Killers’ Actions Speak Louder Than Words

I hope that if I am ever brutally murdered, it is not by some cunning criminal who is able to put two words together and get the sympathy of liberal intellectuals the world over (“Death Upheld for Crips Founder,” Sept. 11). Perhaps if Stanley “Tookie” Williams had devoted his life to writing children’s books before he slaughtered a father, mother and daughter from a single family in cold blood he would not have to rely on the support he receives from people who should really know better.

As a veteran police officer who has interviewed countless criminal suspects, I know that some people are smart, charming and also capable of vicious acts that leave their victims’ families forever devastated. People like Williams and Mumia Abu-Jamal [convicted of killing a police officer] deserve the punishment that society reserves for brutal killers, no matter how articulate they are.

Paul Joseph

San Jose