I have just finished reading a book by John Walsh. For those of you who don't know John Walsh is the host of Americas Most Wanted and The John Walsh Show. The latter being shown on ITV2 at the moment. The book is entitled Tears of Rage and it deals with the abduction and murder of his six year old son Adam.
These events happened in 1981 around the time that Lady Diana Spencer married Prince Charles. Adam disappeared from a Sears store in Hollywood and his head was recovered two weeks later. The book is a powerful account of the event and its aftermath. John and his wife pretty much had to organise the search themselves and 15 years on it became clear that the Hollywood police department had done very little to find Adams killer.
The book shows the evil that humankind can do and changed my opinion on one or two things. I used to believe that capital punishment could never be justified, that there was no crime severe enough to warrant it. John Walsh has changed my view. The violence that is done by a handful of people to innocent children should carry just one sentence - death. In cases where the evidence is overwhelming and it can be assured that the accused is guilty then the death sentence should be implemented. I know this view will be unpopular in many quarters but these despicable criminals should be removed from society with no possible chance of ever being reprieved or paroled.
I do believe in the power of forgiveness but I also believe in justice. The Walsh family were denied justice for Adam by an uncaring, unsympathetic, inefficient legal system. The book charts their fight to change that system at the highest level. I strongly reccommend this book but be warned, the subject matter is graphically violent and it is not an easy read.
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