REVENGE; BLOG # 2038; JUNE 24, 2016

THE MESSAGE:

In cases where the death of a loved one is caused by a known and admitted perpetrator, is revenge  ever a satisfactory response?  While forgiveness is extremely difficult in these situations, the truth is painfully clear.

FRANCESCA MONTAGNA, from Montreal, wife of Salvatore Montagna"I will regret you for the rest of my life, Mr. Desjardins. I will never forgive you. I tried, but I can't. You will never know the harsh pain and struggle you caused us," She was addressing Raynald Desjardins, who last year pleaded guilty to being part of the plot to kill her husband, Salvatore.

Your mind immediately looks for a way to make it right and ease the pain somehow. 

Perhaps your first reaction is to  retaliate, make the perpetrator pay, attack, destroy or kill.

You are most likely not considering  that reacting and resorting to  blind rage,  could wind you up in prison, dead or living the rest of your life  with the guilt of having seriously harmed someone in the process.

Your mind won't let it go, and the thoughts of getting revenge keep recurring.

Consider the following:

AN EDMONTON MAN IS FOUND GUILTY OF A REVENGE ATTACK ON THE DRIVER WHO PLOWED INTO A PATIO AND KILLED A YOUNG BOY!

An Edmonton man has been found guilty of being one of three men who abducted, assaulted and chopped off the thumb of a man, Richard Suter, who had killed a young boy when he drove into a restaurant patio in May, 2013.

STEVEN GORDON VOLLRATH, 33, had purchased a bulletproof vest and a police toque just days before the crime. He impersonated a police officer and along with his accomplices kidnapped Suter.

Passersby's found Richard Suter injured and bleeding along the side of the road. They said he was clutching a black fanny pack in his hand. It was turned over to police. Inside, investigators found a driver's licence, Alberta health care card and a social insurance card all belonging to Vollrath. No fingerprints were found. 

THE TRIAL

Provincial court Judge Elizabeth Johnson found Suter’s evidence at trial identifying Vollrath as one of his attackers to be “compelling". The judge said she was satisfied beyond a reasonable doubt that  Vollrath was involved and responsible for the planned abduction. 

RICHARD SUTER, 65, testified about being forcibly taken from his Riverbed home by three men posing as police officers, They drove him to an isolated area where his thumb was chopped off and he was beaten unconscious.

Suter also told the court he was informed by one of his three assailants that the attack was related to the restaurant patio killing of a young boy. Suter’s SUV had crashed into the table where GEO MOUNSEF was sitting with his parents and baby brother at Ric’s Grill.  

Vollrath was convicted of kidnapping, aggravated assault, possession of a dangerous weapon and impersonating police in connection with the abduction of Suter. Vollrath is awaiting sentencing.

Earlier at his own trial Suter  was sentenced to 4 months in jail by Judge Larry Anderson for refusing to provide a breath sample after the incident that killed two-year-old Geo Mounsef. Suter claimed that he was distracted by the argument with his wife and stepped on the gas instead of the brake.

Judge Anderson sentence Suter to a mere 4 months in jail ignoring the fact that a young victim had lost his life!

Standing in the courtroom, grieving father George Mounsef turned his back on the provincial court as Richard Suter was sentenced.  In the gallery, Geo’s mother, Sage Morin, wept loudly and uncontrollably.

“It’s an utter joke,” Mounsef said outside court. “It’s insulting to Geo. It’s beyond insulting. You can kill someone and get four months.” Anderson concluded that the 64-year-old Suter was not impaired when he erroneously stepped on the gas pedal instead of the brake while arguing with his wife. Suter’s vehicle lurched through a glass-walled patio at Ric’s Grill and slammed into the table where Geo was eating with his parents and five-month-old brother. The judge said it was a “non-impaired driving error.”

Many witnesses claimed  that  Suter slurred his words and was unsteady and glassy-eyed in the minutes after the crash. Judge Anderson said these were simply visual cues that could have been caused when he was pulled from his vehicle and assaulted by bystanders. Suter admitted to drinking two vodkas with orange juice and part of a beer in the hours leading up to the crash. 

THE QUESTION:

Is the key to happiness found in a peaceful soul?

THE LEMON:

This week's award goes to Richard Suter for his involvement in the death of an innocent youngster.

THE QUOTE:

"Nothing mattered except states of mind, chiefly our own."- John Maynard Keynes

THE CLIP: