This is a question that many people all across the United States are asking themselves as Wednesday, August 10th rolls around. 12 years ago a 21 year old, mentally retarded male named Oliver Cruz, abducted a young woman by the name of Kelly Donovan. He, along with another mentlaly stable man, raped and murdered Ms. Donovan. She was stabbed 20 times and then discretly discarded. Now at the age of 33, Oliver awaits Wednesday's 6 PM execution.
A little background on Oliver lets us understand a little of what his life has been like over the past 33 years. He can read and write very little and flunked seventh grade 3 times. His inablity to read and write have prevented him of getting jobs and have kept the young man out of the army numerous times. Obviously this has hindered his ability to take on an active role in society. This is what Oliver has to say on being labled retarded:
"It hurts to be in that category, that I'm retarded or stupid," Mr. Cruz said.
But he also recalled his frustration with school, which he said had led to his dropping out at age 16. "I was slow in reading, slow in learning," he said. "Maybe I was a loser. The teacher would say, 'Read this chapter.' I couldn't read."
He volunteered that he had made progress on death row. "Now, I can write a letter," he said, "a half a page."
Mr. Cruz did not appear to know what it meant to be mentally retarded. "I'm not retarded," he said. "I'm not the kind of person who is going to go out and hurt people for the fun of it."
He attributed his crime to his being drunk and on LSD. But he also said, "I'm not going to use this as an excuse for what happened."
"I know I was wrong," he said. "I feel real bad about it. There's nothing I can do to change it, bring that person back. I want to make things right." His eyes filling with tears, he said that half of him had died that night along with the woman he killed.
"Keep me locked up," he added. "But don't kill me. I know I could help people."
Toward the end of the interview, Mr. Cruz put his head in his hands and wept. (Courtesy of The New York Times)
Normally, a crime of this magnetude would get the perpetrator no sympathy. This is an exceptional case obviously and many across the nation are running to his side. What we have to examine though is that he seems rather cognizant of what his actions were. He was capable of getting drunk, taking LSD, and then kidnapping, raping and murdering Kelly Donovan. It's hard for me to have sympathy for this man. This isn't some random case of a retarded man accidentally killing one of his children from rocking it too hard or even killing a family member in a rush of anger. This is a cold calculated murder from a young man who has been snubbed from society for so long, that he perhaps wanted a little revenge. It seems somewhat unfair that the mentally stable man that was his accomplise was given a plea bargain to testify against Oliver. That seems to be a failure in our court system. Yet, can we have another failure of our court system by letting this man go unpunished?
Many people believe that Oliver should be kept from the death penalty because of his handicap. If you are opposed totally to the idea of the death penalty then horray for you. Keep your consitant stance. What bothers me is a double standard for someone who, even though retarded, commited a crime worthy of today's statute for execution. Some supporters of the death penalty are opposed to the execution of the mentally retarded. What hyporcritical bullshit!(see Florida Gov. Jeb Bush) I say, that if we're going to keep the death penalty around, we should use it on everyone worthy of it. Oliver was doped up and drunk, and murdered a fellow member of society. He knew damned well what he was doing and what would happen if he was caught by the police. If I went out kidnapped, raped, and murdered a young woman, I would expect no less than what Oliver will get on Wednesday. Even if I were doped up and drunk out of my mind.
You heartless bastard!!
Would he like fries with that??