Here's something to peruse about punishment for murder in the state of Massachusetts. I can't believe this man is being punished by a sentence of only 10-12 years in prison for brutally murdering and beheading a fellow AA member! Read the article below from cnn.com:

"BOSTON, Massachusetts (AP) -- A Massachusetts man pleaded guilty Tuesday to beheading a man and burying the head in a Florida park.

Eugene McCollom, 40, was sentenced to 10 to 12 years in prison on manslaughter charges in the 2001 killing of John "Jackie" Leyden.

Leyden, who knew McCollom from Alcoholics Anonymous, was stabbed several times and beaten with a metal pipe. No motive was given. McCollom told investigators where to find Leyden's head.

McCollom is also charged with murder in the 2000 decapitation of a prostitute, whose body was dumped near a disabled veterans' home. Police later found a head and hands believed to be hers buried on a beach outside Boston.

McCollom allegedly told police he strangled her after an argument over money and described dismembering her body in his YMCA room.

A change of plea hearing is scheduled for February 24 in that case, said Steve O'Connell, a spokesman for the prosecutor's office. McCollom has said he would plead guilty to reduced charges in that case, according to court filings.

Lawrence McGuire, McCollom's attorney, did not immediately return a call."

The article doesn't specify when McCollom will be sentenced for murdering and beheading the prostitute. Still, I find it so hard to believe that he will serve a mere 10-12 years (probably less--I'm sure he'll get out early for some reason) for such a brutal murder! Is anyone else out there as appalled as I am?


[Edited to correct typo.]

McCollum, psycho that he sounds, certainly doesn't understand the tenets of AA. Or anything else. In that group last names are not even shared - even touching someone else's head is not part of the program. To chop one off is way out of the even understandable realm. This man's problem is not about sexual or chemical addiction. He's NUTS! That it seems pretty easy for alcoholics and drug addicts and prostitutes to be seen as third class citizens, therefore slipping through the cracks, is not only appalling but also quite dangerous. I've seen my share of those trying to recover from things - and the complications are vast. But murder is a whole different thing!

I agree with you, littlewoman. He'll get out in a too short of a time. Lopping off more heads. His problem is much deeper than that proclivity. And his activities have also already indicated that he'll be set free into an under-world where such things seem to be just OK. His problem is his own, but it doesn't seem like society/justice is helping much.

One thing that leaps out at me from the report is that he was sentenced, not for murder, but for manslaughter. Traditionally, both are unlawful killings but there are vast differences between the two.

Murder, traditionally (and I'm basing this on Australian law which was derived from the UK) involves one major element that maslaughter does not: intent. This is why there can be a huge discrepancy between sentences for murder and sentences for manslaughter.

In Queensland, the jurisdicition I work in, murder involves an intention either to kill or to do grievous bodily harm. Manslaughter is the killing of a person without lawful excuse but without the requisite intention.

Murder will get you life - that's a mandatory sentence. Manslaughter can get you life, but it's not mandatory and can be mitigated by other factors, such as the actual facts surrounding the killing and the personal circumstances of the offender. People convicted of manslaughter can even avoid being sent to gaol at all.

Without knowing all the facts that the court knew when sentencing the offender, I think it's a bit presumptuous to question the sentence imposed.

Granted, I was not in the courtroom and I don't know the facts that the judge knows. But just reading the cnn article raises questions in my mind. McCollum brutally stabbed and beat someone and beheaded him ... for no apparent reason. And McCollum only gets 10 or 12 years for this brutality? I don't understand. Sometimes I wish I'd gone into law so that I could understand such things better (but maybe then I'd be even MORE aggravated than I am now! There are so many problems with America's judicial system.) But, there are problems everywhere--and there always will be, sad to say.

but if you cant control your emotions
you shouldnt be out on the street

i expect robert durst and oj are now the gold standard for getting off

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