They deserved each other

[NotHardUp1]

I've watched a lot of Forensic Files, and The New Detectives.

Of course, they don't tell you how rare it is for these murders to be solved, but they are inspiring in that, at least for the few, the forensic evidence convicts some truly awful killers out there.

Tonight though, I couldn't find the sympathetic character. Not the 17-yr.-old murdered, not his mother who was injured by the pipe bomb that killed her son, and not the piece of human filth who sent the pipe bomb in revenge for being cheated on a $400 internet purchase of a CB radio.

The murderer was a 36-yr.-old man named Christopher Dean from Indiana. He had purchased a CB online from a seller in Vermont, a 17-yr.-old high school dropout who was steadily cheating customers online by selling them radio equipment, but then switching their purchase for a cheaper substitute and pocketing the difference due to the cheat.

He had hordes of people mad at him, so when he was killed by a pipe bomb in the mail, there were lots of suspects to investigate.

And his mother had known that he was cheating people, and admitted that the phone was always ringing with these outraged people and her son would tell her to tell them he was not home. So, even though she downplayed it, she knew that her son was hated by folks and either she didn't bother finding out why, or she knew and didn't care that he was a cheat and a thief.

The bomber in Indiana was otherwise a well-liked community member with lots of friends. But, he went over the top when cheated and decided to get revenge by sending a pipe bomb.

He was convicted of the crime and got a life sentence. He had no idea who the seller was, his age, family status, etc.

It's the first time I've watched one of these shows without caring about the principals. The bomber got what he deserved, or close to it if not the death penalty. The kid cheating people was well on his way to a life of crime, so good riddance.

The mother was somewhat innocent as far as was told, but she seems shocked that anyone would become so irate over being cheated. Most people I know assume that when you open Pandora's Box, anything could ensue.

Story happened 20 years ago: https://www.seacoastonline.com/article/20000209/news/302099989

 

[Dominus]

What I would really like to see are supervillains vs supervillains. How come homelander never fought someone like stormfront? Why is it that the bad guys always on the winning side and the good guys always weaker and struggling to survive?

 

[NotHardUp1]

These three were not super anything. The kid was a loser thief. The mother was indifferent to the people he ripped off, then was amazed that it cost her a son's life. The bomber was a small man who launched an act of cowardice that was murderous and indiscriminate.

No heroes or martyrs there.

 

[Cormac135]

Seems a happy outcome all round.

 

[unloadonme]

I agree that it seems to be a question of choosing between a louse and a flea.

 

[NotHardUp1]

And I'm not saying thieves deserve to be bombed, but I am saying I don't care when they are. It's like those crimes when a drug deal goes bad and they wipe out a handful of their "associates." What is the loss?

Once you start down the road of intentionally harming other people by cheating them, you're really not someone I care about protecting or helping.

And if you're the mother and turn a blind eye to criminal activity, you're a big part of the problem, because that's how societies are degraded. India and Mexico both come to mind in the degree of corruption that their citizens are willing to just accept, often in order to validate their own ethical gaps, like stealing electricity, gasoline, internet, or other.

There are always mothers out there in front of the cameras bemoaning the loss of their little rapist, murderer, thief, or whatnot. Such tragic losses. Not.

 

[DepravedMuscleFTL]

of course I strongly disagree with the sentiments expressed in this thread -

a kid scamming to make a few extra bucks doesn't deserve any harm no less death - wtf? like anyone of you have never committed a crime in your life - none of you have ever cheated on your taxes - or drove over the legal limit - drove with a cell phone - or drove after drinking - none of you jaywalk or run red lights - none of you have ever downloaded media illegally - none of you ever used drugs and other illegal substances - none of you drank before the legal age - none of you have littered - and none of you ever stole a candy bar during your youth

these crimes ALL have consequences in our society - and equally or more than scamming a few bucks off of some cb radios - they create GRAVE DANGERS for others - so lets kill them all shall we?

a kid died over a bag of skittles and now the murderer is signing bags of skittles and selling them

this is republican GOP stinking thinking - that someone deserves the consequences of someone else's vigilante justice - it is SICKENING

I saw that episode and I recall that the victim lived right next door to the police station in that small hick town - what if a cop would have been injured - what if the postal carrier had been killed - what if the mother had been killed - it is no less a tragedy that the kid was the one who died - the punishment for a misdemeanor crime isn't death - and anyone who thinks it isn't tragic is one scary fucking human - you all continue to disappoint me - this is exactly why the entire country is rioting and protesting - because of inhumane behavior and strongarm justice - PATHETIC

 

[NotHardUp1]

All crimes are not equal, and even the law doesn't judge them so.

That thieves are treated less severely than murderers matters little to most people. Once a member of society behaves in a manner that directly attacks another member, the injured parties often don't care what befalls the cheats.

And what a sorry excuse to support theft, to accuse everyone in society of cheating on taxes, of stealing, and of illegal drug use. A more accurate list would be who hasn't stolen a car to joyride, who hasn't robbed a liquor store, and who hasn't dealt drugs. Those are more often the rap sheets for petty thieves.

A great deal of society doesn't commit those acts.

WTF, indeed. You minimize that the thief stole thousands and thousands of dollars as he cheated many customers. He stole it from people who worked for a living, who drove trucks over long routes to earn their money. He chose to stole that rather than getting off his lazy ass.

As for branding anyone "other" as GOP, that's pure propaganda there. I've never voted GOP in my life. You obviously need some GOP whipping boy to condemn, but can't find one on JUB.

As for vigilante "justice," no.

I don't think anyone in this thread characterized the bombing as "justice."

It's what happens when criminals deal with criminals. There's nothing sweet or innocent about a teenager who had house and home provided for him cheating dozens of people as he operated his business as an adult. He had quit school. For all purposes, he had assumed a role as a majority aged person would. This wasn't a youthful indiscretion.

Please feel free to feel sickened and clutch those pearls tightly. Much of society, not just GOP is fine with criminals killing criminals.

We have enough thieves in society. Let them kill each other, as they already do in myriad drug dealing gang wars. Good riddance.

And agreed on the inhumane treatment of thieves in riots. The long-standing human and therefore humane response was to shoot looters on sight. "Strongarm justice" is the exception until criminals begin attacking cops and refusing to be arrested when caught. The stats prove it.

 

[mcbrion]

I don't agree with you, Not Hard Up. Simply on principle. Projecting someone's future as doomed to progress into a more criminal lifestyle is cynical.

Malcolm X - as an "alternate reality" ending - also had a childhood marred by theft and some pretty bad scenes (ever read "the Autobiography of Malcolm X"?). If someone based his future on his past behaviour, they'd be as wrong as you might have proven to be if this young man reached 30. That's about the age Malcolm X was when he joined the Nation of Islam and completely turned his life around.

Don't be so sure of your conclusions, although I agree that the kid was - in actuality - a thief, and a con boy/man. And his mother, angry as she was, was the person who raised him. Where do people think their value system stems from? Mom and Dad (if there is a dad in the picture, or a mom for that matter). Mom was complicit in this story. She just looked past his shitty deeds. Well, now he's dead. I wonder where mom's mind is today. She played her part in this tragedy, no matter what lies she told herself. But that's neither here nor there.

The kid never got the chance to evolve. 17 isn't even an age where someone could be diagnosed as sociopathic (18 is the generally agreed-upon age for that), so we'll never know.

I'm sure the tv show showed the most sensationalistic sides of the crime - as tv shows are apt to do. But the kid never got to turn his life around. That was taken from him by the murderer, who, supposedly was "well-liked." I can't imagine what sort of people thought of him this way, unless they didn't know him well. People don't just snap and mail out a pipe bomb. From what I read of the link, he was - likely - a pretty miserable person, but probably fooled a lot of people. He cheated himself out of a decent future as well.

But 17 is a bit young to reach a "They deserved each other" pronouncement. Many people don't turn their lives around until after 30, and keep in mind: the human brain isn't even fully formed until the late 20s . Hence all those "Girls Gone Wild" videos with barely-21 year old exposing themselves (for free, too! That is REALLY dumb. At least get paid for it!) Too bad the kid didn't get the chance to grow up. His character sounds very similar to the murderer's (unhappy and screwed up). Ironic that they found each other and ruined each other's lives.

But so goes The Hand of Fate sometimes.

 

[DepravedMuscleFTL]

All crimes are not equal, and even the law doesn't judge them so.

That thieves are treated less severely than murderers matters little to most people. Once a member of society behaves in a manner that directly attacks another member, the injured parties often don't care what befalls the cheats.

And what a sorry excuse to support theft, to accuse everyone in society of cheating on taxes, of stealing, and of illegal drug use. A more accurate list would be who hasn't stolen a car to joyride, who hasn't robbed a liquor store, and who hasn't dealt drugs. Those are more often the rap sheets for petty thieves.

A great deal of society doesn't commit those acts.

WTF, indeed. You minimize that the thief stole thousands and thousands of dollars as he cheated many customers. He stole it from people who worked for a living, who drove trucks over long routes to earn their money. He chose to stole that rather than getting off his lazy ass.

As for branding anyone "other" as GOP, that's pure propaganda there. I've never voted GOP in my life. You obviously need some GOP whipping boy to condemn, but can't find one on JUB.

As for vigilante "justice," no.

I don't think anyone in this thread characterized the bombing as "justice."

It's what happens when criminals deal with criminals. There's nothing sweet or innocent about a teenager who had house and home provided for him cheating dozens of people as he operated his business as an adult. He had quit school. For all purposes, he had assumed a role as a majority aged person would. This wasn't a youthful indiscretion.

Please feel free to feel sickened and clutch those pearls tightly. Much of society, not just GOP is fine with criminals killing criminals.

We have enough thieves in society. Let them kill each other, as they already do in myriad drug dealing gang wars. Good riddance.

And agreed on the inhumane treatment of thieves in riots. The long-standing human and therefore humane response was to shoot looters on sight. "Strongarm justice" is the exception until criminals begin attacking cops and refusing to be arrested when caught. The stats prove it.

omg - r u kidding???

you are right about one thing - all crimes are not equal - and someone driving drunk or texting or running red lights are a MILLION TIMES MORE SERIOUS than this kid who scammed a few bucks (and the show NEVER said thousands of dollars as you implied - he sold $200 cbs and delivered $150 cbs - maybe he skimmed $50 a transaction )

and you will need to add some serious data to conclude that petty thieves have raps sheets that include armed robbery of liquor stores - that is an ABSURD conclusion - ABSURD!!!!! these are KIDS who are more likely to steal a bottle of cheap wine than to try to rob the establishment - you have this dire need in all of your post to always make a adolescent guilty of a misdemeanor itot a serial killer - wtf is that all about? did someone steal your bookbag when you was a kid?

and you are clearly DELUSIONAL if you think most of society is ok with criminals killing criminals - THAT IS YOUR CRAZY THINKING and YOURS ALONE - only privileged white people would think that way - AND NOT LIBERAL ONES - like there would be a liberal privileged crowd in the population LOL - these are the random musings of a conservative far right fanatic - and for the record I don't need a poster child for a GOP crazy - they are lined up by the millions all across the planet!!!!!!!!!!! society has made it clear that they will not tolerate abuse by law enforcement against criminals and you think they believe it is ok for criminals to do so??? the world does NOT believe in street justice - just thugs and extremist who think they have the rights to tote guns on the streets and play God -

Good riddance.

that sums it all up - you think people are disposable - that is a faaaaaaaaaar right extremist view - it is EXTREMIST - maybe people in whogivesafuck carolina - or middle America think that way (which non-coincidentally are the core of the GOP) but the rest of our great nation believes in investing in the futures of people - so fuck clutching my pearls - if the red stilettos fit then by all means wear them - but stop trying to pretend that blue society sees it as normalcy - it's despicable -

 

[Dominus]

All crimes are not equal, and even the law doesn't judge them so.

Unless you get shot by the police as a black person. Then the right wing media will portray you as a hardened criminal. They tried to do this with Botham Jean by publishing that they found marijuana in his apartment ASAP and then started portraying him as some kind of predator on right wing websites.

 

[Harke the Boeotarch]

Twenty years ago...

This case is more like the following clip than a regular internet scam.

Stealing stuff ain't good, but guys that make pipe bombs shouldn't be allowed to move around without supervision.

 

[NotHardUp1]

Unless you get shot by the police as a black person. Then the right wing media will portray you as a hardened criminal. They tried to do this with Botham Jean by publishing that they found marijuana in his apartment ASAP and then started portraying him as some kind of predator on right wing websites.

Admit that the left does the same thing in reverse: if you're a black male and shot by police, you're automatically a victim. It doesn't matter what drugs you had in your system, what crime you were just committing, what crimes are on your rap sheet, or if you were threatening the police physically at the time you were shot. At least half the high-profile BLM poster boys in the past few years have fit that pattern exactly, and there were plenty of other races shot during the same years for the same scenarios but not touted as victims.

Are police prejudiced against black males? To be sure, many are? Are the actual crimes and hostile behaviors encountered from criminals during arrest a big part of the problem? They certainly are.

What isn't being discussed in the whole Victim Chorus is that black violent crime is still greatly disproportionate to the black population. And their victims are by and large their own race. And when they get arrested, they often are more violently resisting arrest.

That doesn't change the actual victims of police brutality but it does mean they are not necessarily the average arrest, even for black males.

 

[NotHardUp1]

Stealing stuff ain't good, but guys that make pipe bombs shouldn't be allowed to move around without supervision.

Indeed. They deserved each other.

Both thieves and terrorists are a scourge on society. No one wants either living around us.

If society had a tracking app for them like they do sexual offenders, a great many thieves would find themselves outed.

 

[Harke the Boeotarch]

^

There is such a thing as proportionality. What is the difference the between the mafia and the government?

Stealing stuff from regular folks doesn't usually get you executed or subjected to physical punishment.