(no subject)

[theweaselking]

West Virginian (white) murders new neighbours (black) without warning and without calling the cops, because he assumes they must be breaking into the place. Cabell County Sheriff insists there's no reason to even remotely consider that race might have been a factor in his motive.

Comments

[rimrunner.livejournal.com]

I have spent considerable time in West Virginia. I realize this is just restating the obvious, but: like hell it wasn't.

[drcuriosity]

Sounds like first degree murder to me, Bob.

[sophia8.livejournal.com]

Yes, it was racially motivated murder. But his reactions - paranoia, panic, loss of recent memory (he'd forgotten the shed was no longer his property) make it sound a lot like Black is in the early stages of dementia.
My ex's dad, when he was at that stage, used to have paranoid hallucinations that people were trying to break into the house at night and would sleep in his armchair with a lump of wood in his lap, all ready for them; one night he swore he saw a "big black man" (ex's dad was white, of course) climbing through the toilet window - an opening that was about a foot square and ten feet off the ground. Luckily, being in the UK meant he never had access to a gun. Once he was in a care home and getting the right medication, he became calm and quite sweet.
So I think Black may get off with a lesser charge and be confined somewhere secure - hopefully. Though that will be of no comfort whatsoever to the bereaved families.