Skilled attorneys and psychiatrists eagerly defend numerous killers, at the expense most often of the taxpayers, in an attempt to spare them the death penalty or to relieve them of their responsibility for killing another human being. Often, prosecutors opt for a “life” sentence due to the horrific costs of endless appeals and legal fees that must be paid by the public.
The ilk of Spengler, John Hinckley Jr., Jared Lee Loughner and the countless others do not merit the high cost of their public defense, nor the costs of keeping them in prison for an extended time. That extended time includes their legal expenses, health care and anything else that they deem necessary. The most recent police killer in Seattle has already cost the taxpayers more than $1 million dollars in legal fees alone, and was recently awarded his own television set. Had Spengler been put to death for beating his grandmother to death with a hammer, most likely his three victims would still be alive. The death penalty is not the end-all solution to murder. The death penalty does prevent those who murder because they like to from doing it again and again and again!
