Child Murderes

A quick aside from yesterday's post.   I found this news report to be in bad taste. Well not the report itself but the subject matter.   It seems that the Sydney Theatre Company is staging a play regarding the Casey Anthoney case.   You would think they would have the decency to hold off until after the trial.

Whilst combing the Internet looking for information about the Anthony case,  I was shocked by the number of child murders that occur throughout the world.   There are two cases currently in Australia.   A Sydney woman was found guilty of poisoning and smothering her four-year-old son and two-year-old daughter and was given a 4 year prison term.   A 25 year old Adelaide woman is being detained following the death of her two-year-old son.    It is bad enough when a stranger murders a child but I just cannot wrap my head around a parent that would take the life of their own son or daughter.  

Now I have no training in law but I thought that if you were deemed unfit to stand trial on psychological grounds then you could not be tried.   My thinking is this,  the only way I can imagine anyone taking a child's life (especially the parent) is if the life taker is mentally ill.   If they are mentally ill,   they should not be tried.   Obviously my logic is flawed because my first premise is incorrect.   Many killers have taken a child's life with as much indifference as they may kill a chicken for the Sunday roast.   Thankfully many of these monsters have been put away or paid the ultimate penalty for their crimes (capital punishment requires a post on its own which I may look at in the future).

There was one case that I came across that disturbed me far to much for me to continue reading.   The torture and eventual death of Sylvia Likens back in the sixties was a tale of unsurpassed horror. I have no intentions of recounting any of the gruesome details here.nbspnbsp If you feel you have the stomach for it I have a link to the site here.