This wreck involved the man that parked a Jeep Cherokee on the tracks.
http://www.mercurynews.com/news/ci_9081701
I remember how many of us were livid about this crash and the guy that caused it. His intent had been to commit suicide, but then he changed his mind in the last minute. Yet, people paid with their lives and expensive passenger and freight rolling stock was severely damaged.
Nothing new here … But, I do not believe the man responsible was either a railroader or railfan, thus, had no idea or concept of the severity of what could result.
I might buy this, if he had stayed in the vehicle.
I would like to think that the punishment would fit the crime, but burning at the stake is frowned on in California…
Ignorance is no excuse. Neither is drug addiction or stupidity.
Chuck
I tend to agree with you, Chuck.
There are things in society that everyone knows shouldn’t be done, the no nos.
Whether that train wrecker gets life or death (or locked up long lastingly in a mental institution), his life of freedom is over.
No questions about it, based on the proceedings reported thus far, no one appears to be buying this guy’s insanity ploy, and no one is buying the “I was abused as a kid so I shouldnt be punished for this” angle either…this knucklehead is going to end up in prison, where he may very well be granted his initial wish.
Here’s another update:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/25396314
The man has been actually convicted of murder. I’m surprised as I thought he would, somehow, use a “temporary insanity” defense that would stick since he was allegedly trying to commit suicide.
I don’t believe in suicide and would never advocate it…but I wonder why this guy went through the trouble of putting his truck in the path of a train where there are far simpler methods that he could have employed.
In any case, there are no winners in this needless tragedy.
Justice was indeed served. I wonder if he will get the death penalty. It’s nice to see the jury didn’t buy all of the horse hockey the defense was shoveling.
Years ago, an ex-County Supervisor shot another Supervisor and the Mayor of San Francisco, then got off on what was dubbed the “twinkie” defense. Shortly thereafter, our laws were changed in California to severely limit things like “diminished capacity” and “temporary insanity” as defenses in a criminal proceeding. This is probably a good thing, as those defenses were usually the last resort of guilty-as-heck defendants hoping for a gullible jury. Now, if someone is truly insane, the go off to the State Hospital and stay there for a long time.
It went the way I thought it would go…most of the victims were government workers (one a Sheriff’s deputy)…and a lot of the jurors in Los Angeles are of similar type, because they are paid to show up for jury duty.
Of note, one of the victims that died was a railfan.
Train Buff Rode in Front
Scott McKeown, 42, lived in Moorpark in Ventura County with his family and commuted each day to Pasadena City Hall, where he was in charge of the city’s phone, radio and sound systems.
He had fallen for trains when he was a boy and his family had come West from Chicago in one. He and his best friend, Joe Wilke, had made a model of the train line that included the track on which he was killed.
Wilke said that on days off, he and McKeown would take their families to Los Angeles by train for lunch, then return home in the afternoon.
McKeown had been sitting in his usual spot in the first car, directly behind a window where he could watch the engineer operate the controls, a friend told Wilke.
“For those of us who love trains, that’s where you sit,” Wilke said. “I’d like to think that Scott was having a good time.”
McKeown and his wife, Susan, moved to Moorpark four years ago because they wanted a family-friendly environment for daughter Ashley, 8, and son Brice, 5, said David Doan, his brother-in-law.
Doan also talked of McKeown’s passion for trains.
“He’d talk to the conductor, the engineers, the ticket man - anyone who shared his love of trains,” he said.
McKeown was a member of the Glendale Model Railroad Club for 20 years, friends said. He helped build and maintain the club’s replica of the Southern Pacific Railroad, now Union Pacific.
“Scotty’s been coming in here since he was a kid,” said Fred Hill, the 62-year-old owner of the Origi