Should outrage for Cosby be tempered by the death of his son - shot by a racist.

[hexola]

Im guessing the answer is "NO!"...but there is some irony in the timing of the Cos revelations.

I had forgotten about this until the other day...I'm sure some are too young to remember.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ennis_Cosby

Born in Lviv, Markhasev had come to the U.S. in 1989 with his mother, attending a program for gifted children in West Hollywood, where a teacher described him as well-liked and well-behaved. But, after moving to Los Alamitos, California, in 1992, he began hanging out with a gang and exhibiting racism. In 1995 Markhasev and other gang members attacked two African American men with a knife at a gas station and served six months at a juvenile correctional facility. According to a friend, his time in the facility changed him, and he seemed more combative and angrier upon his release.

Prosecutors said that Markhasev, after demanding money from Cosby, shot him in the head because he was moving too slowly. Markhasev's DNA was found on a knit cap wrapped around a gun found five miles from the crime scene, and the gun was matched to the bullet that killed Cosby.

Letters written by Markhasev while in jail were presented at his trial. In one letter, Markhasev wrote: "I shot the nigger .... I went to rob a [drug dealer] and obviously found something else."[citation needed]

In 1998 Markhasev was sentenced to life in prison without parole, plus 10 years, for first-degree murder and attempted robbery. The Cosby family had asked prosecutors not to seek the death penalty.

In 2001 Markhasev confessed in a handwritten letter to a California Deputy Attorney General: "Although my appeal is in its beginning stages, I don't want to continue with it because it's based on falsehood and deceit .... I am guilty,

[hlthe2b]

1. I'm sure it does mine.. I remember Ennis Cosby's death well..

I'm not defending Cosby, but on some level I can't help but feel badly about the entire situation

[villager]

2. Living here in L.A., I passed the flower shrine on that off-ramp for years...

..and being a father, always thought about what transpired on that spot.

[Luminous Animal]

3. No. Millions of people who are not rapists have also suffered a personal tragedy.

[840high]

19. ...^ that

[pnwmom]

4. No. It just shows that Cosby had more than one side.

But it doesn't reduce the harm he did to those girls and women.

[tularetom]

5. If Cosby had started raping young women after the death of his son I might empathize with him

But he was apparently engaged in that behavior for many years prior to 1995.

Who I feel sorry for is his wife.

[LiberalElite]

7. yes his wife -

I've been wondering what SHE thinks of all this.

[LawDeeDah]

14. Why? Was it a woman who killed his son?

Just curious why you think losing a child to such a horrific way would make one empathetic toward a rapist? Just wondering because I can't make any connection like that at all.

[cwydro]

20. Wait.

So if I have this right...it would be understandable for Cosby to rape women because his son was murdered?

Seriously?

[Ink Man]

6. Mr. Cosby's defence attorney

is testing the waters.

[etherealtruth]

9. No, they are two seperate and distinct things

Rarely, is anyone's life all good or all bad.

I can have compassion for him related to the horrifying murder of his son. I can be disgusted and outraged by HIS horrifying acts.

[sabrina 1]

10. It should be tempered by a the fact that all we have are 40 year old allegations.

Cosby denies these allegations. Imo he should force them into court by suing them if he is telling the truth. They appear to want to settle for money, this way no evidence is required for the public to see.

I never believe allegations, no matter how many jump on the bandwagon.

So far I have not seen a shred of evidence that these allegations are true.

Take it to court and lets see people under oath, with corroborating witnesses etc.

Wealthy people are prime targets of these kinds of allegations, and many do settle rather than let them go public. That is wrong, imo, because it only encourages more of it.

Sorry, that would be 50 year old allegations which there is no way to corroborate. If they have something other than their allegations, then let's see it.

I said the same thing during the Duke mess and was excoriated as a 'hater or women' etc etc by those who WANT to believe these people.

To me, I would rather think none of it happened. For the sake of the WOMEN. Why are people so enthusiastic about wanting women to have been abused? Hopefully Cosby is telling the truth. For everyone's sake.

[bettyellen]

21. except that-as you know- quite a few reported it many years ago and were denied justice then.

[Hekate]

11. Even serial rapists can have personal tragedies and lose a child. It does not excuse their behavior.

The former Dr. Huxtable's terrible history goes back to long before Ennis Cosby was murdered.

I withheld reading the articles about Bill Cosby at the beginning and withheld judgment at the outset likewise. But what is it now? Twenty women who have come forward?

Gimme a break.

[Recursion]

23. Roman Polanski's wife was brutally murdered a few weeks before he raped the model

He still can't set foot in the US.

[UTUSN]

12. Uh, "no" - just "no" n/t

Last edited Mon Dec 8, 2014, 05:01 PM - Edit history (2)

[Spider Jerusalem]

13. What?

I don't see what one has to do with the other, really. The death of his son was a tragic and senseless thing. That doesn't give him a pass on being a serial rapist whose MO involved drugging women and then having his way with them (if the allegations are indeed true). Sometimes bad things happen to bad people.

[Nye Bevan]

15. No. Lots of people have lost a son but not drugged and raped 20+ women (nt)

[maced666]

16. Whats one got to do with the other

[Beringia]

17. No

They should be judged separately. I hope you are never a juror for justice sake.

[Kalidurga]

18. It wouldn't be tempered if Cosby himself had been shot

and lets say instead of dying he is now in a wheelchair when the allegations come out. I would still think he is guilty and I wouldn't be shy to say it. Nor if it was a criminal case would I shed tear to say he is guilty even though it means a prison sentence. This won't ever be a criminal trial though unless someone comes forward and it's recent enough.

[Recursion]

22. That was three decades after the original allegations, including one with whom he fathered a child

So, no, not really. Bad things also happen to creepy rapists' families.

[jillan]

24. NO! There is no excuse for rape. None. Not even family tragedy.