Some people are just pure evil. And the world is a better place without them. Tony Roach is one such person.

I agree, Robbie.
This creature caused far too much harm and suffering, in his short and violent life.

Left by no2liberals on September 4th, 2007 at 11:37 pm

[ link ]

About two weeks later in June 1998, Tony Roach, a South Carolina parolee picked up by police about 120 miles (195 kilometers) to the north in Guymon, Oklahoma, for stealing some cigarettes and reselling them, volunteered to officers that they should ask him about the killing of a woman in Amarillo.

“Tony was breaking back into prison,” recalled Walt Weaver, who defended Roach at his capital murder trial. “Life was difficult. And that was my jury argument.”

Some morbid way of committing suicide. Did he specifically choose Texas?

What to do with criminals who don’t have anything to look forward to any more and rather just die? Without help they could be walking time bombs like Tony Roach.

Left by Jacques on September 5th, 2007 at 4:46 am

Now this man was a definite threat to our society and our world will be a little bit safer without him. Although it would have been a tad bit comforting to me to see him sit on general population, always watching his back for the rest of his life. That would have been the proper punishment. The state of Texas just doesn’t realize that these guys are glad to finally see their execution date. We just gave them a way out.

If you really want them to suffer, don’t give them the DP. Give them Life in Prison without the possibility of parole. Believe it or not, it’s even cheaper to keep them in for life. All those who are convicted are entitled to appeals so when someone goes to Death Row, they have so long to exhaust those appeals before a date is set. Most of the people on DR are not financially stable or come from a family that is financially stable so the tax payers have to pay for thier court appointed attorneys.

When it’s all said and done with, we have wasted more money on Death Row inmates then those that are not on Death Row. That’s money that could be going to our education system. This is something that is needed much more especially since we have an entire generation of lazy children that can barely read, and can’t even make change or use a card catalog in a library due to our fast moving technology. When are we gonna stop focusing so much energy and money to these criminals and start focusing on helping these kids today not become criminals?

Left by Texasgal on September 6th, 2007 at 1:13 am

I couldn’t have said it better myself TexasGal.

Life in prison (and I still feel there is room for a modern day ‘hard labour’ program) is not only far cheaper than giving someone the death penalty, but more humane on our part.
It also allows miscarriages of justice to be put right, all be it with a bit of a shitty time for those wrongly convicted, but at least their alive to tell the tale.

From what I have read about Roach, he’s a scumbag to extreme and deserves life in prison with hard labour so he can pay his debt back to the familes he has runied.
How he became that way needs to be addressed to stop other ‘Roach’s taking his place.

Or, Texas being Texas, you can just kill him and clean down the gurney ready for the next Roach to be bread by your society.

Jonny

Left by Jon on September 6th, 2007 at 1:55 am

This is a depressing website-almost as depressing as Texas in general. Education is good. Murder is bad. The death penalty is not only bad, but fallible and irreversible. But attitudes like Cronyn’s, Bush’s, Delay’s, and Gonzales’s and the close minded resistance to change for the better are affecting our whole country-undermining democracy and justice as well as killing people.

Left by Jamie Rodriquez on September 6th, 2007 at 9:27 am

Now this man was a definite threat to our society and our world will be a little bit safer without him. Although it would have been a tad bit comforting to me to see him sit on general population, always watching his back for the rest of his life.

The problem with him just sitting in Gen Pop for life is that he is still a threat to the prison employees and other prisoners. A man this dangerous, who has so little regard for human life, would not be beyond killing a prison guard or another inmate.

Better off dead.

Left by Robbie on September 6th, 2007 at 10:31 am

The problem with him just sitting in Gen Pop for life is that he is still a threat to the prison employees and other prisoners. A man this dangerous, who has so little regard for human life, would not be beyond killing a prison guard or another inmate.
Better off dead.

That’s not a very good arguement for the Death Penalty though Robbie.
There is a way to keep scumbags like this alive to a ripe out age, without them being a threat to anyone else. And everyday, he should be given hard labour to remind him of the many lives he has destroyed.
The problem is, our prisons (and probably yours to?) need a big shake up in the whoel ‘What is a prison actually for’ department.
It makes me sick when I see guards talking to prisoners like they’re best pals or something.
Prisons are to keep bad people away from good people, as well as giving them an education on how to behave oneself.
I feel we should also be making them work 10 hour days for a wage that goes straight to the families they have destroyed, as well as helping pay for their upkeep.

Jonny

Left by Jon on September 6th, 2007 at 12:09 pm

A long time ago we would work our prisoners here in Texas. However the good old ACLU has made it almost impossible for us to do that anymore. Cruel and unusual punishment is what they consider it. Now we have to give the prisoners TV, internet, playstations and almost anything else THEY demand.

I for one am glad that the majority of TEXANS demand the death penalty. You euroweinies can argue all you want about how inhumane it is, I don’t really care. Come to Texas, kill someone, and we will kill you!! Justice served. States right. Stay the hell out if you don’t agree.

Left by fu_k the left on September 6th, 2007 at 2:43 pm

Well said.

What would be so much better than abolishing the death penalty would be if all you psychos (or your DP boyfriends) would quit killing people. Then we wouldn’t have to execute you (or your DP boyfriend).

Left by Robbie on September 6th, 2007 at 2:51 pm

A long time ago we would work our prisoners here in Texas. However the good old ACLU has made it almost impossible for us to do that anymore. Cruel and unusual punishment is what they consider it.

So hard labour is cruel and unusual, but killing someone isn’t? That’s a strange law you got their to uphold the 8th amendment.

Now we have to give the prisoners TV, internet, playstations and almost anything else THEY demand.

I totally agree - it’s perverse that they should be allowed anything more than a bowl to wash and a bowl to piss in.

You euroweinies can argue all you want about how inhumane it is, I don’t really care. Come to Texas, kill someone, and we will kill you!! Justice served. States right. Stay the hell out if you don’t agree.

Oh, and we where doing so well. All of a sudden, here is the abusive bollox directed toward us ‘Euroweenies’.
I don’t get it.
Shame.

Jonny

Left by Jon on September 6th, 2007 at 5:04 pm

Well said.

Yeah, lets agree with ‘Euroweenie’ bashing shall we Robbie.
You know, we agree on more than you wish to consider, and just because we propose an alternative to the death penalty, we are considered ‘Euroweenies’ and are therefore legitimate targets for this bullshit ‘Keep outta Texas or we shoot ya’ bollox.

How the hell do you expect us to hold any other opinion of you guys than the ones we express?

You got a chance with a blog like this Robbie, but you fail every time with your innate agenda.

Jonny

Left by Jon on September 6th, 2007 at 5:09 pm

Even for an illiterate or an atheist, it’s not difficult to understand the rules. If you murder, you shall die, at least in Texas, and a few other right-thinking states. Should one insist on being a murderer, there are plenty of other states where they can go to do their crimes, or they can get a passport and be coddled.
It’s really quite simple. Much simpler than boring those of us in the majority in Texas to accommodate the misguided policies of other states and nations.

Left by no2liberals on September 6th, 2007 at 7:59 pm

I would go for life in prison with no parole and hard labor, if that is what they would get. but as mentioned before all the liberal hand wringing do-gooders just will not have any of it. they think these sub humans need to be pampered with TV, work out facilities, time off for good behavior, so on and so on. the ACLU does not want us mean people to abuse their civil rights..!!? what the hell..?? I say make their life pure misery every day they are in there. but it’s not like that, so thats why many texans are against life in prison…because it really is no punishment at all to these scum. hell most of them have more food, better housing and a sense of daily routine that they never had on the outside…Jon I think more people would agree with your thoughts if we really did work the hell out of prisoners daily, then throw them back in the cel with water, and some cold food. then do it all over again the next day. no tv, no gym, no mail, no nothing, but work and sleep. that’s it..and I mean give them the hardest jobs the prison can think of. and prisons should be completly self suficient with a prison workforce to do all the work like grow their own food, make the cloths, clean the toilets and do all the repairs. etc…..but we don’t live in that world of good hard common sense anymore. ever since the 60’s that way of thinking is over. the filthy lawyers and liberal groups took all the teeth out of our system….now its, ah poor baby, he was picked on as a kid, he had no chance, evil society made him this way, he was poor and had no other choice…blah blah. yeah its true, this is america in 2007.. full of many weak, brainwashed, pathetic people who have more compassion for killers than for the people they kill.

Left by Marc on September 7th, 2007 at 1:28 pm

Weird. Kill someone and you die? You don’t have to kill anyone to be executed in Texas. There doesn’t even have to be a crime committed for someone to get executed in Texas.

Left by Jamie Rodriquez on September 7th, 2007 at 4:23 pm

Care to back that up with a fact or two, Jamie?

Left by no2liberals on September 7th, 2007 at 5:34 pm

Come to Texas, kill someone, and we will kill you!!

Every killer ends up on death row?

Left by Jacques on September 7th, 2007 at 9:26 pm

You are forgetting the Law of Parties act N2L.
Be associated with a murderer, and you die.

That’s fair isn’t it?

Jonny

Left by Jon on September 7th, 2007 at 11:47 pm

you all talk about how much money were spending by killing off these murderers. its good to know that you put money above someone’s life. have you ever thought of what would happen if Tony Roach never was put to death. Instead, he got life in prison. Then 5 years later, he manages to escape from prison and kills 10 more young girls. then we catch him again. because of morons like you, 10 more girls died. but that did not happen. we killed that SOB and others like him and because of that, who knows how many girls we saved from being raped, tortured, murdered, and then burned.

Left by chris on September 8th, 2007 at 12:20 am

All your doing is pointing out the inadequacies of the judicial and prison sytem of Texas Chris.
There are ways to implement 100% safe and secure prisons, and just because the Texas prison system is less than adequate, doesnt me we have to jump off the other end of the spectrum and start killing criminals.
The way forward, is to implement a modern hard labour prison.
I agree with Marc that the prison should be totally self sufficent, any monies the criminals earn is used to pay for their upkeep, any left over goes to the victims familes (or a fund of such).
This way, no innocent people are killed on death row, you texans don’t have to fork out a ridiculous ammount in taxes to pay for their upkeep, they are serving a punishment and not just watching TV 23 hours a day, and the family of victim can rest assured that each criminal is locked away for good so no harm can come to anyone else.

Given the two options, this or the death penalty, I find it hard to understand why anyone would opt for the death penalty unless they have some kind of innate anger management problem and they are simply seeking a revenge punishment.

Jonny

Left by Jon on September 8th, 2007 at 3:05 am

The Death Penalty has the supp0rt of the vast majority of Texans.
No one outside this state need understand why, nor expect their opinions to have weight.
n2l

Left by Anonymous on September 9th, 2007 at 8:27 pm

I am not anonymous, but the above comment is mine.
In a recent survey of the Top Twenty Nations with the highest quality of life, the USA ranks number eight.
In the 2007 Quality of Life rankings in the USA, Texas ties with New York and Pennsylvania for second, with five “Five Star Quality of Life Metros.”
Not only is the USA taking care of business, but the State of Texas is, as well.
I suggest some might focus on their own problems. Texas is doing just fine, and the less our lives are like those countries ranked lower, or not at all, in the top twenty, the happier we are.

Left by no2liberals on September 9th, 2007 at 8:55 pm

I’m not exactly sure what your point is N2L by quoting this poll, but did you notice of those seven countries above you, how many had the death penalty?

Jonny

Left by Jon on September 10th, 2007 at 3:27 am

Yes. The “Law of Parties” provides that you do not have to kill anyone to be executed. As well more than one person has been executed in Texas when there has been clear reasonable doubt as to their guilt. The most tragic in my mind is the execution of Cameron Todd Willingham for the arson murder of his daughters. The original investigation was done by police who concluded arson. A later examination of evidence by 4 arson investigators concluded the fire was at the least not likely arson at all. This was well known when Willingham was executed. No court, no governor, no pardon and parole board intervened-it did not matter to them that not only was this man likely innocent, but it is highly likely there was no crime. No one cared. Remember the U S Supreme Court has effectively ruled that it is constitutional to execute the innocent as long as they have had a fair trial. Cornyn remembers, “First we have a fair trial and then we have a hanging.” I would also like to point out that the same kind of evidence exonerated another man who had also been convicted of arson murder and sentenced to death. Willingham was silenced while he was being executed because he cursed-I don’t blame him.

Left by Jamie Rodriquez on September 10th, 2007 at 10:47 am

Williangham was more concerened about the paint job on his car than the fact that his children were at the time being burnt alive. That the antideapthpenalty proponents found some defense experts to give a different opinion at to the start of the fire is not dispositive of innocence.

Left by wilson on October 11th, 2007 at 3:13 pm

Tony lived in a home in the south carolina woods were food was not often plentiful. Tony was arrested and sent to a juvenile jail for stealing food and candy. While there, little tony was raped by two large boys. He never received treatment for these injuries but bled for three days, to embarassed to seek treatment.

Indeed, from that point on, Tony had troubles with the law. He had street smarts but was not very bright. When he was placed in jail, he got into trouble deliberately so that he could be placed in isolation. This insured he would not be assaulted. He had mental issues and received the medical treatment of Benadryl to help him sleep.

Prior to killing Ms. Hewitt, he killed a man the day before. This man made sexual advances towards him. This person had a history of doing things like this but he made the mistake of hitting on Tony.

What Tony did was wrong. However, unlike the statements made saying he was never remoseful, he was; those statements claiming he did not admit his guilt are wrong, he confessed.

Tony found life very difficult on the outside. He had been incarcerated for almost 90% of the time from juvenile until he arrived in Amarillo. For example, he could not figure out how I could decide what to eat for lunch, everyday. His lunches were always provided and he never decided for himself what to eat.

In closing, I am not here to criticize those opinions expressed before I got here. The death penalty is a difficult choice but it is always a choice. Crimes that are absolutely similar may result in simple murder convictions or as death penalty cases. It just depends on where it happens, whether that jurisdiction has money, or the prosecutor is running for reelection, or a variety of other reasons. Justice is really not the goal.

I merely offer these words, in case, anyone else reads this blog. I thought they just might want to know from someone who spoke to Tony

Left by walt weaver on March 26th, 2008 at 5:16 pm