Insane, or did she know what she was doing?

[Gilly]

By now, most people in the US have heard at least something about the disturbing Laney case. Deanne Laney is a 39 year old woman from Texas who viciously stoned her 8 year old and 6 year old sons to death, before turning and similiarly attacking her 14 month old son, who survived.

I've been doing some reading on it, and one thing bugs me. Her defense team has (of course) put forth a bid for guilty by reason of insanity. They are rather insistant that the woman must have been out of her mind at the time she slayed her oldest two sons. After she killed them, and nearly did in her youngest, the woman calmly picked up the phone, and called 911 to report the murders, and with a voice deprived of emotion, she admitted that she had done the crime herself.

For several weeks afterwards, she showed no remorse for the event which stole the lives of two children. She did not cry for them.

Indeed, it took months before she'd cry for them. Personally, I have to wonder if by then she was crying for her lost sons, or for the convictions which loomed ahead for her. Right now, she sits waiting for a jury to decide if she was insane or not. More accuratly, they need to decide if she understood that what she did was wrong, insane or not.

Her defense rallies that because she showed no emotion, she must have been insane. I feel it would have been the other way. Wouldn't she understnad afterwards, and regret it? Perhaps not, I suppose.

Insane or not, I feel this woman understood fully what happened. If she hadn't understood it, why would she bother to immediatly call 911 about this? Why would she have been found in the backyard, wandering around aimlessly, purposefully away from the dead children laying in the front yard, each with a dinner plate sized bloody rock resting on their small chests?

Why would she place her youngest son back in his crib, and cover her handywork with a pillow if she had no understanding of what had happened?

And most of all, why is it that we even allow these things to go for so long, with the very real possibility that she may only be convicted of child cruelty, which covers a minimum of 5 years in jail?

This woman brutally murdered two children, and attempted to murder a 3rd, and she could very possibly get off with spending 5 years in jail?

This is the same country which allows people to get sent away for up to 2 years for driving drunk, but murdering your children can get as light as 5?

More likely, she'll wind up with more than 5, yes, true, but why is it even an option that in 5 years, the justice system could conceivably see her as clean and clear again?

/rant


I'm sorry, but this whole story pisses me off, and I sincerelly hope that she gets locked away for life with no chance of parole. Why should she get to see the sun when her children are buried in a cold dark casket in the ground?

[AZRedHot]

I think they must go with the insanity defense, because there is nothing else. What possible defense could there be for such an act? They annoyed me? They were evil? They were CHILDREN. It's the defense's job to come up with whatever they can, however flimsy. It's the prosecution's job to make the case, and it looks like they have plenty to work with. It's the judge and/or jury's job to see through the flimsy defense and discern whether she's a cold-blooded murderer, or insane. All we can hope is that they are not bamboozled. But I think people tend to take a real hard look at the killer of innocents. This is not a bar brawl, where blame might be thrown around. The children couldn't defend themselves, nor would they expect to--it was their mother. And she's in Texas, where the penal system is harsh. I'm with you, Gilly, in hoping she gets what she deserves.

[nikki1979]

OMFG i had not even heard a whisper of this!!! holy crap , i hope like hell she gets the freakin chair,

i gotta say tho any one who cud do that wud have to be a bit insane but the fact that she cud do it 2 times (and try for 3) means she cud do it again. i honestly dont think insanity shud be an option for murderers. obviously they are insane or they wuddnt have killed neone. lock that bitch up w a bunch of other women that luv children, lets see how long she lasts!
sorry to all of u who are against death penalty. obvisoly im all for it.

~nikki

[Gilly]

Did I mention she did this over Mother's Day Weekend last year? Freakin psycho.

[nikki1979]

OMG no way , where was the dad tho all this may i ask???? poor guy must be devastated!


~nikki

[thedog]

"God" told her to do it.

[Lilith]

Mr. Lil and I had a huge debate about this while he tried to water the lawn tonight.:rolleyes:

1) Doesn't the very fact that we can't imagine a mother being capable of brutalizing her children to death actually give weight to the idea of some sort of psychological defect/insanity?

2) Why are the spouses/families of these women not brought up on charges of child endangerment? Didn't they willingly allow their children to be cared for by someone who is dangerous(like in the case of the schizophrenic who drowned her children)? If you knowingly left your children with a paedophile you could be brought up on charges, so why not if you leave them with a psychotic person?
If the mothers are insane and there is corroborating evidence that they had unstable moments in the past, then someone else who knew that, is negligent... IMH but often obnoxious O.
You just shouldn't knowingly leave your children with people who may harm them, even if it's your spouse:(

[PantyFanatic]

I’m most uncertain on how to state some most certain thoughts.
I may be back.

[BigBear57]

Lilith Darlin', I don't know the story of this particular woman but I did have a friend whose wife had a history of mental problems and reported child abuse but when divorce came along who did the judge award custody of his two kids? Of course, the woman wins most of the time. Dads aren't always in a position to keep the kids out of harm's way. Ain't that just shit in your corn flakes?

Oh and Gilly I'm with you Hon. I hoe they put her somewhere and keep her from now on.

[Lilith]

BigBear57....it's a shame that in most states family court and criminal court don't consult.:( I am a GAL for my district court and deal with both the courts and families, often families where mental illness is an obstacle. I realize not all situations are preventable but I see the gigantic discrepancies(race, sex, income) in the make up of the courts, in as far as the welfare of children is concerned.

I hope she gets put away forever as well but I am also convinced that in many many of these cases something could have been done to prevent the murders if only someone made different choices. Be it the family member who knew the person was a time bomb, or the case worker who should have taken the children into custody, or a neighbor/ teacher/ friend to call an abuse hotline, or the judge who awards custody.

As a teacher, if I fail to report abuse, of any kind, I can be found negligent. I think the same consequences should hold true for every and any one who is responsible for the well being of that child.

[Lilith]

My understanding is that she was indeed found not guilty on Saturday by reason of insanity.

http://www.cnn.com/2004/LAW/04/03/children.slain/index.html

[Gilly]

I just really hopes she rots in hell.


Niki, the dad was sleeping peacefully while mom butchered her kids with rocks. That's another thing I really don't get. How did she manage to attack 3 kids, and not a single person (husband included) in a quiet neighbor hood in the middle of the night heard -anything-? I mean, ok, it's plausabile that she was able to knock at least 1, maybe even two unconscious right away, but all 3? Without any of them screaming a single time?

It saddens me that there are people out there who do this, and it saddens me even more that for every 1 person who does it, there are hundreds more out there who think it, or plan it. :(

[darogle]

yep, she's a psycho alright! But that doesn't negate the fact that she killed her own kids and should be punished accordingly. (Never have bought that innocent by reason of insanity BS)

[dicksbro]

I've never understood the "Not Guilty by Reason of Insanity." To me, it should be "Guilty by Reason of Insanity." And, there ought to be confinement for a specified amount of time up to and including life even if a doctor somehow judges the person has been "cured."

[Oldfart]

This was not the act of a sane person.

She should be removed from society.

[Loulabelle]

Lilith - I'm with you on this one, particularly on the 1st count.

There is definitely something wrong with someone mentally/ emotionally to be able to do that to another human being.

That's not to say that I don't think they should be locked away for a very long time. My personal feeling is that people like this should be institutionalised in a specialist psychiatric facility, kept away from the public and from 'sane' criminals, for their own and others' safety.

[nikki1979]

holy fucking shit she got off dear lord what is this world coming to . WTF i mean she KILLED her kids and she gets sent to a mental ward fuck that when she gets out shell just do it all over again omg the jury def needs to reavaluate their lives and get their heads out of thier asses. i can not belive this how the hell cud u find her not guilty omfg. and the dad SLEPT tho this WTH no way !!! i know my husband sleeps hard and deep but JFC hed sure as hell wake up if he heard his child scream! omg im gona go cry now. i hope the woman rots in hell and the dad and jury are plagued w guitl for the rest of thier fucking lives !

~nikki

[Lilith]

Lou~ I agree we should have a couple of prisons, not state hospitals, made specifically for the criminally insane...where they receive treatment with trained guards/psychiatric staff and spend the rest of their lives isolated from the rest of the world.

So many criminally insane are taking up space in some state mental facility that it deteriorates the quality of care available to the non-criminal patients.

[Gilly]

I have a feeling that this is one woman who will be recieving her own personal body guards when she get's out.

Psycho's husband actually rallied to her defense. I'm sorry, but as much as I love anyone in my family, and my husband, anyone of them so much as hurts my babies, they're about as dead as they can be.

[Englishlush]

I guess I come at a slightly different viewpoint not having children but I think it makes more sense to send her to a mental asylum than a prison. She was obviously insane if she believed God spoke to her to tell her to kill her children, and the manner in which she killed them. I do not believe that there is any point in executing her as with the correct treatment she may come to her senses and realise the consequences of her actions and repent them.
If she does so then perhaps one day she will be safe to participate within society again, if she stays insane then she stays locked up in the asylum.

As for the husband not hearing the screams......how many of you have heard screams while children are playing in their nearby back gardens or the street. If a child screamed repeatedly then most of us would go to investigate, but once or twice? I do not think many people would think it was more than kids playing silly buggers.

Oh well thats my six penneth

Oh, and in the UK we have several prisons which are secure mental facilites for those who have been convicted on insanity pleas or confined for the safety of the general public.

[Irish]

I agree with Dicksbro!It should have been"GUILTY by reason of insanity!"If you can't do the time,Don't do the crime!"I wish that they,had put her in jail.Other inmates HATE,child molesters or wife
beaters.If she was lucky,she would last two days!I doubt if her kids,even screamed.After all,who expects your mother to beat your head in.The last that I heard,the Drs.,still don't know the
complete long term effects,donr to the baby! Irish
P.S.Anyone,really,religious,wouldn't beleive that God,would tell you to kill someone.
P.P.S.Just my $.02

[fzzy]

Again, I think I see this a bit differently than many, years of studying all things psychological (just because I love the topic) and having at least one friend who is permanently unable to function well (not that she's violent) in society because of chemical imbalances in her brain chemestry leave me with a certain understanding that such a thing can happen and that she may not have had any control over the outcome.

That's not to say that I want her out in the general public until what ever the problem is can be corrected - if it can be corrected - having been in a few mental institutions, no matter how caring the staff, I'm not sure I wouldn't prefer prison from a personal viewpoint, those places are scary in a way that prison could never scare me!

Anyway, the jury heard all of the details, and what I know of it is only what others have reported, so, for me, I think it is best to trust in the system of justice and believe that the choice was made by 12 jurors with a rational perspective. ... just my 2 cents worth anyway.

[Kissy]

Originally posted by Englishlush
I guess I come at a slightly different viewpoint not having children but I think it makes more sense to send her to a mental asylum than a prison. As for the husband not hearing the screams......how many of you have heard screams while children are playing in their nearby back gardens or the street. If a child screamed repeatedly then most of us would go to investigate, but once or twice? I do not think many people would think it was more than kids playing silly buggers.

Actualy as a parent I can tell my children's cries from any other. However my husband can sleep through it. Did these people not have neighbors? I doubt they thought the lady was out there playing catch with her kids.

We have a case here in Colorado right now about a woman who drowned her two kids last October. She also is using insanity as a defense.

It just makes me sick to even dwell on for too long. There is no way any woman could be anything but insane and harm her children like this. However using that as a defense isn't fare to anyone, not the women, not the children, and not the families.

[maddy]

I just read the entire coverage on the verdict in this morning's paper. I'm unfortunate enough to live in the Dallas area (she's from Tyler, one of the metroplex suburbs) where these things that happen seem nearly commonplace. I mean, they seem to occur more frequently than I consider to be acceptable.

This reaffirms my belief that our society needs some sort of a 'test' before reproduction. Afterall we need a test to drive, a license to marry, but reproduction (possibly the largest responsibility in my mind) only requires properly function reproduction systems of two people ... no more, no less. Thus, day in and day out, people who are better off not holding the responsibility of parenthood are faced with the task and fail miserably.

[Gilly]

Originally posted by Englishlush

If she does so then perhaps one day she will be safe to participate within society again, if she stays insane then she stays locked up in the asylum.



Why should she be allowed freedom, when her children aren't? Yes, I agree, she needs help. But that doesn't change the fact that she should be locked away.

Most prisoner's recieve any and all health care they need, free of charge to them. Why can't they also get psychiatric care while in prison?

I think if you argue that the woman was insane for murdering 2 living beings, then all people who kill should be tried under the assumption that they are in fact insane. But, we don't.

It bothers me that she only showed remorse once she realized that she was up for possible life sentances. Even had she gotten life, she was up for parole after 40 years.

So, she gets to roam free, able to live her life, with no reprocussions in just a few short years? Why? Personally, I say gas the bitch. You kill someone, you die. What she did was purposful, and methodical, even if she wasn't right in the head when she did it. She knew what she was doing, because even now, she claims god told her to. That in and of itself indicates that she was aware of the actions she was doing, but that she did it simply because she felt a higher being told her to.

This also dips into whether or not she was hearing her own thoughts, and attributing them to God putting them there, or if she was thinking on her own. I'm not a religious person, but I do believe in some things. She was a devoutly religous person, and thought that the God most people attribute to bringing life to this world, would want her to take it from 3 innocent children? I don't buy it, not in the least. Sure, she was insane, but she knew what she was doing.

[having_fun]

Unfortunately we here in the good ole U.S. allow the insanity defense. Personally, I don't think it has a place in the court. If a person has a mental problem, get them some help. But don't override the judicial system simply because they have a mental problem. I think that anyone who commits a gruesomely serious crime is mentally ill, and should be punished, regardless of his or her mental condition.

My cousin's husband stole some jewels when he was younger, got caught, and pleaded temporary insanity. He was sent to the state mental institution for about 3 months then released with no further action taken. The only temporary insanity was that he broke into the jewelry store. The insanity plea has been abused so often in our courts it is totally ridicules.

[WildIrish]

I think anyone capable of murder (true murder...premeditated or snap decision) is not fully sane. There's a big bell that should go off in your head when you're at that point of no return, and if you ignore it...you're nuts. Go to jail and do your time. If the judge thinks you should get out, you should be tested and treated accordingly so that when you are set free, you don't do it again. If you are sentenced to stay in prison until you die, taxpayer's money shouldn't be wasted treating you.

As for charging the spouse...that's a gray area. Many of us can't even consider that someone we know and love is capable of such a tragic act. How do you hold someone accountable for that? If there are deliberate actions that take place in spite of repeated signs of potential harm, well, that's another thing. For him to be asleep when this is all going on...well, that's kinda weird.