Always, Always, Always

     When you hear or read a report of a particularly vicious interracial crime – a heinous murder or a gang rape, for example – committed here in the United States, get pictures. Pictures of the perpetrators and of the victims. Keep all such pictures in a special folder, united with the reports of the relevant crimes. Over time, a pattern will emerge from those pictures. You’ll find the experience enlightening.

     What’s that? You don’t get the point? Well, have a couple of pictures! First, here are two co-perpetrators of an uncommonly vicious interracial murder:

     Now, let’s have their victims:

     Here’s the associated tale of woe:

     Brandon Bernard and his accomplices brutally murdered two youth ministers, Todd and Stacie Bagley, on a military reservation in 1999. After Todd Bagley agreed to give a ride to several of Bernard’s accomplices, they pointed a gun at him, forced him and Stacie into the trunk of their car, and drove the couple around for hours while attempting to steal their money and pawn Stacie’s wedding ring. While locked in the trunk, the couple spoke with their abductors about God and pleaded for their lives. The abductors eventually parked on the Fort Hood military reservation, where Bernard and another accomplice doused the car with lighter fluid as the couple, still locked in the trunk, sang and prayed. After Stacie said, “Jesus loves you,” and “Jesus, take care of us,” one of the accomplices shot both Todd and Stacie in the head—killing Todd and knocking Stacie unconscious. Bernard then lit the car on fire, killing Stacie through smoke inhalation. In June 2000, a jury in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas found Bernard guilty of, among other offenses, two counts of murder within the special maritime and territorial jurisdiction of the United States, and unanimously recommended a death sentence. His conviction and sentence were affirmed on appeal, and his request for collateral relief was rejected by every court that considered it. Bernard is scheduled to be executed by lethal injection on December 10, 2020, at U.S. Penitentiary Terre Haute, Indiana. One of his accomplices, Christopher Vialva, was executed for his role in the Bagleys’ murder on September 22, 2020.

     Note that the murders occurred 21 years ago and that the co-perpetrators have languished on Death Row for 20 years. Note also that the “civil rights” and “anti-death-penalty” organizations are up in arms about these executions.

     I’ve been collecting such pictures for quite some time. You might remember this set, which sort of kicked off my own collection:

     Yes, I have others, but I shan’t assail your eyes with the full set. Suffice it to say that the pattern they present is virtually uniform. In all honesty, there are a few exceptions to that pattern. The 1998 murder of James Byrd is the most prominent one. But they are very few.

     Always get pictures. People learn from pictures. They’re educational.