Mike Thwing, Office manager, West Seattle

---

"I don't know all the particulars about the case to make an educated guess. But given what I've heard from the newspapers and news clips, I'd say probably not. I'm all for the death penalty -- people should pay for their crimes and be punished. But in this case, I don't know enough to say."

Steve Collins, Professor, Kirkland

---

"In principle, I'm opposed to the death penalty, so I guess, no, life in prison should be the punishment. That was a particularly gruesome crime and I understand why the death penalty would've been handed out. But, in general, I'm opposed to the death penalty being an option, so I wouldn't support its use in this case."

Anjula Jackson, Housewife & full-time mom, Jakarta, Indonesia

---

"I'm just visiting in Seattle, but I've noticed this case in the papers. Everyone's talking about it... I think that if he's in his right mind and he's not insane, he has taken the lives of three human beings and he doesn't deserve to be alive. He's dangerous."

Ronald Sato, Chemist, Bothell

---

"I'm an anti-capital punishment person, even though this is a particularly clear case where the crime was committed by the felon... We could go into a long diatribe about mail-order brides and how he may have been justifiably angry with her, but I don't know if his actions were justified... Clearly, the circumstances were aggravated on his part and there's no doubt he did it. But capital punishment just seems to fill a primitive sense of vengeance."

Bryan Holt, Accountant, Redmond

---

"I guess I would say no. I'm persuaded by the argument that his life generally has been good and that this time his emotions took control of his better judgment so I think that mercy should be extended... I think that capital punishment in certain circumstances is appropriate. I don't oppose it in all situations."

Steve McDonald, Pay phone technician, Lake Stevens

---

"In my personal opinion, I believe so. I feel that if you take a life, you should pay the ultimate price. It's a steep price to pay, but he took three lives so he deserves to die."

Copyright © 1996 by the Bellevue, WA-based Journal American newspaper.

If you'd like to comment on this Q, you can e-mail JA Editorial Page Editor Craig Groshart by clicking here. Please be sure to include the following in your message:

Thanks for stopping by and reading "Today's Issue"!