This is a bit of a complex case at the moment from what is thus far known. Regardless of what your feelings are on vigilante justice, it sounds like this guy had it coming. All three of the assailants are 18 so they are in deep trouble and are charged with Capital Murder. https://www.foxnews.com/us/texas-stepfather-beaten-to-death-by-teen-brothers-and-friend-police-say "Quintanilla had a warrant for continuous sexual abuse of a child, police previously told MyRGV News." https://www.nydailynews.com/news/cr...0220127-jjcwj6xzdfer5exox22dwzqyim-story.html If I was a betting man I would say that the two brothers may have suspected what he was and possibly knew about the other case. They flipped out on him when their sister either 1) told them or 2) caught him in the act. It's unclear right now which one it was. What they should have done was 1) gathered her up and went straight to the police station and/or hospital or 2) stood guard at the house and called 911; but an 18 year old brain and rage over sexual abuse don't always go together with rational decision-making. More details about the circumstances will emerge, but of course every article you read is conflicting. I'm not condoning what they did, but I can't completely denounce it at this point, either. I guess in the end this guy can't harm anyone else but these teens could be screwed for life. We'll see if a good lawyer takes the case on pro bono. EDIT: Title should read assault, not asult. I may have just run out of room. If not, can a mod please fix. Thanks.
Vigilantism is illegal for a reason. Without legal authority as the basis for action we wind up in a jungle with no rules and lots of armed people running around shooting at other people.
I don't disagree in theory, but sometimes there are those times where you can be very tempted to look away. This is a wild one: https://allthatsinteresting.com/ken-mcelroy https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ken_McElroy
https://nypost.com/2022/01/28/petition-for-release-of-brothers-who-killed-rapist-stepfather/ I take it most people don't care for pedos.
The difficulty in a case like this comes if the allegations that the young girl stated, are false. If they’re true, give them 10-15 and they still have the rest of their lives ahead of them for the most part.
The problem is you can always find a 9 year old sister to back you up if you have convinced her your target is worthy of killing. Not to say that this case wasn't absolutely what they say it was however it's not hard to find cover for killing anybody you want to once legal authority is no longer required. That's just one of the many reasons why vigilantism is illegal.
I'm good with just giving them 10-15 as long as some attempt is made along the way not just to punish them but to make them truly repent their actions. Otherwise you're just releasing a couple of killers hardened by a stretch in the pen back into society.
I doubt the accusation is false because this guy had an outstanding warrant out for his arrest for ongoing sexual abuse with another victim. Can't see why his daughter would just pull it out of the air that he was touching her or worse. Still no idea if she told her brothers, if they heard her screaming, or if they caught him in the act. I don't think they should get off scot-free at all, but we'll see if it hits all the check marks for Capital Murder. This may not see trial (self defense won't work here), but it's a risk you take because they did it and they pursued him. It could get pled down drastically and everybody gets what they want. Somewhat. The only way I say this goes to trial for sure is if they find out other indisputable heinous shit on this guy during discovery that can be introduced as prior bad acts. That could result in an even lesser sentence than pleading down, but once again, big risk.
Sounds like justifiable homicide to me. But, if you want to make sure they have their minds right, throw them some supervised probation have them come talk to someone once a month, make sure they are in a good place and being productive. There’s be a lot less pedos if they lived in fear of being offed when caught.
That would be better, but I don’t think it’s realistic. I think the US is significantly light on sentencing pedophiles. It’s one of the few things that I don’t think people can be rehabilitated from.
In Turkey pedophiles are thrown to jail for a few years. But most of them don't survive a month. Turkish prisoners take care of pedos inside and the correction officers look the other way.
Of course it's illegal and you present an interesting point, but I can't see just beating somebody to death for no reason. I'm not feeling that this was a thrill killing and it's not like the guy had money or anything. Did you ever see the movie 'M' with Peter Lorre? It's one of the best films about Vigilante Justice and Kangaroo Courts ever made. It's one of my favorite films of all time. I put it in the horror movie thread way back in the day because it's that chilling. Hans Beckert (Lorre), a serial child murderer, gets hunted by other criminals for his crimes. I don't want to give too much away if you've never seen it. It's also kind of creepy that looking back on the film 91 years later that Hitler was on the horizon and people would soon be ratting each other out for crimes real and imagined. OK, I was due for a tangent, haha.
This is a classic example of the old western tale of a sign on the way into town that reads We hang all horse thieves and some killers. when the sheriff was asked why all horse thieves he replied I never met a horse that needed stealing.
I think it's a bit like that everywhere. If they aren't separated from the general population in some way they won't last long. A very difficult situation this one. I can see both sides and frankly can make a good case for both being right.
People wouldn't get beaten to death for nothing if it was easier to get away with the crime. They'd be getting beaten to death for reasons perfectly justified in the eyes of the person killing them. That's the distinction between vigilantism and legal authority. In the first case only you need to believe that your actions are justified. In the second proof beyond a reasonable doubt needs to be offered and then the actions taken to remedy the situation must meet a legal standard.
I think when you kill a pedo like this you are doing so fully accepting the consequences. "I'll probably go to jail but it will be worth it to stop that fucker." So if you think about it, it's not really a difficult decision then: give them prison like they expected, everyone wins and social order is maintained
Everybody wins? Those kids are going to jail for quite a long time and all they had to do was make the report to the local authorities instead and the ball starts rolling on the perp. If he really had another pending case it takes zero time for the authorities to step in and fix the situation. Most 18 year olds have no clue about consequences or cause and effect.
