Briton arrested on 2 counts of murder -- American wife and daughter

[uwila]

here

If he is guilty, I hope he gets the death penalty.

uwila he will not face the death penalty as it is not a death penalty state.
For one thing, I think not sure but think Brits cannot be extradited to face the death penalty...
It's a moral no win
If it was your daughter and grandchild he killed, you would want him dead
If he was your son ( an it would appear his parents tried to shield/support him) you would want him alive.

pebblemum, if someone murdered someone i love, nothing could make me "happy", including killing the perpetrator.

another boston herald links, alleges a murder suuicide that went wrong..

here

I never understand why people who feel like this don't just turn the gun on themselves rather than taking innocent lives

Ego, Marina?

Hmm, like the Dunblane incident, Hungerford etc

I know nothing would bring back the person you lost but surely knowing that their murderer was still alive and able to have some sort of life would make it worse.

Also I think if someone killed/hurt my family they would be better off with either life in prison and I mean life as in till the day they die or the death penalty as I would not be responsible for my actions if they were ever released. I am not a violent person and dont normally condone it but in those circumstances I dont think I could stop myself.

Also I want to make it clear that when I said that Mental Illness was used as an excuse I know that there are certain cases where this is definatly the reason a crime was committed but everyone seems to be using it nowadays.

I know there is often a plausible psychological explanation Caligula, it just seems so alien to my experience of parenting. There have been times in my life (me and most others on here I daresay...) where I have felt dangerously down and cross with myself about life, but take my children with me...?

But that's just as pre-meditated pebblemum.

Judicial murder. Makes you as bad as the perpetrator and society as a whole complicit in taking the life of another. However revolting the person's actions...
Feel lack of a death penalty is a cornerstone of a society striving to be civilised.

I always find it chilling looking at smiling family pictures in cases like this. I followed a link to their family website just after it happened and there were loads of photos of their baby daughter (born April 05, the same time as ds) and the whole family looking normal and happy at Christmas time.

Look at the size of that house! I mean, she was TWENTY SEVEN and living in a mansion. I smelled a rat immediately, b/c it was patently obvious neither of them came from really rich families.

A house that rented for over £1000/month and neither of them were working.

There's more to this than meets the eye, I'm tellin' ya.

MArina -- I guess if you get to the kind of 'down' where you feel that the world is a terrible, evil place full of pain and suffering then you might well want to take your children with you (rather than leave them in terrible, evil place full of pain and suffering). I can't imagine ever feeling that way myself but I can imagine that state of mind could arise.

You're right Leah and it does really show the difference between feeling stressed, low and ashamed, and severe psychosis.
Expat, you would have been better placed than most of us Brits to spot immediately the oddness of their living arrangements...

If justice is done it wouldnt be neccassary but I could not live with the fact that the murderer still had a life when my loves one didnt. I know several people that feel the same way and i am sure if Neil Entwistles in-laws had the chance to be left in a room with him they wouldnt just sit there.

A crime like murder deserves a harsh sentence but it seems taking a life nowadays doesnt mean a lot when it comes to punishing the perpertraitors(?).
Maybe if people knew they would get the death sentence or spend all of their days in a tough prison then maybe they would think twice about taking innocent lives.

Anyway this thread was about that poor baby and her mum being murdered and our reactions to that, it wasnt supposed to be about our individual beliefs. Everyone is different and I respect that, the world would be a very boring place if we were all the same. Plus there would be no need for debates on MN

"failed murder-suicide"?

That'll be murder, then. Gutless bastard.

Dd2 is the same age as the baby in this story and it's just heartbreaking ( unbearable) to think of anyone harming their own baby in this way.

I am probably alone in feeling slightly for Neil Entwistle ( though not much I have to admit). He sounds like he had got himself into big, big debt and couldn't see a way out. If he did love his wife and baby ( and the website photos I've seen look like he did) , imagine how desperate he must have been feeling to do something this awful? Maybe just couldn't see a way out? Maybe he did plan to kill himself and lacked the guts to do it?
That being said, he could always have stayed in the US and admitted what he's( allegedly) done. Why not just admit it and face the music?

It's just such a tragedy for everybody involved, there are no winners here. Seeing the pictures of that poor girl and her baby just make me cry.

Sorry I missed most of this yesterday. Had to do some work.

Expat, I suppose there is more to the Texas story than I remembered-- or possibly ever knew. Yes, that woman is probably where she belongs and the hospital / insurance company is probably also somewhat to blame for discharging her.

Yes, the laws should be applied to my children as well. I do believe in the death penalty in extremely cruel and horrib crime (like Neil Entwistle and Scott Pedersen). And if my son or daughter should grow up to perform such a horris act then he/she should be subject to the death penalty as well. God forbid this should ever happen. But of course my children have to abide by the same laws that everyone elses children should abide by.

By the way, Expat, didn't realise you were from Houston. When did you live there? I lived there from 1990 to 1999.

stramash if he were in heavy debt, would his family have starved?

Oh goodness. I know all about debt. But, I'm not going to top my husband and kids because of it. According to the BBC, if he is found guilty he will get life without parole, so that's what I shall hope for. Bastard!

Overwhelming debt is not an excuse for murder.

Oh goodness. I know all about debt. But, I'm not going to top my husband and kids because of it. According to the BBC, if he is found guilty he will get life without parole, so that's what I shall hope for. Bastard!

Overwhelming debt is not an excuse for murder.

The odd thing about this is that she didn't know how much debt they were in (according to the website). We're in debt, but we both know by how much. Perhaps a fantasist who had to maintain a facade of being wealthy and successful. I mean if dh suggested to me right now that we rent a huge mansion I'd tell him not to be so daft.

I have a very wealthy friend who bought her (mansion) house from someone who had gone bankrupt. His wife knew absolutely nothing about it until the day she had to move out.

Very sad though- the photos look so happy and he appeared to dote on his dd. Gives me shivers to think about it.

how could she not know, tho. i mean, they were twenty seven years old! and he didn't come from a monied family. and the place was a mansion. she wasn't working. she was educated, you think she'd have had some suspicion.

i've gone out w/some really wealthy men before, and it's easy enough to determine where their wealth originates. most of the time, it's patently obvious if you hang around them closely for any length of time.

it's just a sad case, man. all those lives are just a waste b/c he'll go to prison forever and she and the little baby are gone.