After suffering a stroke that he was sure would kill him over the weekend, James Brewer confessed to killing his neighbour way back in 1977. Unfortunately for him, he made a full recovery, and is now in jail facing the death penalty for murder.
The BBC reports:
“He wanted to cleanse his soul, because he thought he was going to the great beyond,” said police detective Tony Grasso, who interviewed Mr Brewer in an Oklahoma hospital, The Oklahoman website reported.
Mr Brewer had reportedly moved to Oklahoma from Tennessee after jumping bail after he was originally arrested and charged with Mr Carroll’s murder in 1977.
The former factory worker changed his name to Michael Anderson and settled down with his wife, Dorothy, in the town of Shawnee.
Apparently Brewer killed his neighbour because he thought he was trying to seduce his wife. But 32 years is a long time — I don’t know whether to feel sorry for the guy or not.
Thanks, Laurie!
Story via FP Legal Post.
2 responses so far ↓
1 B // Mar 26, 2009 at 9:21 am
Murder is murder.
I’m not a supporter of the death penalty, but he’s as guilty today as he was 32 years ago.
2 mark // Mar 26, 2009 at 9:55 am
I don’t support the death penalty here either, and it’s clearly performed with punishment rather than rehabilitation in mind. But for other crimes there’s a statute of limitations that prevents this sort of thing because the stated purposes of incarceration are rehabilitation and the protection of the public. If he hasn’t committed any crimes in 32 years, he can make a pretty strong argument that he has been rehabilitated and is no longer a danger.
I’m not saying they should let him go, and I’d certainly rest easier as a relative of the victim knowing he were in jail. I’m just saying that this raises all sorts of questions about the way we punish criminals and why.
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