Monday, June 27, 2011

Murder Mystery

The truth is elusive. That's what intrigues us about crime cases – real or fictional. What really happened is rarely ascertained, nor why it did. That's certainly true in the case of Alex and Derek King, who killed their father Terry when they were only 12 and 13. Their story raises more question than it answers. Is it only in fiction we can reach solid conclusions?


The essay has been moved to my personal website:

Murder Mystery


kl. 1:37 AM
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11 comments:

  1. ERIC SECHERJuly 6, 2011 at 9:01 AM

    Hi,
    Didn´t know you have a blog, found it by coincident reading a comment on todays Schlaug.se.
    Have spent many hours with your Tao te Ching, and most of the blog in 2009 on it.
    " It's possible to understand them all, without needing to excuse or defend them " sounds very taostic.
    Eric

    ReplyDelete
  2. Stefan StenuddJuly 9, 2011 at 2:05 AM

    Eric, you are absolutely right. I have lived so long with the Tao Te Ching that I frequently adapt to its principles, often without thinking about it. Not that I mind at all. They're excellent lessons in tolerance and compassion.

    ReplyDelete
  3. BillFebruary 29, 2012 at 1:15 PM

    Milwaukee Murder Mystery
    ‎"Speak Easy of Murder"
    Murder Mystery Dinner Play in Milwaukee ... Our 4 week run starts this Friday!
    Enjoy sandwiches, meatballs, pizza, beer & wine in an intimate Victorian theater!

    Get your tickets now!
    http://milwaukeebedbreakfast.com/milwaukee-murder-mystery.htm

    ReplyDelete
  4. Stefan StenuddFebruary 29, 2012 at 2:55 PM

    Bill, that seems like great fun. It's a pity I live in Sweden, so don't expect me at the opening night.

    ReplyDelete
  5. PaulMiller149March 2, 2012 at 5:42 PM

    Milwaukee Murder Mystery
    "Speak Easy of Murder"
    Murder Mystery Dinner Play in Milwaukee ... Our 4 week run starts this Friday!
    Enjoy sandwiches, meatballs, pizza, beer & wine in an intimate Victorian theater!

    Get your tickets now!
    http://milwaukeebedbreakfast.com/milwaukee-murder-mystery.htm

    ReplyDelete
  6. BunBun4lifeApril 22, 2012 at 2:11 PM

    Wow, this story is so sad. That is just the most miserable set of circumstances ever. I have to disagree with your 'lenient' view of Rick Chavis however. Hopefully nobody chooses to be a pedophile, but almost none of them control it, which leads me to believe they just don't want to. Whatever reason people become what they are, once THEY make the decision to act on it, it becomes THEIR responsibility-not ours to defend.
    Once an adult it is no longer my or your job to figure out why & 'fix it'. Besides it's proven that with pedophilia you can't. There is a 95% recidivism rate of those released from jail. That says to me they don't WANT to control it; it's a personal choice; a very bad one. I'd rather spend time, energy & resources on the victims.

    However, I am SO happy to have read your commentary that charging a 12 year old as an adult is a deplorable act. I am an American (now in Sweden, btw)& one of the things that bothers me GREATLY about the American justice system is the way Children are treated. I mean when charged they just get thrown into a pit not much better than the adult prisons. I don't even think they are 'required' by law to 'school them'. You know? I mean no chance what-so-ever for a life.

    Recently a 9 year old boy brought a gun to school, to show off; the gun discharged from his backpack, striking & critically injuring an 8 year old girl in his classroom.
    This boy's mother is a meth-addict, his father on a 'protection order' (stay away) which he violates, so he must be violent. The boy's grandmother adopted him, but she died & now he lives with his uncle. He got the gun at his crappy mother's house during a visitation.

    That boy was arrested & charged with unlawful possession of a gun, bringing a dangerous weapon to school and third-degree assault. All of which are hard felony crimes.

    If you want to see the saddest thing ever, check this link from the Seattle times; a 9 yr old in an orange prison suit being led away by detectives
    http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/ABPub/zoom/html/2017581663.html

    The 'prosecutors' said they had enough info to CHARGE the boy, but, have to wait while it is determined whether he has the capacity to understand that what he did was wrong. Under WA law, kids 8-12 can face charges if they 'know it was wrong'.

    When my son was 9, he was just so innocent, and so incapable of 'criminal thought' that I just can't believe this shit happening in America any more.

    You should do an article on the american mentality when it comes to children and crime in america. It probably would turn into a book though LMAO

    Nice blog and very interesting eclectic choices of articles. You must be a very thoughtful and interesting man. OH, I only just noticed you ARE an author of books. Well, somebody needs to write a book about it.

    They charged an 8 year old boy in Texas for MURDER. Then I read a 6 yr old brought a gun to school & killed another 6 yr old, and the article stated he was 'too young to arrest' and I thought god, has it gotten so bad you have to explain that to people? 6 years old probably people out there ready to send them to jail for 20 years.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Stefan StenuddApril 25, 2012 at 11:23 AM

      I can't see that I defend Chavis, not at all. But the situation was not the Garden of Eden before his interference. When we hurry to point out one person as guilty, we don't even try to understand what happened and what would have prevented it.

      But we agree completely about the horror of charging children as adults. That's in violation of basic human decency and of the UN charter on children's rights. Also, it violates the basic legal principle of crimes having to be consciously intentional. That's rarely true with children.

      Delete
  7. AnonymousMay 11, 2012 at 12:34 PM

    Hi Stefan,a wonderfully written piece.No kneejerking and incredibly insightful and thought provoking.

    I would be interested to see if you have written anything about the Alyssa Bustamamte case at all,as to a certain extent it carries similar parallels.If you have can you direct me to it?

    Dom Kent

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Stefan StenuddMay 20, 2012 at 3:56 PM

      Sorry, I knew nothing about that case and haven't written about it. I checked it quickly and suspect there's more to the story than a teenage girl wanting to feel what it was like.

      Delete
  8. AnonymousMay 28, 2012 at 2:15 AM

    Yes Stefan,much more my thoughts exactly.

    Thank you.

    Dom

    ReplyDelete
  9. AnonymousFebruary 26, 2013 at 8:29 AM

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    ReplyDelete

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