Too Fat To Execute, Inmate Says.

CNN reports on the latest death row inmate claiming that he's too fat to execute.

Richard Cooey said in a death row interview that his execution cannot be carried out humanely under current state procedures because his veins are hard to reach.

It seems Richard gained a bit of weight while awaiting execution and claims that his veins would be hard to access. He says if it would make people feel better they could legally shoot him in the head with a .45. To me that sounds like typical convict nonsense. The fact that it gets so much attention is amazing to me. I discovered a blog called Lukie's Ludicrous Lore which has a couple posts about this guy and several comments, none of which I can agree with.

It always amazes me how people talk about convicted men. "we have supported this monster for the past 22 years, his free ride is up." says Lukie. Prisoners are referred to as "these animals." About Richard Cooey's headaches, Lukie says "I am sorry but migraines are a [sic]inconvenience that a prisoner should have to live with."

There's no shortage of sites like this, I just found Lukie's from the link on CNN. The comments are even worse. There we have , "Kill the waste of space and taxpayer dollars!" And the banal, "have a big trucker named Bubba come into his cell one night, rape him, and then murder him in cold blood."

Sites like this remind me of the so-called hate sites, you know the ones with the vilest words imaginable against Jews or Blacks or Gays. The thing is most reasonable people, even if they identify with some of the sentiments, don't consider this kind of talk politically correct. I guess death row inmates don't count.

My own opinion is that we should deal with all people, even the worst of the worst, with respect. The death penalty should be abolished because it's morally inconsistent with our laws that say it's wrong to kill. Bad boys like Richard must be treated with all due process of law. To fail in any of these things damages us, lowers us, diminishes us. Civilized society should not have to resort to such a brutal sanction in order to protect itself. And in civilized society we certainly don't need to call people names and cry out for vengeance like a bunch of Salem witch hunters of the 17th century.

The crime, committed when he was 19 years old, was truly horrible.

Cooey and a co-defendant kidnapped Wendy Offredo, 21, and Dawn McCreery, 20, after disabling their car by dropping a chunk of concrete on it from a highway overpass. They choked and beat the women to death after repeatedly raping them, then carved X's in their abdomens.

My deepest and sincerest condolences go out to the Offredo and McCreery families.