January 8th 1981
There was no candle light vigil on the night of January 8th 1981. No group marching in support of life staving off the cold and placating their boredom with a few Bob Dylan records.
"Morales “practiced” how he was going to strangle Terri, and told his girlfriend on the day of the murder how he was going to strangle and “hurt” someone.
The day of the murder, Ortega tricked Terri into accompanying him and Morales in Ortega’s car to a remote area near Lodi, California. There, Morales attacked Terri from behind and attempted to strangle her with his belt. Terri struggled and the belt broke in two. Morales then took out a hammer and began hitting Terri in the head with it. She screamed for Ortega to help and attempted to fight off the attack, ripping her own hair out of her scalp in the struggle. Morales beat Terri into unconsciousness, crushing her skull and leaving 23 identifiable wounds in her skull.
Morales took Terri from the car and instructed Ortega to leave and come back later. Ortega left and Morales then dragged Terri face-down across the road and into a vineyard. Morales then raped her while she lay unconscious. Morales then started to leave, but went back and stabbed Terri four times in the chest to make sure she died. Morales then left Terri, calling her “a fucking bitch,” as he walked away. Terri died from both the head and chest wounds. Her body was left in the vineyard naked from the waist down, with her sweater and bra pulled up over her breasts.
Morales confessed to killing Terri to jailhouse informant Bruce Samuelson, as well as his girlfriend Raquel Cardenas and his housemate Patricia Flores. Morales threatened both Cardenas and Flores prior to his trial so they would not testify about what he told them."
Morales is now sitting in a cell saved from a legal system that had sentenced him to death yet decided that the possibility of any pain in his execution would be cruel and unusual.
Have we won?
posted by Nate @ 7:38 AM
7 comments
7 Comments:
Kill him!
Regardless of where you stand on Capital Punishment, and I can see an argument for both sides, to root for the planned killing of another, especially one none of us has ever met or know, is cold. If this is the justice that our society has decided upon, than it should be performed with the utmost solemnity and respect. All that to say: Shut the hell up Big Bird!
innapropriate big bird
I need to hear an argument for capital punishment because in my head it doesn't seem to pan out. But I'm sure there are things I'm not seeing.
nate b-
in response to your comment- there are really two arguments that need can be had.
i believe that killing is wrong, regardless. i believe what morales did, was absolutely horrible in every way. i dont believe killing him, or anyone, is the answer.
but before that debate can even take place, there is a much bigger debate, and that is the death penalty itself, being a flawed system. you are going to continue TAKING PEOPLES LIVES... with a flawed system??? are you serious?
The system preys on the poor. I will leave race out of it for now... but people with money who can afford more then a public defender almost ALWAYS get life in prison, while the poor are very often arbitrarily picked to die, often due to inadequate defense lawyers. some, like OJ, get off scott free.
even worse since 1978, 152 people have been exonerated by DNA evidence, AFTER being sentenced to Death Row. that is way to many. Even worse, of that number, a dozen (possibly more) had ALREADY been executed. Unacceptable.
Before we even have the debate about whether taking life through capital punishment is wrong, you better come to me with a system that works. not one that is broken on so many levels.
nate e-
i appreciate the article to whip up the emotions of the uninformed and possibly mentally retarded (big bird)... but that story had a number of innacuracies. but i guess once you (or someone else) puts it in print it becomes true, right? shame on you. but i guess thats not that important now,
the bottom line: did morales commit a heinous crime? yes. should he be punished? absolutely. should the state arbitrarily decide to take his life while thousands of convicted murderes sit in jail for multiple homicides due to fancy lawyer-ing? well, i guess that is the big debate, isnt it?
I agree that the system is flawed. What I mean by system is the process in which one is convicted as being guilty or innocent by the govening body. But nonetheless the system is there to punish evildoers. And it is God ordained.
The fact that DNA testing has shown how flawed the system has been, should cause us to look at it closer and seek a better and more consistent system. And though DNA testing gives rise to the argument that many in the past have been wrongly but to death, it also shows that now we can more accurately tell who the criminal is and could cut back on this tragedy. So in a way the DNA argument could also be used for a more accurate Capital Punishment.
I also believe that killing is wrong and should never be taken into our own hands. But I also believe that God gave us the government to "carry the sword".
We should seek justice for the poor and oppressed but not simply by making sure they don't die but only do a life sentence, but by fighting any governmental injustice or prejudice.
Capital Punishment is not an injustice in itself but a punishment. And the government is to punish.
This is my opinion, I think some of it comes from the Bible, Romans 13. But I could be wrong. Let me know what you think.
death you are my bitch lover...
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