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08/12/07
Wuornos and Trott
By Lee Hanlon
Aileen Wuornos, an American serial killer, and a danger to society had already been through the U.S. justice system with convictions relating to cheque forgery, breaches of peace, car theft, gun theft, and holding up a convenience store. And after serving a year for the latter, she became a prostitute. Soon after, bodies of male victims would start appearing. All were killed in the same way.
Eventually Wuornos was caught, arrested, and convicted for the death of at least 5 to 6 males.
Fortunately, for society, Wuornos was sentenced to death. She was executed in late 2002. That execution will have saved society from experiencing further violent actions at the hands of this violent offender.
Unfortunately, the judges that Wuornos had appeared before in relation to her previous criminal activities did nothing to protect society from her further acts of criminality. If they did, the victims that died at the hands of Wuornos would still be alive today.
Meanwhile, a Canadian case that comes to light is R. v. Timothy David Trott. Trott had racked up more convictions than Wuornos before kidnapping, and murdering nine-year-old Jessica Russell. All the signs were there. For example, carrying a concealed weapon (a handgun), violent episodes while in custody, possession of a weapon (a knife) and the lesser charge of forcible entry, breach of a probation order - not to possess a weapon for 10 years, escape from custody, possession of stolen property and theft over $5000, assault and threatening to kill his ex-girlfriend, two auto thefts.
Just what were these judges thinking? Wuornos already had several convictions when she was only sentenced to a year for holding up a convenience store when she should have been sentenced to life. As for Trott, he had at least 12 convictions at the time of his release. If Justice Susan Antifaev, a former prosecutor, reviewed Trott’s case file and paid attention to the concerns of the corrections staff, 9 year old Jessica Russell would be alive today.
Justice Antifaev, as well as the other judges that ruled in Trott’s convictions as well as the U.S. judges that ruled in the Wuornos’ convictions do not deserve the title “Justice” or “Your Honor” and must be removed, for the protection of society, from the bench, and barred from practicing law.