Child Rapist-Killer Publicly Executed by Shan Ethnic Armed Group

     

Convicted child rapist-murderer Phyo Htet Aung is escorted to court on March 23, 2018. Photo: Mon State News

[Note: This Photo is unrelated to the blog post]

[PHOTO SOURCE: https://coconuts.co/yangon/news/mandalay-court-sentences-child-murder-rapist-death/]

 

When A Dog Attacks A Child Scars Them For Life And The Dog is Put To Sleep Shouldn't We Do The Same To Pedophiles? AMarkass Cards Meme

[PHOTO SOURCE: https://me.me/i/when-a-dog-attacks-a-child-scars-them-for-life-3665255]

            The above quote is accurate. The Shan State Progress Party (SSPP) has publicly executed a man for raping and killing a six-year-old girl. While I do not endorse their political party at all, I feel that that paedophile should be executed and it was done in a swift and sure manner.

The paedophile does not deserve to live. And Clint Eastwood is absolutely right when he said:

Crimes against children are the most heinous crime. That, for me, would be a reason for capital punishment because children are innocent and need the guidance of an adult society. – Clint Eastwood 

  

Child Rapist-Killer Publicly Executed by Shan Ethnic Armed Group

Yangon — The Shan State Progress Party (SSPP) has publicly executed a man for raping and killing a six-year-old girl.

24 December 2020Nan Lwin Hnin Pwint

Burma

Child Rapist-Killer Publicly Executed by Shan Ethnic Armed Group

Shan State Progress Party members. / SSPP

Yangon — The Shan State Progress Party (SSPP) has publicly executed a man for raping and killing a six-year-old girl.

The SSPP is one of at least 21 ethnicity-based armed groups in Myanmar fighting for equality and self-determination. The armed group is still in the process of negotiating with the central government to sign the Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement (NCA).

Ethnic groups control governance and judicial processes in their territories.

“He confessed and there was evidence against him. We delivered the verdict at the trial in front of community leaders and observers. We gave the sentence to protect the rule of law and as a deterrent,” said Sai U Hein, a legal officer at the SSPP’s central court.

The six-year-old from Wan Nwat village in Hsipaw Township was raped and killed by a 30-year-old from the same village on Dec. 9, the court heard. The perpetrator then disposed of the body.

He was arrested by the SSPP the following day and handed the death sentence on Tuesday.

“This is the first child rape case [in our territory] and the first death sentence given for child rape. Under the Penal Code applied by [Myanmar’s] government, life sentences are given for rape and murder. Our citizens were deeply shocked by the crime. We give the death sentence in cases that disrupt community peace and tranquility,” said Sai U Hein.

Hsipaw Township state parliamentarian Nan San San Aye said: “We cannot intervene in the verdict. As the victim is a child, harsh action must be taken as a deterrent.”

It is uncommon for ethnic armed groups to publicly announce trials and death sentences. However, the SSPP released a statement about the execution.

Myanmar amended Article 376 of the Penal Code in March last year, increasing the prison sentence for the rape of under-12s and disabled women to at least 20 years.

Civil society organizations and the public have frequently called for death sentences for child rapists. A proposal submitted to the Union Parliament to allow the execution of child rapists was rejected.

No death sentence has been carried out in Myanmar since 1988, although it remains on the statute books.

Translated from Burmese by Thet Ko Ko.

INTERNET SOURCE: https://www.facebook.com/VictimsFamiliesForTheDeathPenalty/posts/3425916817530260

…. …. https://www.irrawaddy.com/news/burma/child-rapist-killer-publicly-executed-shan-ethnic-armed-group.html

If a dog can be put to sleep for attacking children, then so should all paedophiles!

[PHOTO SOURCE: https://www.facebook.com/VictimsFamiliesForTheDeathPenalty/posts/3337320696389873 .... …..

https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=3930870293608318&set=a.328723337156383]

  

The Shan State Progress Party said the death penalty was 'the only option' for the 30-year-old, who assaulted the girl before throwing her body off a cliff. (Shwe Phee Myay News Agency)

[PHOTO SOURCE: https://www.myanmarmix.com/en/articles/shan-rebels-sentence-man-to-death-for-rape-and-murder-of-six-year-old-girl]

Shan armed group sentences child murderer to death

December 23, 2020

“The girl’s parents demanded we give him the death sentence – just like he did to their daughter,” a party spokesman said.

By AFP

An ethnic Shan armed group that unofficially controls a swathe of Shan State in northeastern Myanmar has sentenced a man to death for the kidnap, rape and murder of a six-year-old girl.

An official from the Shan State Progress Party said Wednesday the death penalty was “the only option” for the 30-year-old, who assaulted the girl before throwing her body off a cliff.

Shan State is home to several armed ethnic groups who are allowed unofficial autonomy in an uneasy agreement with Myanmar’s military.

The region is part of the golden triangle – including Thailand and Laos – that is frequently described as lawless, and where huge quantities of the world’s heroin, speed and crystal meth are produced.  

“This is the lesson to give to the people, so they don’t commit the same crime in the future,” said party spokesman Sai Than Aung.

“The girl’s parents demanded we give him the death sentence – just like he did to their daughter.”

Yangon-based lawyer and women’s rights activist Hla Hla Yee said the crime was abhorrent, but said the death penalty was a severe punishment.

“There’s scope with the death penalty that it can be handed to an innocent person and injustice can be carried out,” she said.

Non-governmental organisations say child rape is common in Myanmar, and Hla Hla Yee called for a ramp-up in child protection and sex education programs – particularly targeting online pornography.

“People here don’t have sex education knowledge, so they target the kids around them,” she said. 

Armed groups drawn from marginalised ethnic minority communities control an estimated third of Myanmar’s territory. Civilian and legal administration in these areas often sits outside the government’s jurisdiction.

INTERNET SOURCE: https://www.frontiermyanmar.net/en/myanmar-ethnic-group-sentences-child-murderer-to-death/

“Pro-lifers go to hell, take cardinal pell as well”

https://gloria.tv/post/L4aec8A78VHe2kBBQHvfWVhAS

https://www.facebook.com/VictimsFamiliesForTheDeathPenalty/posts/2759518700836745

OTHER LINKS:

https://www.lowyinstitute.org/the-interpreter/death-penalty-paradox-buddhist-myanmar

https://coconuts.co/yangon/news/mandalay-court-sentences-child-murder-rapist-death/

LINKS ON PEDOPHILES:

http://victimsfamiliesforthedeathpenalty.blogspot.com/2020/05/social-media-dangers-exposed-by-mom.html

Cardinal George Pell acquitted by High Court, freed from Barwon Prison April 7, 2020 By Mark Bowling https://catholicleader.com.au/news/cardinal-george-pell-acquitted-by-high-court-expected-to-walk-free-from-barwon-prison-today

[PHOTO SOURCE: https://quadrant.org.au/chapter-and-verse-on-the-pell-lynching/]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Pell

“Pro lifers go to hell, take cardinal pell as well” https://gloria.tv/post/L4aec8A78VHe2kBBQHvfWVhAS

https://www.facebook.com/VictimsFamiliesForTheDeathPenalty/posts/2759518700836745

PAKISTANI PEDOPHILE SOHAIL AYAZ SENTENCED TO DEATH IN PAKISTAN (NOVEMBER 18, 2020)

http://soldierexecutionerprolifer2008.blogspot.com/2020/11/pakistani-pedophile-sohail-ayaz.html

https://www.facebook.com/VictimsFamiliesForTheDeathPenalty/posts/3318648208257122

RANGPUR PAEDOPHILE SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR THE 2016 RAPE AND MURDER OF 8-YEAR-OLD CHILD (DECEMBER 1, 2020)

http://soldierexecutionerprolifer2008.blogspot.com/2020/12/rangpur-paedophile-sentenced-to-death.html

https://www.facebook.com/VictimsFamiliesForTheDeathPenalty/posts/3371717176283558

FB PHOTO: https://www.facebook.com/VictimsFamiliesForTheDeathPenalty/photos/a.2501153036673314/3371737176281558

Killer of 11-Year-old Adnane Bouchouf in Morocco sentenced to death (January 13, 2021)

https://soldierexecutionerprolifer2008.blogspot.com/2021/01/killer-of-11-year-old-adnane-bouchouf.html

https://www.facebook.com/VictimsFamiliesForTheDeathPenalty/posts/3461067107348564

FB PHOTO: https://www.facebook.com/VictimsFamiliesForTheDeathPenalty/photos/a.3422881854500423/3461094590679149

JAPANESE ‘TWITTER KILLER’ SENTENCED TO DEATH (DECEMBER 15, 2020)

            On this date, December 15, 2020, Takahiro Shiraishi (白石隆浩) AKA the ‘Twitter Killer’ was sentenced to death for the murdering and dismembering nine 'suicidal' people he met online in Kanagawa, Japan.

  

Takahiro Shiraishi (白石隆浩)

'Twitter killer' is sentenced to death in Tokyo for murdering and dismembering nine 'suicidal' people he met online

·         Takahiro Shiraishi, 30, killed and butchered nine victims, 15 to 26, in Kanagawa

·         Lawyers argued for prison time because the victims expressed suicidal thoughts

·         He was sentenced to death after judge ruled victims did not consent to death 

·         Tokyo police found heads, limbs and bones when they searched his apartment 

By Joe Davies For Mailonline and Afp

Published: 18:16 AEDT, 15 December 2020 | Updated: 20:37 AEDT, 15 December 2020

A Japanese serial killer dubbed the 'Twitter killer' was sentenced to death by a Tokyo court today for murdering and dismembering nine people he met online.

Takahiro Shiraishi, 30, admitted killing and butchering eight women and one man, aged between 15 and 26, who he met on the social media platform.

The female victims were also found to be have been sexually assaulted.

His lawyers had argued he should receive a prison sentence rather than the death penalty because his victims expressed suicidal thoughts on social media and so had consented to death.

But the death sentence was handed down to Shiraishi today after the court found him criminally responsible for their deaths.

'None of the nine victims consented to be killed, including silent consent,' Presiding Judge Naokuni Yano said, according to public broadcaster NHK.

'It is extremely grave that the lives of nine young people were taken away. The dignity of the victims was trampled upon.'

Yano described the murders as 'extremely vicious in crime history' and ruled Shiraishi was mentally fit to be held responsible for them.

The father of one 25-year-old victim said in court last month that he 'will never forgive Shiraishi even if he dies', NHK reported.

He said 'Even now, when I see a woman of my daughter's age, I mistake her for my daughter. This pain will never go away. Give her back to me.'

Police uncovered a grisly house of horrors behind Shiraishi's front door in Zama, Kanagawa, on the morning of Halloween in 2017. 

Nine dismembered bodies, with as many as 240 bone parts stashed in coolers and toolboxes, had been sprinkled with cat litter in a bid to hide the evidence.

On Twitter, his profile featured a manga drawing of a man whose neck and wrist were scarred, with a rope around his neck, the Japan Times reported.

His Twitter handle roughly translated as 'hangman', and his bio described his expertise in the practice of hanging. 

The profile explained: 'I want to help people who are really in pain. 

'Please DM me anytime.'

In a post made on October 21, Shiraishi wrote: 'Bullying is everywhere, in school and at work.

'There must be many people in society who are suffering after attempting suicides, though their cases are not reported in the news. 

'I want to help such people.'

Some 435 people turned up to watch the verdict today, even though the court only had 16 seats available for the public. 

Reports in 2017 said his first victim was a woman whom he got in touch with via Twitter, offering to assist her suicide wish, then killing her boyfriend to silence him.

They said Shiraishi used similar tactics to kill seven other women. 

The reports explained one of the women contacted Shiraishi via Twitter in late September, seeking a partner for a suicide pact and saying she was afraid to die alone.

The two were recorded by security cameras walking together outside railway stations near her residence and the suspect's apartment, the reports added.

Japan has the highest suicide rate among the Group of Seven industrialised nations, with more than 20,000 people taking their lives annually. 

While the suicide rate has been falling since it peaked in 2003, it remain particularly high among young adults and schoolchildren.

The woman's brother reported her disappearance to police the next day. 

When he sought information about his sister's disappearance on Twitter, an unidentified woman replied that she had met Shiraishi and agreed to cooperate with police by setting up a fake appointment.

Two investigators then followed Shiraishi back to his apartment and knocked on the door, public broadcaster NHK said.

When they asked him if he knew where the missing woman was, Shiraishi pointed to one of eight coolers, saying 'She is in here', NHK said, quoting investigative sources. 

Japan is one of few developed nations to retain the death penalty, and public support for it remains high.

Years usually pass between sentencing and execution, and the last execution was in December 2019, when a Chinese man was hanged for the murder of a family of four. 

Some 500 Japanese people under 20 years of age kill themselves each year and a Nippon Foundation survey last year showed that one in four people had seriously considered suicide.

In some cases, victims have committed mass suicide after meeting on so-called 'suicide websites', a phenomenon that has prompted the government to crack down on people using the internet to post their death wishes.

The issue first hit the headlines in 2005, with 91 people in total committing 'group suicide' after contacting each other online. 

'It has long been a taboo in Japan to talk about death and suicide... but it's easy to talk about it on social media,' Akiko Mura, an executive member of Befrienders Worldwide Tokyo, told AFP in 2017.

She said Shiraishi would have likely gained the victims' trust by convincing them that he understood their desire to die.

'They might have thought he was the only person who would sincerely listen to their problems,' she said.

Although Shiraishi was able to exploit social media to target his victims, Mura warned that depressed people need an outlet for their feelings amid calls at the time to restrict suicide posts on social media.

'People need a place where they can be heard,' she said. 'Without it, I'm afraid the number of suicides might even increase.'

Four days after the bodies were found in Shiraishi's apartment in a Tokyo suburb, Twitter unveiled new rules stating that users 'may not promote or encourage suicide or self-harm' but it stopped short of banning tweets expressing a wish to kill oneself.

INTERNET SOURCE: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9054415/Japan-Twitter-killer-sentenced-death-nine-murders.html

The nine suspected victims of Japanese serial killer Takahiro Shiraishi, who dismembered them in his apartment. Picture: masamasakoro.com.Source:Supplied

[PHOTO SOURCE: https://www.news.com.au/world/asia/serial-killer-dismembered-schoolgirls-corpses-in-his-tokyo-apartment/news-story/76e795660758142503bfe54f5bc50d0f]

Japan 'Twitter killer' sentenced to death for nine murders

16 December 2020, MVT 10:56

A Japanese man dubbed the "Twitter killer" was sentenced to death by a Tokyo court Tuesday for murdering and dismembering nine people he met online.

Takahiro Shiraishi, 30, admitted killing and butchering his young victims -- all but one of whom were women -- who he met on the social media platform.

His lawyers had argued he should receive a prison sentence because his victims, aged between 15 and 26, expressed suicidal thoughts on social media and so had consented to death.

But on Tuesday "the death sentence was handed down" to Shiraishi, a court official told AFP.

"None of the nine victims consented to be killed, including silent consent," the judge said, according to public broadcaster NHK.

"It is extremely grave that the lives of nine young people were taken away. The dignity of the victims was trampled upon," the judge reportedly added.

NHK said 435 people turned up to watch the verdict, even though the court only had 16 seats available for the public.

Shiraishi used Twitter to contact users who posted about taking their own lives, telling them he could help them in their plans -- or even die alongside them.

The father of one 25-year-old victim said in court last month that he "will never forgive Shiraishi even if he dies", NHK reported at the time.

"Even now, when I see a woman of my daughter's age, I mistake her for my daughter. This pain will never go away. Give her back to me!" he said.

Japan is one of few developed nations to retain the death penalty, and public support for it remains high.

Years usually pass between sentencing and execution, and the last execution was in December 2019, when a Chinese man was hanged for the murder of a family of four.

Tokyo, Japan | AFP

INTERNET SOURCE: https://edition.mv/parliament/20953

  

Takahiro Shiraishi, depicted here in a court sketch drawing by Masato Yamashita on September 30, has been sentenced to death

[PHOTO SOURCE: https://edition.mv/parliament/20953]

Inside the mind of the Japanese serial killer who killed 9 people

Published
Nov 5, 2017, 5:00 am SGT
[PHOTO SOURCE: https://www.businessinsider.com/takahiro-shiraishi-arrested-after-body-parts-found-in-japan-apartment-2017-10/?r=AU&IR=T]

What made Takahiro Shiraishi kill nine people and how did he lure them to their deaths?
Walter Sim Japan Correspondent In Tokyo

In June, one month after he was given a suspended prison term for being a scout for a prostitution ring, Takahiro Shiraishi told his father that he saw no meaning in life.

Jobless, the 27-year-old cocooned himself further in the dark recesses of social media. He used Twitter, a medium he once used to lure girls into the sex trade, to meet people with suicidal thoughts.

The gruesome Halloween find of nine human heads and 240 bones in his studio apartment in Zama city, an hour and a half from central Tokyo, has spooked Japan and again shone a light on suicide and mental health issues in a country that even has a "suicide forest".

Japan has the sixth highest suicide rate in the world. Some 21,897 killed themselves last year - a 22-year low, while there were 257 reports filed with the Internet Hotline Centre about suicide attempts.

Shiraishi grew up in Zama with his parents and a younger sister in a house roughly 2.5km from his loft apartment.

He was a quiet, inconspicuous boy who went to local elementary and junior high schools in the city, acquaintances told Japanese media.

His grades were not stellar, but he was a conscientious student who did not miss a day of school. News pictures show a scrawny teenager with thin-rimmed spectacles who joined his junior high's baseball team as a freshman, and then the track team as a senior.

He went on to study at the prefectural high school in the city of Yokohamaand it was around this time that things fell apart at home. His parents divorced, and his mother and sister moved out.

After graduating from senior high, Shiraishi took on a series of odd jobs - including at a supermarket, food factory and pachinko parlour - before becoming a scout for a prostitution ring.

He was active in Shinjuku's seedy Kabukicho district, and was once described as an "ambitious, dangerous man who is capable of betrayal".

One woman, who cohabited with him for three months earlier this year, said Shiraishi was "unusually more gentle than ordinary people" despite a morbid fascination with death and suicide.

He had sent her messages such as "Let's commit suicide together", and once texted "I have killed a hostess who said she wanted to die", which the former girlfriend dismissed as a joke.

Shiraishi was close to his father, who works at an automotive design workshop, neighbours said. The son frequently helped out at the workshop, and occasionally had dinner and drinks with his father.

In August, he confessed to his father that he had met the love of his life and would urgently like to have his own space. His father acted as guarantor for an apartment in the neighbourhood that rents for 19,000 yen ($227) a month.

On Aug 22, Shiraishi moved into the 13.5 sq m apartment which Japanese media has described as the "house of horrors".

While living on his own, Shiraishi built up a small following on Twitter through at least two accounts - "I want to die" and "A professional at hanging".

Under the first account, he cast himself as a forlorn victim seeking company for his misery. "I want to forget everything," he wrote in an Aug 25 post. "I want to disappear."

Under the second account, he took on the persona of someone who is skilled at helping people die. "I want to spread my knowledge in hanging," he said. "I really want to become the source of strength for everyone who is in pain."

"If you are at a dead end, please consult me," he wrote.

He also sought out his victims using the hashtag "suicide recruitment" on Twitter, preying on young girls who wanted to take their own lives. He told them via direct messaging on Twitter: "Let's die together."

To ensure his victims would not back out at the last minute, he would arrange to meet them at a train station near their homes, then travel together to his apartment.

He said he gave them alcohol, tranquilisers and sleeping pills "to make them relax", before assaulting them.

He confessed to killing one person in August, four in September and four in October - mostly on the same day he met them. Eight of the nine victims were women, mainly in their late teens to early 20s.

"It was difficult at first. It took me three days to get rid of the first body, but after that I could deal with them within one day," Shiraishi told the police.

He said his motives had been sex and money. He is alleged to have choked his victims - whose real names and ages he did not know - until they passed out, before sexually assaulting some of them.

"There is no doubt that I sliced up the bodies in my bathroom with the intention of destroying evidence," he said.

Police have recovered two kitchen knives, scissors, a saw, binding rope and a gimlet, all with traces of blood on them.

Shiraishi said: "I disposed of their flesh and internal organs like garbage, but kept their bones out of fear that I would be caught."

<< GOT USED TO IT

It was difficult at first. It took me three days to get rid of the first body, but after that, I could deal with them within one day.

TAKAHIRO SHIRAISHI, speaking to the police.

>>

Police also found three cooler boxes and five large storage boxes in his apartment. They checked the eight boxes and found body parts, including heads, legs and arms, in seven of the boxes.

He reportedly used cat litter to cover the body parts to mask the smell.

His neighbours in the two-storey, 12-unit apartment block said they had neither seen nor heard anything amiss, despite complaints of a persistent "pungent smell" emanating from his apartment.

One of them pointed out that it was strange that his bathroom ventilation fan was kept on at all times.

Shiraishi even brazenly used the neighbourhood garbage collection point to dispose of the evidence. A neighbour has noted - in hindsight - his frequent trips to the chute.

It was the online trail he left on social media which eventually led the police to his doorstep.

The brother of his ninth and final victim - a 23-year-old woman from the Tokyo suburb of Hachioji - hacked into her Twitter account, and was offered help by a woman who had met Shiraishi before.

She agreed to be the bait to lure Shiraishi out for the police, who then followed him home on Oct 30.

When asked if he knew where the missing 23-year-old woman was, he pointed at a chiller box near the entrance and said: "In there."

https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/east-asia/inside-the-mind-of-a-serial-killer

死刑 日本

[PHOTO SOURCE: https://theme.udn.com/theme/story/6775/2582583]

OTHER LINKS:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Takahiro_Shiraishi

BRANDON BERNARD EXECUTED FOR THE 1999 MURDER OF TEXAS COUPLE (DECEMBER 10, 2020)

On this date, December 10, 2020, Brandon Bernard was executed in U.S. prison in Terre Haute, Indiana, by the US Federal Government. He was convicted of the 1999 murders of Texas Couple, Todd and Stacie Bagley in 1999.

Brandon Bernard
American double murderer Brandon Bernard
Born	Brandon Am Bernard July 3, 1980 San Antonio, Texas, U.S.
Died	December 10, 2020 (aged 40) Federal Correctional Institution, Terre Haute, Indiana, U.S.
Cause of death	Execution by lethal injection of phenobarbital
Education	Killeen High School (1997–1998)
Motive	Robbery
Conviction(s)	Murder (2 counts)
Criminal penalty	Death penalty
Partner(s)	Christopher Vialva, Terry Brown, Christopher Lewis, Tony Spark
Details
Victims	Todd Bagley Stacie Bagley
Date	June 21, 1999
Imprisoned at	Federal Correctional Institution, Terre Haute

Brandon Am Bernard (July 3, 1980 – December 10, 2020) was an American man who was convicted for the 1999 robbery, kidnapping, and murder of two people. He was sentenced to death for the murders and remained on death row until his execution in December 2020.

Bernard spent most of his childhood in Killeen, Texas. In his early teens, he began committing crimes such as burglary and joined a neighborhood gang. His crimes and rebellious behaviors lead him to being kicked out of several schools and prosecuted in the juvenile criminal justice system. In 1999, Bernard and a few of his friends robbed, kidnapped, and murdered two youth pastors, whom they shot burned inside a car.

Christopher Andre Vialva was executed on 24 September 2020, and Bernard was executed on 10 December. The remaining teens received a range of different prison terms; some remain incarcerated.

In the time leading to his execution, politicians, celebrities, and the prosecutor and several jurors who convicted Bernard advocated that his sentence be commuted.

INTERNET SOURCE: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brandon_Bernard

Early life

Brandon Bernard was born on July 3, 1980, to Army nurse Thelma Bernard in San Antonio, Texas. He had 2 younger siblings. Due to the Army transferring Bernard's mother to Alaska, the family moved briefly to Fairbanks, Alaska between 1982 and November 1984, they then moved to Killeen, Texas. He would spend the majority of his childhood in Killeen. As a child, Bernard was suffering from asthma. In 1986, Bernard began attending school at the Seventh-Day Adventist Academy. The family spent the summer of 1987 in Colorado for his mother's medical training. In September 1992, Bernard's intoxicated father sprayed his mother Thelma in the face with mace; the couple later divorced in 1993.

In 1994, Bernard's cousin Melsimeon Pollock joined the household. Pollock began promoting Bernard to burglarize houses in early 1995. Bernard's new rebellious and criminal behavior led him to be bounced between his parent's households, multiple school changes, and 5 months in a juvenile detention facility in Brownwood, Texas in 1995. Bernard then became a member of the organized neighborhood gang known as "212 Piru Bloods". In 1996, Bernard attempted to gain employment but failed to do so. He would later complete his GED in 1997 and enroll as a senior at Killeen High School for the 1997-1998 school year. While attending Killeen High School, he managed to receive decent grades and had good class attendance. In the summer of 1998, Bernard attempted to enroll in the United States Army but was rejected due to his juvenile offenses.

  

Christopher Vialva, 40, is set to receive the death penalty on Thursday at a federal prison in Terre Haute, Indiana. He was convicted 20 years ago for the 1999 murders of two youth ministers

[PHOTO SOURCE: https://wikispro.com/christopher-vialva-wiki-bio-age/]

Crimes

On the afternoon of June 21, 1999, Brandon Bernard, age 18, Christopher Vialva, age 19, Terry Brown, age 15, and Christopher Lewis, age 15, and Tony Spark, age 16, approached Todd and Stacie Bagley, two youth pastors, and asked them for a ride at a gas station–with plans to rob them. Once the Bagleys agreed to give them a ride, Vialva held the couple at gunpoint and forced them into the trunk. While in the trunk for several hours driving around, the Bagleys spoke through an opening in the backseat and urged their abductors to accept Jesus Christ and to spare their lives. The perpetrators then robbed the Bagleys by using their ATM card to withdraw cash, stealing money, stealing jewelry, and seeking to pawn Stacie's wedding ring. Soon after, the teens pulled to the side of the road and poured lighter fluid inside the vehicle while the Bagleys sang "Jesus Loves Us" among themselves. Vialva then shot both of the Bagleys in the head, killing Todd and knocking Stacie out to later die of smoke inhalation. Vialva then ordered Bernard to set the car on fire. Bernard has claimed he thought that both of the Bagleys were already deceased when he ignited the vehicle.

Legal proceedings

Bernards trial was held in 2000, 1 year after the murders. Since the crimes took place at Fort Hood, the trial would be held in federal court and not in a state level court. He was convicted of 2 counts of murder and sentenced to death.

Death row

Controversy

In the time preceding his execution, there was substantial national and international controversy on whether Bernard should have been sentenced to death and executed.

Execution

Bernard was executed by lethal injection at the Federal Correctional Institution in Terre Haute, Indiana. While preparing for the execution, Bernard spoke his last words saying he was "sorry" to the couple he murdered citing those words as "the only words that I can say that completely capture how I feel now and how I felt that day.” The chemical used during the lethal injection was pentobarbital. He was pronounced dead at 9:27 p.m. EST on December 10, 2020.

See also

• List of offenders executed in the United States in 2020
• List of people executed by the United States federal government

   

Todd and Stacie Bagley, left and right, were murdered by Christopher Andre Vialva

‘Please remember the victims,’ Todd Bagley’s mother releases statement following Vialva execution

by: Web Desk

Posted: Sep 24, 2020 / 08:55 PM EDT / Updated: Dec 10, 2020 / 08:28 AM EST

(AP Photo/Michael Conroy, File)

TERRE HAUTE, Ind. (WTWO/WAWV) — Here is Todd Bagley’s mother Georgia’s complete statement on the execution of Christopher Vialva:

U.S. government puts first Black inmate to death since resumption of federal executions this year

After watching the news broadcast this morning, I was both hurt and disappointed that the death penalty was the issue, yet both sides of the story were not told. The story was focused on Vialva’s life and the changes that he has made. This is not about him and his changed life, but about the victims in this case.

At 19, Vialva was aware of right and wrong and was trying to prove himself as a leader of a gang. Vialva preplanned with the other members what would go down that day. He personally shot both Todd and Stacie in the head, killing Todd instantly. Stacie was shot in the mouth after watching her husband die. She later died of smoke inhalation after Bernard set their car on fire. The gang utilized Sparks, who at 15 was the youngest of the group, to ask Todd for a ride home. In the course of trying to help, Todd and Stacie agree to give their time to take him home, which was their practice to reach out to help anyone they could, when given the opportunity.

Vialva, Brown, and Bernard hid from sight until Sparks gave them the Ok. They then all rushed out and jumped in the car, putting guns to Todd and Stacie’s head, and Vialva said, “plans have changed.” Todd and Stacie were two innocent young people who were deceived because they always saw the good in others. They were then forced into the truck of their car and driven around for 7 horrific hours on that hot day in June. They had no water, no restroom, they were robbed of their belongings, they had all of their money withdrawn from their bank account, they were driven around to other gang members houses, and slam banged around on a dirt country road. They begged from the trunk of their car for someone to call the police to help them at the different houses, but no one would call for help.

Vialva now says he has turned his life around and has influenced other lives since then, but Todd and Stacie have also influenced many lives. They were willing to lay down their lives to try and win their kidnappers to the Lord by quoting scripture, praying, and singing praises to God before they died. We will never know how many people they could have influenced for good if they had been given the chance. I feel when these tragedies happen, both sides of the story should be given. I believe when someone deliberately takes the life of another, they should suffer the consequences for their actions.

Christopher’s mother had the opportunity to visit him for the past 21 years. This execution should have been carried out 3-5 years after a jury of 12 people found him guilty. We have had to wait for 21 years for justice and closure. We cannot be with our children for visits or to see them on holidays. We were denied that privilege. Todd and Stacie were innocent victims. Please remember the victims and their families whose lives have been shattered and are still trying to cope. I have the assurance that Todd and Stacie were staunch Christians and are now in heaven with Jesus, who will richly reward them for their willingness to be his witnesses even unto death. I know without a doubt we will have a glorious reunion with them one day!

I want to make sure to thank everyone that participated in seeing that Todd and Stacie received justice for this horrific crime, particularly: Our Federal Prosecutors in Texas, The FBI, The Texas Rangers, The Ft. Hood Military Police, and The Crisis Support Team in Indiana. We appreciate that President Trump felt compassion to the victims and the families to reinstate the Death Penalty, and allow us some closure and to give Todd and Stacie justice.

Georgia, Todd Bagley’s Mother

INTERNET SOURCE: https://www.mywabashvalley.com/federal-executions/statement-from-todd-bagleys-mother-georgia/

Todd and Stacie Bagley, left and right, were murdered by Christopher Andre Vialva

OTHER LINKS:

http://soldierexecutionerprolifer2008.blogspot.com/2020/09/christopher-vialva-executed-for-1999.html

https://www.yahoo.com/news/u-set-execute-brandon-bernard-200824383.html

https://www.facebook.com/VictimsFamiliesForTheDeathPenalty/posts/3369853736469902

https://www.facebook.com/ProDeathPenalty/posts/5215079158502530