Katie Beers' Captor Found Dead at NY Prison

[LiberalElite]

Source: Wall Street Journal

OSSINING, N.Y. — A man convicted of holding a 10-year-old girl prisoner for 17 days in a suburban New York dungeon has been found dead in his prison cell.

Read more: http://online.wsj.com/article/AP90a1e0d3440740d9aac07317aa82f70d.html

[7962]

1. Hey, at this rate we should be rid of these scum in a few months!

death penalty by proxy. First Castro, now this guy.

[Kelvin Mace]

8. Why do people take pleasure in the death of sick people?

I would also remind you that while the guilt of these two men is not in doubt, plenty of people go to prison, branded "scum" for abusing/molesting children who are entirely innocent:

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/innocence/etc/sum.html

I was in NC when this witch hunt was going on and damn near got my ass kicked on several occasions for DARING to point out the glaring holes in the prosecution's case and the overwhelming evidence, even at the time, that this kind of abuse (ritual Satanic sexual abuse/murder) has never happened.

The deaths of these two men is yet another massive indictment of the failure of the criminal justice system in America. People are sent to prison for human punishment and rehabilitation, we fail at this daily (never mind the hundreds of thousands of drug users who belong in treatment, not prison) and our society is the worse for it.

[7962]

9. My opinion is only based on those guilty with NO doubt

There are plenty of those cases. Especially when it comes to kids, off with their heads.
But I also believe that in death penalty cases, there should be no "beyond reasonable doubt" instruction. There should be NO DOUBT. Again, there are plenty of those cases. OJ Simpson? I believe he's guilty of murder. But with NO DOUBT? No. MAjor Hassan? Yes; NO DOUBT.

I remember that case very well, and I was feeling the same way you were. Seen it since then too, in other cases. You mention NC, look at the Duke Lacrosse rape scandal. There's another good example of a rush to judgement. But in my area, there are enough (sadly) cases where the guilty party is ridiculously guilty.

[Kelvin Mace]

14. Even cases with "no doubt" can be problematic

Take Susan Smith of South Carolina.

A more odious and deserving murderer would be hard to find. Murdered her two children, then blamed it on an imaginary black man.

The prosecution crowed that they would seek the death penalty and the community screamed for blood.

But where was that cry for justice and demand for justice when Susan Smith was a young child being abused by an alcoholic father? Where was the sympathy for the six year old Susan when her father committed suicide? Then, when at 15, her step-father began molesting and raping her, where was the outrage? It was not like people didn't know. The crimes were reported to the police and the church where her step-father was an "elder". Despite his admission that the molestation did occur, her step-father was never arrested, never mind tried, and the fact that he was molesting his step-daughter didn't seem to hard his standing in the community.

So, Susan Smith, a very mentally damaged young woman, went on to murder her children, and ONLY then did the community worry about "justice".

There are genuine psychopaths in the world, but absent an organic defect, these people have been molded into the monsters they are, but a society that can't be bothered to protect children from adult predators (themselves usually victims of predators).

You bring up O.J., who in my book was guilty WITHOUT doubt. The evidence was overwhelming and had he not been a famous sports hero with a bank full of cash, he would have been convicted.

But even then, society had plenty of warning that O.J. was a problem, a violent man with a predilection for beating women. His conduct was tolerated because of the pervasive misogyny in our criminal justice system, plus its worship at the altar of celebrity and money.

Major Hassan was spouting all sorts of warning signs that he was sick, yet no one paid attention. Why? Because he wore a uniform, and people in uniforms are automatically given wide latitude in their behavior. If you are a soldier or a policeman, you REALLY have to cross the line to warrant official notice.

It is easy to turn our backs on human beings and rejoice in their death. All we have to do is declare them "monsters" while ignoring society's role in their creation.

[tabasco]

15. Because the world is a better place without them

Next question.

[Kelvin Mace]

16. Really?

And yet, so many other people who "deserve" to die live, and those that deserve to live, die.

Who decides?



If it turns out that the these people were murdered in their cells, are the murders making the world a better place or a worse place by resorting to murder?

I am all for punishing lawbreakers, humanely. Turning them loose to vigilante justice? Not so much. Rejoicing over anyone's death?

Never.

[tabasco]

18. Everybody decides for themselves

Personally, I'm happy when truly evil people die.

More oxygen for the rest of us.

[Kelvin Mace]

19. Glad the world is so black and white for you

I guess I worry too much about writing people off with a simple label.

[cliffordu]

2. Apparently, kidnapping young women is really bad for your health.

Bummer.

[mopinko]

4. 10 is not a young woman. it's a girl. a little girl.

[cliffordu]

5. I stand corrected.

[Ian David]

3. I wonder if Dr. Heisenberg is behind this. n/t

[alcibiades_mystery]

6. That was my first thought, too

[msanthrope]

7. Werner or Walter? I wish I was learned enough to make some witty remark

on quantum suicide, but I'm just glad this bastard is dead.

[7962]

10. Yes.

[msanthrope]

13. Schrodinger's cat is going to appear soon, isn't it? nt

[christx30]

11. So what you're saying

Is that you are uncertain about Heisenberg.

[msanthrope]

12. I think so. nt

[freshwest]

17. MUGSHOT and details from LATIMES:

...John Esposito, who was serving 15 years to life for kidnapping Beers, was found in his cell at Sing Sing prison Wednesday, according to state officials. The death of the 64-year-old man appears to have been from natural causes, but the local medical examiners will examine the body and issue a formal ruling, officials told reporters...

On Dec. 28, 1992, Beers, just two days shy of her 10th birthday, disappeared. Evidence later showed that she had been lured by Esposito, her neighbor, into a 6-by-7-foot concrete bunker under his garage in Bay Shore, N.Y.

Esposito claimed he took the child because he loved her. Though he was never charged with a sexual crime, Beers later said she was raped in captivity. Beers wrote a book published this year about her experience.

Esposito's body was found shortly after a parole hearing, his fourth appearance before the board.

http://www.latimes.com/nation/nationnow/la-na-nn-man-kidnapped-katie-beers-dead-prison-20130905,0,274441.story

I never knew anything about Katie Beers until this thread. She says she's relieved he won't get out to hurt anyone else. He was sentenced to fifteen years to life, so he had a chance to get parole. So she may have be right, he would have done it again.

There is more about this story at this link. I guess people on the East Coast heard about this:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/man-who-held-10-year-old-katie-beers-prisoner-in-ny-dungeon-in-1992-found-dead-in-prison-cell/2013/09/05/a4ea0b88-1619-11e3-961c-f22d3aaf19ab_story.html

I could make a sarcastic comment about a man who thinks locking a ten-year-old in a 6X7 foot concrete bunker as their honeymoon suite and calls raping a minor love, but I'll leave it to your imagination.