A COMPELLING CASE FOR IMPOSITION OF THE DEATH PENALTY

Ronald Lee Haskell executed his sister-in-law, her husband and four of their five children when they refused to tell him where his ex-wife was

If there was ever a reason why those who are opposed to the death penalty ought to be ashamed of themselves, this case is it.

Ronald Lee Haskell, 33, of Logan, Utah came to the Houston suburb of Spring on Wednesday to look for his ex-wife. He knocked on the door of his sister-in-law’s home. Her 15-yer-old daughter answered the door and told him her parents were not there. He returned a short time later and when she opened the door again, he forced his way in. He held the five children of the family at gunpoint while waiting for the parents to come home. When Katie, 33, and Stephen Stay, 39 arrived, he tied all of them up. When the parents refused to tell him where his ex-wife was, he methodically executed the parents and two boys ages 4 and 14, plus two girls ages 7 and 9 with shots to the back of the head as they were lying on the floor face down.

The 15-year-old daughter survived and played dead until Haskell left. Then she called 9-1-1 to report the shootings and to identify and describe Haskell. Furthermore, she warned the operator that he was on his way to her grandparents' house and that he planned to shoot them too because he blamed them for getting their daughter to divorce him. Sheriff’s deputies arrived at the house before Haskell could get there. In the meantime, other deputies spotted Haskell driving and pursued the gunman. He was eventually cornered after a 20-minute chase when he made a wrong turn into a cul-de-sac. After a three-hour standoff, Haskell surrendered.

Cassidy Stay, the 15-year-old daughter, remains in critical condition in a Houston hospital. Haskell is charged with six counts of capital murder and is being held without bail.

After what he’s done, justice calls out for Haskell to be exterminated like any other vermin. It’s too bad the cops did not waste him when they had him cornered. Let me repeat that those who are opposed to the death penalty ought to be ashamed of themselves.