STARKE -- After a life of bloodshed on the streets of Miami-Dade, then 35 years lingering on Death Row, Miami murderer John Errol Ferguson’s eyes darted to the execution supervisor looming over him.
“I just want everyone to know that I am the Prince of God and I will rise again,” Ferguson mumbled.
Then, the jowly and grayed 65-year-old rustled his feet underneath the white sheet of the gurney, lifted his head and peered intently at the witness window of the death chamber. At 6:01 p.m. Monday, the lethal drugs pumped through his veins, his head rested down, his mouth gasped and life slowly and quietly slipped away.
Ferguson, a killer of eight and at one time responsible for the largest mass slaughter in Miami-Dade history, was pronounced dead 6:17 p.m.
These are very enlightened times we live in. We won't pay for medical treatment for the mentally ill, but we'll spend millions to execute them when their illness drives them to acts of depravity. And when you think about it, where does the responsibility for the lives Ferguson took lie? With a man who thinks his is the Prince Of God, or with a government that didn't help him get treatment, which in turned allowed him to commit horrible acts of murder.
JUDGE DEEHL VIDEO
On to something nicer, this is the link to the video of the memorial service for Judge Deehl who served this community for fifty years as a judge. Mostly narrated in a wonderful way by the Judge's son David, it is well worth a view. And while it was completely unnecessary, it was very kind of David at approximately the 1:00 mark to mention this Blog
See You In Court.
12 comments:
Sheesh. You couldn't find a more sympathetic person to support your argument that we need to do a better job treating the mentally ill?
There are plenty of good examples of people who can and should be helped out there. Ferguson is not one. Ferguson was an animal who got what he deserved. HE was responsible for what he did, not society.
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-504083_162-57597076-504083/john-errol-ferguson-convicted-mass-murderer-executed-in-fla/
THE CAPTAIN REPORTS:
BREAKING (Miami Herald) right now ...
FBI arrests mayors of Miami Lakes and Sweetwater on bribery charges
FBI agents Tuesday arrested the mayors of Miami Lakes and Sweetwater on bribery-related charges.
Agents arrested Miami Lakes Mayor Michael Pizzi and Sweetwater Mayor Manuel “Manny” Marono at their City Hall offices.
Pizzi and Maroño are expected to have their first appearances in Miami federal court Tuesday afternoon.
Pizzi, who is serving his second term as mayor, has been in the public eye for years. He is an attorney who once worked for a high-profile criminal defense law firm in Miami and served as a Miami Lakes councilman before running successfully for town mayor in 2008. He was reelected last year.
In 2012, Pizzi easily defeated challenger Wayne Slaton, who had served as Miami Lakes’ first mayor after its incorporation in 2000. The Pizzi-Slaton mayoral showdown was particularly nasty for Miami Lakes, a normally below-the-radar community that was originally home to the Graham family’s dairy farm.
Previously, Pizzi drew attention to himself by helping lead the effort to recall a political nemesis, Miami-Dade Commissioner Natacha Seijas, in 2011. She was voted out of office that year along with County Mayor Carlos Alvarez in a special recall election.
Marono, a member of the Sweetwater City Commission since 1995, was elected as mayor in 2003.
Like Pizzi, Marono also has a prominent profile for a small-town official. He is currently serving as president of the Florida League of Cities, with a membership of more than 400 cities, towns and villages in the state. In 2011, Maroño also played a role on Gov. Rick Scott’s transition team. That year, Marono and former North Bay Village Manager Jorge Forte launched a public affairs and business development firm, 7 Strategies.
Forte and Maroño, who had known each other since high school, named the company in a reference to Scott’s seven-step plan to create 700,000 jobs in seven years. 7 Strategies is focused on strategies that forge “better ties” between clients and the public sector, the partners told The South Florida Business Journal in 2011. It also lobbies on behalf of some clients.
7 Strategies has supported Scott’s job creation plan, which is tied to measures that eliminate Florida’s business income tax, lower residential property taxes and cut government spending.
The company’s focus is related, in part, to public sector-related opportunities for business, because local, state and federal officials have been working through billions in stimulus dollars that companies can tap, the partners said.
Maroño touted his early support of the governor as a value for potential clients. He said his company would vet clients to make sure their agenda is “in line with the governor’s strategy and is not going to detract from that message.”
“We know how local government works, how the state works, how the county works and how the governor works – which is the most important part,” Maroño told the Business Journal. “We know how the governor works.”
Now the Republican governor, as a result of Maroño’s arrest on corruption charges, will have to suspend the Sweetwater mayor from office as he awaits trial. Scott will also have to suspend Pizzi as Miami Lakes mayor.
Cap Out ...
I am Shocked, Shocked there is Bribery going on in Dade County....
Everyone has a price, right? Mine is somewhere in the neighborhood of twenty million. Enough to retire and move to a country with no extradition treaty.
So Pizzi's price was $5,750
And Marono's was $40k
Are you kidding me.
I'll wait to hear the evidence.
Cap Out .....
Totally agree - that is a man who spent at least 30 years on this earth that he should not have - ill or otherwise.
Question to bleeding hearts - because a higher percentage of mentally ill commit terrible crimes, should we just lock them up before they murder, say, eight people? Or, should we wait till they do it and then give them treatment? Or, should we give them treatment, wait till they do it, then not execute them because they have mental problems? Is this fair to the mentally healthy who commit horrible crimes and face the death penalty? Does it encourage people to pretend to be mentally ill to escape punishment for their crimes? Seriously, aside from just being opposed to the death penalty all together, what are the answers?
1. We should not lock up mentally ill people before they commit crimes we should strive to treat their illness;
2. If they do commit crimes, we should treat their illness;
3. I don't think the argument is that "mental problems" prohibits the death penalty if otherwise imposed in accordance with law;
4. The mentally healthy who commit murder are much different than the mentally ill who commit murder in terms of judgment and volition;
5. Yes these rules encourage people to fake mental illness.
I'm not a bleeding heart, but the treatment the bleeding hearts speak of is BEFORE the crimes.
I think it speaks volume of society when we actually need to ask these questions.
Greedy politicians and athletes never cease to amaze me.
You can't force people to take their medication. Therein lies the real issue.
4:45, thank you for fairly answering my questions. I absolutely agree that mental treatment should be more aggressive before heinous crimes are committed. The thing that gets me is when you know somebody is really likely to be a terribly violent criminal as a result of their mental illness, what do you do?
Mental illnes is the number one reason for the prisons and jails to be so full in our society. We can not take care of the mentally ill but we can put them in jail for a revoling door system that do not help them at all. That is not counting that the mentally ill turn into illegal drug use looking for a fix or cure that they do not know how to fix. And that is no even mentioning the rapes, murder or child abuse as a result of a mentally ill person. I do agree with you Rumpole, on your Kill the Crazy blog argument. What can we do, please tells us where to start, we need to do somethin now before we continue procecuting the Mentally ill instead of taken care of their illness.
Answer from a bleeding hearts: If killing is wrong why does Florida do it? Any sovereign who would kill his subjects is not fit to hold office. Death to Florida! A las Barricadas!
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