When I was young, my mom told me a true story about her uncle. When my mother was 10 years old in 1971, she had a 29 year old uncle who had severe developmental disorders and retardation. The sad reality was he had never gone to school or socialized with his peers or held a job due to inadequate support or infrastructure for people suffering from lack of cognitive abilities. As a result, he was constantly confined to the house. Although his family was quite wealthy, they regretted and felt ashamed about having such a son. His father was a successful attorney who had been involved in several high profile cases and understandably had many enemies. For years the family had been asked to repay a debt which a local gang believed they were owed. At first the gang simply requested the money but with the passage of time became increasingly violent, in some instances cooperating with corrupt police officers and other high ranking government officials. The family had secured their grand residence with law enforcement and security for many months after they began to suspect their lives were in danger. One night, when the sky was cloudy with no moon or stars visible, the family had left to visit a friend in the countryside, as always leaving their mentally disabled son in the home for shame of him being seen in public. A few minutes following their departure, the son heard a knock on the front door. This was unexpected as police officers were said to guard the estate premises night and day; foul play was imminent. He had been instructed not to open the door when the family was not in the home, but he was dying to talk to someone. Because even though he was regarded as unfit for public appearances and social gatherings due to his mental capability, he absolutely loved to socialize and talk and sing and hug others. He opened the door forgetting what he had been explicitly told not to do because he longed for human affection so dearly. Entered 5 men, three had hammers, two had wrenches, and one had a knife. The cruel gang members found greater pleasure that the boy was mentally handicapped and tortured him even more severely and harshly than they had originally planned, finally killing him in under twenty minutes. His naked body was subsequently discovered in the kitchen with visible cuts, scars, and internal bleeding. They then plundered the house and stole precious belongings and left under the cover of darkness.
The family was rightly outraged at this blatant violation of trust and integrity by both law enforcement and the gang members who they had previously regarded as civil. They had a great sense of urgency to exact vengeance and ensure justice was administered for such heinous crimes. The associated gang denied all allegations and claimed to have no knowledge pertaining to the incident. Indeed, it was possible that the gang may had not been affiliated and some poor men were searching for easy money. However that possibility highlighted the ineffectiveness of police officers who had a civic duty and promised to keep the family and their possessions in safe hands, night and day. The most likely explanation was that the perpetrators were young men outside the gang who were financially struggling and had been hired as con men to eliminate the mentally handicapped son and vandalize the family's personal property. The decision to employ those external to the organization was done to circumvent legal proceedings by complicating transparency. Finally, public sentiment surrounding the unfortunate incident had reached a boiling point: the people wanted the culprits who had committed so treacherous an act to be punished accordingly in the name of justice, social order, and civic harmony. The gang continued to deny their involvement in the matter but eventually offered five poor men with no ties to organized crime or any disciplinary records of misdemeanors as a form of consolation. The only crime these unlucky men had committed was being poor, so therefore no ethical or moral questions were raised when all five were sentenced to life imprisonment.
EPT
