Korean Job Discussion Forums

[madoka]

Nice to see our tax dollars are so well spent. . .

A convicted murderer on death row in North Carolina wrote a taunting letter to his hometown newspaper about his life of "leisure" in prison and making a mockery of the legal system.

Danny Robbie Hembree Jr. was found guilty of murdering 17-year-old Heather Catterton in 2009 and was sentenced to death on Nov. 18, 2011.

Hembree, 50, is on death row at Central Prison in Raleigh, N.C., but he's not looking for any pity in the letter he sent to The Gaston Gazette.

"Is the public aware that I am a gentleman of leisure, watching color TV in the A.C., reading, taking naps at will, eating three well balanced hot meals a day," Hembree asked in the letter. "I'm housed in a building that connects to the new 55 million dollar hospital with round the clock free medical care 24/7."

He also asks if the public knows that the chances of his "lawful murder" taking place in the next 20 years, if ever, are "very slim."

Hembree has also been accused of killing two other women. One was 30-year-old Randi Dean Saldana, whose burnt remains were found near Blacksburg, S.C. in 2009. The other was 30-year-old Deborah Ratchford, whose body was found in 1992.

He admitted to taking drugs and having sex with Catterton and Saldana on the days they died, but told jurors he did not kill them or dispose of their bodies, according to ABC News' Raleigh-Durham affiliate WTVD. He is scheduled to go on trial for Saldana's killing in March.

Hembree confessed to killing the three women during recorded police interviews, but later said the confessions were an attempt to cover up a string of armed robberies, according to the Gaston Gazette.

In the letter, Hembree also mocks the judicial system.

"I laugh at you self righteous clowns and I spit in the face of your so called justice system. The state of North Carolina has sentenced me to death but it's not real," he wrote.

North Carolina State Representative Paul Stam told WTVD that the letter is a travesty of justice. He said that it is more likely that Hembree will die of natural causes than of the death penalty.

"His punishment does not fit his crime at all," Stam said.

Hembree tells the citizens of Gaston County, N.C., that they should petition that state and force them to carry out his "murder sentence."

The Gaston County District Attorney's Office did not immediately respond to request for comment.

"I am a man who is ready to except [sic] his unjustful punishment and face God almighty with a clean conscience unlike you cowards and your cowardly system," Hembree wrote. "Kill me if you can suckers. Ha! Ha! Ha!"

The letter is signed, "Sincerely, Danny Hembree."

[madoka]

This guy has it pretty bad. He doesn't realize that we've made instant millionaires out of two former prisoners today:

- A federal jury has awarded $22 million to a New Mexico man who was kept in solitary confinement for two years and forced to pull his own tooth after being arrested for drunken driving in Dona Ana County.

- A Chicago man who spent 16 years in prison after being convicted of murder as a teenager has been awarded $25 million in damages after it was determined that he was wrongfully convicted.

[ED209]

You pay tax?! Sucker

[The Floating World]

If living like a zoo creature for the next 20 yrs is a great life to him, then looks like he scored big time.

Seriously, no way anyone is happy living such a dull life.

Hmm, but then again, maybe I'm giving too much credit... Britain's chavs, America's welfare trailer park folk....

Still I don't believe he is truly 'fullfilled' and his letter is really either sour grapes or a genuine felt message to the public that they honestly might want to save some tax dollars and make life inside a bit less comfy.

[Julius]

[NovaKart]

I'm more outraged that someone was put in solitary confinement for 2 years and mostly ignored by the authorities while his mental state declined. All this and he was arrested for a DUI, it's not like he killed or raped anyone. I care more about people than our tax dollars.

[comm]

[ontheway]

The man is locked in a box. He's lashing out, which means he's suffering from his imprisonment. If you react in anger at his soft life, he has beaten you at the psych out game.

TV keeps the inmates drugged and calm. Likewise, A/C keeps it cool for the guards and reduces tension. So, many of these things just make it easier and cheaper to manage.

Maybe we should stop feeding them?


If we want to save money on prisons, we should eliminate victimless crime laws - end the War on Drugs and repeal laws against prostitution and gambling. Pardon and release those already locked up for victimless crimes. Don't lock up drunk drivers who have not injured anyone - just pull their licenses and require them to sell their cars to avoid jail time. Etc.