Be nice to total strangers ...
... because the nutcases are out there.
One of my local news feeds announced the sentencing of Lankward Harrington (then 22) for the Oct 2006 murder of Jose Villatoro (35). Villatoro, an immigrant from El Salvador, worked for a landscaping service. Harrington was angry that day: his father had kicked him out of their apartment, he thought his girlfriend was cheating on him, and he had been smoking PCP; and he went over the edge when Villatoro's line trimmer sprayed him with grass clippings. Harrington shot Villatoro four times with a .357 magnum. (And I think handguns are illegal in D.C., but that doesn't even bear mention in local reports.)"I made sure he saw me and looked me in the eye. .... I take pride in my appearance. I did not appreciate that. .... He got grass on me."
It took the jury less than ten minutes to return a guilty verdict.
Villatoro's wife, Carmela, was surprised that the trial process took three years. Harrington pleaded insanity at an earlier trial that resulted in a hung jury. Since then two of the three psychologists who examined him changed their evaluation to say he was not insane. His sentence is 61 years.
One of my local news feeds announced the sentencing of Lankward Harrington (then 22) for the Oct 2006 murder of Jose Villatoro (35). Villatoro, an immigrant from El Salvador, worked for a landscaping service. Harrington was angry that day: his father had kicked him out of their apartment, he thought his girlfriend was cheating on him, and he had been smoking PCP; and he went over the edge when Villatoro's line trimmer sprayed him with grass clippings. Harrington shot Villatoro four times with a .357 magnum. (And I think handguns are illegal in D.C., but that doesn't even bear mention in local reports.)"I made sure he saw me and looked me in the eye. .... I take pride in my appearance. I did not appreciate that. .... He got grass on me."
It took the jury less than ten minutes to return a guilty verdict.
Villatoro's wife, Carmela, was surprised that the trial process took three years. Harrington pleaded insanity at an earlier trial that resulted in a hung jury. Since then two of the three psychologists who examined him changed their evaluation to say he was not insane. His sentence is 61 years.