Adam Lanza’s Father, in First Public Comments, Says ‘You Can’t Get Any More Evil’

[Ms. Toad]

219. You definitely have the case identified -

Although there are many surprisingly similar stories.

I am aware that by disclosing specific details nearly everyone active in the death penalty community will likely recognize the case - and that others could find it without significant difficulty (and even more once I decided to share the blog here). But thank you for thinking of my privacy. In real life I am very open about it - But I have not previously shared information that makes linking my DU identity to my off line identity so trivial before.

The question of release is one I wrestle with. Absent alcohol and peyote, he would never have acted violently, and no one I know has ever seen him act violently under the influence of alcohol alone. But if he was released, are there guarantees he will not act violently under the influence of the combination again? I don't think he ever would, but I don't know that I could guarantee it.

We sort of expect that there will come a day when the cost of keeping him confined will be significant enough that they will decide the risks associated with his release are outweighed by the cost of confinement. Procedurally, they would need to commute his life without parole to life with the possibility of parole, and then he would need to apply for parole. At nearly 60, that day may be approaching. But what does someone who has been incarcerated all of his adult life do?

And yes - people like my other brother are why I routinely challenge people who set out to adopt older children. Back then, everyone legitimately thought that enough love could cure any harm that had been done in the first few years. By now, they should know better, but far too many adoption agencies are still sugar coating how difficult the road can be for families adopting older children who have been severely damaged in their birth families. So I push potential adoptive families to spend some time with parents of (grown) children adopted beyond around age 2. Not that these children don't desperately need loving homes, but it is not a kindness to either the family or the child to allow the family to go into it with anything other than eyes wide open.