Should Sally Quinn be indicted following her murder confession?
Sally Quinn is convinced that she killed three people. Wouldn’t it be nice if an enterprising prosecutor indicted her based on her murder confession?
Sally Quinn, the widow of deceased WaPo executive editor Ben Bradlee, has been boasting about the fact that she murdered three people. Really:
Thanks to her just-released memoir, however, we now know the truth, that far from being an agnostic, Quinn was not only a true believer in the occult, black magic, and voodoo, she practiced these dark arts in the most wicked ways imaginable.
In fact, Quinn believes in the dark arts to a point where is certain she possesses the ability to murder people through the power of a hex, and on three occasions, with murder in her heart, she used that power. In her own mind, she is responsible for the deaths of three people whose only sin was offending her in some way.
John Nolte, from whom the above quotation comes, wants to highlight for people the fact that, for years, Quinn lied about her beliefs. In profiles and articles, she characterized herself as a mainstream Leftist atheist, with vaguely formed spiritual beliefs. She was, in her own words, a “learner,” whatever the heck that means.
The way I see it, though, Sally Quinn isn’t a “learner,” she’s a “murderer.” She may not have used guns or knives or poison, but she is absolutely clear in her own mind that she intended to kill three people, that she took steps to ensure their death and that, as a result of her efforts, those people died.
I’m not quite sure where Quinn lives, whether in D.C. itself (unlikely, but possible), a pricey Virginia suburb, or the Hamptons. In fact, her actions could easily have taken place in any of those jurisdictions. And in each of those jurisdictions, knowingly and intentionally causing someone’s death, without any self-defense at issue, is murder.
Here’s the relevant language from the D.C. code:
§ 22–2101. Murder in the first degree — Purposeful killing; killing while perpetrating certain crimes.
Whoever, being of sound memory and discretion, kills another purposely, either of deliberate and premeditated malice or by means of poison . . . is guilty of murder in the first degree.
Here’s the relevant language from the Virginia code:
§ 18.2-31. Capital murder defined; punishment
The following offenses shall constitute capital murder, punishable as a Class 1 felony:
[snip]
8. The willful, deliberate, and premeditated killing of more than one person within a three-year period;
§ 18.2-32. First and second degree murder defined; punishment
Murder, other than capital murder, . . . by any willful, deliberate, and premeditated killing . . . is murder of the first degree, punishable as a Class 2 felony.
And here’s the New York code on murder:
New York Penal Code § 125.27 (Murder in the First Degree)
A person is guilty of murder in the first degree when:
1. With intent to cause the death of another person, he causes the death of such person or of a third person; and
(a) Either:
[snip]
(xi) the defendant intentionally caused the death of two or more additional persons within the state in separate criminal transactions within a period of twenty-four months when committed in a similar fashion or pursuant to a common scheme or plan; [and]
(b) The defendant was more than eighteen years old at the time of the commission of the crime.
Of course, reasonable minds will claim that witchcraft isn’t real and that faith in magic does not constitute a weapon. A prosecutor trying to convict someone of using witchcraft to commit murder would have a difficult task ahead of him, given that it’s hard to find concrete proof that witchcraft caused someone’s death. Here, though, with a boastful confession, most of the heavy-lifting is already done.
I kid, of course. No prosecutor is going to take this case. Still, given her own belief in her powers and her intent to kill, it would be fun to see Sally Quinn in the dock, wouldn’t it?
Photo credit: Witch, by Hexe. Creative Commons; some rights reserved.
