In the News: Larissa Schuster

From CNN.com:

http://tinyurl.com/4bfb8n

Chemist gets Life for Husband's Acid Vat Murder

A biochemist was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole Friday for killing her estranged husband by knocking him out and stuffing him into a vat of acid, possibly while he was still alive.

(snip)

Prosecutors said Schuster and her former lab assistant, James Fagone, first immobilized Timothy Schuster with a stun gun and a chloroform-soaked rag. Then they bound his hands and feet, dumped his body headfirst into a barrel while he was still breathing and poured hydrochloric acid on him.

At work, my colleagues and I have been watching this story unfold. If you are into grisly details, you can google this lady's name and read the blogs of local reporters covering her trial. It is truly horrific what she was convicted of doing. It is hard to fathom that someone could do this to another living being.

I don't know which is worse: (1) that a biochemist used her powers for evil instead of good or (2) that she didn't know that there are better things one can use to dissolve a body than concentrated HCl. She was trained in the chemistry of biological systems and that was the best she could come up with?**


**I say this somewhat tongue-in-cheek but in my lab at work, we were able to come up with a dozen things off the top of our heads that would have worked better. Just sayin'.

An Open Letter to Judge Joseph Doherty

For those who are unaware, the following open letter is regarding a criminal case stemming from an incident of dog abuse in Connecticut. The crime occurred in January 2008, but public outcry has been building since the case first came to light. The following are links that discuss the case:

http://www.wfsb.com/news/15048042/detail.html (some graphic pics)
http://www.pet-abuse.com/cases/12959/CT/US/ (site updates as case proceeds through the courts)

To the Honorable Joseph Doherty:

I am, admittedly, a HUGE dog lover. However, I do not see how anyone claiming to be human could read about the case of Saverino Cruz and the pit bull "Baby" and not be outraged. Even the most jaded individuals would be shocked at the details of this case.

I have read several accounts describing what occurred in January and I am aware the man at the center of this case is an illegal immigrant. I am also aware that many of the taxpayers in Connecticut would balk at paying the expense of incarcerating a citizen of another country (but when you established so-called "sanctuary cities" in defiance of federal law, I would suggest that you invite such problems but that is a soapbox for another day).

But please consider the facts of the case. This man found out while at work that his son was injured. Did he go straight to the hospital to check on his son? No, he left work in the middle of the day and went home to deal with the dog. I would submit he already had a vague notion of what he was going to do. Furthermore, he had the entire drive home to come to his senses. Instead, he brutalized a chained and caged dog.

I ask you to consider one other point: what happens when another human angers this man (animal abuse is a known indicator of future violent behavior)? If he doesn't serve time (or worse, gets off scot-free as his lawyer proposes), the greatest tragedy will not be that some one got away with animal abuse. It will be that the justice system had the opportunity to stop this man before he kills/maims someone's child, wife, mother, father, etc. and instead allowed it to slip away.

Viral Video of the Day: Police Dashboard Video

Below is a link to a video that you have to see to believe.

http://www.trutv.com/video/index.html?id=829&link=truTVVideoeflk

This video illustrates nicely why I don't have a job that requires dealing the public at large. People are crazy and are becoming more so every day.

I am perfectly happy standing in front of my hood, sniffing, er, handling chemicals all day, thank you very much.