Mother-Slaying Slayer Fan to Face Vermont Court Appeal
Band Photo: Slayer (?)
Lawyers for the first man sentenced to death in Vermont since 1957 appeared before a federal appeals court Wednesday, trying to get his punishment overturned on a variety of grounds, including comments prosecutors made about the T-shirt he wore for his killing spree.
Donald Fell (photo), 27, wore a shirt celebrating the heavy metal band SLAYER when he and an accomplice stabbed his mother and one of her friends to death in Rutland, Vt., after a night of heavy drinking in 2000.
He was wearing the same shirt when he carjacked and kidnapped a stranger, Terry King, as she arrived for work at a nearby supermarket.
Fell later beat and kicked the 53-year-old North Clarendon, Vt., woman to death after driving her to upstate New York.
It was that last crime — the carjacking and murder — that landed Fell on death row. Vermont does not have a death penalty, but Fell was charged under a federal law that allows capital punishment in certain types of kidnap killings.
Source: newsday.com
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19 Comments on "Mother-Slaying Slayer Fan to Face VT Court Appeal"
3. writes:
once again it shows that alcohol needs to be banned and weed legalized...cause the govt. knows alcohol makes people mean and violent....they love things like this so they can continue to imprison their people...
legalize weed and see how calm the country becomes..the aggression level would go down, and the death rate on the roads would definately go down....
Member
5. writes:
Wo wo wo ! Ok ! That terrible but to answer post 1, what alcool does to you is that it takes away all your inhibitions, thus when you are a violent person but you can control yourself, when you drink it brings it out. Some people become violent, other will start crying, others sentimental (the I love you man thing), others silent, others will start talking, others will show their butt...
But the main point is, this guy is not guilty because he loves heavy metal or Slayer. He could have been wearing an Avril Lavigne shirt and he would have done it anyways...he just happens to be a Slayer fan...
Member
8. writes:
Okay, first of all, alcohol doesn't need to be banned because a couple of asshats go out and do something stupid (Paris Hilton anyone?). But let the self-righteous kids preach their ignorance. Much like lumping weed-smokers in with hippies. I also like how people refer to marijuana as "drugs". Believe me, there's much worse out there. But this is the ignorance of society these days. People are taught to believe that dope is the be-all and end-all of horrible drugs but they are never taught about cocaine, heroin, amphetamines, etc... I think you'd be very surprised to find out some (a lot) of the people you know smoke pot. People you wouldn't expect. Peace sucks? Okay, you're an idiot. Especially in times like these where the US is paranoid about everyone from teenagers to grandmothers being terrorists. I guess the bottom line here is that the general public needs to blame someone, and what better than those evil metal music makers! I've been listening to metal, watching violent movies and playing violent video games since I was 10. I'm not out killing people, and neither are (I sincerely hope) the people who are posting and reading this site.
Member
12. writes:
This is such a bunch of bullsh**. This whole situation is not about booze, drugs,or especially music, the same thing happened to Ozzy in the 80's and happened to Staind in the 90's, people just always want to label a problem so they can try and put false blame on the wrong subject. It's about sombody's stupid decision making process. Of course the booze didn't help but obviously this guy needed serious mental help.
Member
14. writes:
"legalize weed and see how calm the country becomes..the aggression level would go down, and the death rate on the roads would definately go down...."
Has the fact that its illegal every really stopped anyone from smoking! I think legalizing it would just make it easier for those who already (or who have anyway) use the substance in question.
as for the article, this shouldnt come as any surprise to anyone! It seems every couple of years someone is going to go out and do something stupid, and people will start to wonder if thier music/video games/movies had anything to do with their behavior! It happened to Ozzy, Manson, Priest, 2Pac, and Im sure there are countless others I cant remmber off the top of my head. Slayer had absolutely nothing to do with the crimes of this potato head.
Former Contributor
15. writes:
I love the drink and have not been in a single confrontation from consuming it. I listen to Slayer and I havent established a body count.
People refuse to believe that there is a significant percentage of human beings who are just born damaged.
Since we're making Slayer and liquor illegal, I motion for doing the same to Christianity. I don't hate Christians or their faith but man have they killed alot(truthbeknown.com/victims.htm)of people in the name of Jesus....The very same guy who pushed the "turn the other cheek" philosophy -- nope, no irony under there.
The civilized world needs to face an ugly fact: Humans are as unpredictable as any so called wild animal.
Now Playing: Porcupine Tree - "Signify"
17. writes:
Love how Alcohol is above the drug title. Something that effects your body in an unnatural way when consumed is defined as a drug, smart f***. Let someone smoke weed to death, it won't happen.
But thats aside the point. People will use whatever it takes to get out of full punishment. The beauty of the American Law system (Sarcasm, for those not aware). Theres a f***ing pop song with the chorus something like "You're going to make me suicidal." Yet its played. . .on the f***ing radio. Apparently you can sing about killing yourself or someone else, you just can't thrash while doing so.
19. writes:
Yeah, there is a pretty fine line, eh Focus Shift? Isn't pop culture doing an excellent job at defining our society? Something is seriously wrong with the world when people think you're a bad guy (or gal) simply because you are wearing a Slayer t-shirt (or some other metal band). Yet it's fine for teenage girls to run around wearing t-shirts which identify them as sluts (or something else not too far off the mark). And they are PROUD of this. I guess things aren't as bad as it used to be when it comes to being pigeon-holed for wearing a certain t-shirt, but you'd think if the general population would've gotten over the metal stereotype by now. But then who would they blame for mass-murders and school shootings?
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1. psythe writes:
Terry King! No way! That's ridiculously close to Kerry King, hahahah! How do people get violent when they drink? I just start laughing at everything, hahah.