DEATH PENALTY INMATES SHOULD BE EXECUTED IN A TIMELY MANNER. JUSTICE SHOULD BE SERVED.

THE KUHNS REPORT

LAS VEGAS - Hello America, and how is the world treating you?

Where's the justice?  Serial   killers and many murderers are put on trial and found guilty by a jury of their peers and sentenced to death. But - - these serial killers, even mass murderers sit on death row for  twenty (20) years or more before their sentence is  carried out. The jury had spoken but the judges and attorneys fail to follow through.

For example-lets take Joseph Paul Franklin, a white supremacist who targeted Jews and blacks in a cross country killing spree. Beginning in 1977 through 1980 he wreaked havoc on innocent people. Franklin, 63 killed Gerald Gordon in a sniper shooting at a suburban  St. Louis, MO synagogue in 1977. He went on to kill six people in a cafe' and wounded 16 others. and then using a bomb killed five (5) shoppers and wounded still fifteen (15) more.In 2013, this guy finally got the death penalty. But wait! It was no thanks to a lackluster judge who halted the execution crying about the method of execution. The judge said it would be a hardship on this scum bag. Luckily, some clearer minds prevailed and Franklin was put to death Wednesday, Missouri's first execution in nearly three years. So - -we have been feeding and taking care of this mass murderer for about THIRTY-THREE (33) YEARS. WOW!

Then there is the case that happened in my old stomping grounds of Los Angeles, California where Dough Clark and Carol M. Bundy ravaged the countryside. They were known as the "Sunset Strip Killers." They took seven victims that we know about. It started in June 1980, that is when the first body was found in a brush area near the Forest Lawn embankment.

Clark would troll Sunset Boulvard and pick up prostitutes.He would have them give him oral sex and at the time they were performing the sex act on him he would shoot them in the head.  He used a 25 caliber pistol  and copper jacket bullets as his choice of weapon.Clark's sidekick Carol Bundy joined in the preverse acts of sex, torture and mutilation with a vengeance. She was as brutal as he was. Often she would play the loving wife in order to lure the victims into the car.

On one occasion the two murders cut of the head of one of the  prostitutes, took it home and put it in a freezer. Carol would take the head from the freezer and make the face up and do its hair. Doug Clark would take the severed head into the bathroom and have sex with it.

Carol also killed a prior lover of hers and also severed his head and brought it home to Clark to show him that her old lover was out of the picture and that he, Doug,  was the only man for her.

In 1983, Clark was convicted and sentenced to death. Carol Bundy was sentenced to life only because she testified against Clark. Clark acted as his own attorney. He relished the idea that he had a stage to show off his imagined talents in the courtroom. During the trial Clark spew vulgar, foul words at the judge and threw things at the prosecutor (I think it was just for show to get more attention). He turned the entire trial into a circus. But in the end he received  the death penalty.

When Carol Bundy was asked how she felt about decapitating the heads of her victims she told a reporter interviewing her that she enjoyed it and enjoyed killing. She also made the comment , "it was really a bitch to try to get makeup on a frozen head." She said the makeup kept smearing.
Carol Bundy died in  prison on December 9, 2003, at the age of 61 from heart failure. But her partner in crime, Doug Clark, is still sitting on death row., eating  regular meals, getting free medical care and sleeping soundly every night at  our taxpayer expense.

During  an interview Clark told authorities that he killed at least FIFTY people starting at the age of 17-years old. He  also said that he wanted to kill at least  ONE HUNDRED people before he died.  Again, to remind all of you. This is our crazy, dysfunctional justice system at work - -THIRTY YEARS has come and gone since he was sentenced to death and this dirt bag is still living and breathing. Go figure!

Another case worth mentioning is Kennedy cousin Michael Skakel, the 53-year-old nephew of Robrert F. Kennedy's widow, Ethel. This guy was convicted of the 1975 murder of neighbor Martha Moxley, who was a teenager. She was  bludgeoned to death, allegedly  with a golf club. But it appears because of his political influence, some milk toast, sympathy crying judge decided to let him out of prison saying he deserves a new trial. He  spent 11 years behind bars on a sentence of 20 years in prison. The jury convicted this scuzz of murder but for reasons only known to the judge he lets this man skate. However, to the credit of the prosecutors --they are going to appeal the decision of  the judge. I believe the long running legal battle is far from over.

Another rapist, killer , Ronald Phillips,43 was condemned to die way back in 1993, for the brutal rape and murder of his girlfriend's 3-year-old daughter, Sheila Marie  Evans. But he sat on Ohio's death row enjoying life (eating, sleeping, bathing, tv., and other fringe benefits),on our taxpayers dime until finally, after 24 years he was put to death.  It was Ohio's first execution since 2014. Then in 2014, an inmate was put to death at the time and  it took him about 26 minutes to die. Witnesses said he snorted and gasped during the procedure. Because of that, Governor John Kasich reacted by putting a hold on all executions. What?  The Gov felt sorry for this murderer because he gasped and snorted during his execution. Are you kidding me? Put yourself in the place of that little 3-year-old girl as she was being raped and mauled and murdered by this  monster. Did she gasp, snort, cry? Probably.  You have to know this little angel went through hell as Phillips was penetrating her.  If the murderer feels  a little discomfort while being executed --HOORAY! That's the least that can happen to them. I consider it just a small "payback" for the torture and pain they put their victims through. Something the  courts, judges and attorney seem to forget about, or ignore.

Folks, I believe our justice system is flawed to a large degree.   Our judicial system claims  that a person is entitled to a speedy trial. Really? That's clearly is not true in  the millions and millions of cases that go before the courts, especially in capital crimes such as murder. There have been reports of cases that languish in the court system for 4, 5, 6, years, even more , following the arrest of the suspect before the case even comes up for trial. That shouldn't be - - but the games the attorneys, prosecutors and the judges play are responsible for the lack of  speedy trials. The defense attorneys attempt to delay, delay, and delay and  many judges go right along with these tactics. The traumatized families of the victims who yearn for speedy trials and justice are forgotten in the mix. And as time goes on and the delays continue, witnesses die, evidence is lost or misplaced and memories fade (just what the defense attorneys want to happen) and the judges care less and allow  the system to falter and break down.

Personally, I would like to see speedy justice work like it should. First, a speedy trial. Once the suspect is arrested I say bring the idiot suspect(s) to trial promptly. I think  a six month time period would be fair. Once the trail is completed and the jury makes their determination the sentence should be carried out. If the good men and women on the juries say that the suspect(s) is to be sentenced to death then he or she should be put to death (again, in a short period of time) following their conviction.

Appeals? Certainly. The suspect has a right to appeal and those appeals should be heard BUT not over a TWENTY or THIRTY YEAR period. I would prefer to see an appeal process that is stream-lined. An appeals process no more than ONE YEAR would be fair.  I believe that is long enough for the killers attorneys to make their case to an appeals court. And then - - after the year has expired for the appeals process, the killers should be put down, like a dog is put down in a kennel. That to me is, swift, speedy, justice.

I maintain that if these murderers made the decision to kill another person they should know that there will be  swift and final consequences for their depraved act(s). If they knew they would pay with their own life within a year of being sentenced to death  - -these cowards would think twice before they decided to commit the  ultimate crime --taking another persons life. I predict that if a killer knows that he or she will be  put to death within a year after being sentenced to death, the murder rates in this country would drop drastically.However, right now, the murderers have nothing to lose (not even their own life.) They know that they can sit on death row (no matter how heinous the crime) and  not be put to death. They actually snub their nose at the victims families knowing that the chances of them being put to death for decades are practically "zero."

There are some countries that carry out death sentences very quickly. There have been cases in China where the killers were taken from the courtroom to the execution chamber and/or put in front of a firing squad or even shot in the back of the head. The death sentence was  carried out that same day of the sentencing. There have been reports of other countries carrying out the death sentence within days of the sentence being pronounced. There have also been instances where some countries kill the murderer in the same way that he or she killed their victim - - talk about carrying out justice - -now, that's justice.  I would say some of these other countries have no qualms about a speedy trial and quick justice. If we had more of that here in the United States I submit we clearly would have less murders occurring. - And, that's my opinion. Make your own decisions. You decide.

Bradley W. Kuhns, Ph.D., O.M.D.
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Dr. Kuhns can be reached by email at:
bradleykuhns@gmail.com