An unpopular view

I watched a film last night, you know how you do, kind of by mistake, I flicked over to a channel, coincidentally at the start of this particular offering and became enthralled, if that is the right word in this case, in what I was watching.

The film depicted the life and crimes of serial killer Ted Bundy and I
think almost without exception, it was one of the most disturbing films I have ever had the misfortune to go see. From start to finish I wanted to turn off the TV but somehow I couldn't, so half asleep I remained glued to this horrific tale until 3am, barely able to watch it in some parts and completely and utterly horrified by what this man had done.

I was of course aware of his crimes but not in the detail I am now, I can't find the words to describe just how despicable his crimes were, as I'm sure is the case with anyone familiar with even the briefest of details. I have no idea if this particular film was produced in a manner that would increase the shock value, it was indeed particularly graphic but no amount of 'toning down' the reality would have detracted from just how utterly and truly terrible Bundy's reign of terror was. I can honestly say this film, and the information contained in it, of the heinous specifics of the mans actions really affected me, is still this morning affecting me, I can't express how utterly terrible this man's crimes were but that is not all that has affected me...... and this is where likely I will fly in the face of popular opinion.

I don't profess to have the answers so maybe I shouldn't be posting this at all but the aspect of the film that disturbed me almost as equally as the crimes themselves was the ultimate execution of Bundy. Despite my gut reaction screaming 'kill the bastard, make him suffer as terribly as he made others suffer' I cannot for the life of me see where executing anyone, particularly in the manner he was executed, is a positive or good step.

For me it reduces us to being barely any more humane than he himself was, there is no excuse in the world for his actions but there were perhaps reasons, in the main psychosis. The man was blatantly, profoundly psychotic, one only has to have a basic knowledge of psychiatry to recognise that and whilst it still doesn't excuse his crime to any degree, psychosis is not something one chooses any more than the rest of us would choose any major illness.

By contrast, we the civilised educated world chose, with all our faculties intact, to kill him and put him through a terror and albeit he had inflicted worse on many, try as I might I can't accept it as suitable retribution by those of us standing in judgment.....and judged he certainly needed to be and punished to severe degree.

As I said earlier, I don't have the answers and the debate surrounding execution as a legal punishment will go no forever, everyone has differing views but for my part I felt almost as horrified and ashamed to be part of the human race by the execution, as I did by the original crimes. Retribution needed, without doubt, to be severe and I accept that execution nowadays isn't as barbaric as it was in the 80's as a rule, but by carrying it out at all I can't see that we solve anything, we merely lower ourselves, knowingly, to a similar level as the perpetrator.

Some will say that had one of my loved ones been a victim of Bundy I would want revenge, I would want to sit and watch him die in terror. Of course one can't really know the answer to that unless, God forbid, one is faced with the situation but I truly believe, that whilst my initial reaction may well be that an eye for an eye would be suitable punishment and that revenge would assist my pain, I don't honestly think, that ultimately I could wish to have someone executed for anything.

Maybe I'm weird, maybe I'm the odd one, certainly I don't think mine is a popular view but I can, hand on heart, say that despite the utter horror of crimes like Bundy's, and there are few worse, I can't find justification in my own heart for execution. I could regale you with many of the horrific images avaliable of Bundy's execution to help make my point but I won't, though believe me if you haven't had the misfortune to see them and I don't recommend that you do, death by electrocution is pretty barbaric in itself. Thankfully we now more often deal out this punishement by lethal injection, which is marginally more 'sanitised', but still we are killing someone and is that not the very crime we are punishing the individual for in the first place?