On August 19, 2011 John Regin reportedly killed his wife, her daughter and two sons ages 6, 10 and 15 in Newport News, Virginia. When we look at this crime the question I ask, should Regin receive the death penalty? For one to support or oppose the death penalty one must first understand what constitutes capital murder and what capital punishment is. Virginia § 18.2-31 Capital Murder is defined as the willful, deliberate, and premeditated killing of any person: (1) in abduction while trying to extort money; (2) for hire; (3) by a prisoner confined in a state or local correctional facility; (4) in the commission of robbery or attempted robbery; (5) rape or attempted rape, forcible sodomy or attempted forcible sodomy or object sexual penetration; (6) of a law-enforcement officer; (7) of more than one person as a part of the same act or transaction; (8) of more than one person within a three-year period; (9) when the killing is pursuant to a direction of a person who is part of a “continuing criminal enterprise” ; (10) When the killing is pursuant to a direction of a person who is part of a “continuing criminal enterprise”; …show more content…
Criminals who receive this form of punishment are typically violent and repeat offenders. If this type of criminal is simply jailed; he or she may again commit the same crime, whether in jail, upon escape or upon his or her release. An example of a repeat offender upon escape in Virginia is the Dawud Mu’Min case. In 1973, Mu’Min was convicted of killing a cab driver during a robbery and sentence to 48 years in prison. During his sentence in September 1988 Mu’Min escaped from prison and killed a clerk. More recently in Florida; Jack Ferrell was convicted of murder in 1982 and sentenced to 15 years to life in prison. Five years later Ferrell was paroled; Ferrell murdered again in