Apparently he believed his parents spent too much time doing "church work."
"There was so much hate in me then and it keeps building up and there was no release for it and I did not care what happened. The Doctors said I felt justified when I killed those people and they are right. I did. It was revenge I was after. The love that I was denied because my parents spent so much time doing church work and they still do, and forcing me to stay home and lead the life they wanted me to live. I got my revenge and I am not sorry now and never will be... I've had enough of it, I want to die. I'm fed up with it all. I did kill those people to hurt my parents and their good standing in the church. Who failed me? It was not only my parents but myself and a lot of others. My life is a real mess now and I will be glad when it is all over with."
—Barton Kay Kirkham, Written statement before his execution, 1958.
Sounds like his parents spent WAY too much time on callings! This boy NEEDED them! Surely, there must have been signs of his unhappiness before he exploded into lethal rage.
Boy - hanging, firing squad - Utah really gets off on nasty executions, doesn't it? Oh yeah, blood atonement - gotta factor that in.
And in more than half-a-century, have things changed much? Parents STILL spend too much time on church busywork and kids get neglected. How sad!
Bullet to the head is the most efficient way to end a life. Cheap too.
A little messy but I'm sure there is a good engineer that could automate this process. Positon the head perfectly with the barrel so that one shot ( maybe a double tap) will take care of business. Maybe the light can go very dim so that the guard or executioner doesn't have to "feel" to bad a life was ended.
If it wasn't for the slow court system I would encourage executions at to occur at least 4 every day throughout the 50 statess to clear the back log of death row members. No need to burden the tax payer with sustaining a prisoner on death row. Sure, there may be some innocents there. There will always be a low amount of errors but too bad. We need more judges that can reasonably conclude that they won't be accepting any more injunctions or court dates for a guy who has been on death row longer than 5 years.
Alternativesly, a bag over the head pumping in nitrogen gas will kill and no blood to clean up and is also cheap. Play the prisoners favorite movie clip while he gasps for more nitrogen. A few body shakes and it's over. Let them sit for about 10 minutes. Body is ready for prep. Next prisoner please.
In the People's Republic of China, the favoured method of execution was by shooting the victim in the back of the head. After the execution, the police would inform the inmate's family that he or she had been executed and demand immediate payment for the cost of the bullet.
Nowadays, the People's Republic of China favours lethal injection. They have these mobile lethal injection units, anti-ambulances if you will, which go from prison to prison emptying out their death rows.
Maybe the Great State of UTARD should kill people the same why cattle is killed. A nail through the temple seems to work just fine for cows. Why not people? Quick, easy and cheap the motto of and TBM.
That just renders them unconsciousness. The real cause of death is bleeding out via jugular incision. Hated being the knifeman on kill day in the meat lab.
executed two innocent people for absolutely no reason after robbing them of a grand total of $54. He insisted on being hanged after being told that it would be the mostly costly and inconvenient way to execute him.
I see absolutely no connection between the church and his choice to take a life. There are millions of people who grew up with very busy parents and never chose to murder.
I'm not really into automated executions. I think the way we apply the ultimate penalty is highly specious. If you are black, for instance, and near a dead white body in a Southern state, you stand a very high chance of getting death. Change the races and your chances improve greatly. No fan of the death penalty here.
After the recent three botched lethal injections, the whole idea seems more barbaric than ever. I can't believe that a "civilized" country still puts up with this.
I don't mind footing the bill if they lock these scumbags up FOREVER and throw away the key.
I don't like knowing that my country feels it is OK to kill people. Don't put my name on the list of those in favor.
It could be that this guy's parents made it clear they loved the church more than they loved him. "He" may not have even existed for them, just a kid they could use to say they did their duty to the church. I feel sorry for the child. However, for our purposes here on Earth, he is responsible for his actions. He took his pain out on perfectly innocent people and he knew they were innocent. He got what he deserved. I also agree that the way the death penalty is applied is not "justice" for all. There could be a lot more justice.
I don't know if it would be funny or depressingly sad for his parents to find out he had been executed after they returned from a mission somewhere overseas. I'm not saying that happened, but if it did....
Murderers are murderers. I think that being a murderer makes somebody somewhat untrustworthy. With that in mind, I'm not sure his stated reason is of any interest to me.
Of course in his sick mind, he may have all sorts of reasons. Maybe in his sick mind those reasons contributed to HIS ACTIONS.
I like the way the press has been saying that the last two executions by injection have been botched when the inmates died. The deaths just took longer than they would ideally have favored. Sounds to me like no botched job there at all.
Boy these replies sound like a chorus of red state mountain westerners! The entire country doesn't think this way--thank God.
NOTHING about the way cattle are executed is quick or easy for the cattle. It's ghoulish, frightening, stressful and painful. Even the worst serial killers don't deserve their slaughter to be so inhumane.
I'm commenting so at least one voice in this thread expresses complete repugnance with death penalty in all cases, regardless of how it is executed.
I have Lots of Friends, Mostly Quakers, who would Agree with you ...
Then Again, I have Always Said that just as DNA can Exonerate, it can Also Convict, if you've just Spent an Entire Afternoon, Signing your Crime Scene, in, on, and Around Multiple Victims, and your Sole Surviving Victim, is Gasping out your Name with her Last Breath ...
Then, I Think we have The Right, to Kill you!
I Remember a Coupla Years Ago, on The Same Night, The State of Georgia Executed a Possibly Innocent Man, The State of Texas, Executed The Mastermind of The Dragging Death, of Jim Byrd Jr. ...
He Spent his Last Night Alive, Ordering The Largest Last Meal in State History, and Barely Touching it, Leading to Calls for a Cap to be Placed on Future Requests, and Thus Proving to us All, Exactly What he was!
Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 07/31/2014 12:57AM by zaphodbeeblebrox.
onlinemoniker Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Boy these replies sound like a chorus of red state > mountain westerners! The entire country doesn't > think this way--thank God. > > NOTHING about the way cattle are executed is quick > or easy for the cattle. It's ghoulish, > frightening, stressful and painful. Even the > worst serial killers don't deserve their slaughter > to be so inhumane. > > I'm commenting so at least one voice in this > thread expresses complete repugnance with death > penalty in all cases, regardless of how it is > executed.
Onlinemoniker, this red state westerner thanks you.
You can tell the level of civilization in a nation by the way it treats its children, animals and prisoners, regardless of crimes committed. Arizona seems a little barbaric lately.
zaphodbeeblebrox: Yeah, we Quaker types don't care about stuff like DNA or the most spent on the condemned's last meal. Seriously, that stuff is chump change. Death is unethical, it can't work, it's immoral and it's humane. You've already heard all the anti-death penalty arguments that are based on ethics. You don't need me to repeat them. Philosophically, you and I just differ on this.
S2 in Chandler: I knew there had to be some anti-deathers hanging out in that huge swathe of red that is the Mountain West. Don't take the sweeping generalization personally. And I feel your pain. The House Majority Leader (you know his name) is my representative.
onlinemoniker Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > zaphodbeeblebrox: Yeah, we Quaker types don't care > about stuff like DNA or the most spent on the > condemned's last meal. Seriously, that stuff is > chump change. Death is unethical, it can't work, > it's immoral and it's humane. You've already > heard all the anti-death penalty arguments that > are based on ethics. You don't need me to repeat > them. Philosophically, you and I just differ on > this. > True Enough ...
I'm Almost Entirely on The Fence, as Far as The Death Penalty is Concerned ...
Unfortunately, I Find Myself Pulled Almost Equally, by a Revulsion Towards Punishing The Innocent, and a Desire to See The Truly Guilty Pay a Price Consistent with their Wrongs.
I Cry Every Time, Someone is Put to Death who didn't Obviously Commit The Crime, But I Also Breathe a Sigh of Relief, Whenever Someone Unrehabilitatable is Put to The Ultimate Justice ...
I totally understand the desire for retribution. I'm human and I want to get the fvck'r who fvck'd me too.
Ultimately, I just think killing (anything) is wrong regardless of how sanitized the state criminal justice system makes it. And based on what's been going on with these recent botched executions, even the "state" is just shooting in the dark.
I just couldn't do it. And I can't sanction it.
Hey, at least you're thinking about it. That says a lot.
Hope I don't sound patronizing--now, anyway. I know I sounded patronizing with the "mountain westerners" comment.
I have always thought that we take away their right to live in a society with rules. Send them to an island with food drops by plane. Fend for themselves.
I'm against executions. It's dehumanizing for everyone involved. Life without parole is actually worse for them anyway. It always seems strange that Christians seem especially fond of capital punishment. What part of "Thou Shalt Not Kill" are they having trouble with?