Ok dude I just cracked up at what u wrote. The butler is always the one who did it. LMAO!

You just can't find good help these days. The better you are to people the more they take atvantage of you.

Ha! Love it...always the butler...ROFLMAO!

What about the other two??????????????????

Bless her heart. I hope everyone can have a mature pointl-of-view and realize how terrible a crime like this is. As a nation we need to be pro-active like this woman was and help protect each other. If there is nothing we can physically do, then we sould at least show some compassion. I hope that no one endures such pain and suffering.

Don't one just looooove these pointlessly long sentences. This guy is now going to be locked up in prison for 20- 30 ish years at approx say 30+ thousands per year which then will cost the state about 900+thousand to a million dollars and for what, to release the guy when he is 60 odd years old and may be sick and can no longer care for himself so then be costing the state a lot more money? LOL

Talk about punishing the people of that state too with higher property taxes etc to pay to warehouse this guy for 20-30 whatever years.....

When will folks learn that these long prison terms do not deter criminal acts, just like capital punishment have never stop people from murdering each other. These knee jerk sentences and feel good sentences (done to make the victim etc feel good) trying to give the old impression of how tough they are on crime blah blah blah is just a waste of a life and money. But then those private for profit prisons do have cells to be filled don't they. LOL

We should not have any crime in the USA after all these years, as we have been locking up more of our people in prisons in our country than any other country on the planet.... giving them long sentences and so far all that has not detered criminal acts from continuing to be committed, has it?

Anyway....what about the other guys that helped commit the crime? How is it that they have not been found?

......sigh.... whatevva.....

So, Bze, what's your answer to the problem? Let them go with a promise not to do it again? Personally, I agree about the prison sentences but I say kill them instead, which you also disagree with, apparently. Let your mother or one of your loved ones go through something like this, then we'll see what you say.

Ken --- Senator Edward Kennedy wrote a letter to the then govenor of California. (I think that was during Ronald Reagan's administration, but I'm not sure.) Senator Kennedy, after stating that he was writing on behalf of & with their knowledge and approval, of his family, asked that Sirhan Sirhan NOT be executed for the assassination of Senator Robert Kennedy. Teddy noted that many in his family had been active in the movement to ban capital punishment. He then went on to point out that it would be rank hypocrisy to change colors just because the victim had been one of their own. For my own reasons, I have little regard for Teddy, but on this matter, I feel that he and the other Kennedys stood tall, not because I agreed or disagreed with the death sentence, but because, despite their own grief, they WALKED THEIR TALK.

I have to agree with you on that Matilda. In the same vein, my piece of @!$%# brother, who has spent most of his adult life in and out of prison should have been killed on the third conviction. He is a leech on society, he stole from our other sister who had very little to begin with, forcing her to press charges so she could recoup her rent money that he spent by writing her checks so that she and her little girls wouldn't be homeless. If he had been killed after the third bit of theft he would not have been alive to do that to our sister. They shouldn't live after certain crimes, they serve no good purpose in this world.

most violent crimes come from ideas extracted from hollywood movies. Sad, really.

the butler with a candle stick in the main room

It was the butler in the kitchen with a needle!

Re; butler takes millionaire hostage.Sometimes rich people are smarter than you think; an antidote is for poison not for a virus. Glad the hostages are ok and still rich.

Apparently the writer has never seen Mission Impossible II though many of us probably recognized it immediately when reading the story.

Seven, I like your style.

Protocol, Eileen. It made the injection seem authentic - LOL It is almost out of an Airplane movie, isn't it?

And I can't help but wonder what they really injected......

Hummmmmmmmm .... Another one where "the Butler " did it ............. or did he really?

Same thing I thought. Oh well... I guess we shouldn't expect the criminal to be SMART.

@hockeymom1111

Probably just saline solution.

That was exactly my thought when I came across that paragraph. What a bunch of loser's...um...amateurs; alcohol wipesto prevent skin infection while you're trying to kill someone with a lethal virus. He was bad butler who moved on to become a bad extortionist. Now he'll be Bubba's girlfriend....with those blue eyes.

As crazy as it is, for lethal injections in our justice system, they also clean the injection site with alcohol!

Well if she had coughed up the $8.5 million, it would have been rude for her to get an infection after he provides her with the "antidote".

The sentencing agreement mentioned in the article is probably one where he agrees to testify against his partners in return for the lighter sentence.

"These crimes, are going to happen more and more.......as society retreats farther and farther away from moral and ethical decency/norms. These guys were idiots who got caught.

I was going to make a comment but came across yours and thought this is exactly what I wanted to say as well. It is about moral and ethical decency. People value the wrong things and have lost the moral fortitude to NOT do the wrong things.

When your just trying to find food for you and your family, morals get put aside. People with nothing to lose are scary.

@ Jim-Ohioan... If people need to find food for their family they can get a job. It might not be a great job but people in America will not starve. You can drive a cab and in 20 minutes of work, you have a cheeseburger dinner.

It does come down to peoples morals and values. Some people just want what others have and nothing more. It's not quite to the point of survival. Not yet anyway and I doubt it ever gets to that. I do however believe that these things will happen more and more but it wont be about survival, but greed.

@Jim-Ohioan ...This story had nothing to do with survival. Trying to put food on the table has nothing to do with wanting someone to give you $8.5 million. Your comment sir had to be one of the stupdiest I have seen on this story thus far.

I don't think rich/poor had anything to do with it. These were just criminal thugs trying to extort money from an elderly victim.

He had a job, pretty cushy one it sounds like, and blew it "using" aka "stealing" his employer's vehicle and crashing it. Desperation? Hardly--sounds more like revenge and coveting a lifestyle he did not earn or deserve.

Though I applaud your compassion it is that type of "poor things, they need to be taken care of" which is insulting to most of all economic strata but especially that of the "working poor". Making such excuses for bad behavior does nothing to prevent it. True empathy does not wink at bad behavior while attempting to help others to stand on their own some day.

Though some are desperately trying to feed, clothe, and house themselves and their family, this guy was very clearly not one of them and deserves no pity. He got togther with a couple of buddiies, planned and caried out the terrorizing of his ex-boss who fired him for a perfectly good reason! My pity in this case is for the elderly woman and her companion. The terror of that night will stay with her to some extent for the rest of her life and though she may have money for better security she will not ever truly feel secure in her own home again.

BTW--does anyone know how/why he crashed that vehicle? Does DUI had something to do with it? A guy who can talk himself into perpetrating an act of terror probably has some pretty loose standards in other ways.

This guy had a great job as a millionaires butler! He probably made more than me until he decided to steal his employers car and crash it!!! Please save us your BS.

Hell I've been in the gutter and refused to get public assistance because I knew I could pull myself out if I tried. If I hadn't tried and did get on welfare, I would have been stealing from all of you. I didn't want or need to try robbing anyone at any point, no matter how bad things got. People work hard for their stuff - most of the time if they have it, they deserve it! Able-bodied people who refuse to do even the hardest manual labor when they have nothing, deserve nothing in this world.

This would happen less if the scumbag attorneys would stop protecting them and then the judges/juries should give them the MAXIMUM sentence; not just a slap on the hand and the minimum sentence. I bet if it was that defense attorney and judge this happened to he would have gotten the maxiumum sentence. Disgusting!!!!

Scott Lampman ##### You ain't no poet, and I hope you know it !!! (Just in case you were wondering, I know I ain't either.)

You're right AllPeopleRights: It isn't a joke, no matter whom it's perpetrated against. Being held against your will is sheer terror and frightening and can have multiple ramifications on its victims for days, months and even years and maybe never gotten past.

He could have been sentenced to up to 50 years in federal prison, but he was sentenced to 20 years on count 1, 20 on count 2, and 10 on count 3, to be served concurrently.

That was my first thought too, AllPeople - how insanely terrifying this must have been for her and her companion. I don't care if she was the wealthiest woman on earth or the poorest, something like that is straight out of a person's worst nightmares. Hopefully they have the other 2 as well (or will soon) and she can rest a bit easier. I'm glad she, her companion and her grandson were relatively unharmed and came through this all right.

"Why only 20 years? Thin the herd - get rid of the sickos!"

followed by:

" Where is the compassion for human beings and the respect for human beings?"

Double standard much?

If the 99% becomes so morally bereft as to threaten, kidnap, murder, or hold others as hostage in situations that don't demand these actions as life or death defense, then the 99% will be no better than they accuse the 1% of being. The end does not often justify the means. For you and others to a) make this incident into an us vs them scenario, and b) seem to justify anyone's unprovoked violence against others on the basis of how much the victims have in the bank, says a lot about your moral foundation. Fortunately, not all of the 99% are as morally bankrupt. A few of us can even appreciate the fact that some of the 1% weren't born into wealth and worked hard for what they have, and base our opinions on the attitudes and actions of those who have more.

God are you stupid. Typical Obama voter.

And Obama is not a divider...yeah, right.

I just can't believe that #9.1 was collapsed and #9 was not! Who is in charge here.

O beg your pardon, I do have to pay taxes, but I don't look over my shoulder because in this world I have 3 things that are certainl live, pay taxes, and die!

Laura 313822 ; ; it's the vine...with the media thought control program...you can only read kim. kardashian articles so much ...before you go retarded and start...thinking you can rapp...

Maybe nothing just stuck the needle in they were blindfolded so they couldn't see otherwise

The people with money don't pay tax. How do we afford all this life in prison? Not that I disagree...

Yes they do. Go back to class now silly kid

They pay more than you Jim. Stop it with the stupid talking points.

After you get some class Jr.

Yes, because I'm sure it would have been sitting right next to the door, loaded and ready. To even think to do that is irresponsible and potentially illegal.

They got the jump on her. No gun would have mattered.

Seriously, I never want to live somewhere that I have to carry a gun on me in my own house!

And some rich have you build them a stage to fire you from. Just sayin'.

He should most definitely have had a harsher sentence for what he put these women through. The justice system is ridiculous. As far as whether the rich 1% "deserve" to be looking over their shoulder waiting for the 99% to take their due... come on. Do you realize how pathetic you sound? I've known many many incredibly wealthy people, and can't think of one who does not give back to their community, doesn't think of others, and who doesn't put large sums of money toward causes they believe in. Perhaps it's because I live in an area of the country where people actually care about one another, but the image of wealthy, lazy, thoughtless people is one borne of Hollywood, not the real world. These idiots just proved that, and some of you and your ridiculous comments indicate your existence on that same plane of ignorance. Most are rich because they are intelligent, worked hard for it and continue to work for it, and guess what? They deserve to enjoy it once in awhile. The Paris Hiltons of the world are few and far between, thank goodness. So put your jealousy aside and actually use your brains every once in awhile.

p.s. I meant to reply to the story, not the above comment. Though I think it's a wonderful example of exactly what I'm talking about.

yup, and if she only paid her fair share of taxes, it wouldn't have happened either.

Look Mija, I did not read, and I read the article again, that the suspect was an Illegal Immigrant. As for gun laws, How would you prevent a criminal from acquiring one? Remember that the abiding ones are the ones having trouble doing so.

Do not make this event a political issue.

HUH? Guns do not kill, people do! No guns,they would use knives,acid,poison,bombs, bare hands.

I only agree with tougher, and enforced Immigration laws.

@Michael-1949480... What exactly is someones fare share? I am just curious what you think. Not an attack or anything.

Wow, I guess Michael-1949480 is going to delight us with how much is a fair share?

Please Michael-1949480, educate us on what's fair?

And Scott-2430263, where does it say that the suspect was and Illegal Immigrant?

Really a dumb comments.

Correction on my part. Fair share... Before the grammar police come after me. Still waiting to know what the fair share is though.

Thank you Freddy and everyone with common sense and morality. Some people can't voice their comment without adding politics, gun control, insults of Obama or the 1% ot 99%. Can't people just think about those who are victims of crimes and pray that they will be ok physically, mentally, and spiritually????? Grow up!! Show our young how to behave MATURELY!!!!!!!! out of here. Can we just hope? Can we think positive? Can we leave out race, ethnics or discrimination and prejudice?

Dear ThankYouSoldiers, it was a joke on my part.

I consider the fair share argument about as sensible as the argument of taking away of guns to fight crime - bogus to its core, and lacking common sense. That being said, both immigration and the tax code need to be majorly reformed. Part of the problem with immigration is that the process of legal immigration is so prolonged and inept, that people are desperate enough to come illegally. The risk of coming illegally is less than the risk of not coming for them. There are tax cheats at high income levels, low levels and all levels. There are as many immigration spots from Luxemberg as there are from Mexico, which is ludicrous. There are crooks at every income level. There are tax shelters that readily can be used (legal, but not in a way that helps the United States), and the ineptness of leadership on the tax code to reform it to encourage corporate investment is completely stupid. Small business people looking to expand and hire people should get the tax breaks, not folks with millions plus of annual passive income (where everything they do is subcontracted to avoid employing anyone). So to my way of thinking, the wealthy democrat in Manhattan who owns apartment buildings, has no employees but only subcontractors, making $4,000,000 per year in rental income should pay more than the small business person with 15 employees who are paid relatively well, but whose income level average exceeeding $50,000 makes them ineligible for tax credits to offset the loss in deductible group health premiums they are going to experience in 2014. So, the guy with the apartments can pay 39% FIT in my book and the small business owner earning $400,000 should pay only 15% in the top bracket applicable to their income. If the guy making 4 million wants to pay less, he needs to hire some employees. Plus the guy earning 4 million gets to write off the depreciation on what is an appreciating asset over time.

I hope that my illustration on fairness is a bit clearer to you.

The biggest crime in this economy is the lack of savings grown for seniors, who typically control most of the wealth. 1% in the bank only gives them $1,000 on $100,000 in the bank say for earnings. 4% gives them $4,000. Low interest rates penalizes the traditional savers, and leads the elderly to be more dependent on government.

Michael... Crystal clear my friend. The first post went flying right over my head and that is to be expected with me on a hot Friday afternoon. Good day to you!

In addition on the senior citizens. You see it all the time where a senior tries to make an investment with their life savings due to the typical bank interest rates and the deal goes bad or it is an all out scam and they lose it all and then are living with very low income and need any assistance they can get. You are spot on about the traditional saving issue.

They found his DNA in the jeep they stole that night

01-dgw,

So if I pass and spit in my bosses vehicle and then it gets stolen and they find my DNA in it after it's been ditched, does that mean that I stole it?

They didn't say on they said in the vehicle. Read the story this time please

Ummmm...I'm giving a scenario not claiming it as a fact of this case. How about u fully read the comments or stay out of this conversation? But if u want an answer...how about if I spit IN my ex-employer's car? Better?

Then you must tell me how you spit in your former employers vehicle if you were not there. Sorry but your scenario would only implicate you further

Or imply that upon passing my old place of employment, being spiteful, I decided to be impulsive and spit in a car. Fail to see how that cud even come close to implicating anyone in a crime. So unless u and ur forensic team can determine precisely when the spit hit the car, ur claim of involvement is idiotic at best.

Simply**

That is assuming that 1 you can convince the police that she always leaves her vehicle unlocked for you to open the door and spit in it I always lock my doors but I cannot swear that she does only guess that she would so I will give you a point for that one although I am not a jury of twelve that you would have to explain to why you are going around spitting in former employers cars out of spite but would not try to extort money from

And I bet they would wonder why you were at her house to begin with because remember you admitted to wandering by your former place of employment just to spit in her car. It would not look good for you either way

U may have a point there with regards to proving that she always leaves her vehicle door open. I mean, being an ex-employee does give u some insight into her habits. But that can only go so far. As for going around spitting in someone's car, I've seen people do the strangest thing when they feel wrong or cheated. Like "peeing on the lawn and defecating on someone's property". People are really disgusting at times and irrational.

True, true. Trespassing is an offense in itself, but not worth 20 years.

True but all being said it would be hard to create a reasonable doubt with the jury unless you get Casey Anthony's jury

Hahaha...Good one.

Last time I checked spitting is a Federal crime punishable by the death penalty! LOL!

All those sentences are not to run end-to-end but "concurrently" which means "at the same time" so they will all be served by, at the longest, 20 years. I am sure the victims thought it should have been 50, though.

OK. Thank you for clearing that up for me!