The Death Penalty -- If Not For Petit Case ,Then When?

By Lis Wiehl

Published May 07, 2015

Imagine the unimaginable-- the horror happened to Dr.Petit. I, for one, don't think I could draw another breath after the total annihilation of my family, but Dr. Petit found strength in his determination to speak for his wife and daughters -- from their graves -- and to demand the ultimate penalty. For Dr. Petit, a plea bargain sparing the lives of the men who slaughtered his family wasn't enough. Now its up for a jury to decide where one of the men should be executed.

I'm not a knee jerk, pro-death penalty champion. I think in some cases death is too kind an outcome for killers of innocents. --Instead, let them sit and rot in a windowless room with nothing to look at save the photos of those they slaughtered. And I do worry about those wrongfully convicted.

But not in the Petit case, the evidence is conclusive. So I ask you, if we do sanction a death penalty in this country, then when it comes the killers of Dr. Petit's family, "if not now, when? If not them, who?

The details of the case reveal two felons with blood of ice, who raped and killed after getting the money they came for.

This was no crime of passion, or a drug deal gone bad, this was cold and calculated robbery, rape, mutilation, and death by burning. It was all premeditated by entities who can hardly be called human.

It's a miracle Dr. Petit is alive to testify as the voice for his dead wife and daughters. If meting out the death penalty in this case will stop even one other monster from trying the same, justice will be done.

Lis Wiehl is a Fox News legal analyst and former federal prosecutor.

URL

https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/the-death-penalty-if-not-for-petit-case-then-when