Tragic and Horrible!

[TMAZ]

St. Louis County, Mo (KSDK) - St. Louis County police are calling a fatal fire on Wednesday in a South County apartment complex for the disabled, suspicious.
It happened around 6 a.m. at 140 Kinswood Lane.
When police arrived at the scene of the fire, they found 40 year old, Mark Woods, deceased in his burning home.
They say Woods lived there by himself, was disabled and couldn't get out.
St. Louis County Police were at the scene for hours, collecting evidence and investigating how it all happened.
Police say they are confident it's a homicide based on officers' observations and the medical examiners report but, can't release any information because they have no suspects at this time.
People living on Kinswood Lane say they've seen some suspicious activity in this generally quiet neighborhood during the past few weeks.

http://www.ksdk.com/rss/article/2455...ire-identified

[Eileen]

How terribly viscious. If there is a hell it is created for people who would do such a thing.

[Le Todd]

That is horrific. I suspect some sociopath thought it would be easy to kill people with arson if they couldn't flee.

[SCI-Nurse]

Back in the 1970s I had a client who was living in a house by himself. His mentally unstable brother thought that Michael had a poor quality of life and that he needed to be assisted to die (without consulting Michael). He set his house afire as a "mercy killing" and Michael died. His brother did 20 years in prison. So horrible!

(KLD)

[GL]

OOOh my gosh
I dont like fire
What a horrible way to go

[Le Todd]

Back in the 1970s I had a client who was living in a house by himself. His mentally unstable brother thought that Michael had a poor quality of life and that he needed to be assisted to die (without consulting Michael). He set his house afire as a "mercy killing" and Michael died. His brother did 20 years in prison. So horrible!

(KLD)

That is very sad. Was his mental instability not taken into account for his crime? I don't justify what he did at all. I'm only curious.

[SCI-Nurse]

He was found mentally competent by the court. Mental illness is not a get out of jail free card.

(KLD)

[Eileen]

I remember decades ago when another brother decided to put his sibling "out of his misery" and walked into the hospital with a shotgun and killed him. The new SCI was all of a few days post injury, so no one could have know what the eventual outcome would be, but the courts essentially did give the gun-toting brother a get out of jail card because of mental distress. It angered me then, it angers me now.

[MSWIFE1]

Wow, this is horrible and so are the other stories as well. I am always worried about leaving David at home by himself and now this justifies my worries.

[Le Todd]

I remember decades ago when another brother decided to put his sibling "out of his misery" and walked into the hospital with a shotgun and killed him. The new SCI was all of a few days post injury, so no one could have know what the eventual outcome would be, but the courts essentially did give the gun-toting brother a get out of jail card because of mental distress. It angered me then, it angers me now.

Eileen, people are fickle. In one place, that man would have gone to prison and another he is set free. Disparity is a sad aspect of life.

[SCI-Nurse]

In addition, I think there is an element in many of these cases where the life of the PWD is de-valued. It reflects these types of attitudes which are not PC, but certainly held by a lot of our population (including the police, juries, attorneys and judges):

• The person with a disability cannot have a good quality of life.
• The life of a person with a disability is less valuable than that of an AB who is a "wage earner" and "tax-payer".
• It is more acceptable to eliminate the life of someone with a disability than it is to do so to someone who is AB.
• If it was me, I would want someone to kill me and put me out of my misery too.

I still shudder to think how Michael must have suffered trying to get out of that burning house!

(KLD)

[Patton57]

In addition, I think there is an element in many of these cases where the life of the PWD is de-valued. It reflects these types of attitudes which are not PC, but certainly held by a lot of our population (including the police, juries, attorneys and judges):

• The person with a disability cannot have a good quality of life.
• The life of a person with a disability is less valuable than that of an AB who is a "wage earner" and "tax-payer".
• It is more acceptable to eliminate the life of someone with a disability than it is to do so to someone who is AB.
• If it was me, I would want someone to kill me and put me out of my misery too.

I still shudder to think how Michael must have suffered trying to get out of that burning house!

(KLD)

It is incredibly sad that some of these attitudes still prevail. I've also noticed that lots of folks are pc within earshot of me but really believe some of the points above. Those are the folks you really have to keep an eye out for.