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There is no way this murderer should have been released.

http://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/2014/10/20/killer-country-comic-stringbean-and-wife-paroled-after-40-years-in-tennessee/?intcmp=features

Tell that to the Norwegians...

Relapse wrote:
There is no way this murderer should have been released.

Meh. He's no Charles Manson. There really isn't much to go on with this story. We only have his quotes from the parole board hearing, but there's no mention of the guards/warden of the prisons he was in. Perhaps he was a "model inmate" for most of those 40 years.

If the judge/jury's time-frame for jail time was met, then who are we to pass judgement?

Please put the fear machine crazies in jail instead.

Why shouldn't he have been released, exactly?

 curran12 wrote:
Why shouldn't he have been released, exactly?

Because he needed to ride the lightning? Or he needed to take a quick fall, followed by a quick stop?... Maybe he needed a trim, a heads' length off the top??

 Ensis Ferrae wrote:

 curran12 wrote:
Why shouldn't he have been released, exactly?

Because he needed to ride the lightning? Or he needed to take a quick fall, followed by a quick stop?... Maybe he needed a trim, a heads' length off the top??

Its long fall and a short stop

I always thought it was a short drop and a sudden stop?

 Grey Templar wrote:

Its long fall and a short stop

you knew what I meant

Yeah, even though he was sentenced to life in prison, he wasn't sentenced with "no possibility of parole".

So if he met the conditions to be paroled, then he has technically paid his debt to society according to the conditions of his sentencing.

I suspect he got convicted of 2nd Degree Murder:

Second-degree murder is ordinarily defined as: 1) an intentional killing that is not premeditated or planned, nor committed in a reasonable "heat of passion"; or 2) a killing caused by dangerous conduct and the offender's obvious lack of concern for human life.

My interpretation: they didn't go out planning on killing anybody, were surprised by the guy, freaked, and killed him...his wife still alive they freaked again and thought that killing her was the only option.

Relapse wrote:
There is no way this murderer should have been released.

http://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/2014/10/20/killer-country-comic-stringbean-and-wife-paroled-after-40-years-in-tennessee/?intcmp=features

I disagree, I feel that prison should be about rehabilitation and if experts agree that this man has been rehabilitated, then he should be allowed to rejoin society.

Or we could keep him in Prison forever and ever! That is working out for us right now.

Statistically speaking, he is highly unlikely to be a repeat offender.

Just my thought on the matter. They gunned down an elderly couple. When the wife ran out of the building and he chased her down and shot her in the back of the head is the real point I think sealed the idea he be put away for good.

Relapse wrote:
Just my thought on the matter. They gunned down an elderly couple. When the wife ran out of the building and he chased her down and shot her in the back of the head is the real point I think sealed the idea he be put away for good.

He did not go to the house to murder the couple and made a terrible decision which cost him 40 years of his life and probably an untold amount of grief. There is a difference.

 Dreadwinter wrote:

Relapse wrote:
Just my thought on the matter. They gunned down an elderly couple. When the wife ran out of the building and he chased her down and shot her in the back of the head is the real point I think sealed the idea he be put away for good.

He did not go to the house to murder the couple and made a terrible decision which cost him 40 years of his life and probably an untold amount of grief. There is a difference.

He's lucky that's all it cost him.

Relapse wrote:

 Dreadwinter wrote:

Relapse wrote:
Just my thought on the matter. They gunned down an elderly couple. When the wife ran out of the building and he chased her down and shot her in the back of the head is the real point I think sealed the idea he be put away for good.

He did not go to the house to murder the couple and made a terrible decision which cost him 40 years of his life and probably an untold amount of grief. There is a difference.

He's lucky that's all it cost him.

Wow, do you want to try to provoke me in to an argument any harder?

 curran12 wrote:
Why shouldn't he have been released, exactly?

Because our anger is everlasting and our need to satiate it always goes unquenched. If we are considerate and thoughtful on the subject people might think we are soft on crime so they must pay for their crime ad infinitum. Everything else, even justice, rehabilitation, and research, all take a back seat to revenge and punishment!

I don't see what is notable about this. It's pretty unusual for a murderer to actually spend their entire life in jail - isn't the average sentence (served) like 17 years for a murder? I'm guessing, I don't know. But 40 years for a double murder seems to me about correct.

I'd like to think the purpose of jail is to rehabilitate someone, ideally. Putting someone in jail until the day they die doesn't seem to serve that purpose well; might as well just give them the needle if that's the case.

 Ahtman wrote:


Because our anger is everlasting and our need to satiate it always goes unquenched.

Not to bring further "logic" into the discussion, but how many of us on this board, outside of Frazzled are of an age to even possibly remember first hand hearing about this on the telegraph, or radio??

 TheMeanDM wrote:
Yeah, even though he was sentenced to life in prison, he wasn't sentenced with "no possibility of parole".

So if he met the conditions to be paroled, then he has technically paid his debt to society according to the conditions of his sentencing.

I suspect he got convicted of 2nd Degree Murder:

Second-degree murder is ordinarily defined as: 1) an intentional killing that is not premeditated or planned, nor committed in a reasonable "heat of passion"; or 2) a killing caused by dangerous conduct and the offender's obvious lack of concern for human life.

My interpretation: they didn't go out planning on killing anybody, were surprised by the guy, freaked, and killed him...his wife still alive they freaked again and thought that killing her was the only option.

They went with a loaded gun. It seems like they weren't shy about using it, so it was in the plan to kill people if they felt they had to.

In any case, the descision about the guy has been made by the board.k

 Ouze wrote:
I don't see what is notable about this. It's pretty unusual for a murderer to actually spend their entire life in jail - isn't the average sentence (served) like 17 years for a murder? I'm guessing, I don't know. But 40 years for a double murder seems to me about correct.

I'd like to think the purpose of jail is to rehabilitate someone, ideally. Putting someone in jail until the day they die doesn't seem to serve that purpose well; might as well just give them the needle if that's the case.

I think you are living in the wrong country for that ideal Ouze

Relapse wrote:

They went with a loaded gun. It seems like they weren't shy about using it, so it was in the plan to kill people if they felt they had to.

In any case, the descision about the guy has been made by the board.k

Soldiers go into battle with firearms, but hope they don't have to use it. Nurses go in to work with stethoscopes, but hope they wont have to use it, etc. There isn't really a group of supervillains a la, DC and Marvel who go around "hoping" to use weapons when they commit robberies. It's just that, in Tennessee, if you're going to rob a house, it's definitely a good idea to bring a gun, since everyone and their mom has guns in the state.


Probably one of the few times I can think of where people bring something, with hopes of using that item, is when a hunter goes out for a deer/elk, etc. with a rifle.

 Ahtman wrote:

 curran12 wrote:
Why shouldn't he have been released, exactly?

Because our anger is everlasting and our need to satiate it always goes unquenched. If we are considerate and thoughtful on the subject people might think we are soft on crime so they must pay for their crime ad infinitum. Everything else, even justice, rehabilitation, and research, all take a back seat to revenge and punishment!

Why won't the Exalt button allow more clicks damn it!

 Ensis Ferrae wrote:

Relapse wrote:

They went with a loaded gun. It seems like they weren't shy about using it, so it was in the plan to kill people if they felt they had to.

In any case, the descision about the guy has been made by the board.k

Soldiers go into battle with firearms, but hope they don't have to use it. Nurses go in to work with stethoscopes, but hope they wont have to use it, etc. There isn't really a group of supervillains a la, DC and Marvel who go around "hoping" to use weapons when they commit robberies. It's just that, in Tennessee, if you're going to rob a house, it's definitely a good idea to bring a gun, since everyone and their mom has guns in the state.


Probably one of the few times I can think of where people bring something, with hopes of using that item, is when a hunter goes out for a deer/elk, etc. with a rifle.

I don't see robbers as being ordered to go into a house to steal or going in somewhere with the objective of saving lives.

Many Americans carry firearms each day, and they are loaded (or they would be somewhat useless), that doesn't mean they plan on killing anyone by any stretch of the imagination.

 Ahtman wrote:
Many Americans carry firearms each day, and they are loaded (or they would be somewhat useless), that doesn't mean they plan on killing anyone by any stretch of the imagination.

Once again, a bad comparison. People carry firearms to protect themselves and family. These people were out to victimize a family, and kill if it suited their purpose. When people with conceal carry have to shoot someone, I don't believe it's a standard practice to loot the bodies, either.

anyone who has been institutionalised for 40 years will be fethed up beyond belief. Add to that the removal from society from the changes made whilst they were interred. 40 years of change, i think that's punishment enough...without thinking of old testament feelings.

 Bullockist wrote:
anyone who has been institutionalised for 40 years will be fethed up beyond belief. Add to that the removal from society from the changes made whilst they were interred. 40 years of change, i think that's punishment enough...without thinking of old testament feelings.

Is it then rehabilitation to lock someone up that long, or torture that would be worse than the death penalty?

Frankly, it sounds more like you're interested in rage and revenge than justice. As Ahtman has put it, you have some deep seeded need for their suffering, which is a little out of place.

Relapse wrote:

 Ahtman wrote:
Many Americans carry firearms each day, and they are loaded (or they would be somewhat useless), that doesn't mean they plan on killing anyone by any stretch of the imagination.

Once again, a bad comparison. People carry firearms to protect themselves and family. These people were out to victimize a family, and kill if it suited their purpose. When people with conceal carry have to shoot someone, I don't believe it's a standard practice to loot the bodies, either.

"Although police said the motive for the slayings was robbery, the Browns took only a chain saw and some guns."

This was quoted from the article you posted in the thread. Please, read your own posts before making false and sensationalist claims. Their bodies were not looted. Unless they were packing heat for an eventual Zombie Apocalypse.