Letter to the Editor: What they deserve

By Danny Cooper, Drumright - 11/2/2009


It amazes me that someone with enough mental capacity to operate a motorized vehicle and firearms and who is able and willing to take someone's life can be held not responsible for his actions because of a bad childhood.

I was a juror on Robert Lambert's first trial back in the '80s. Scott Hain, who has already been put to death, actually followed Robert's lead and Robert is still in prison. Robert's sister attacked me on the courthouse steps after we recommended the death penalty. She said we should leave him alone because he had a bad childhood.

If they are capable enough to murder someone in cold blood, then they deserve the death penalty.

Editor's note: Lambert and Hain were convicted in the October 1987 killings of Michael Houghton and Laura Lee Sanders. Hain was executed in 2003. Lambert was taken off death row after a successful appeal arguing mental retardation made him ineligible for the death penalty.







Letters to the editor are encouraged. Each letter must be signed and include an address and a telephone number where the writer can be reached during business hours. Addresses and phone numbers will not be published. Letters should be a maximum of 250 words to be considered for publication and may be edited for length, style and grammar. Letters should be addressed to Letters to the Editor, Tulsa World, Box 1770, Tulsa, Okla., 74102, or send e-mail to letters@tulsaworld.com.



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Tulsa World Reader Comments
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PhoenixIX, Jenks (11/2/2009 5:38:30 AM)
Danny, I find it interesting that you refer to Lambert by his first name - Robert. Are we to assume you knew or know this man personally ??

droopy, wagoner (11/2/2009 7:39:48 AM)
Way to go Phoenix, deflect the focus of a very good letter.

Hijinx, (11/2/2009 8:21:16 AM)
You did your job and the attorneys did theirs. What else can you do? Let it go.

dustyoutlaw, Tulsa (11/2/2009 8:24:56 AM)
In my store for several decades one of my customers was a Captain of Homicide Detectives. We would talk about high profile cases after the fact that he had been involved in. In one such case that a rich guy had beat the rap for killing his girl friend I asked the Detective how he felt about that since it seemed at the time like a pretty open and shut case. He said "I don't try them. I just give them to the D.A. and what happens, happens. After 33 years I've learned not to take it home with me.". That's pretty much what Hijinx said and good advice.

Thunder196, Tulsa (11/2/2009 8:35:47 AM)
Life isn't always fair. Never has been, never will be. I deal with things I was told when my son was murdered. Don't like it, but as Hijinx said you have to let it go. . My saving grace is, I believe in a final judgement for everyone before God. God will handle every injustice someone has had to endure.

2ndjoyce, BA (11/2/2009 8:56:05 AM)
I have seen a couple of high profile individuals, who behaved unconscionably in at least one high profile case I know of, leave this world in an untimely way. I like to think it was karma. Who knows?

DBJohn, Tulsa (11/2/2009 9:26:58 AM)
I agree with your letter. It also reiterates the importance of parental involvement and responsibility when they bring a child into this world. The only "fair" I know of is something like is found near 21st and Yale.

Ric, Broken Arrow (11/2/2009 12:38:18 PM)
My sister and Laura were friends. These two guys murdered two people in a horrendous manner. He shouldn't even be alive, bad child hood or not.

RC1936, St. Robert (11/2/2009 5:59:01 PM)
The man said he was on the jury, so yes he knew the guilty person's name. The jury did its job by finding the culprit guilty and then recommending the death penalty. If the judge had done his/her job, the death penalty would have been upheld. And I also don't care that he had a so-called bad childhood. Does that mean, that he failed in school, that he failed in life, that he failed in humanity? He most certainly failed them all and he has nobody to blame but himself. Everybody is responsible for their own actions and there are no excuses for bad behavior. Ever. At least the majority of you agree that the SOB should have been executed.

Corvetteguy, Tulsa (11/2/2009 7:27:39 PM)
Danny Cooper, you did the right thing. I followed the case closely as I knew one of the victim's family. You and the other jurors did the courageous and appropriate thing. To this day, I cannot understand the anti-death penalty crowd. These two callus, worthless,...well I can't really call them what they truly are,....should never have drawn another breath after their fair trial and just convictions. Thank you for standing up for your fellow man.

Carl, Henryetta (11/3/2009 8:14:20 AM)
Phoenix - I find it interesting that you find it interesting that the writer used the murderer's first name.



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