A Texas man who unsuccessfully challenged the safety of the state’s lethal injection drugs and raised questions about evidence used to persuade a jury to sentence him to death for killing an elderly woman decades ago was executed late Tuesday.
Jedidiah Murphy, 48, was pronounced dead after an injection at the state penitentiary in Huntsville for the October 2000 fatal shooting of 80-year-old Bertie Lee Cunningham of the Dallas suburb of Garland. Cunningham was killed during a carjacking.
“To the family of the victim, I sincerely apologize for all of it,” Murphy said while strapped to a gurney in the Texas death chamber and after a Christian pastor, his right hand on Murphy’s chest, prayed for the victim’s family, Murphy’s family and friends and the inmate.
“I hope this helps, if possible, give you closure,” Murphy said.
Man, just imagine being 48 and getting the punishment for something your 25-year-old self did.
I’m in my mid 40s, mid 20s feels like a lifetime and a few different versions of myself in the past. A shame there’s no way to give us this perspective when we’re young, maybe some hallucinogens could help but I’d doubt it’d be the same. I couldn’t even imagine myself at 40 when I was in my early 20s but that’s how life goes for now.
Man. Just imagine being 25 and shooting anyone to steal their car, let alone an 80 year old lady.
Carjackers are a big enough scurge to society, there’s no room for the degenerates that stoop even lower and do it violently
As orbitz said, my comment is mostly about how much of a different person you are at that point.
There is an ethical argument to be had. After such a long time, the more noble purposes of punishment fade out (e.g. protection of society, correction of the offender), and then especially with death penalty, this looks rather barbaric.
But we would need a lot of details for this to be anything but a theoretical exercise, so I did intend to formulate it in a fashion that even if someone thinks eye-for-an-eye is peak morality, they could still be onboard with it.
I took the comment you replied to as a topic of how we change as people rather than not wanting criminals to be punished. I do agree people who murder and commit other violent crimes should be punished but doing it nearly double the age you committed the crime at is like punishing a different person, assuming they grow like most people.
Again I want to state I don’t think they should have been let off or treated lightly, murdering anyone let alone the more vulnerable is a heinous act and deserves stiff punishment if we want to remain a just society. Just wanted to comment on a more philosophical side where we mature and are rarely the same person 20 years later so there seems to be a bit of a gap in justice being done timely. I’d rather die sooner than living in prison for a couple decades but I say that who has never been so maybe my opinion doesn’t meant much.
Calling people degenerates is a degenerate thing to do.
Car thieves, home invaders, etc. All contribute NOTHING of value to society, and actively take from it. They are degenerate criminals
Man, just imagine carjacking and murdering an old lady.