...lie."
There's nothing honorable about rotting in prison when you don't have to.

Your character is revealed, Rik.

We aren't talking about an ordinary person with whom you might have a normal, honorable relationship. This is the State. They're not looking to do justice, they're looking to throw you in prison, or worse. Do you think they hesitate for a second before lying to you?

Part of the reason why we have these rights is so that we can overthrow the government if it becomes necessary. But now we shouldn't lie to them? I don't consider myself under any obligation to tell the truth to Government agents.

Posted: 1/4/2006 10:47:06 AM EDT

[#45]

wow.

Posted: 1/4/2006 10:54:38 AM EDT

[#46]

Hell of a story.

No I shed no tear for this man for he did indeed do the crime and got the time and he knew it.

I do thank God for "There for the sake of God go I."

Tj

Posted: 1/4/2006 10:56:43 AM EDT

[#47]

it takes two to tango......

his daughter chose that life..

while i feel for him, i would have handled it differently,
of course i don't have all of the facts

Posted: 1/4/2006 10:56:48 AM EDT

[#48]

Sounds like a good shoot to me.

Hell of a father. Semper Fi, Sir.

Posted: 1/4/2006 11:02:53 AM EDT

[#49]

Should have kept all of those thoughts to himself. He pulls a knife, you shoot, self-defense.

Posted: 1/4/2006 11:05:04 AM EDT

[#50]

I wish I could be on a jury in a case like this. He would walk if I had to stay in deliberation untill hell freazes over. How in the FUCK did a jury convict him. I forgot, its Kalifornia. They let the OJ go and Baretta but they convict this guy??? I wish Kali would decare independance and we would be a better off nation.

[ARCHIVED THREAD] - Another humbling post: involves a WWII vet, a gun, and a moral decision that changed MANY lives (Page 1 of 3)

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