December 18, 2011

Elevators.

Incredibly, this is not the most horrifying elevator story of the last few days.

This is.

ADDED: His face half-burned, a man turns himself into the police, telling a story of revenge for $2,000 debt.

37 comments:

Tim said...

And Good Morning! to you too!

Psychedelic George said...

They've got their ups and downs.

vet66 said...

No penalty is too harsh for this monster. He is unfit to share life on this planet with the rest of us.

GOD bless and keep this woman.

DaveW said...

That's one of the most horrible stories I've read this year, elevator or no.

The Drill SGT said...

The second story is more horrifying, but the first is scarier.

I don't think I will ever meet a guy one on one with a flame thrower in an elevator, but I get on them regulary and now getting eaten by one is etched in my brain :(

Toad Trend said...

Not the kind of story you wish to wake to on a Sunday morn.

This monster needs to be found; the story indicated he may have burned himself in the process, so he should be easy to spot.

WTF is wrong with people these days. Poor woman.

Uncle Frank said...

I'm against the death penalty, but if they catch the bastard who did this I'll change my mind.

paminwi said...

I'm getting ready to visit my kids in New York City and staying with my daughter on the 5th floor of an apartment building. I had initially been thinking - a 5th floor walk-up? Yikes! Now, I'm thinking - a 5th floor walk-up - YEAH!!!

purplepenquin said...

Reminds me of the people getting burned on the bus a few years ago here in Madison. Sad situation indeed...

Petunia said...

The cops have the guy in custody. Whatever punishment he gets will not be enough.

If there's a God I hope the guy will get what he deserves in the afterlife. God certainly didn't help that poor woman in her time of need.

edutcher said...

The accident sounds as if it might be a computer glitch (if a program runs the timer*), but the other is some animal acting out a movie or something.

He should be sent to TX for trial, sentencing, and execution. NY will be too wussy.

* Programming an elevator simulation is part of the Deitel C++ book exercises. If they still use mechanical means, sounds like a faulty chain or something.

Wince said...

Remember the old, innocent days when a good elevator death was entertaining?

Curious George said...

Strap 'em in, throw the switch, light 'em up.

Next?

Pastafarian said...

Years ago, I opposed capital punishment, based on the argument that no government should be so powerful that it can take the life of a citizen. Then each year there would be more exceptions, men whose crimes were so heinous that I'd say "except for this guy."

Now I consider capital punishment my default position, with leniency only for the rare exception.

I'm not sure if it says more about me, or the system we now have, but I think it's a shame that the police caught this guy; I think it would have been better if he'd been caught by a gang of vigilantes. His trial and appeals will stretch on for years, and then he'll get three hots and a cot on our dime and basically retire to an (albeit austere) assisted living facility.

It's a damned shame that there is no god of the Old Testament for this situation.

Dust Bunny Queen said...

I could have gone all year without hearing this horrible story.

The term human or man does not apply to this aberration and pustule on this earth.

I think "eye for and eye" definitely applies. Burn the bastard to death.

Peter Hoh said...

Both are horrifying incidents.

I can't help but wonder if the murder was as random as the elevator malfunction. I suppose police are already working that angle, looking at insurance beneficiaries, etc.

edutcher said...

Curious George said...

Strap 'em in, throw the switch, light 'em up.

Next?


Too humane. Something more cruel and unusual.

Think Apache.

Freeman Hunt said...

This is an excellent example of why I'm in favor of the death penalty. Sometimes justice requires it.

bandmeeting said...

I've not got the stats but I would think that elevator travel would be nearly as safe (aside from a murderous psychopath out for revenge) as commercial air travel. I do know that there are an awful lot of elevators in this town going up and down safely conveying people without incident.

Ironic that I recently started taking the stairs to my sixth floor apartment, rather than the elevator, for the exercise.

bagoh20 said...

This evil S.O.B. will be punished with a long life of free meals, TV, friends, a wife and family and all the time he needs to read, write, learn, explore history, literature, art, and current events He will likely be better off in the long run for doing this to this poor woman.

And best of all we get to feel all warm and fuzzy about our compassion too. It's a win - win!

bagoh20 said...

The murder could have happened anywhere, but there is something creepy about elevators. It's one of the few ways in your day that you are fully confined and helpless, without options and entirely at the mercy of a machine. The buttons only pretend to give you control. They function more like a weak plea for release. You ask, and then just wait for HAL to decide.

DADvocate said...

Read this story earlier, before going to church. The cold, calculated cruelty is horrific. I don't know if you could punish this guy harshly enough. Maybe that's why there's a place where you burn for eternity.

Anonymous said...

Some news reports say that the suspect was the victim's former boyfriend.

Peter

Wally Kalbacken said...

Concealed carry woulda helped that bash.

FleetUSA said...

His prison term should be something like spending his life in the desert....no nuttin' and live on lizards.

He makes most prisoners seem like saints.

MadisonMan said...

Horrifying. I will bet she was killed by an acquaintance.

The Drill SGT said...

edutcher said...
Too humane. Something more cruel and unusual.

Think Apache.


Calls for Kipling. Apaches are gone pretty much, Afghans are still around....

"When you're wounded and left on Afghanistan's plains,
And the women come out to cut up what remains,
Jest roll to your rifle and blow out your brains"

meep said...

http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/brooklyn/police_custody_police_suspect_could_F3MVKIYxloo9soYHFYGn6M

Looks like the guy turned himself in. The victim had known him, had fired him from doing odd jobs because he had been stealing.

HT said...

What are the lessons here? I imagine that they're the same for urbanites and suburbanites. Maybe only hire people with good - solid, stellar - references, for starters?

Three different residents in our building had instances of 'contractors' coming back to the units to do some robbery work.

Disgusting. Makes me hate people for a while.

A. Shmendrik said...

It always pays to hire the best. Shrinkage will eat you up. Hell, it will burn you down.

knox said...

WTF.

David said...

The best argument for capital punishment is vengeance, which is a less prettified word for justice.

Greg Hlatky said...

In 40 years the New York Times - if it still exists - will run a weepie about the poor lifer that did this rotting away in prison. Forgotten, of course, will be the name of his victim.

Karl said...

We have half a dozen cars in my work building.

All of them go both up and down.

I don't understand people who thrust fingers | hands | arms | feet | legs into a closing door with the expectation that the door will open and let them in.

There will be another elevator going up or down.

A machine doesn't give a shit about your hand and will rip it off with no remorse.

bagoh20 said...

"A machine doesn't give a shit about your hand and will rip it off with no remorse."

Still sound positively compassionate compared to the "human" with a lighter.

Unknown said...

Same thing happened in CA recently.

http://blogs.laweekly.com/informer/2011/12/woman_dies_in_csu_long_beach_e.php

Maybe this NY one completes the "three" thing, like three deaths? Awful.

SDN said...

Capital punishment in the body politic serves the same function as the immune system in the biological body. It removes those who are dangerous illnesses.

Can an immune system target incorrectly? Of course. Too sensitive and you get autoimmune diseases; not sensitive enough and you get cancer.

But remove that immune system entirely and no body lives for long.