Another Person To Die

[discocrisco01]

The AP reports

"An Indiana death row inmate who refused to request clemency awaited execution Friday for killing his estranged wife and two of her relatives more than 15 years ago.

Matthew Eric Wrinkles didn't pursue any last-minute appeals or efforts to save his life Thursday. The 49-year-old inmate had told his attorneys not to make any such efforts, and they agreed to abide by his wishes.

Wrinkles was scheduled to die by lethal injection early Friday at the Indiana State Prison.

He had exhausted his appeals in state and federal courts and last month declined to request clemency from Gov. Mitch Daniels.

Wrinkles was convicted in 1995 of murdering his wife, Debra Jean Wrinkles, 31; her brother, Mark "Tony" Fulkerson, 28; and Fulkerson's wife, Natalie "Chris" Fulkerson, 26, at the Fulkersons' home in Evansville.

The killings came just days after Wrinkles' mother tried to have him committed due to his erratic behavior but was told he didn't meet the criteria. He had been briefly hospitalized at a different hospital about two weeks before the killings but was released after a psychiatrist determined he was not "gravely disabled," according to records from a 1999 court hearing.

Authorities say Wrinkles was high on methamphetamine when he cut the phone lines to the Fulkerson home about 2 a.m. July 21, 1994. He was wearing camouflage clothes and face paint and armed with a gun and a knife when he kicked open the door of the home where his estranged wife and children were staying.

Wrinkles shot Mark Fulkerson in front of Fulkerson's 3-year-old son, then shot Debra Wrinkles as their daughter pleaded for her mother's life. Finally, he shot Natalie Fulkerson in the face. "

There is a lot of people who do should not be on death row because their case does not meet the criteria of exteremely aggravated murder which is when the death penalty should be used.

If I were judge, this is a life without parole. Being on high on drugs, is a migitating circumstance by my standards because the person is often in a "blackout" state and not aware of their actions. Therefore, the death penalty is not applicable in those cases.

[paulsby]

1. screw that

if you voluntarily intoxicate yourself, you are responsible for your actions while on the drug. ESPECiALLY in the case of a guy like this who already had the kind of mental history this guy had. iow, he likely knew he had "issues" , CHOSE to use meth, and killed three innocents.

iow, he already knew he had loose screws, he chose to take meth, and then he chose to murder three people

good fucking riddance!

[Ozymanithrax]

2. The death penalty should be abolished...

Wrinkles appears to have been guilty, but there are many cases where innocent people have been put to death. If you put someone in prison for 30 years and find out that person was innocent, there is a remedy, free them. But there is no remedy for killing an innocent person. Life in prison without the possibility of parole is a better way to deal with such crimes.

[tblue]

3. Yep. It's barbaric, too.

Killing him won't bring those people back. I strongly support repealing the death penalty though, believe me, there are individuals cases that make me almost change my mind. Life in prison is not exactly a good time. Can you imagine living your thirties, forties, fifties locked in prison? Tell me that isn't less palatable than a quick death.

This was obviously one sick puppy. The meth is a symptom of his psychosis. It doesn't really mitigate the crime and it's certainly not an excuse for murder.

[Goldstein1984]

4. Justice is a process

Justice in the United States is a process, not an outcome. If a guilty person goes free via due process, then just has been done. If an innocent person in convicted via due process, justice has been done.

Clearly, it's an imperfect process. Why then, should we assume we are free to irreversibly take a life when we know there is potential for a judicial decision to be reversed. The ultimate penalty without the ultimate process to ensure that the penalty is truly appropriate. Until due process is perfect, we have no business inflicting the ultimate penalty.

[proteus_lives]

5. Wrinkles deserves to die.

That's all there is to it.

[Ozymanithrax]

6. “Many that live deserve death. And some that die deserve life.

... Can you give it to them? Then do not be too eager to deal out death in judgement. For even the very wise cannot see all ends.”
J.R.R. Tolkein