May 27, 2007

The Knoxville Horror

By Bob Weir

The dictionary defines the word "savage" as beast-like, primitive and lacking the restraints normal to civilized human beings. Usually, in these days of multicultural political correctness, the term is applied to the 4-legged beasts that prowl the jungles of the world in search of a fur-covered dinner. After the animal kills its prey and has a meal, it will find a place to quietly rest and digest.

But there's another type of animal. It walks on 2 legs, is generally well-fed, but spends its time hunting for human prey. This type of savage derives pleasure from dehumanizing, torturing, mutilating and ultimately murdering its victims. They walk among us as though they belong to the same species, but, make no mistake about it, they belong to a sub-human category that is totally bereft of anything resembling homo-sapiens. If any human is unfortunate enough to become cornered by one of these creatures, he or she will be destined for a hell on earth, and death will become the only release from a monstrous ordeal.

A few months ago, Christopher Newsom and Channon Christian, a young couple in Knoxville, Tennessee, were out on a date when 5 of the aforementioned human savages carjacked them, bound and blindfolded them and drove them to a rented house where two of the savages lived. Once inside, the rape and torture began. The details of this gruesome crime are so sick and ghastly that I refuse to describe it. Suffice to say that the beasts did things to those innocent kids that the civilized mind could not possibly imagine.

After a few days in the clutches of these malevolent monsters, the victims were butchered, and one was set afire while the other was placed in several plastic bags. Now, you can ask yourself what kind of human beings could be so devoid of feelings that they would get pleasure out of such an atrocity. However, you would be falling into the trap of allowing yourself to think of them as humans. Such thinking is a weakness that these animals will be quick to exploit.

I suppose we'll never know how these creatures were able to abduct their victims. Perhaps one of them strolled over to the car with a cigarette dangling from its rapacious jaws and asked for a match. The unsuspecting driver, not wanting to appear rude, may have rolled down the window just before having a gun stuck in his face.

This should be a cautionary tale for the rest of us. If a stranger approaches in a deserted area, don't be afraid to be rude; it's better than being dead. Keep in mind, it only takes a second to get the drop on you, but it may take days of torment before your agony ends.

Due to the paucity of publicity being given this horrendous crime, most people didn't know about it until bloggers began disseminating the details. Many are saying it was a hate crime because the animals are black and the victims are white. The police don't appear to have any evidence of race being a factor. Maybe that's because the only ones who would know are deceased, their silence made certain by their abductors.

Nevertheless, it is more than a bit suspicious that the mainstream media didn't see fit to run scathing headlines and televised bulletins about a crime so heinous that it must rank near the top in terms of sheer brutality. Yes, the bloggers are, quite appropriately, suggesting that if this had been 5 white savages and 2 innocent blacks there would be a firestorm of racial invective from coast to coast. Undoubtedly, race-baiters Sharpton and Jackson would be in Knoxville protesting against the discrimination by white police authorities that allow such atrocities to occur. There would be no need for evidence of color as a motive; the mere fact that blacks had been hurt by whites would be enough to impute race hatred as the cause.

We'll never fully comprehend the unspeakable horror the victims endured, but, thanks to excellent police work, we do have the animals responsible.

Newsome and Christian, 23 and 21 respectively, had every right to believe that they would have a future. The laws that were made to protect them from bloodthirsty jackals have failed them miserably. All that's left is the hope that justice will inevitably prevail and that their killers will be put to death. Execution is too good for them, but it's the best we can do with the current system. We may need another system; one in which the killers would be begging for the relief of death, instead of fighting for their lives.

In such a system, even sub-humans might fear the wrath of the law.

Bob Weir is a former detective sergeant in the New York City Police Department. He is the executive editor of The News Connection in Highland Village, Texas. Email Bob.