Cat Killer gets 12 yrs
Jeff Heuer
if
you let them read it and they understand it, it makes for good
discussion
about taking proper care of your pets.
THE CAPITAL TIMES (MADISON, WI.)
TORTURER GETS MAX OF 12 YEARS
By Karyn Saemann
The Capital Times
Copyright 1998
The Capital Times
JANESVILLE-As animal rights activists cheered, a Madison man was
sentenced to 12 years in prison for the gruesome torture and death of
five cats and felony possession of a firearm.
Under state law, the sentence was the harshest that Rock County
Circuit Judge Richard Werner could have imposed on Barry Herbeck, who
turned 37 on Monday.
Prosecutors had asked for four years in prison, followed by six years
of
probation. As part of a plea agreement, charges that Herbeck
sodomized a
cat and that he bound a German Shepherd's muzzle with duct tape and
stuffed her in a plastic box to die were dropped.
Court records show that Herbeck told police he threw cats against
walls
and twisted their necks. The killings were a way to release anger
that
he still carried from being abused as a child, he told authorities.
Werner called the animals' deaths "senseless crimes" and said Monday
that
Herbeck had shown no remorse. Killing some of them in front of his
young daughters "was appalling," the judge added.
"This kind of behavior cannot and will not be tolerated or condoned,"
Werner said. More than 80 people, including animal rights activists,
curious community members and the former owners of the animals killed
Herbeck, packed the courtroom. Another 65 people had to remain in an
adjacent hallway.
Members of the audience cheered and applauded loudly following
Werner's announcement, leading him to admonish them.
"This is not appropriate. This is a court of law. It's not an
arena,"
the judge said.
"It doesn't bring those animals back," Tina Kaske, executive director
of the Madison-based Alliance for Animals, said afterward. "But maybe
he'll have time to think about what he did."
"I'm very, very happy," said Betsy Munro, president of Alliance for
Animals.
"I think the judge did the right thing. If he would have given
(prison) for one of the counts, I would have been happy."
At a rally outside the courthouse before the sentencing, members of
Alliance for Animals and People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals
carried signs displaying the bloodied remains of the German shepherd
and cats.
"A victim is a victim," read one sign. "Nikko (the German shepherd)
needed a home, and Barry Herbeck gave her hell on earth," read
another.
"It's an outrage what he did," said Madison resident Ingrid Watson,
who drove down for the rally but had to leave for her second-shift job
before the sentencing. "He needs to be punished."
"I wish I could take a rope and hang him up by his heels and let him
swing," said Joyce Flint of Janesville.
Her eyes red-rimmed and brimming with tears, Amy Williams, the former
owner of the German shepherd Nikko, spoke briefly with reporters
before the sentencing. She suddenly broke down, however, turned her
back to the cameras and quickly entered the courthouse with her
mother. Like some of the other animals' former owners, Williams gave
Nikko and three cats to Herbeck for free, thinking he would give them
a good home.
"I'm happy," Williams said after the sentence was handed down.
Assistant District Attorney Scott Dirks said he based his request for
prison time on Herbeck's lengthy criminal record, which between 1979
and 1993 included convictions for burglary, misdemeanor battery,
felony theft, and first-degree sexual assault of a child. In each
case, Herbeck was given probation.
Dirks also said Herbeck had been beaten as a child by an alcoholic
father, and sexually assaulted by a neighbor. He also has a long
history of substance abuse, Dirks said.
"Plainly, probation and county jail time have not worked," Dirks said.
"The next logical step on the continuum would seem to be for the
defendant to do to vulnerable adults and children what he has done to
cats and dogs."
Defense attorney Tod Daniel tried to debunk that theory of
progression, however, calling it "pseudo-science."
Daniel argued for probation alone, saying that Herbeck could best be
treated in the community.
Daniel also read a letter written by Herbeck's former wife, who agreed
that his best chance for rehabilitation was community-based treatment.
Herbeck sat stone-faced during the proceedings, dressed in a maroon
polo shirt, graying hair tied neatly back in a ponytail.
He declined to speak when offered a chance by the judge.
Jeff Heuer
Fresno,CA USA
needha...@syix.com
> THE CAPITAL TIMES (MADISON, WI.)
> TORTURER GETS MAX OF 12 YEARS
> By Karyn Saemann
> The Capital Times
> Copyright 1998
> The Capital Times
> JANESVILLE-As animal rights activists cheered,
> a Madison man was sentenced to 12 years in prison
> for the gruesome torture and death of five cats
> and felony possession of a firearm.
> "I think the judge did the right thing. If he
> would have given (prison) for one of the counts,
> I would have been happy."
I certainly wouldn't argue with that either!
> At a rally outside the courthouse before the
> sentencing, members of Alliance for Animals
> and People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals
> carried signs displaying the bloodied remains
> of the German shepherd and cats.
> "A victim is a victim," read one sign. "Nikko
> (the German shepherd) needed a home, and Barry
> Herbeck gave her hell on earth," read another.
> "It's an outrage what he did," said Madison
> resident Ingrid Watson, who drove down for
> the rally but had to leave for her second-shift
> job before the sentencing. "He needs to be
> punished."
> Jeff Heuer
> Fresno,CA USA
YET, WHERE IS THE OUTRAGE WHEN BABY KILLERS ARE GIVEN 1/4 THE SENTENCE
OF THAT OF THE CAT KILLER? ARE BABY HUMANS 1/4 AS VALUABLE?
Anyone who is willing to torture & kill animals in such a manner is
surely a sick individual! However, I would also contend that a society
which cries out MORE against cruelty to animals than to baby humans is
indeed a very, very sick society!
WHERE'S THE OUTRAGE?
LN
DNeil55859
documented people who torture animals often hurt people. (just ask Ted Bunndy
or Edward Kemper they are the experts). But beyond that torture of animals
should not be taken lightly as it to often is by the courts. The "abuse excuse"
used here should be removed from consideration by our courts in all cases just
because something bad may have once happened to you should not justify you
doing evil.
DNeil55859
For an example see the response of people in Ohio to attempts to parole
Rebecca Hopher of Centerville Ohio, who murdered her newborn and has only
served 2 years of a 15 year sentence. When that was almost slipped through
people protested loudly preventing her release despite her parents mone.
Miikka Raninen
>Jeff Heuer wrote:
>
> <snip! - boring! - snip!>
>
>WHERE'S THE OUTRAGE?
This is USENET . . . :P
Sorry but I see no relevancy in this subject to this group.
Try alt.abuse
- Miikka Raninen <mii...@easynet.co.uk>
Jeff Heuer
(Miikka Raninen) didst write:
>Sorry but I see no relevancy in this subject to this group.
Quite relevent. A sizable part of the enviromental problems we have
in the world today lies in mankind's abuse of animals, not just the
senseless murder of trees.
Even domestic animals are senselessly murdered daily, when someone
gets 'the book' thrown at them for such crimes it pleases me.
I personally would like to see some tree killers get even longer
sentences. Of course sometimes justice works the wrong way, a baby
killer might get only a year or two- -when this happens something is
wrong with the justice system.
But then I still believe in vigilante.
Jeff Heuer
Fresno,CA USA