# Scumbag ransacks home of family killed in car crash **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [December 2, 2009, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scumbag-ransacks-home-of-family-killed-in-car-crash/519660 "2009-12-02T02:48:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2009, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scumbag-ransacks-home-of-family-killed-in-car-crash/519660/41 "2009-12-03T16:55:26Z")
Me too. Same with being stabbed or shot or raped. If anyone happens to come across my dead body, go ahead and roll it for my wallet. It won’t care. ---
**Author:** ![TruCelt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trucelt/32/523_2.png) [@TruCelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruCelt)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2009, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scumbag-ransacks-home-of-family-killed-in-car-crash/519660/42 "2009-12-03T17:06:43Z")
It is despicable, horrible and nauseating. It also reminded me of how much I miss “The Riches.” ---
**Author:** ![otternell](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ecc23a/32.png) [@otternell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/otternell)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2009, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scumbag-ransacks-home-of-family-killed-in-car-crash/519660/43 "2009-12-03T17:08:27Z")
someone just did that here in Des Moines too. Lady somehow drove into a lake and died\*, they broke into her house the next day. What assholes! \*I am missing a lot of details on this side of the story ---
**Author:** ![Valgard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/7feea3/32.png) [@Valgard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Valgard)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2009, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scumbag-ransacks-home-of-family-killed-in-car-crash/519660/44 "2009-12-03T17:15:09Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > That’s a reach. No it’s not. These jackasses deliberately took advantage of a horrible tragedy to make a few bucks and in the process caused additional suffering to the surviving relatives and friends. I don’t know if this makes them guilty of some more serious crime (and that’s not what this thread is about anyhow) but from an ethical standpoint it’s worse than just burglarizing a random house. ---
**Author:** ![Jimmy\_Joe\_Meager](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/bb73d2/32.png) [@Jimmy\_Joe\_Meager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jimmy_Joe_Meager)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2009, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scumbag-ransacks-home-of-family-killed-in-car-crash/519660/45 "2009-12-03T17:59:29Z")
> [@Lute Skywatcher](#): > > Wait, a Mini Cooper hit a minivan and won? \*Mini \*Cooper vs. _mini_van. It’s like midget wrestling. Just not as hillarious. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2009, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scumbag-ransacks-home-of-family-killed-in-car-crash/519660/46 "2009-12-03T18:13:48Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > Burglars should be shot on sight, then shot again if the first shot is not fatal. Many (certainly not all) people agree with this. I do. You mean if they’re in the act of breaking into your house while you’re there? Or anytime after the fact? ---
**Author:** ![sleestak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/919ad9/32.png) [@sleestak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sleestak)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2009, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scumbag-ransacks-home-of-family-killed-in-car-crash/519660/47 "2009-12-03T21:00:48Z")
My Grandmother died when I was 24. At the time I had a bunch of stuff stored in her house and garage as I was moving and needed a place to keep some stuff until the new place was ready. I went by her house to get something around 9 at night. When I got there the front door was open. She always locked up around 5. I couldn’t find her in the house. I looked in the backyard (which was huge) and didn’t see her. So I called my Dad. We finally found her in the very corner of the backyard. She had a heart attack while doing some yard work. We called an ambulance and the police. She probably had died around 9 in the morning. I ended up going home with my Dad as we were both extremely upset. The next day we went over the house. When we got there we found that someone had broken in. They took all my guitar stuff and a large amount of my Grandma’s stuff as well. Most of the stuff they took were items that my Grandma wanted me and the rest of my family to have. Someone saw that the little old lady on the corner died and decided to rip off her house. They never did catch the bastards. Slee ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2009, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scumbag-ransacks-home-of-family-killed-in-car-crash/519660/48 "2009-12-03T22:37:01Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > How so? It’s a victimless crime at that point. Obviously, it’s still burglary, still a crime, but how can it possibly be worse than stealing from people who are actually alive and capable of being harmed by it? It is not victimless. Their things are now in their estate, which will go most likely to a relative or relatives. Perhaps their will leaves it to charity, in which case the charity would have lost the money if the things hadn’t been recovered. I think the California budget crisis might be solved if they raffled off the chance to beat the snot out of these assholes - after they are properly convicted, of course. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2009, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scumbag-ransacks-home-of-family-killed-in-car-crash/519660/49 "2009-12-03T22:43:56Z")
Ok, so they stole from the heirs to the estate. That’s still no worse than stealing from anybody else. I would even argue that it’s marginally less bad since the heirs have not had their own homes invaded. Please understand, I’m not trying to defend it. I just don’t see why it’s worse than any other burglary. ---
**Author:** ![stretch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a6a055/32.png) [@stretch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stretch)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2009, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scumbag-ransacks-home-of-family-killed-in-car-crash/519660/50 "2009-12-04T00:28:55Z")
Dio, perhaps, this will help. It’s not that this is worse than another burgulary; it’s that people out there think “Score! Someone died, let’s go steal their shit!” So that may be why some of us are extra-disgusted by these criminals. At least, that’s why I am. ---
**Author:** ![SteveG1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bb73d2/32.png) [@SteveG1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SteveG1)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2009, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scumbag-ransacks-home-of-family-killed-in-car-crash/519660/51 "2009-12-04T16:25:25Z")
Let’s simplify a little. let’s get to the meat of the thing. These thieves are vultures, scumbags. I for one refuse to pretend I feel antyhing less than disgust for them. I don’t feel a need to justify that. I have no sympathy for them, I feel not the slightest shred of respect for them. I would go so far to say, that inserting the argument in here,\* that it would be different if the family were still alive\*, does not alter my opinion, and I consider it to be irrelevant. It is a strawman. Even if it were relevant, garbage is still garbage. Polish a turd and it’s still a turd. Since when did it become improper to feel disgust for what people do to? ---
**Author:** ![StGermain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stgermain/32/2868_2.png) [@StGermain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StGermain)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2009, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scumbag-ransacks-home-of-family-killed-in-car-crash/519660/52 "2009-12-04T16:39:19Z")
To me, this is so reprehensible because it’s like stealing the gold teeth from a corpse. While it’s true the person no longer has need of it, grave-robbing is especially bad because the dead can’t defend themselves or their possessions. StG ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2009, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scumbag-ransacks-home-of-family-killed-in-car-crash/519660/53 "2009-12-04T16:48:42Z")
Dead people are no longer people, though. They don’t have possessions. They’re just meat. You could be stealing from heirs, of course, but stealing gold teeth from a corpse is just stealing from meat. Not that I would do such a thing, but I don’t see that it actually hurts anybody other than offending the sensibilities of the living. ---
**Author:** ![SteveG1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bb73d2/32.png) [@SteveG1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SteveG1)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2009, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scumbag-ransacks-home-of-family-killed-in-car-crash/519660/54 "2009-12-04T16:54:38Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > Dead people are no longer people, though. They don’t have possessions. They’re just meat. You could be stealing from heirs, of course, but stealing gold teeth from a corpse is just stealing from meat. Not that I would do such a thing, but I don’t see that it actually hurts anybody other than offending the sensibilities of the living. Why do you even care what some of us think? Some of us think it was a twisted and contemptible thing to do. Accept that as our opinion and move on. ---
**Author:** ![TruCelt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trucelt/32/523_2.png) [@TruCelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruCelt)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2009, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scumbag-ransacks-home-of-family-killed-in-car-crash/519660/55 "2009-12-04T17:23:09Z")
I dunno, I kind of get his point. I’d rather see the Christmas presents of a child who won’t miss them disappear, than to have a living child wake up on Christmas morning to nothing. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2009, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scumbag-ransacks-home-of-family-killed-in-car-crash/519660/56 "2009-12-04T21:31:53Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > Ok, so they stole from the heirs to the estate. That’s still no worse than stealing from anybody else. I would even argue that it’s marginally less bad since the heirs have not had their own homes invaded. > > Please understand, I’m not trying to defend it. I just don’t see why it’s worse than any other burglary. The article didn’t mention it, but I heard on the radio yesterday that there is a 19 year old daughter who wasn’t in the car, and so survived. Does that change your mind. I also heard that one of the crooks claimed that he had no idea the house belonged to these people. Even he says that anyone deliberately invading this home was a monster. He might well be lying in order to reduce his chances of getting a really long sentence, but perhaps you should reconsider when even the crook is harder on himself than you are on him. ---
**Author:** ![SteveG1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bb73d2/32.png) [@SteveG1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SteveG1)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2009, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scumbag-ransacks-home-of-family-killed-in-car-crash/519660/57 "2009-12-04T22:59:57Z")
> [@Voyager](#): > > The article didn’t mention it, but I heard on the radio yesterday that there is a 19 year old daughter who wasn’t in the car, and so survived. Does that change your mind. > > I also heard that one of the crooks claimed that he had no idea the house belonged to these people. Even he says that anyone deliberately invading this home was a monster. He might well be lying in order to reduce his chances of getting a really long sentence, but perhaps you should reconsider when even the crook is harder on himself than you are on him. Strangely, that makes me think a little better of him (though not TOO much), for some reason. ---
**Author:** ![zweisamkeit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zweisamkeit/32/4360_2.png) [@zweisamkeit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zweisamkeit)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2009, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scumbag-ransacks-home-of-family-killed-in-car-crash/519660/58 "2009-12-05T01:19:24Z")
> [@TruCelt](#): > > I dunno, I kind of get his point. I’d rather see the Christmas presents of a child who won’t miss them disappear, than to have a living child wake up on Christmas morning to nothing. But that’s not the _reason_ most people are disgusted. It’s not the fact a burglary happened. It’s the fact that a burglary happened _specifically because the burglars knew the family was dead_. If the family hadn’t died, their house wouldn’t have been robbed. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2009, 5:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scumbag-ransacks-home-of-family-killed-in-car-crash/519660/59 "2009-12-05T05:06:05Z")
So what? I still don’t see how that makes it worse. I judge levels of evil by how much it hurts other people. This did not hurt other people any more than any other burglary. it’s not any better either. I think burglars are scum too, I just think that burgling from the living is every bit as bad as burgling from the dead, and arguably, marginally worse. ---
**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:** [December 5, 2009, 11:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scumbag-ransacks-home-of-family-killed-in-car-crash/519660/60 "2009-12-05T11:43:15Z")
Early this year, most of a family got killed in a tornado. So, one of our local scumbags wents & looted the half of the house still standing, as well as the storage shed. Got caught in the act, too. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scumbag-ransacks-home-of-family-killed-in-car-crash/519660.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scumbag-ransacks-home-of-family-killed-in-car-crash/519660.md?page=4)