Follow up: Bart Whitaker sentenced

For those of you not in Texas, Bart Whitaker, found guilty in the murder of his mother and brother, has now been sentenced to death. The conspirator who cut a deal for testimony was the getaway driver, not the trigger man, as I believe I said previously. The shooter goes on trial at a later date.

My prayers go out to the families of all those involved that they may find closure at least, if not peace. So many families destroyed. The Whitakers, the families of the co-conspirators, even the prosecutor, defense attorney, judge, and the members of the jury who wept over their decision. I'm glad I wasn't called for jury duty in this. It's an onerous responsibility.

I have enough knowledge of history that I know crimes like this have taken place as long as humans have walked upright. Hundreds of years ago, knowledge of these crimes was generally limited to the regional area where they took place. Now, in our world of instant knowledge, everyone knows when something like Columbine or Lacey Peterson or the Whitaker murders happens. Maybe this instant access to news is why we all think: what's wrong with society? It's crumbling like a sand castle in an ebb tide.

Intellectually, I realize that murder in all its manifestations and for all the usual reasons have been with us since Cain and Abel. Yet, emotionally, it makes me wonder what kind of world we are leaving our children.

I guess anthropologists could answer this: the world hasn't changed because people haven't changed. How many millennia must pass before humans evolve? Or will they ever?

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