FL FL - Danny Rolling, Gainesville Ripper, 8 known victims LA/FL 1989-90

[Liz]

A little late, but ... you're welcome Ntegrity and Scandi! :blowkiss:

I dropped in to post the link to Part Two from the Reporter's Notebook, but I see Glow already posted it.

For anyone who missed it:

Part Two: The Execution

The brown curtain opened and there he was, strapped to a gurney, a white sheet covering his body from the neck down. There was even a strap across his forehead. Danny Rolling was looking up, at the ceiling.

The room remained silent. My heart was pounding.

This was it. There is so much to look at: the family members, the warden inside the execution chamber, Danny's face. I had to keep an eye on that white sheet, to see it move up and down, to watch his every breath.

There was a big digital clock on the wall over Danny's head. It was 5:59 p.m.

Continued at link:
http://www.local10.com/news/10166968/detail.html

 

[southcitymom]

> Why would anyone wish for him to rest in peace?

I wish for Danny Rollings to rest in peace for the same reason that I wish for Danny Rolling's victims to rest in peace - because I don't see him or them as separate from myself or from anyone else here. Not in the ways that matter.

 

[Sherlockmom]

>Sherlockmom, you have a right to your opinion (which I do understand). I think the death sentence is as severe a punishment as anyone can be expected to pay. It's possible to have compassion for the sinner while hating the sin. That's what I believe people were trying to express. It doesn't minimize the horror of the crimes or the victims<


I understand your point of view as well. I don't think we are that far off from each other. I do not have any compassion for killers like this. And I don't feel bad about that either. What happens to Mr. Rolling after death is not my decision to make but I certainly would prefer he went in one direction rather than the other

If we all can have the same reward just by finding God at the end and saying we're sorry why do any of us bother in the interim to lead a good life? Why not just whoop it up right up until the end? Something to ponder.

 

[Sherlockmom]

>I wish for Danny Rollings to rest in peace for the same reason that I wish for Danny Rolling's victims to rest in peace - because I don't see him or them as separate from myself or from anyone else here. Not in the ways that matter.<


Well to each their own I suppose. I don't consider myself on the same playing field as Danny Rolling in any way shape or form. Dead or alive.

 

[s_finch]

>And you know, if I had been born as Rollings and lived his tortured childhood, I might have turned out even worse than he did. I wonder if in murdering women, he was getting back at him mother for not protecting him.<


There are millions of people who have tortured pasts and go on to live decent lives. Not everyone who has been molested goes on to molest others, not everyone who has been abused goes on to abuse others. While he may have had a tortured past at some point he made a choice between good and evil. He had the ability to make that choice because others have come to that crossroads with the same past and made a choice for good. This is what he is being punished for. Making the choice for evil.

It IS our job here on earth to judge. I get so sick of hearing "who are we to judge" and some excuse or another for someone to murder. THERE IS NO EXCUSE NO MATTER WHAT YOUR PAST WAS. We judge all of the time. That is why we have a judicial system. What would the alternative be? Would you really want the whole world to live like the Amish and just ignore crime and punish no one? As I said before, one can only live this way if there are others who will make the tough decisions for you and risk their lives so one can live in this la-la land. This kumbaya attitude that everyone is really good at heart and everyone is redeemable is foolish. There seems to be more sympathy for the perpetrator of this crime than his innocent victims. That doesn't seem normal to me.

The judging of one's SOUL is what should be left to God. This is the type of forgiveness that we cannot give but only GOD can give. I think some people get confused and think that Jesus meant we shouldn't punish people for crime and forgive people who do the most heinous crimes against us.

And by the way. Did anyone see this? Rollings admitted before his death to three other murders.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,225926,00.html

If he had found redemption at the end of his life and made his peace with God no one knows that except Rollings and God. And it has nothing to do with me and doesn't change one bit the fact that he committed these crimes with free will and he had to pay the price for that. What was left was for him to save his soul. That is not the job of man and I find it appalling that anyone would think it so. We did not create the life he took, we have no business forgiving him for taking that life.

THAT is what I was talking about, the judging of his soul. I totally have no problem with juries and judges handing down death sentences and if anything it seems Rollings death was nicer than he deserved. But I'm not gonna judge his soul.

 

[Malapoo]

I don't quite understand the actions of men who were treated badly by their Dads. Yeah he tried to kill his Dad, and I realize he had issues with his Mom for not stopping it thuogh I've not seen it suggested at all that she supported it or even completely ignored it as she seemed to try and "step between them". So why do these men kill women? Have they developed so much fear of the male/Dad figure they can't strike out at males? Do they see in themselves some of the weakness/inability of the Mom to stop it and want to kill that weak part of themselves by killing women? I mean to me, it would be like having someone jump out of the bushes and harm you and then marching up to the house and killing the property owner because he owned the shrubbery they hid in.

 

[concernedperson]

I don't quite understand the actions of men who were treated badly by their Dads. Yeah he tried to kill his Dad, and I realize he had issues with his Mom for not stopping it thuogh I've not seen it suggested at all that she supported it or even completely ignored it as she seemed to try and "step between them". So why do these men kill women? Have they developed so much fear of the male/Dad figure they can't strike out at males? Do they see in themselves some of the weakness/inability of the Mom to stop it and want to kill that weak part of themselves by killing women? I mean to me, it would be like having someone jump out of the bushes and harm you and then marching up to the house and killing the property owner because he owned the shrubbery they hid in.

It is it to a degree. I think the nurturing capability wasn't transcended to the child fully.So, the denial was abhorrent to the male child.There are many women who will step aside and let the "man" take control. It is giving up rights as humans sometimes do. Status plays an importent role in abuse cases and the perceived notion.

I shouldn't even be commenting on this as it is so complicated. But, I did anyway.

 

[Opie]

I am just now catching up on this thread. I have to agree with Sherlockmom's post #94. I agree that the judging of one's soul is up to God, but the judging of one's crimes is up to us, the people and most especially the families of the victims.

 

[Malapoo]

It is it to a degree. I think the nurturing capability wasn't transcended to the child fully.So, the denial was abhorrent to the male child.There are many women who will step aside and let the "man" take control. It is giving up rights as humans sometimes do. Status plays an importent role in abuse cases and the perceived notion.

I shouldn't even be commenting on this as it is so complicated. But, I did anyway.

It's all speculation at best, but I always really have a desire to know why this person became who they did and why they did what they did. And what pushes them to actually ACT on their violent urges. Sadly I believe there are a lot of folks who have the same sort of make up but maybe never reach that point where they kill. They may be "bad people" and criminals, but that final barrier is never broken through. There are so many issues - I think people can be "evil" simply "from birth" because they have no empathy and don't understand that others feel emotional pain etc as they do - it is only ever about themselves. I think there are those who may have shakey emotional base but through good parenting etc don't become violent criminals, there are those who may be fairly ok emotionally until a horrible childhood or bad influences "make them bad". There's no one size fits all answer but I really wish we could get more information from violent criminals rather then simply toss them in a prison and forget about them. I think the work the FBI profilers do talking to them is very valuable and should be expanded. We'll never prevent crime from happening, but the more we can understand these diseased minds, it could help catch them sooner and save lives.

Law was one field I considered way back when, and I've often wished I was involved in the "mental research" aspect of it all. I'm a good listener and also a pretty good B.S. detector.

 

[Ntegrity]

Great post, Malapoo!!

 

[Peter Hamilton]

I would never wish Rolling to "rest in peace"--the victims familes will never have any peace while they are alive,Rolling certainly doesn't deserve it in death--

 

[Gozgals]

I would never wish Rolling to "rest in peace"--the victims familes will never have any peace while they are alive,Rolling certainly doesn't deserve it in death--

I agree with you Peter. I may believe in God, but I still don't mind wishing him a long eternal hell. I stated that once before. His victims suffered horribly so why should I wish him peace in his eternity? Guess even though people consider me giving, I'm not giving when it comes to slimbags like Danny. So be it if I'm judging his soul, he played judge and jury to his victims. Thank God he is gone, and it wasn't soon enough.

 

[nanandjim]

Im sure that Rollings had a very peaceful day, eating lobster,licking butter off of his fingers in his valium buffered reality.

I doubt he gave a single thought to having cut a girls head off, or any of the rest of it for that matter.

I don't make pretense to know how Rollings was feeling or what he was thinking on the day of his execution. I believe in the death penalty; however, I see this type of situation as a 'lose-lose' proposition.

I find it terribly sad that Rollings had such a horrible life. I can only imagine the things that were done to him as an innocent child. He didn't ask to be born into this world, and he didn't ask to be beaten, hated, rejected and abused by his father. IMO, he was trained and conditioned to hate. That's all he knew.

I think that Rollings was told that he was a loser and would never amount to anything. He had no control or power over anything in his life. I think that the only time that he felt power was the brief moments that he had control over his victims.

One poster commented about wanting to know why murderers murder. That is why I follow crime. I try to figure out what would make a person commit such acts.

Another poster said that there are many people who are abused and who feel anger, but something pushes one to kill, rape or hurt others while another controls these impulses. I kind of think that it is the more sensitive child who is more adversely affected if abused. Stronger children may be able to deal with the abuse a little better.

Perhaps, Danny started out as a really sensitive child who was very attached to his mother. Of course, I feel certain that if this were the case the father seized on this partiality, too.

Don't get me wrong. I don't think that there is any excuse for Danny to have raped, tortured and killed innocent people. He deserved to die. I don't know if Danny's father is still living. If he is and if the stories of abuse are true, he should have been sentenced to die right along with his son.

Does anyone know if any of Danny's family attended the execution or if any of Danny's family have kept in touch with him throughout his years of incarceration?

Also, has anyone read his book, "The Making of a Serial Killer?" If so, does Danny say why he committed these crimes?

 

[Garnan]

I believe Danny killed his dad., but I could be wrong.

Danny's brother attended the execution on Danny's behalf, and received Danny's belongings as his Last Will & Testiment stated.

I am just THRILLED, and I MEAN TRULY THRILLED that Danny had the time and funds to spend to have a lawyer work up a Will. Did any of his young victims have a will?

 

[Peter Hamilton]

Garnan, Rollings shot his father in the face but his aim wasn't too good--the father survived,albeit with some scarring and deafness in one ear

 

[txsvicki]

While I too hope he was able to find forgiveness before he left this world....I, personally, think a TRUE Christian wouldn't have sung a hymn. Instead, they would have choosen to remain silent, out of respect for the families, or they would have admitted what they did was evil, apologize, and ask the families for forgiveness.

Was it just me or did the singing seem to be disrespectful and spiteful?????

I didn't see any true remorse in that singing and his looking right at the mother of one of the victims. After all, Danny was singing some horrible pre- crime song on tape right before he went to rape and murder. That singing at the execution was only some horrible reminder for the parents and Danny sure didn't even understand that or care. I say Danny was a psychopath and his dad was also a psychopath. Many psychopaths usually have a dad that was also one according Anne Rule in Small Sacrifices. As far as forgiving him, I see nothing in the Bible that says to forgive a Non Christian for horrible murders but to forgive other Christians and those who persecute Christians because of their faith and leave judgement of the soul up to God. The Bible even says that those who would hurt a child would be better off to put a weight around their neck and fling themselves into the sea. That is not telling us to forgive and excuse their actions because they were mistreated. Danny's final fate is up to God according to Danny's standing when he died and the laws of the land were carried out which saved many more victims had Danny not been caught and imprisoned.

 

[Details]

Hearing what happened with his childhood, his father - if there's brain damage, I can see some level of understanding - some diminished fault. I don't know that it changes the penalty, because I don't see the justice system as being about revenge, but about preventing crimes. If he's got brain damage that makes him this way, then he's a rabid dog - you can't ever let him out, kill him or lock him up for life is all there is to be done - were he the nicest person in the world, or evil incarnate without the brain damage.

His father belonged right there beside him. And anyone who turned a blind eye, especially any fellow cops who might have ignored what one of their own was doing - they should think hard about what might have been, in a Rolling without brain damage and abuse.

 

[GlitchWizard]

A question posed to those who know more about the bible than I do - does God take brain damage, chemical imbalances and psychosis into account when He is judging your afterlife situation?

 

[RiverRat]

Only if one hasn't threatened Jeb Bush....... :innocent:

 

[southcitymom]

A question posed to those who know more about the bible than I do - does God take brain damage, chemical imbalances and psychosis into account when He is judging your afterlife situation?

This is strictly my opinion. Obviously I have no idea what God does. But the God I serve has only one judgment and that is forgiveness.

I don't perceive Heaven and/or Hell (or Purgatory, for the Catholics among us) as actual places that our soul goes to after death. I believe they are current places where we live in the present and I believe the Bible strongly supports this interpretation. Every decision I make takes me closer to Heaven or closer to Hell.

I also believe in the universal law of karma, a concepted support by Western and Eastern religious traditions. Everything balances itself. Because we see such a short span of life, we don't always "see" justice, but justice always happens.

I believe evil is a temporary, not permanent, condition.