PSX5Central
Non Gaming Discussions => Off-Topic => Topic started by: luckee on July 12, 2002, 12:50:12 AM
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Brother admits to killing sister in fight over TV remote
Jim Adams
Star Tribune
Published Jul 9, 2002
A West St. Paul teenager who pleaded guilty Monday to killing his younger sister said he unintentionally strangled her as they fought over the TV remote control.
Scott Tomlinson wiped away tears as he testified about how he and his sister, Megan, had argued after getting home from school Jan. 28. He said that he wanted to watch "The Simpsons" and that she didn\'t.
They wrestled over the remote, and the 16-year-old said he put his arm around his 13-year-old sister\'s throat and held it until she went limp.
Dakota County District Judge Edward Lynch sentenced Tomlinson to 12 years in prison for unintentional second-degree murder while committing assault.
With credit for time served and good behavior, he could be eligible for parole in about eight years, when he is 24.
Tomlinson testified that after his sister went limp, "I didn\'t know what to do. I couldn\'t think straight. I had to tell somebody but I didn\'t know who or how."
He said he dialed 911 in another room but hung up when he heard noises. He returned to find his sister apparently having a seizure, he said; she then spit up blood and quit moving. When he checked, she had no pulse.
When his attorney, Anthony Torres, asked whether he had intended to kill Megan, Tomlinson, still crying, replied, "No."
Tomlinson said he put her body in a sleeping bag in a storage shed behind the family home, where police found her. He said he wanted to tell his aunt, who was watching the teenagers while their parents were away for a few days, when she returned home from work. But he said he got scared when he heard her car door slam and ran away.
"I didn\'t know what to tell her," he testified. "I didn\'t think she would believe me."
Police arrested him about 11:45 that night at a friend\'s house.
Monday\'s hearing in Hastings originally was scheduled to decide whether Tomlinson should be tried as a juvenile or an adult. He agreed to plead guilty and be sentenced as an adult.
He is expected to serve his sentence in the St. Cloud prison, which houses younger inmates and offers education and mental health programs, Torres said.
Torres said that Tomlinson has written letters to his sister since her death and that he has read them.
"He said he\'s sorry he won\'t ever get to see her walk down the aisle at her wedding and see their dad give her away," Torres said.
Tomlinson also wrote that "it is tough living without her," the attorney said. "He said he misses her and sometimes hears her voice, which upsets him and makes him cry."
He said the plea agreement was reached after prosecutors agreed to drop a charge of second-degree intentional murder, which carries a 25 1/2-year sentence.
It would have been difficult on such a serious charge to persuade a judge to try the case in juvenile court, because juvenile sentences can extend only to someone\'s 21st birthday, he said.
Dakota County Attorney James Backstrom said the plea balanced the needs for justice, public safety holding the teen accountable for a serious crime that deserved a longer sentence than that permitted in juvenile court.
He described Tomlinson as a "troubled young man who was unable to control his anger." He said he had prior disorderly conduct offenses but no felony record or evidence of prior assaults on his sister.
Backstrom noted that police found a blue plastic bag around Megan\'s head in the sleeping bag, although Tomlinson said he put it under her head. Prosecutors think he may have used the bag to stop bleeding from her nose. Backstrom said a stuffed dog toy also was found, although her brother denied putting anything in the sleeping bag with her.
Backstrom said the case was very unusual because it made Melvin and Beverly Tomlinson the parents of both the victim and her assailant.
The parents declined to comment in court Monday or afterward.
Backstrom noted that two juveniles who initially said Tomlinson had said he wanted to kill his whole family later recanted. That led the prosecutor to drop first-degree murder charges based on their testimony.
Tomlinson has attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder and depression, Torres said.
In hindsight, he said, the Tomlinsons realize they could have handled their son\'s disabilities better. He said they have supported him fully since their daughter died.
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Yeah, I read about this at shortnews.com
Makes me sick. Wonder what kinda parents they had...
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what did he finally get charged with if the dropped the second degree murder charge? Personally I would have pushed for first degree manslaughter. Either way it\'s pretty funked up, only thing that could chear me up is homer talking ass.
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Yeah well, get used to it, because it\'s only going to get worse.
As todays children grow up, they will treat their kids like sh1t, they in turn will think that this sort of behaviour is the norm, and as a consequence, will act even more anti-socially, and as they grow up.........................
Life is a never ending spiral downwards into ever increasing social decay.
Be happy while you\'ve got the chance.........Before the little heathens take over the world.
AAAAARRRRRRRGGGGGGHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!
*Goes and jumps down a very deep hole*
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Originally posted by Jaye_Bennington
Yeah well, get used to it, because it\'s only going to get worse.
As todays children grow up, they will treat their kids like sh1t, they in turn will think that this sort of behaviour is the norm, and as a consequence, will act even more anti-socially, and as they grow up.........................
Life is a never ending spiral downwards into ever increasing social decay.
Be happy while you\'ve got the chance.........Before the little heathens take over the world.
AAAAARRRRRRRGGGGGGHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!
*Goes and jumps down a very deep hole*
This man speaks the truth..
*drinks bottle of nyquil*
:sleepy:
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Obviously she shouldn\'t have tried to take the remote, stupid woman.
Oh, I have another morbid joke:
She deserved what she got; she didn\'t want to watch Simpsons.
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Originally posted by Samwise
Obviously she shouldn\'t have tried to take the remote, stupid woman.
Oh, I have another morbid joke:
She deserved what she got; she didn\'t want to watch Simpsons.
well if she didn\'t want to watch the Simpsons, she\'s just lucky she didn\'t get murderer in a more horrible, and disgusting fashion.....or raped.
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Oh god, here we go again...
:shakes head:
I\'ll tell ya\', at one time this use to be a God-fearing, upstanding , morally adjust community..Now all we have is those devil worshipping , long haired, hippie freaks...
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Originally posted by Living-In-Clip
Oh god, here we go again...
:shakes head:
I\'ll tell ya\', at one time this use to be a God-fearing, upstanding , morally adjust community..Now all we have is those devil worshipping , long haired, hippie freaks...
I\'m not longhaired. :mad:
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Some people might think that he got the idea of choking his sister from the Simpsons. And wow! What a great job the aunt did on watching over them kids. :rolleyes:
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Originally posted by Living-In-Clip
Oh god, here we go again...
:shakes head:
I\'ll tell ya\', at one time this use to be a God-fearing, upstanding , morally adjust community..Now all we have is those devil worshipping , long haired, hippie freaks...
[size=8]DAMN HIPPIES!![/size]
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He said that he wanted to watch "The Simpsons" and that she didn\'t.
He\'s innocent.:p
Seriously though, thats disgusting. How the **** could he strangle her for long enough to kill her and not realise he is doing something horribly wrong.
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True dat. This kid does deserve to be jailed for this.
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Domestic Violence...
eh, what are you gonna do about it?
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Thats pathetic. Honestly. Thats just like the person who sliced off another one\'s nose for having one too many items in the express lane at a grocery store.
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Sibling rivalry eh, this is too fooked up for me! :eek:
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I say leave his ass in jail. How could he be stupid enough to kill her without knowing it? At least it wasn\'t over a game, otherwise the senators would be having a field day.
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It\'s so true. If that were a game, there would be lawsuits against every game manufacturer, and they would be the ones that would get blamed. That makes me sick. Some parents just can\'t see that THEY are the ones to blame. Morons.
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Everyone blames videogames nowadays :rolleyes: