# I don't know what to say about this but I must say something. **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [August 2, 2002, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-know-what-to-say-about-this-but-i-must-say-something/122089 "2002-08-02T22:16:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Rilchiam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rilchiam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rilchiam)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2002, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-know-what-to-say-about-this-but-i-must-say-something/122089/21 "2002-08-05T02:53:35Z")
Oh my god **tisi**. I’ve been working my way through Crimelibrary\*. That is the first case history that I had to skim. It’s also the only one I simply ha to give up on. \*I’m interested in true crime because I like to see how the criminals are eventually brought to justice. Sometimes they slip through the cracks in law enforcement. Sometimes a quick-thinking cop or detective picks up on some little nothing thing. Sometimes a blatant indicator is overlooked, or gets jammed up in bureaucracy. Sometimes a bystander intervenes, and sometimes people look the other way. To me, if it’s in Crimelibrary, it technically has a positive ending because the perp won’t be killing any more. ---
**Author:** ![Rilchiam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rilchiam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rilchiam)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2002, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-know-what-to-say-about-this-but-i-must-say-something/122089/22 "2002-08-05T03:02:05Z")
And I either didn’t catch or didn’t get to the stuff to which you referred, about the mental health profession being underfunded. ---
**Author:** ![tisiphone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbe5ce/32.png) [@tisiphone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tisiphone)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2002, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-know-what-to-say-about-this-but-i-must-say-something/122089/23 "2002-08-05T16:07:32Z")
He was let out, over the nurses’ vehement objections, because his psychosis was nominally under control, and the psychologists were under considerable pressure to empty the mental hospitals. (Well, and they were idiots, but that’s another complaint.) To their limited observation, Chase had progressed to the point he could be released. After all, they didn’t actually _see_ him beheading birds and drinking the blood. It also (to me, anyways) shows how massively unprepared traditional psychiatry is for dealing with these types of people. You cannot rely on self-reporting, you cannot rely on an hour of talking once or twice a week, you cannot rely on the offender to continue taking his/her medications, and you must independently investigate the ‘facts’ they are telling you. And should you, god forbid, be so stupid as to let somebody like Chase out, at least ensure some sort of supervision! Well, actually given the indicators Chase showed, should you be that stupid, I think you should lose your license forever, and bear some sort of criminal liability. ---
**Author:** ![Rilchiam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rilchiam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rilchiam)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2002, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-know-what-to-say-about-this-but-i-must-say-something/122089/24 "2002-08-05T20:39:40Z")
I see. And I’m also aware that that is an old story. Thanks for the info, anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Swampwolf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8edcca/32.png) [@Swampwolf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Swampwolf)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2002, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-know-what-to-say-about-this-but-i-must-say-something/122089/25 "2002-08-05T20:46:43Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Bosda Di’Chi of Tricor \* > \*\*There is no death penalty in the EEC. > > Here in the States, he’d be on his way to the lethal injection table. > > Right/wrong? Opinions? \*\* Lethal Injection? pfui! Drive a stake through his heart, cut off his head and stuff his mouth with herbs. Then bury the psychotic little fucker at a crossroads. ---
**Author:** ![MrVisible](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/46a35a/32.png) [@MrVisible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrVisible)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2002, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-know-what-to-say-about-this-but-i-must-say-something/122089/26 "2002-08-05T20:58:37Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by blessedwolf \* > Lethal Injection? pfui! > > Drive a stake through his heart, cut off his head and stuff his mouth with herbs. Then bury the psychotic little fucker at a crossroads. Now, now, **blessedwolf**. You know that sort of thing would just encourage him. ---
**Author:** ![Swampwolf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8edcca/32.png) [@Swampwolf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Swampwolf)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2002, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-know-what-to-say-about-this-but-i-must-say-something/122089/27 "2002-08-05T21:08:25Z")
Perhaps, but at least he won’t come back. Of course, there are other ways to guarantee that. [Thus Spake Cecil](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a1_039.html). \*\* [/QUOTE] ---
**Author:** ![hazel-rah](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/73ab20/32.png) [@hazel-rah](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hazel-rah)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2002, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-know-what-to-say-about-this-but-i-must-say-something/122089/28 "2002-08-06T03:39:22Z")
> [@](#): > > Mabel Leyshon was stabbed to death at her home in Llanfairpwll on Anglesey, in November 2001. Hey! It happened in Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwll-llantysiliogogogoch! If you don’t know what to say and you must say something, that is surely something to say. -fh ---
**Author:** ![LindyHopper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ebca7d/32.png) [@LindyHopper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LindyHopper)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2002, 7:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-know-what-to-say-about-this-but-i-must-say-something/122089/29 "2002-08-06T07:38:24Z")
**Rilchiam** and **tisiphone** : Wasn’t the movie “Rampage” based on the case of Richard Trenton Chase? I seem to remember reading up on the real-life case shortly after seeing the movie (about 3 months ago). Creepy stuff. ---
**Author:** ![tisiphone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbe5ce/32.png) [@tisiphone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tisiphone)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2002, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-know-what-to-say-about-this-but-i-must-say-something/122089/30 "2002-08-06T15:38:52Z")
Yes, it was, **LindyHopper**. Never seen it though. Never seen Natural Born Killers, either. Dunno why not, either. You’d think I’d be more interested… ---
**Author:** ![Embra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@Embra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Embra)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2002, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-know-what-to-say-about-this-but-i-must-say-something/122089/31 "2002-08-06T16:38:50Z")
In a mind-bogglingly pedantic move (although kind of in response to **Bosda** ), I will add that as a 17-year-old he’s been sentenced to be detained “at Her Majesty’s pleasure” which is a sentence applied to juvenile (i.e. under 18) offenders. The killers of James Bulger were similarly sentenced. A judge then sets the recommended tariff. It was ruled at Strasbourg in the case of Thompson and Venables that a politician may not overrule the judge’s recommendation. There’s some debate over the application of these sentences but I think they’re usually applied in recognition of a defendant’s youth (rather than as an excuse to sentence children as though they were adults). Obviously it seems more problematic in a case like this where the offender is on the borderline between youth and adulthood. How many DP states in the US sentence people to death for crimes committed when they were under 18? What are the guidelines like for sentencing juveniles? Embra ---
**Author:** ![malaka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecc23a/32.png) [@malaka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/malaka)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2002, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-know-what-to-say-about-this-but-i-must-say-something/122089/32 "2002-08-06T16:46:56Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by hazel-rah \* > \*\* > > Hey! It happened in Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwll-llantysiliogogogoch! If you don’t know what to say and you must say something, that is surely something to say. > > -fh \*\* I read about this [here](http://www.cnn.com/2002/WORLD/europe/08/02/uk.vampire/index.html). In addition to the quote above, my favorite quote from the CNN version was > [@](#): > > Hardman had also deliberately punched himself on the nose to draw blood in a bid to “tempt” them to bite him. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-know-what-to-say-about-this-but-i-must-say-something/122089.md?page=1)