On my way to work this morning, I stopped at City Gas, a gas station that’s been on my street for years. Though I used to buy gas and cigarettes there all of the time, I still don’t know the owner’s name. He’s always looked out for me, though, which is why I feel safe going there even after dark.
This morning, he was angry. He asked me if I’d read the newspaper this morning, and when I said no, he picked up a copy and pointed angrily at the front page, where the lead story was about a sixteen-year-old girl, Chloe Ottman, who had been raped and murdered this weekend*.
“Oh, yeah,” I said. “I don’t understand. At all.”
“He rape her! Okay, fine, he rape her, but why he have to kill her?! He should be hung,” he said in his thick Middle Eastern accent. “At Holy Land! On God’s land, he kill her. Why he have to kill her?!”
I’ve never seen him angry, but I agreed, completely. As half of me insisted I needed to get going, that I was already late for work, the other half of me wanted to mourn with him.
“It say she good student. Now her life over, he go to jail, get food, bed, TV… I pay taxes, you pay taxes, we pay for this man to live good life, and her life over. Why?! He should be hung! Women have soft heart. Women don’t deserve this,” my friend said.
“I know,” I said, feeling tears prick at my eyes. “I don’t understand. It’s mindblowing.”
And it is. What’s even more surreal is, I have connections to both her family and her boyfriend. My sister, Lauren, went to school with her boyfriend, Jeremy. Her mother is Mike’s stepfather’s brother’s girlfriend. It’s also surreal because this happened right in my backyard. Once again, my community is mourning for one of their own.
Like my gas station friend said, there are plenty of prostitutes this guy could have gone to, if he wanted sex. And since he obviously didn’t choose to go that route, why did he have to murder this girl after raping her? Yes, rape is bad enough, and it’s enough to destroy a life. But she could have had a chance to keep on living. Her family would still have her, and her friends would still have her.
And speaking of friends, what kills me is, this guy was supposed to be her friend! According to the article, they had been friends for two years. Now, in my opinion, a nineteen-year-old guy has no business hanging around with a sixteen-year-old after dark, up at Holy Land, but she trusted him! I cannot imagine thinking that I was going for a walk with a friend, only to be betrayed like that.
My heart is heavy with grief for her and her family, and I didn’t even know her. But the brutality of her death and how young she was is what makes me grieve. She should have been given a fair chance at life.
And this motherfucker, this Francisco Cruz, should be hung — by his balls. Why do we not use the death penalty here in Connecticut? Why do scumbags like Francisco Cruz, Steven J. Hayes, and Joshua Komisarjevsky get to continue living, when their victims cannot, and their victims’ families must try to go on, knowing that their loved ones suffered so much, and yet their murderers suffer so little? Cruz admitted to raping and murdering Chloe. Fuck the trial. Hang him, in such a way that he knows even half of the suffering that Chloe knew.
Different people have different opinions about the death penalty, but if the crime fits, the punishment should be fitting, too! I am not religious, but I am a believer in an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth. If we had more brutal punishments, I cannot imagine even half of the crime we have right now. Back in the days when everyone carried a gun and the punishment for theft, murder, or cheating was to be shot or hung, there was less crime. You can argue that there was a smaller population, but people actually feared the law — AKA the hangman’s shaft. I don’t believe that we should use the death penalty for every crime, but brutal crimes like rape, murder, and child molestation should be treated as the brutal crimes they are.
I didn’t mean for this post to be so angry. Initially, it was just to mourn Chloe’s death. I hope that she is at peace now. Chloe, her family, and her friends and boyfriend Jeremy are in my thoughts. I am so, so sorry for your loss.
*The story I linked to is from NBC, as opposed to Rep-Am (the paper he pointed to), because Rep-Am locks their stories after seven days and as far as I know, NBC doesn’t.
I agree that the punishment should fit the crime.
I have always been annoyed by the fact that a homeless person could easily make a better life for themselves by committing a serious crime and going to jail. It is just absurd.
I don’t understand it. People who abide by the law have a tough time paying all their bills, worry about their cable being cut off, whether they will have enough money to buy food. Prisoners get scheduled exercise time, food guaranteed to be served to them at regular intervals, tv, movie nights, game rooms, and access to free schooling and courses.
It’s completely backwards.
Maybe we should just leave it at: You will have what you did, happen to you. If you rape and kill someone, someone should rape and kill you. :S Though who in their right mind would want to rape and kill someone?
The punishment should not be jail time. It should be locking them in the stocks like they did with supposed ‘witches’ for all to mock and see. Someone should be standing there, detailing what this person did, telling the offenders family and friends what this person did.
They should have to pay back any money they’ve stolen, by working to make their community a better place. They should have crappy beds, no access to tv or games, a plain basic yard to exercise in, and they should have to go to work somewhere, and they should not get to keep any of the money they make while in prison.
You steal from someone, you should be made to wear a giant sign out front of where you stole from, detailing your offense. You should have to work to pay them back every penny.
Public shaming might be the best way to start, and if they are PROUD of what they did, maybe a more severe punishment should be added, since that’s just not right.
I do honestly believe that people who kill (on purpose) should be killed as their punishment. But not the friendly lethal injection way. Perhaps going back to public stoning or firing squads would be better.
People who kill accidentally (and I don’t include drunk/stoned or cell phone/text distracted drivers here, since that is completely preventable) should be made to make up for what they did, including public shaming, and they should have to pay all the funeral costs, etc for the person/people they kill. The family shouldn’t have to pay for that.
I know I might feel differently about this if it was someone I knew that committed the crime, but until that happens, this is my stance on it, too.
I agree, completely. I like the idea of public shaming. I officially elect you for President.
It’s hard to believe that taxpayers really pay for schooling. Did you know that criminals in jail can even read up on the law and become lawyers to defend themselves at the next trial? It’s absurd. Most people can barely afford community college, never mind law school!
Firing squads would be perfect. I, however, prefer limb-pulling, Hellraiser-style. And the penis is considered a limb if you’re a rape criminal.
OOOOOh, I never considered limb pulling. Good idea!
I appreciate the vote, but I doubt many Americans would appreciate a Canadian President. Maybe I should run for Prime Minister here in Canada? Hmmm. Nope. Too much paperwork, and all the BS to sift through? I’d never get anything done.
Yeah, I’d say the paperwork would definitely be a deal breaker!
My friend use to date they guy who murdered her….what a sick asshole! I hope he gets raped in prison
That’s creepy. I wonder if he showed any signs of violence. I mean, can stuff like this really just randomly happen?!
Wow. I hate hearing stories like that.
I agree that the punishment should fit the crime. It’s not right at all that he killed her and he gets his free stay.
Makes me angry.
Me, too, both hearing that these things happen and that most criminals get more out of jail than most good citizens get out of their regular lives!
I agree, the punishment should match the crime. There are plenty of countries where the punishment is swiftly enforced. In Singapore, they clearly state on the arrival form that drug trafficing is punishable by death – pretty clear and straight-forward. In China, people are executed for their crimes, and usually within a week of the judgement. I think the reason that China does not have a huge violent crime rate is because of swift justice. People that commit violent crimes should have a violent consequence – I think it would be a deterrent, and if not, then would rid the country of the violent criminals.
So true! Why is it that in the U.S., criminals sit for years on death row — and many of them die on death row before they even get their lethal injection! It’s a joke, because in the meantime they are fed, clothed, have TV, drugs, magazines, can take college courses… It’s just ridiculous. I agree that we should adopt swift punishment policies. Dragging it out is a waste of time, taxpayers’ money, and can cause more anxiety for the victims and their families.