Quote:
|
Originally Posted by me283
Sure. He was making poison, on a reasonable scale; he was planning to make further, more lethal poison, on a larger scale. He planned to release cyanide on the underground. He murdered and wounded rather than give in to arrestation. Oh, and the fact that there was nothing to indicate any quota of dead bodies that he hoped to fulfill.
Now, logic might suggest that he would have carried on regardless. The fact the he murdered whilst being arrested also suggests he would not have given up until he really had to... Or do you have a different logic? Doesn't seem such a huge leap to me, more a natural progression.
|
I agree that we don't know how far he would have gone. I think it is a leap however, to assume that because we don't know how far he would have gone, he must have gone as far as Saddam and Hitler did, and then use that as a reason why the death penalty would/should apply. Because, as Cookie says, I do agree that in extreme cases (say Hitler) the death penalty might (regrettably) be justified.
Also, I think it is highly unlikely he would have gone that far, as Hitler and Saddam were far cleverer, in that they chose politics as the tool to satisfy their power-hungry megalomania. Less chance to get caught etc, and largely legal.
Thirdly, I doubt this person was a power-hungry megalomaniac, I think it is more likely he is a religious zelot who was brainwashed by far more dangerous individuals into thinking that killing others is ok.
Mind you, I do think this person should spend the rest of his life in jail, but we don't go around killing people on the basis of what they might have done.