Religious extremists role in shaping Joshua's state of mind

It's a fragment of the bigger picture I think... (I may be mixing up Josh with Steven...) Just because he was sexually abused and had strict religious upbringing does not let him off the hook for the crimes he committed. I am not making light of what happened to him but to me it is such a lazy canned answer.

"Ohhh he was abused and... (insert reasons here) *that* must be why he did it!"

In my humble opinion he enjoyed stealing, watching people, and inflicting pain on others. It's what got him off. Nothing mysterious about it. He even had a young looking Girlfriend to fulfill his forbidden sexual desires to boot.

~I love the rhythm it is my methoood!~

This movie in many ways makes me sick because it seems to want us to see this side of the 2 killers as being products of there childhood and we should have sympathy for them. Well that alone is total BS. Me and my sister were put into an orphanage back in 1961 by my mom so she could run around without having children to hold her back, I was 3 and my sister was 13. We were there for 2 years and they were the worst 2 years. I was abused physically and sexually. I will not go into details. My mom with a new husband came and got us after 2 years and I was thinking the man she was with was my father. This man in later years started sexually abusing me when I was 7. My mom and stepfather drank all the time and fought all the time. I saw things no child should see. I went to the Church of Christ with my sister and grandmother every Sunday and Wednesday night. I learn later what a cult they were and when I was old enough refused to not go anymore. My point in this is just because I had a *beep* childhood I sure didnt grow up and become a killer monster and use my past as the excuse as to why I did those things. That alone is a cop out.

It might have shown their childhood stories, but I don't think it was making excuses for them. The lawyers of course did. But family members and friends of both were really not sympathizing with them, especially Hayes's family.

Swing away, Merrill....Merrill, swing away...

i agree with OP that those were two main issues that should have been the focus of what happened. why are we so obsessed with killers? i understand that it may be interesting to speculate why some abused people turn murderous yet other don't but for now (while we still have no definite answers) perhaps we should focus on improving ourselves and tracing back to see what enabled this tragedy to take place will help us improve our lives.

the religious cult-like child abuse and lack of mental health help or safety net for children is a reoccurring issue in heinous cases such as the cheshire murders. why not invest the 7mil then wasted on the trials and appeals for a program to HELP children (and protect ALL of us in the long run) instead? why do we so desperately want to become the executioners as if saying hateful things does anything positive? it just makes us all more angry as a society.

don;t get me wring, if you murder a person, i do not give a flying duck about what may have driven you to do so as it regards possible rehabilitation or forgiveness etc BUT we deserve better than to waste money these pieces of trash. let them rot in jail forever but let US do something kind and positive for ourselves instead. train those horrid cops, invest in mental health programs in schools and protocols to help identify vulnerable children (such as low income, adopted, poor grades, behavior issues etc). why not legislate for enforcement of laws that spot re-offending sociopaths before they murder?

it's such a shame that 7mil was wasted on doing nothing of any substance, and i say that even regardless of the fact that those two freaks will most likely not even get executed anyway.

Yep goddamn religious *beep* led to this crime for sure.. The church is absolutely guilty

yup, the parents were told of his growing issues by psychiatrists but why listen to them when you can just 'pray it away.' That evil SOB bears ultimate responsibility for his actions but I hope the parents realize just how badly they failed him.

A teenage boy has had previous trauma in his life and is losing his grip on how to behave in a normal way.

Let's try laying on of hands, speaking in tongues over him, and of course "exorcism as a regular part of our lives to deal with anxiety..."

Their church excommunicated him for breaking into his girlfriends room.

All I can say really is those religious fanatics at that church were such dicks.

Way to help your fellow brother you POS church.