BTK Serial Killer Gets Life in Prison:

WICHITA, Kan. – BTK serial killer Dennis Rader was ordered to serve 10 consecutive life terms Thursday during a tear-filled hearing in which his victims called him a monster who should be “thrown in a deep, dark hole and left to rot.” The sentence — a minimum of 175 years without a chance of parole — was the longest possible that Judge Gregory Waller could deliver. Kansas had no death penalty at the time the killings were committed.

Maybe it’s just me, but the idea of “consecutive life sentences” has always struck me as a pointless, idiotic, and even moronic punishment. The killer in question is obviously already well on in years, and I don’t know very many people who live to 175 years in the first place. And on top of that, a life sentence theoretically means prison for life . . . what on earth does ten life sentences accomplish that one life sentence doesn’t accomplish?

If ever there were a case where someone deserved death, this is undoubtedly it. And yet, because of some beaucratic rule regarding the death penalty, this heinous murderer receives ten life sentences . . even though he will only be fulfilling one of those ten sentences.