Insane, or did she know what she was doing?
 

By now, most people in the US have heard at least something about the disturbing Laney case. Deanne Laney is a 39 year old woman from Texas who viciously stoned her 8 year old and 6 year old sons to death, before turning and similiarly attacking her 14 month old son, who survived.

I've been doing some reading on it, and one thing bugs me. Her defense team has (of course) put forth a bid for guilty by reason of insanity. They are rather insistant that the woman must have been out of her mind at the time she slayed her oldest two sons. After she killed them, and nearly did in her youngest, the woman calmly picked up the phone, and called 911 to report the murders, and with a voice deprived of emotion, she admitted that she had done the crime herself.

For several weeks afterwards, she showed no remorse for the event which stole the lives of two children. She did not cry for them.

Indeed, it took months before she'd cry for them. Personally, I have to wonder if by then she was crying for her lost sons, or for the convictions which loomed ahead for her. Right now, she sits waiting for a jury to decide if she was insane or not. More accuratly, they need to decide if she understood that what she did was wrong, insane or not.

Her defense rallies that because she showed no emotion, she must have been insane. I feel it would have been the other way. Wouldn't she understnad afterwards, and regret it? Perhaps not, I suppose.

Insane or not, I feel this woman understood fully what happened. If she hadn't understood it, why would she bother to immediatly call 911 about this? Why would she have been found in the backyard, wandering around aimlessly, purposefully away from the dead children laying in the front yard, each with a dinner plate sized bloody rock resting on their small chests?

Why would she place her youngest son back in his crib, and cover her handywork with a pillow if she had no understanding of what had happened?

And most of all, why is it that we even allow these things to go for so long, with the very real possibility that she may only be convicted of child cruelty, which covers a minimum of 5 years in jail?

This woman brutally murdered two children, and attempted to murder a 3rd, and she could very possibly get off with spending 5 years in jail?

This is the same country which allows people to get sent away for up to 2 years for driving drunk, but murdering your children can get as light as 5?

More likely, she'll wind up with more than 5, yes, true, but why is it even an option that in 5 years, the justice system could conceivably see her as clean and clear again?

/rant


I'm sorry, but this whole story pisses me off, and I sincerelly hope that she gets locked away for life with no chance of parole. Why should she get to see the sun when her children are buried in a cold dark casket in the ground?

I think they must go with the insanity defense, because there is nothing else. What possible defense could there be for such an act? They annoyed me? They were evil? They were CHILDREN. It's the defense's job to come up with whatever they can, however flimsy. It's the prosecution's job to make the case, and it looks like they have plenty to work with. It's the judge and/or jury's job to see through the flimsy defense and discern whether she's a cold-blooded murderer, or insane. All we can hope is that they are not bamboozled. But I think people tend to take a real hard look at the killer of innocents. This is not a bar brawl, where blame might be thrown around. The children couldn't defend themselves, nor would they expect to--it was their mother. And she's in Texas, where the penal system is harsh. I'm with you, Gilly, in hoping she gets what she deserves.

OMFG i had not even heard a whisper of this!!! holy crap , i hope like hell she gets the freakin chair,

i gotta say tho any one who cud do that wud have to be a bit insane but the fact that she cud do it 2 times (and try for 3) means she cud do it again. i honestly dont think insanity shud be an option for murderers. obviously they are insane or they wuddnt have killed neone. lock that bitch up w a bunch of other women that luv children, lets see how long she lasts!
sorry to all of u who are against death penalty. obvisoly im all for it.

~nikki

Did I mention she did this over Mother's Day Weekend last year? Freakin psycho.

OMG no way , where was the dad tho all this may i ask???? poor guy must be devastated!


~nikki

"God" told her to do it.

Mr. Lil and I had a huge debate about this while he tried to water the lawn tonight.:rolleyes:

1) Doesn't the very fact that we can't imagine a mother being capable of brutalizing her children to death actually give weight to the idea of some sort of psychological defect/insanity?

2) Why are the spouses/families of these women not brought up on charges of child endangerment? Didn't they willingly allow their children to be cared for by someone who is dangerous(like in the case of the schizophrenic who drowned her children)? If you knowingly left your children with a paedophile you could be brought up on charges, so why not if you leave them with a psychotic person?
If the mothers are insane and there is corroborating evidence that they had unstable moments in the past, then someone else who knew that, is negligent... IMH but often obnoxious O.
You just shouldn't knowingly leave your children with people who may harm them, even if it's your spouse:(

I’m most uncertain on how to state some most certain thoughts.
I may be back.

Lilith Darlin', I don't know the story of this particular woman but I did have a friend whose wife had a history of mental problems and reported child abuse but when divorce came along who did the judge award custody of his two kids? Of course, the woman wins most of the time. Dads aren't always in a position to keep the kids out of harm's way. Ain't that just shit in your corn flakes?

Oh and Gilly I'm with you Hon. I hoe they put her somewhere and keep her from now on.

BigBear57....it's a shame that in most states family court and criminal court don't consult.:( I am a GAL for my district court and deal with both the courts and families, often families where mental illness is an obstacle. I realize not all situations are preventable but I see the gigantic discrepancies(race, sex, income) in the make up of the courts, in as far as the welfare of children is concerned.

I hope she gets put away forever as well but I am also convinced that in many many of these cases something could have been done to prevent the murders if only someone made different choices. Be it the family member who knew the person was a time bomb, or the case worker who should have taken the children into custody, or a neighbor/ teacher/ friend to call an abuse hotline, or the judge who awards custody.

As a teacher, if I fail to report abuse, of any kind, I can be found negligent. I think the same consequences should hold true for every and any one who is responsible for the well being of that child.

My understanding is that she was indeed found not guilty on Saturday by reason of insanity.

http://www.cnn.com/2004/LAW/04/03/c...lain/index.html

I just really hopes she rots in hell.


Niki, the dad was sleeping peacefully while mom butchered her kids with rocks. That's another thing I really don't get. How did she manage to attack 3 kids, and not a single person (husband included) in a quiet neighbor hood in the middle of the night heard -anything-? I mean, ok, it's plausabile that she was able to knock at least 1, maybe even two unconscious right away, but all 3? Without any of them screaming a single time?

It saddens me that there are people out there who do this, and it saddens me even more that for every 1 person who does it, there are hundreds more out there who think it, or plan it. :(

yep, she's a psycho alright! But that doesn't negate the fact that she killed her own kids and should be punished accordingly. (Never have bought that innocent by reason of insanity BS)

I've never understood the "Not Guilty by Reason of Insanity." To me, it should be "Guilty by Reason of Insanity." And, there ought to be confinement for a specified amount of time up to and including life even if a doctor somehow judges the person has been "cured."

This was not the act of a sane person.

She should be removed from society.