Let me start with an old, but still relevant news account from the funeral of Manny Babbitt:
Manny Babbitt, the 50-year-old Wareham native, executed a week ago for the 1980 murder of an elderly Sacramento woman, was buried yesterday with military honors, including a flag-draped casket, a rifle salute and bugler playing "Taps." Nestled atop a grassy knoll and sandwiched between blossoming fruit trees and evergreens, Mr. Babbitt's final resting place is an oasis of tranquillity compared to the chaos of his tortured life. Mr. Babbitt was convicted of assaulting and killing Leah Schendel, a diminutive, 78-year-old Romanian grandmother whose South Sacramento apartment he broke into on the night of Dec. 18, 1980. A jury two years later sentenced him to death. Seeking a sense of closure on Mr. Babbitt's life, more than 300 people gathered yesterday for a memorial at St. Patrick's Catholic Church. It was followed by a graveside ceremony that included full military honors for the decorated Vietnam veteran.
Washington has at least two men on death row who served their country in violent conflicts.
More to follow.....
