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When his truck broke down 10 miles away from their mother's house, this father made his two young kids get out and walk in freezing temperatures. The girl died of hypothermia.
What was wrong with this man?
Girl dies on cold walk; dad charged with murder - Yahoo! News (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081230/ap_on_re_us/hypothermia_death - broken link)
Location: from houstoner to bostoner to new yorker to new jerseyite ;)
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I don't know about murder... Undoubtedly, it was a very poor decision on his part, one that I'm sure he will regret for the rest of his life, but not murder... poor little girl, poor dad, and that poor little boy who is left to live with survivor's guilt and no father...
I don't know about murder... Undoubtedly, it was a very poor decision on his part, one that I'm sure he will regret for the rest of his life, but not murder... poor little girl, poor dad, and that poor little boy who is left to live with survivor's guilt and no father...
I think the charge is justified. He went home after getting the truck unstuck and didn't bother to check on the kids. I might be more forgiving if after getting unstuck, he called to see if the kids arrived and then went after them.
I would also be more apt to not prosecute him for murder if he had made sure the children were properly dressed in clothing to withstand both snow and cold temps/wind. However, from the description, they were NOT dressed properly to be out in the elements at all, much less walking in several feet of snow in freezing temps.
Why he didn't at least call to check on the kids - just beyond me. I have walked for about five miles in a blizzard. It was horrible and I was an adult. However, I was dressed in arctic type clothing, including knee high boots, ski gloves and jacket w/ hood and also a ski mask. As an adult, this was the coldest and most desperate I have ever felt. I can only imagine how it would affect a child to be out in the elements w/o the proper gear - and expected to walk 10 miles in snow.
His behavior indicates he didn't care if his children lived or died.
After leaving them to walk 10 miles, he stayed to fix the car and then drove himself home. He never called the mother. He did not drive ahead to check on the kids if they were okay. He just stayed in the warm car and then took himself home. Sounds to me like he killed his child.
I mean, I could see leaving your kids in the car and risking your own life walking through snow drifts to find help, but holy cow. This man was sick and evil.
His behavior indicates he didn't care if his children lived or died.
After leaving them to walk 10 miles, he stayed to fix the car and then drove himself home. He never called the mother. He did not drive ahead to check on the kids if they were okay. He just stayed in the warm car and then took himself home. Sounds to me like he killed his child.
I mean, I could see leaving your kids in the car and risking your own life walking through snow drifts to find help, but holy cow. This man was sick and evil.
I have a hard time applying the "evil" label, but callous, stupid, horrifyingly thoughtless, unimaginably neglectful ... yeah. What a sad story. That poor boy.
I'm sorry, I just don't see MURDER. I think by law they would possible find him guilty of manslaughter, if that. I don't know much about law though. I really don't think a murder charge should result from stupidity. Just like hate crimes; a crime is a crime and the "reason" shouldn't be punished rather the action itself.Jail will not keep a person from being stupid! Only education replaces ingnorance! This man was stupid and ignorant and not thinking. He probably shouldn't have had children in the first place.It sounds like they are going to punish him for his irrisponsibility. And if that is the case he probably showed signs of irrisponsibility in the past and the mother should be to blame as well since she had children with him. Now, from a mother's prespective: If I hated my ex and this happened I would probably want him hung. If I had no hard feelings for him, I would NOT support the murder charge.
I have a hard time applying the "evil" label, but callous, stupid, horrifyingly thoughtless, unimaginably neglectful ... yeah. What a sad story. That poor boy.
I'm guessing that the murder charge either stems from some other evidence or history of abuse and neglect or reflects the outrage of the prosecutor and the community. If that's the case the charge will probably be downgraded before trial.
But there's really no explanation for sending two kids out to walk 10 miles in the snow in pajamas if you didn't expect that harm would come to them. Why didn't he call the mom to come get them? Or catch up with them after he got the truck out. If he wasn't drunk, drugged or mentally retarded, he's just plain evil.
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