# OK. I now know what the word "Fiend" means. With newslink. **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [March 22, 2006, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-i-now-know-what-the-word-fiend-means-with-newslink/349429 "2006-03-22T14:55:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2006, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-i-now-know-what-the-word-fiend-means-with-newslink/349429/1 "2006-03-22T14:55:54Z")
Starting this in the Pit, just because. **Read the link** [http://www.tennessean.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060322/NEWS03/603220409](http://www.tennessean.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060322/NEWS03/603220409) > [@](#): > > Phillips said a man wearing a hood knocked on the front door and when one of the five children inside answered, the man reportedly said, “I have a present for you.” > > An adult in the house saw the man was armed and slammed the door shut before trying to get the children out of the living room, Phillips said. > > He said the man fired “at least five rounds” through the closed wooden door. The boy is dead. I’ve never been so chilled by an act of murder before. The smirking, inhuman cruelty of this killer is beyond belief. This struck me so hard. ---
**Author:** ![askeptic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/eb9ed0/32.png) [@askeptic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/askeptic)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2006, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-i-now-know-what-the-word-fiend-means-with-newslink/349429/2 "2006-03-22T15:02:06Z")
> [@from the linked article](#): > > Asked if the suburban neighborhood of ranch-style houses was considered generally safe, Phillips said: “Let me put it this way: I’ve been here a few times before on these (type) calls.” • Sounds like there may be more to this story. On the otherhand fucked up shit happens everyday. What got to you about this one? Do you live in the area? ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2006, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-i-now-know-what-the-word-fiend-means-with-newslink/349429/3 "2006-03-22T15:01:40Z")
[There’s a lot of that going on lately:](http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2006-03-21-ohio-teen_x.htm) > [@](#): > > A man who neighbors say was devoted to his meticulously kept lawn was charged with murder in the shooting of a 15-year-old boy who apparently walked across his yard. > > … > > Larry Mugrage, whose family lived next door, was shot in the chest with a shotgun. The high school freshman was pronounced dead at a hospital. ---
**Author:** ![Beadalin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3be4f8/32.png) [@Beadalin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beadalin)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2006, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-i-now-know-what-the-word-fiend-means-with-newslink/349429/4 "2006-03-22T15:38:46Z")
A couple of days ago in the Uptown area of Minneapolis, a man and his mom (with two friends) were walking to their car after dinner. Two men approached and demanded the mom’s purse. After she handed it to them, they shot her son anyway. He died yesterday. They’re still at large. ---
**Author:** ![Binarydrone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3da27b/32.png) [@Binarydrone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Binarydrone)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2006, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-i-now-know-what-the-word-fiend-means-with-newslink/349429/5 "2006-03-22T15:42:55Z")
I have a question that, while not directly on topic, relates to the big picture surrounding these types of threads. I guess what I am wondering is if you knew the people in this story or if they were in some way connected to you interpersonally. More to the point, when posters start threads like this I am very curious about the process. Are you looking around for things to horrify you? Does it just come up while you are checking out the news and you feel compelled to share? Basically, I really don’t get it. This is not to say that I am hardhearted, but as a rule I tend to not really feel outrage about terrible things happening unless the scale is massive (think (9/11 or Genocide or things of that nature) or unless the terrible thing is in some way connected to me (like a friend or relative or the event happening in my neighborhood). So, I guess that I want some clarification about these threads. I had actually started a thread some time ago about this but think that it is worth bringing up again, as I remain mystified about their point ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2006, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-i-now-know-what-the-word-fiend-means-with-newslink/349429/6 "2006-03-22T16:45:21Z")
> [@askeptic](#): > > Sounds like there may be more to this story. On the otherhand fucked up shit happens everyday. What got to you about this one? Do you live in the area? Well, I live outside Nashville, not in it. But that somebody would walk up to a house, target a kid, & just kill him, _while turning the act of murder into a sick joke_, makes me cold, & sick inside. ---
**Author:** ![askeptic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/eb9ed0/32.png) [@askeptic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/askeptic)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2006, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-i-now-know-what-the-word-fiend-means-with-newslink/349429/7 "2006-03-22T16:53:31Z")
> [@Bosda Di'Chi of Tricor](#): > > Well, I live outside Nashville, not in it. > > But that somebody would walk up to a house, target a kid, & just kill him, _while turning the act of murder into a sick joke_, makes me cold, & sick inside. Finally we get an answer to the burning question: Where’s Bosda? 😃 If this happened in your neck of the woods I understand the Pitting. What I and some ohers were alluding to was Pit threads (not this one) where people just post random atrocities and say “Can you believe this?”. You have a conection to this story so you get no whining from me about your thread. As to the story, well it seems like there is some posible illegal activity be it drugs or something else. This looks like payback, not random killing. Not that it makes killing the kid less horrific, but just that people not involved in shady shit may not have as much to worry about. It doesn’t appear to be some random serial killer going after kids. ---
**Author:** ![Kalhoun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3bc359/32.png) [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2006, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-i-now-know-what-the-word-fiend-means-with-newslink/349429/8 "2006-03-22T17:17:01Z")
I get where you’re coming from. Of _course_ I’m saddened and perplexed by this kind of behavior…who wouldn’t be? But if I posted regarding every senseless murder (i.e., all of them) that’s all I’d ever do. I assume we’re _all_ saddened and perplexed. No need to underline the horror of senseless murder. The real issue, in my opinion, is how to keep guns out of the hands of murderers. In _that_ thread, you could provide a hundred links like this to make your point. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2006, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-i-now-know-what-the-word-fiend-means-with-newslink/349429/9 "2006-03-22T17:55:38Z")
> [@Fear Itself](#): > > [There’s a lot of that going on lately:](http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2006-03-21-ohio-teen_x.htm) Yep. At least [this idiot](http://www.nydailynews.com/news/local/story/400667p-339441c.html) didn’t pull the trigger. ---
**Author:** ![JohnBckWLD](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d6d6ee/32.png) [@JohnBckWLD](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnBckWLD)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2006, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-i-now-know-what-the-word-fiend-means-with-newslink/349429/10 "2006-03-22T18:03:54Z")
I’ll see your your hooded, inhuman killer, and raise you a [depraved animal of a mother](http://cbs13.com/topstories/topstories_story_063230854.html). ---
**Author:** ![Diane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/2acd7d/32.png) [@Diane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diane)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2006, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-i-now-know-what-the-word-fiend-means-with-newslink/349429/11 "2006-03-23T01:57:08Z")
You think those stories are horrid? CHECK THIS OUT!!! [http://sev.prnewswire.com/entertainment/20060112/NYTH04812012006-1.html](http://sev.prnewswire.com/entertainment/20060112/NYTH04812012006-1.html) ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2006, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-i-now-know-what-the-word-fiend-means-with-newslink/349429/12 "2006-03-23T02:28:39Z")
> [@Bosda's link](#): > > Asked if the suburban neighborhood of ranch-style houses was considered generally safe, Phillips said: “Let me put it this way: I’ve been here a few times before on these (type) calls.” Yessireebob, that’s the neighborhood in which I want to live. :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![Gr8Kat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gr8kat/32/18668_2.png) [@Gr8Kat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gr8Kat)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2006, 5:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-i-now-know-what-the-word-fiend-means-with-newslink/349429/13 "2006-03-23T05:36:59Z")
> [@Diane](#): > > You think those stories are horrid? > > CHECK THIS OUT!!! > > [http://sev.prnewswire.com/entertainment/20060112/NYTH04812012006-1.html](http://sev.prnewswire.com/entertainment/20060112/NYTH04812012006-1.html) OMG, people are so heartless, senseless, and cruel. This makes me think maybe the world would be a better place if humanity weren’t in it. ---
**Author:** ![MysteryFellow63427](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a88e4f/32.png) [@MysteryFellow63427](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MysteryFellow63427)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2006, 7:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-i-now-know-what-the-word-fiend-means-with-newslink/349429/14 "2006-03-23T07:47:58Z")
> [@Gr8Kat](#): > > OMG, people are so heartless, senseless, and cruel. This makes me think maybe the world would be a better place if humanity weren’t in it. This thread is a beautiful microcosm of every other “horrible crime in the news” thread we’ve ever had. From original post to despair of humanity in only 13 replies. ---
**Author:** ![clairobscur](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/839c29/32.png) [@clairobscur](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clairobscur)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2006, 12:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-i-now-know-what-the-word-fiend-means-with-newslink/349429/15 "2006-03-23T12:10:28Z")
> [@Kalhoun](#): > > I get where you’re coming from. Of _course_ I’m saddened and perplexed by this kind of behavior…who wouldn’t be? But if I posted regarding every senseless murder (i.e., all of them) that’s all I’d ever do. I assume we’re _all_ saddened and perplexed. No need to underline the horror of senseless murder. > . The only time I opened a pit thread (nothing to do with crimes or murders), it was because I needed to vent. I generally assume that people (some at least) open threads about repugnant crimes for the same reason. You’re saying that we’re all “saddened and perplexed by this kind of behavior”. But actually, some people are much more disturbed than that by such news items. My ex was like this. Reports of murders, especially if they involved children, deeply upset her. No just a casual “how awful!” she really had (and still has) a hard time dealing wit these events. I’ve no doubt that if she were a regular poster here, lacking someone else to share her feelings with, she would post in the Pit just to vent. By the way, I’m not sure why people find these threads more understandable when the the OP lives in the general vicinity of the crime scene. If their neighbor was murdered, for instance, it would of course makes a difference. But residents of a large city like in this instance? I don’t feel differently when I read about a crime commited in Paris and in Nashville, personnally. So, I don’t really understand why opening this thread should be understandable if the OP lives in Nashville but not if he lives in, say, Salt Lake City. ---
**Author:** ![askeptic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/eb9ed0/32.png) [@askeptic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/askeptic)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2006, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-i-now-know-what-the-word-fiend-means-with-newslink/349429/16 "2006-03-23T14:19:43Z")
> [@clairobscur](#): > > By the way, I’m not sure why people find these threads more understandable when the the OP lives in the general vicinity of the crime scene. If their neighbor was murdered, for instance, it would of course makes a difference. But residents of a large city like in this instance? I don’t feel differently when I read about a crime commited in Paris and in Nashville, personnally. So, I don’t really understand why opening this thread should be understandable if the OP lives in Nashville but not if he lives in, say, Salt Lake City. You don’t see why a serial killer on the loose in the city you live in might be more relavent than one in some other city. ---
**Author:** ![Cheesesteak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cheesesteak/32/3694_2.png) [@Cheesesteak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheesesteak)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2006, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-i-now-know-what-the-word-fiend-means-with-newslink/349429/17 "2006-03-23T14:40:01Z")
> [@Bosda Di'Chi of Tricor](#): > > But that somebody would walk up to a house, target a kid, & just kill him, _while turning the act of murder into a sick joke_, makes me cold, & sick inside. That’s not how I read the story. I interpreted it as the murderer using the “present” line to get into the house and kill one of the adults. When an adult saw the weapon and tried to close the door/get the kids out, murderer starts shooting and hits a kid. Doesn’t mean it’s any less of a murder, but it’s less twisted than targeting a random little kid and giving him a “present” made of lead. ---
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2006, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-i-now-know-what-the-word-fiend-means-with-newslink/349429/18 "2006-03-23T15:25:54Z")
I’m curious about the level of gang activity in areas where these killings occur. It’s sometimes considered very good PR for an up-and-coming gangbanger to off civilians without cause. Especially if he doesn’t get caught. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2006, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-i-now-know-what-the-word-fiend-means-with-newslink/349429/19 "2006-03-23T17:02:43Z")
New news link, with additional info. [http://www.wsmv.com/Global/story.asp?S=4667561](http://www.wsmv.com/Global/story.asp?S=4667561) ---
**Author:** ![Gr8Kat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gr8kat/32/18668_2.png) [@Gr8Kat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gr8Kat)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2006, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-i-now-know-what-the-word-fiend-means-with-newslink/349429/20 "2006-03-24T03:23:36Z")
> [@neuroman](#): > > This thread is a beautiful microcosm of every other “horrible crime in the news” thread we’ve ever had. From original post to despair of humanity in only 13 replies. Sorry, it was a link to an article about a Tori Spelling sitcom. I lost my head. Some things are too awful to dwell on for long.