The World Has Gone Mad

My journal entry starts out with a copy and paste from earlier entries. I am really upset. When you read to the end you will understand.

Friday, July 11, 2008

This morning started out entirely normal as far as I was concerned. Stumpy woke me up at 3:00; I let him out the back door and went back to bed to await the clock radio going off at 4:00. Right on schedule the alarm went off. The house was still kind of stuffy so I opened the side door to the driveway to get some cross flow ventilation. This door way is a favourite spot of Daggys to sit at and watch the world go by.

I had just put the coffee on the stove when the motion light was triggered in the driveway and I saw lightbeams flashing around outside. I ran to the side door to investigate. Three Tuscaloosa policemen were in my driveway! They had seen the open side door and investigated. Sherri is always screaming at me for having my doors open like that. I assured the officers all was well here and even invited them inside if they wanted to further check. They seemed distracted and left rather abruptly.

I just got off the phone with Sherri. She had just watched a news report on the 6:00 p.m local news program that pretty much explained everything. At 3:00 a.m. there had been a double stabbing on a little dead end street just around the corner from me. Apparently a door in the house was unlocked allowing this burglar access. The family dog alerted the residents; the startled scumbag did his damage and fled on foot. The husband was stabbed in the stomach, and his wife suffered a cut on her hand. The intruder was later apprehended not far from my house.

This really upsets me. I always lock my doors at night, but when Stumpy goes out in the early morning I leave the back door cracked open so he can get back into the house. The backyard is fenced off and private, but that security was shattered hearing this latest news. I hate that feeling of being a prisoner in my own home. As the economy sinks further into the doldrums such incidents will only increase. I don’t want to be one of the statistics…

August 12, 2008.

This afternoon was the arraignment of the assailant who stabbed two neighbors a few weeks ago in the early morning hours. This incident has had a profound influence on me to where I now keep the doors locked pretty much all the time and leave the front porch light on all night as well as the light in the backyard at the back door. The neighborhood association wanted to have a contingent of neighbors there. For my own curiosity, I wanted to see in the flesh the creep who destroyed my illusion of safety.

There was a good crowd to hear the testimony. I could feel myself choking up and shaking as this woman described how she discovered this man in her living room and tried to fight him off. She suffered knife cuts on her hands requiring some 17 stitches to close, and had a large section of her hair pulled out as she was being mauled.

Then her husband gave testimony how he heard the scuffle and went to rescue his wife. He was stabbed twice in the back and once in the chest. Even in the darkest situations there is a bit of comic relief. This man was asked to recite what he said to his assailant. He was very uncomfortable, but relayed the obscenities spoken that early morning. Some matronly ladies were sitting ahead of me and I watched their jaws literally drop!

The clincher was when the police gave their testimony. This scumbag was picked up on my street shortly after all this. He was walking on the street still wearing his blood soaked tee shirt. He admitted to the entire thing on tape. It looks pretty open and shut from my point of view. He was found guilty on all three counts. If I remember right: one count of attempted murder, and two counts of manslaughter.

By the time it all was over the rain was pouring down. Thankfully a neighbor gave me a ride back to my house so I did not get soaked twice in one day.

Since then it has been a steady easy rain. This is the most precipitation in one time we have had in many months. There was a short break in the rain that gave me the window of opportunity to spread Epsom salts around the shrubs. They work wonders on my front hollies.

I ended up skipping lunch, so I treated myself to a good supper. I cooked up a mess of garlic smashed potatoes and broiled up a steak smothered in onions. The house smelled so good with the garlic and onions cooking!

August 18, 2009

What I assumed was an open and shut case was far from it. In my E-mail today was this letter from our neighborhood association.

“There will be a competency hearing for the man that attacked my
husband and me on Monday, August 31 at 9:00 a.m. in Judge Almond's
courtroom. I have been told that we need to have as many people as
possible in attendance to show support for our case. The defense is
trying to claim that the man that attempted to murder my husband and
me (remember that he faces TWO counts of attempted murder) is so
incompetent that he should not be incarcerated but rather should be
"treated" by the Department of Mental Retardation. The district
attorney has not been able to find any other case where this has been
considered. The alternative for this man's treatment if the defense
wins is to either house him at Partlow or to have him receive
treatment out-patient. If the defense wins this hearing, the decision
will set a very dangerous precedent for other criminals that may be
found to be mentally disabled. I am asking for you to consider
attending the hearing so that Judge Almond can see that the community
as a whole strongly disagrees with letting a man that has attempted to
murder innocent individuals be allowed to escape punishment through
the prison system.

Thank you for your consideration and support.”



This is crazy. You better bet your life I will be there in that courtroom to support my neighbors.