I was re-reading about the sentencing of Lockett for a night of abduction, felony assault, rape, and murder.
The story is as hard to read as any such crime spree–the action of violence spiral out from a center of evil. And we have to face that evil was unleashed by a very deliberate man.
Lockett’s original defense called people to testify that he had been abused and abandoned as a child and was subjected to “homosexual rape.”
They called upon a caseworker to testify that when children are subjected to this kind of abuse they usually suppress rage that leads them to become abusers.
Wow.
Ironically the court record regarding Charles Warner alleges that he physically abused his children.
Are we really to assume these victims of rape and abuse are ticking bombs who will eventually become violent criminals themselves?
No.
It is one more heartbreaking example of the way we fail to protect our children or help them heal when things go wrong.
The vast majority of people who survive child abuse and sexual assault live with the scars and the silence, but they are good people, good parents, normal and law-abiding.
The myth of the psychopathic rape survivor is one more act of shame done unto them, forcing victims into a silent margin.
Lockett was responsible for his crimes. And he had so many other roads he could have taken instead of leading Stephanie Neiman to a agonizing death.
Elealee's Blog 
It truly is a shame his execution was a quick as it was. He commits a crime that is absolutely disgusting and we say because his painless death was botched is so sad. So many try to say the death penalty makes lawful citizens no different. No, what that does is makes them victims, no form of protection gives these criminals the upper hand. When possible their death should be made as painful as what they inflicted. When this happens to your family member, you try to forgive him, I won’t wait. The sooner their punished and permanently not a risk the better.
We want to think of ourselves as “civilized,” but we cannot unless we reckon with the terrible cost of the crime itself.