That Physical Release
Serial murderers are social abominations, human monsters lacking the emotions that make human beings social creatures able and willing to live together in harmony. That Canada is an advanced liberal democracy which has long since agreed to eschew Capital Punishment in meting out justice is an acknowledgement that life is precious. The citizens of the country agreed to agree that they would not authorize their elected legislators to enact the death penalty as punishment for viciously violent crimes.
Which has left the country with a number of notorious serial killers securely behind bars at great cost to the treasury, and perhaps greater cost to the tormented memories of the families of victims of crime, when they know that the monster who murdered their loved ones lives and their sons and daughters are dead. And when, as happens still, the convicted murderer has served sufficient of his life sentence to automatically apply for parole, as is his right to do, whether or not it will be granted.
It is when the authorities themselves, the experts in incarceration and punishment of the most extreme crimes are flawed in the execution of their techniques and understanding of the character of the criminals they house, that it is brought home to the mind of the citizen that ours is a far from perfect response to the age-old dilemma of what to do with the psychopaths among us.
A man who satisfied his lust for murder because of the high it gave him, and who stated for public presentation while in prison that "It's something I need", was given the opportunity to kill again.
Michael Wayne McGray was convicted of six murders. He was most certainly involved in more than six murders, but the conviction was on the basis of the evidence held by the public prosecutor, and he was sent away to be held without the opportunity for release, shuffled from one prison to another. In an interview he bragged to a reporter, "Just because I'm locked up in segregation doesn't mean I can't kill somebody. I have a chance every day."
So, one must wonder, do penitentiary authorities not read the newspapers? Would this not be brought to their attention? Isn't a psychological examination performed on such unrecalcitrant violators of humanity? He explained to his interlocutor just how vital to his well-being killing is: "...almost a hunger. It's something I need. I have to have that physical release." This man's hunger for committing murder was blatant, and he was not shy in articulating it.
Yet he was taken out of segregation, moved to another, medium-security prison, where cells are shared, two beds to a cell, two prisoners to each cell. The man's reputation was well known. Other, hardened criminals gave him wide berth. Even when he was incarcerated with other convicted killers he was recognized as different, special, someone to be avoided.
"Everyone walked on egg shells around him. I had heard about the guy and the six murders, but I didn't know he was stone-cold. How he got moved over to Mountain is beyond me. I've been trying to get a transfer there for years and I didn't kill six people", said a prison inmate who knew McGray well.
This mass murderer made it clear he was definitely not interested in sharing a cell. But he was moved to the new medium-security prison and he was given a cellmate, even though even there one-quarter of the cells had single bunks and single inmates. Corrections Canada has a policy directive that inmates' psychological information, their criminal profiles, their predatory behaviour and compatibility all be assessed in arriving at placement decisions.
Despite which, McGray was placed in a shared cell with another inmate, Jeremy Phillips. Phillips was serving a 7-year sentence for aggravated assault, having fractured a man's skull with a baseball bat after a drug deal gone wrong. He was no paragon of social virtue, but he also hadn't murdered six people. Now 33-year-old Phillips is no longer sharing a cell with McGray; he was murdered in his cell.
And the RCMP is investigating. That shouldn't take too long.
Which has left the country with a number of notorious serial killers securely behind bars at great cost to the treasury, and perhaps greater cost to the tormented memories of the families of victims of crime, when they know that the monster who murdered their loved ones lives and their sons and daughters are dead. And when, as happens still, the convicted murderer has served sufficient of his life sentence to automatically apply for parole, as is his right to do, whether or not it will be granted.
It is when the authorities themselves, the experts in incarceration and punishment of the most extreme crimes are flawed in the execution of their techniques and understanding of the character of the criminals they house, that it is brought home to the mind of the citizen that ours is a far from perfect response to the age-old dilemma of what to do with the psychopaths among us.
A man who satisfied his lust for murder because of the high it gave him, and who stated for public presentation while in prison that "It's something I need", was given the opportunity to kill again.
Michael Wayne McGray was convicted of six murders. He was most certainly involved in more than six murders, but the conviction was on the basis of the evidence held by the public prosecutor, and he was sent away to be held without the opportunity for release, shuffled from one prison to another. In an interview he bragged to a reporter, "Just because I'm locked up in segregation doesn't mean I can't kill somebody. I have a chance every day."
So, one must wonder, do penitentiary authorities not read the newspapers? Would this not be brought to their attention? Isn't a psychological examination performed on such unrecalcitrant violators of humanity? He explained to his interlocutor just how vital to his well-being killing is: "...almost a hunger. It's something I need. I have to have that physical release." This man's hunger for committing murder was blatant, and he was not shy in articulating it.
Yet he was taken out of segregation, moved to another, medium-security prison, where cells are shared, two beds to a cell, two prisoners to each cell. The man's reputation was well known. Other, hardened criminals gave him wide berth. Even when he was incarcerated with other convicted killers he was recognized as different, special, someone to be avoided.
"Everyone walked on egg shells around him. I had heard about the guy and the six murders, but I didn't know he was stone-cold. How he got moved over to Mountain is beyond me. I've been trying to get a transfer there for years and I didn't kill six people", said a prison inmate who knew McGray well.
This mass murderer made it clear he was definitely not interested in sharing a cell. But he was moved to the new medium-security prison and he was given a cellmate, even though even there one-quarter of the cells had single bunks and single inmates. Corrections Canada has a policy directive that inmates' psychological information, their criminal profiles, their predatory behaviour and compatibility all be assessed in arriving at placement decisions.
Despite which, McGray was placed in a shared cell with another inmate, Jeremy Phillips. Phillips was serving a 7-year sentence for aggravated assault, having fractured a man's skull with a baseball bat after a drug deal gone wrong. He was no paragon of social virtue, but he also hadn't murdered six people. Now 33-year-old Phillips is no longer sharing a cell with McGray; he was murdered in his cell.
And the RCMP is investigating. That shouldn't take too long.
Labels: Canada, Conflict, Human Relations, Justice
posted by Pieface | 7:43 PM
1 Comments:
Since we do not have a much needed in my opinion death sentence here in Canada maybe Mr. McGray has steered us towards a long overdue solution regarding the cost of detaining these animals. Lets have 1 large prison with all the most modern open area non evasive detention aids but with rooms for 2. If we move all of the murderers there the problem of how long we have to keep them would be self solving.
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