emotional_sting, tulsa (9/10/2008 5:09:43 AM)

heinous, atrocious or cruel.
shooting one's wife while sleeping is an act of kindness?

hamguy, odessa tx (9/10/2008 6:26:56 AM)

emotional_sting, ...........obviouslly , you havent met my ex wife !!
all joking aside though , i belive this man deserves to be locked up for his act of violence , lieing and what he has done to his kids , they lost both parents in same night .
ill probably get flamed for what i said at start but what else can we do ? its too late too try and mend this at this point , i live in west texas area , but have been looking to move into tulsa , not sure anymore . ive been there recentlly , but dont know any part of town where me or my family would be safe , thank you for letting me join this commentarry , as an " outsider " mjb

jestergrl, (9/10/2008 6:34:56 AM)

The 5 criteria above must be committed to get the death penalty or only one must be proven? Any lawyers out there or know the law can answer that question? As aggravating as it is, I can't see where he has meet any of them. Emotional sting, I think the criteria you stated would mean he tortured or terriorized the victim. Even though I think his children am/were greatly affected by his act , the statue wouldn't cover anyone affected by the killing but the victim alone. Lori was sleeping when she was shot. The only one I could see that might qualify would be the 2nd one. Who knows if the kids happened to walk in while he was doing his act that he wouldn't shoot them as well, but that would just be an assumption.

abru, Tulsa (9/10/2008 6:36:35 AM)

How did this murder not meet the "especially heinous, atrocious or cruel" criteria? I think "if" he did it, it was all of those things. He shot her in the head at point blank range! That's pretty freaking heinous if you ask me. Took a mother from her children, pretty atrocious. She had no opportunity to defend herself or escape -- that's cruel.

This is so wrong. He deserves to be put to death.

abru, Tulsa (9/10/2008 6:39:26 AM)

hamguy -- the area where this crime occurred is very safe and has the lowest crime rate in the city. Tulsa is a safe city, IMO, but I don't hang out in areas that are known to be high crime. North Tulsa, 61st & Peoria, 31st & Mingo....to name a few.

Ignatz, Broken Bow (9/10/2008 7:39:51 AM)

Just one criteria needs to be met. Lucky for this guy he's not in a "Law and Order" episode where Jack McCoy would attack him with the theory that he killed her to "victimize" himself as being a grieving widower to take the heat off from possible prosecution for defrauding Webster (committed to buying athletic equipment, etc.) based on his nutty lies.

jestergrl, (9/10/2008 8:06:39 AM)

Ignatz, he may have promised the school equipment but they didn't act on it so it wasn't a loss for them. Nothing was given and nothing was purchased, it was not a valid contract.

H_Harl, (9/10/2008 8:19:13 AM)

what the hell? the DA doesn't think shooting his wife in the head while she slept was heinous or cruel? or that he would be a threat to society? what a joke for a da tulsa has! this guy DEFINATELY belongs in a box!

Ben, (9/10/2008 8:48:03 AM)

Get off the DA's back. Your standard definition of "heinous" does not apply in a courtroom. It is a legal term of art, and does not apply to this situation. As someone has already said, the victim would have to be tortured or terrorized or something similar. You shouldn't criticize the DA when you don't know what you're talking about.

HeadSteal, Tulsa (9/10/2008 8:53:32 AM)

I think most of you are arguing a long-standing issue. Most people either think murderers should get the death penalty or they shouldn't (life sentence). This article is talking about a definition/distinction made by the courts.

Eric, Tulsa (9/10/2008 8:55:07 AM)

What the hell?!?!?!?!

So, what we have here is a guy who planned a murder...shot his wife twice in the head at close range in the head while she was sleeping...and lied about the crime (stating that someone broke into their home and killed her).

Them's the facts, right?

And he won't be visiting ol' sparky?

Jeez!

Guess its OKAY for me to off my wife so I can enjoy a lifetime of free health care, room and board at the expense of taxpayers.

Now THAT'S JUSTICE!

Ben, (9/10/2008 9:16:45 AM)

I would take the death penalty compared to a lifetime of prison.

Blazin' on Outta Here, (9/10/2008 9:42:49 AM)

Our laws are so screwed up in some situations like this one, it is almost unbelievable. Real comforting to abused women to know that the jerk can actually off them in their sleep and not pay the ultimate price. So all those abusers out there (and don't think for ONE minute that Kastner wasn't one of them) are free to follow through on threats while the little Mrs. sleeps and you'll be supported by taxpayers for the remainder of your natural life in a comfy cell with cable tv, 3 square meals a day, no need to work for a living anymore, no responsibilities. Just need to learn to like guys for sport. Great justice system we have here. It is NOT Henious or Cruel to blow your wifes' brains out while she sleeps with two bullets to the head. It is not premeditated even if you fire off shots a day or two ahead of time and plan out a cover story. So what IS premeditated? Why do our laws offer such wide protection from the death penalty to an obvious cold blooded first degree murderer? There is no way he is safe to put out on the streets. We know that he kills without batting an eye and lies about it. I am disgusted.

hardball, (9/10/2008 9:57:19 AM)

between the DA and the tulsie-town judicial system he'll get 90 day and parole.
I was raised that DEAD was DEAD. the how-fors didn't matter, you were still a murderer.
But not in todays touchie-feel-good politically correct madhouse.

Ignatz, Broken Bow (9/10/2008 10:04:31 AM)

Jestergirl, no "contract" is required, merely that Kastner perverted truth for the purpose of inducing another in reliance upon it to part with some valuable thing. That is the legal definition of "fraud".I was stating a hypothetical without knowledge as to whether Webster spent a dime ( long distance calls, fax paper, stamps, etc.) in reliance upon what to this sane person were obviously fairy tales, then Jack McCoy would urge the death penalty under the theory put forth. Very tenuous, but that happens in the tv legal world, not reality. While legality might allow this nutjob to avoid being needled I agree with those who think he should be, although life in big Mac is not the 4 Seasons paradise some people seem to believe.

purple rain, (9/10/2008 10:07:46 AM)

Wow, the act of murder itself isn't enough to be considered "cruel"?? Planning it and then shooting his own wife in the head when their children are in the house isn't considered heinous enough?? Can someone out there please tell me how you "pretty up" murder and make your victim feel all warm and fuzzy about having bullets slammed into their head and having their life ripped from them?? Maybe someone in authority needs to get busy and re-write what it takes to be considered "cruel".

Graychin, Eucha (9/10/2008 10:09:37 AM)

Is there such a thing as a murder that isn't "heinous, atrocious or cruel"? Of course not. That must be why the standard reads "ESPECIALLY heinous, atrocious or cruel." The guy who burned two people alive in the trunk of their car comes to mind.

Based only on what I have read in the Tulsa World, I suspect that this guy belongs in a mental hospital. I still think that he might have a brain tumor. Has he been checked?

Ramirez, Tulsa (9/10/2008 10:32:42 AM)

WOW,I didn't realize that depending on how the Victimizer kills the Victim, determines whether or not he/she can receive the Death Penalty. Man, I guess you do learn something everyday..

QLC, (9/10/2008 10:43:04 AM)

I agree Gray, i bet they are more concerned about mental than heinous.

If he got the death penalty, he would have his own cell at big mac. With life, he will always have a buddy to help him with those lonely, sleepless nights.

He may pray for death.

Ben, (9/10/2008 10:50:48 AM)

Seymour, you brought up a very good point. The death penalty is arbitrarily applied to minorities and the poor. Check out the death penalty info center.

Graychin, I think he will definitely plead insanity.

Ignatz, Broken Bow (9/10/2008 11:35:29 AM)

Any smart DA will shred an insanity defense. He obviously knew what he did was wrong since it was part of a plan to misdirect attention from his lies to make himself appear to be the poor victim of a home invader. His lawyer should be trying to cut a deal for life with possibility of parole. That is really the only deal to his benefit. A jury would most likely give him life with no parole. Brain tumor angle interesting only because most people with that ailment don't come up with elaborate fantasy tales that go on for a long period and end in murder. If he were to undergo an MRI and no tumor there (where is history of migraines, seizures, blackouts to so indicate?) that would only shore up the fact he's just a narcissistic loon who got caught up in the deceit he was spinning. Cheating spouses kill all the time in that simple scenario.

Ben, (9/10/2008 12:13:03 PM)

Death row inmates get their own cell, AND they receive an automatic appeal with a state funded attorney. I'm not sure how old this guy is, but the average death row inmate spends ten to fifteen years in jail before his sentence is carried out. Lifers don't get the auto-appeal, and they lose their public defender. While they may have cable TV, they still have to share the remote with their boyfriend.

fav word 1, (9/10/2008 12:49:42 PM)

Abru- Who are you to decide what parts of town are "bad" and what parts aren't? Are you too far gone in your fairy tale to realize that North, South, East, And West tulsa are all equally bad. We are so quick to forget the kid that died on South Sheridan just a few weeks ago in a drug deal gone bad. And if you look at it, we are just as bad as some bigger cities, just on a smaller scale. How about the story a while back where people were leaving thier garage doors open during the day and people were stealing thier things from right inside their houses. Don't judge anyone or anywhere by the stories about the "east COAST" or the "West COAST" as opposed to the east and west sides of tulsa. Crime is everywhere. Kastner was my coach in HS, I'm sure he was just as nice as that neighbor of yours that you like so much, or your kids soccer coach. Things happen, regardless of where you come from.

LilMommaHamm, (9/10/2008 1:00:41 PM)

hamguy- it's a shame that you're scared to move to tulsa from reading the tulsa world. Seems like most people around here don't realize all the much worse "heinous" things going on in the world. like their world stops when tulsa does. Sad. Tulsa's a great city. Just takes a bit to get used to, and it's getting better by day. Granted, it's not Odessa, (i have family there) But Oklahoma and Texas are 2 way different places ;)

Mar, Tulsa (9/10/2008 1:42:35 PM)

Ladies, please watch out for husbands, ex-husbands, boyfriends, ex-boyfriends, step-dads, ex-step-dads. It's dangerous out there for us females.

Killing your spouse while they are asleep and while the children are in the house, to me is premeditated murder, which if found guilty should be an automatic death penalty. And the guy doesn't seem like he's insane to me. Ever since the insanity plea came about years ago, it's been used to death (no pun intended). I bet the majority of insanity pleas, the killer was not insane.