I'm Having a Hard Time Drumming Up Sympathy for the Convict Who Had a Botched Execution

Clayton Lockett’s execution didn’t go according to plan. He suffered and it took a few extra minutes for him to die of lethal injection.

But he was there on the gurney because he intentionally caused suffering.

In 1999 he killed a 19-year-old woman named Stephanie Nieman.

According to her family, she was a thoughtful young woman who helped out with kids and with her church.

Clayton Lockett and his pal shot her and then buried her alive and let her die.

Lockett filled Stephanie’s last moments on earth with horror and pain. She suffered and died for no reason at all.

Lockett is no victim. He suffered because of his own actions.

His soul is for God to deal with, but I see no reason to spend any time agonizing over him. In fact, if more would-be killers feared that they would suffer even a fraction as much as their victims do, we would surely have fewer victims to mourn.