Carlos, Tulsa (10/22/2009 5:14:28 PM)

What a terrible way to perish!

THESMOKEHOLE, Tulsa (10/22/2009 5:39:09 PM)

Glad the chucjordan comment was removed...what a fool...

okie ridgerunner, Small Country Town State Line (10/22/2009 5:40:07 PM)

It is a shame but mabe that is what he thought he deserved.
But like carlos said that is a terrible way to perish.
Any way he has saved the taxpayers a lot of money.

GoBlueGal, Broken Arrow (10/22/2009 5:44:59 PM)

Maybe he knew what would await him in prison. It's been said that they don't take to kindly to child molesters.

2ndjoyce, BA (10/22/2009 5:55:50 PM)

I can't imagine how desperate a man would have to be to choose to die this way. I am so sorry for him and for all who witnessed and had to deal with the aftermath. Very sorry for all.

Navin Johnson, Tulsa (10/22/2009 6:14:59 PM)

Wow... who knew you could die from that?

cath3, (10/22/2009 6:22:47 PM)

By looking at this man's face,he was severely depressed. What would drive a man to incinerate his own body? This is a tragedy that I am sure will affect many.

2nTulsa, Tulsa (10/22/2009 7:12:29 PM)

ech...what a horrible way to go.

aint missbehavin, no thanks (10/22/2009 7:15:11 PM)

My gosh,I knew a Johnny Hobbs in school.Wow,how terrible.

Popeye, T-Town (10/22/2009 7:36:12 PM)

If you can't drop the gunny-sacks you've filled during your life, they will drag you down...

Bullhead, - (10/22/2009 8:12:53 PM)

He himself took care of it. Maybe he couldn't stop his addiction and this was the only way out. Must have been painful. I pray he made peace with God before he did it.

parksport, (10/22/2009 8:27:53 PM)

I can't help but wonder if his inner demons consumed him? I am very ambivalent in my feelings when such actions are taken.

parksport, (10/22/2009 8:29:53 PM)

To clarify what I am not implying, I am very steadfast in my relief I never encountered a person so dangerous to both himself and others.

JCash, (10/22/2009 8:55:30 PM)

.....and the band played on.

Thunder196, Tulsa (10/22/2009 9:28:43 PM)

This would have to be desperation to put yourself through this. I'm sorry siblings had to witness this. How horrible.

Centrist, the burbs (10/22/2009 9:29:09 PM)

I have no compassion for convicted sex offenders. He suffered less than his victims are for the rest of their lives. If they would all kill themselves it would save the world a lot of pain.

Jolie2, (10/22/2009 9:30:29 PM)

to Webmeister,

Do you think Johnny Hobbs would have been grateful to have been saved from the choice he made to take his own life? I doubt it. Not only would he still be going to prison, if he survived the burn injuries, he would suffer terribly in the process of healing.

Thunder196, Tulsa (10/22/2009 9:31:40 PM)

blindshoe
Hope your statement never comes back to bite you.

bearway, Jenks (10/22/2009 10:30:51 PM)

JD,

If what you say is true, you should the Federal DOJ with the evidence and have the place investigated. It will take someone like your friend reporting the conditions to clean the place up.

It sounds much worse than Gitmo from your description.

bearway, Jenks (10/22/2009 10:31:52 PM)

Meant to say Contact the Federal Department of Justice.

Ron B, (10/22/2009 10:42:47 PM)

Webmeister needs to travel around with the fire department so he can rescue people. The guy set himself on fire, he was not a victim. I doubt if any of those posting would have rushed to his aid. Bravery at the key board and bravery in a crisis are two very different things.

Bonasera the Undertaker, Brooklyn (10/22/2009 11:04:43 PM)

I've never heard so much misplaced sympathy in my life. The true "victims" were his prey. If we are going to feel sorry for the incinerated, let's think of the millions of innocent Jews who were incinerated in Nazi Germany.

SoonerDJ, Lisbon, Portugal (10/23/2009 4:47:07 AM)

No sympathy for this guy.

JDReinstein: You're complaining about the Tulsa jail? Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't jail a punishment? I have no sympathy for anyone in jail. People in US prisons get better treatment than almost any other prison in the world. When I'm in the Gulf doing a stores onload for several hours in 120 degree heat and I am passing the food down the line and when the steaks come and it is clearly stamped "Grade D, Prison Rejected" on the box, "sympathy" is not something I think about for a prisoner. I think he must be enjoying a nice meal and I'll be skipping the beef products for the next week or two. Also, shouldn't your friend have documented all of this while she worked there to build a case against the prison??

Webmeister, Tulsa (10/23/2009 5:11:46 AM)

To JDReinstein:

If you can provide evidence of mistreatment of prisoners in the Tulsa County jail, the U.S. Dept. of Justice does not conduct an investigation.

If you contact them with evidence, they will forward your evidence to the F.B.I.

The F.B.I. is the investigative arm of our Federal system of justice.

So, contact the F.B.I. with your evidence.

mayor_maynot, Tulsa (10/23/2009 5:59:16 AM)

Allrighty then.

PhoenixIX, Jenks (10/23/2009 6:40:24 AM)

Reinstein,

Your observations and criticisms of
David Moss are without merit.

I visit there about three times a week and receive more collect calls from inmates at Moss than I care to count.

FinallyDebtFree, Broken Arrow (10/23/2009 6:56:48 AM)

My wallet thanks you!

Ignatz, A nice place where Democrats hold every office in the County. (10/23/2009 7:03:52 AM)

What Bearway said.PhoenixIX, you probably see what you want to, or are shown. I'll take the word of an "insider" on this one.Gobluegirl,that's "urban myth". Where do you think all the molesters/perverts end up? They probably have their own large club inside the joint, exchanging stories, etc.

skippy1, Tulsa (10/23/2009 7:45:07 AM)

re:Soonerdj- No, jail is NOT a punishment for most inmates. It is a place to HOLD those accused of crimes until they either make bail or go to trial. Only those people sentenced to "county" time are there serving out a sentence which they were convicted of. These jailers have COMPLETE control over these people and most times they abuse that power. In this country you are PRESUMED innocent until PROVEN guilty of a crime, then your "punishment" begins...

DaBirdman, (10/23/2009 7:54:46 AM)

YES! My hat is off to the Tulsa World for providing the 'word of the day.' SELF-IMMOLATION.
Almost makes up for yesterday's HydroPLAINING error. So much trash and possibly flammable items around it was about 30 minutes before they could enter the van. Yikes.

justiceawaits, Claremore (10/23/2009 8:32:42 AM)

Sounds like a problem that took care of itself.
I don`t blame the police for letting him burn.
Now his victims won`t have to suffer the humiliation of having to testify in court and the taxpayers won`t have to pay for his housing.
Sorry if that offends some, but I have no mercy for perverts who molest little kids.

purple rain, (10/23/2009 8:53:39 AM)

too bad all pedophiles aren't this proactive. now he can't offend anymore and wreck children's lives and the taxpayers aren't out the money to take him to trial and house and feed him for another 20 years.

copperhead, (10/23/2009 8:57:07 AM)

Seemed a tortured soul, assuming he had one, with a burning desire to avoid getting locked-up.
.
SoonerDJ - seems worth noting, there are folks sitting in jails who've committed no crime, but are there due to mistaken identity, as the result of a mistaken witness, or wrongly accused by an x-mate, etc.
..
Imagine you've been wrongly accused of a crime, just happened to be at the wrong place at the wrong time, and the bond for your release is beyond your means, so you'll sit in jail until a court date, possibly six to eight months in the future.
...
Knowing mistakes like this occur, is the point still, "Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't jail a punishment? I have no sympathy for anyone in jail."

Rideropurplesage, Tulsa (10/23/2009 8:58:27 AM)

It could happen to you, you could be a fool too. Sounds like a man given no choice to me. Driven to do what he did.

Daniel Day Simpson, Edmond (10/23/2009 9:18:05 AM)

Hell on Earth. Then hell in hell.

Whirled Peas, (10/23/2009 10:42:05 AM)

So everyone just sat there and watched him burn to death.
Interesting.
"I have not seen that before"

Ric, Broken Arrow (10/23/2009 10:55:21 AM)

He saved us all some money...

lottiedah, Outskirts (10/23/2009 10:58:31 AM)

Florida jails were like that until some inmate died and his family got $6 million from the state. Now they are much more careful to give inmates their meds.
Report this to the Dept of Justice. This is not what jail should be like. Innocent peopel go to jail along with the guilty. Even Guilty people shouldn't die of heart attacks, but of old age.
I feel really sad for this man's family. He was obviously a mess, and inflicting himself on others. No one should die this way, even monks.

Mutt, Sapulpa (10/23/2009 11:05:43 AM)

Webmeister....actually I believe the Vietnam Buddhist Monks committed suicide to protest the persecution of the Buddhist monks by the South Vietnam government.

lucky girl, mine (10/23/2009 11:17:00 AM)

When you are hot your hot.

Really, it is kinda sick that they seemed to have watched him die.

forkandknife, Tulsa (10/23/2009 11:19:51 AM)

This man is and was dumb.

RWVNRAL, (10/23/2009 12:40:25 PM)

Here's the problem with all you folks who say "I have no respect for a sex offender." You are wrongly assuming that all sex offenders have committed a violent offense against a known victim. This is NOT the case. Many sex offenders merely urinated in public, head consensual sex with a girlfriend 30 years ago, or tried to solicit sex from a teenager who turned out to be a cop. These are not "violent" people...yet they're referred to as "sex offenders" and have to suffer all the baggage that goes along with it. It is a matter of intellectual honesty to admit that not all sex offenders are either violent or dangerous. They should not be treated as sub-human. Does anyone here even know if Mr. Hobbs was actually guilty?? There have been more than 200 men released from prison over the last ten years based on DNA evidence. Most of them were sex offenders who never harmed anyone. Is our system so foolproof that we can afford to place blind trust in its adjudications? We are fools ourselves to think such a thing. Here we have a man who burned himself to death rather than continue a life of torment and shame. It is a reasonable to believe that he was innocent as it is to believe he was guilty. Either way, he was a prisoner of his circumstances and obviously opted for release. Let him rest in peace. Don't make such a tragedy a cause for celebration merely because you happen to believe that he got what was coming to him---because, in truth, you have no idea.

BixbyMomma, Bixby (10/23/2009 1:56:32 PM)

Dusty - This is exactly why we need a system that ranks sex offenders like we have for murders. It seems ridiculous that a person who rapes a child could be in the same category as someone who got carried away and mooned a group of people and maybe there was a child present and someone complained about it. I used to worry about this with my ex husband because he had a bad habit of mooning people at parties and there was usually kids around but it only takes one kid to complain. And there is no system in place to categorize sex offenders.

SADE2009, Tulsa (10/23/2009 2:16:36 PM)

SOONER DJ prisons are alot different than city/ county jails, and I am sorry to say that regardless of what your opinion is humans are humans and we cannot allow someone to die just because they may have a DUI, 65% of people in prison are in there for non-violent crimes. So if you have a chip on your shoulder for serving your country well I am sorry you chose to be in the forces you knew how our government treated our troops, and that my friend is something that many of of us have fought Washington for many years better treatment, screening, and training for our soldiers but the last President didn't want to hear it. But back tot he point we absolutley cannot deprive someone of medical attention, for one it is not our job to judge someone to death that is God's job to do, second if you continue to let our Jails/Prisons do this what is next burning women at the stake for being a witch, I mean come on people when we let ANYONE die due to not wanting them to get the correct medical care then we are no better than the murderers in prison.

Bren, Wagoner (10/23/2009 2:48:43 PM)

while I am sure his death came fairly quick, this has to be one of the most painful ways I can think of to commit suicide. This man was obviously very desperate. While I hate what he had done to bring him to this point,I have to wonder if he ever got any help at all.This was not the action of a mentally stable person. This man needed to be in a mental institution and not jail. Since he had VPOs against him, he obviously was a danger to others. I have never been able to understand what causes someone to commit the crimes he had.

Few Clothes, America (10/23/2009 3:03:24 PM)

Thanks Johnni.

skippy1, Tulsa (10/23/2009 3:53:43 PM)

Bixbymomma- No wonder he's your EX-husband....

Average Jo, (10/23/2009 4:05:15 PM)

You know, some of the people in here have some cold hearts. Regardless of this man's sins, he was a human none the less. And likely, He was a man with more experience with our criminal sytem than any of us. If he would rather burn himself to death than deal with law enforcement I wonder what that says...

purple rain, (10/23/2009 5:21:48 PM)

count me as cold hearted. this guy had been CONVICTED (not accused of or "allegedly") of violating the most innocent among us. lewd acts upon children. how many lives did this guy wreck?? i'll save my tears for them.

Centrist, the burbs (10/23/2009 6:08:36 PM)

If you look at his records at the DOC website you will see this guy was still on probation until 2013 for Lewd molestation of a child, showing obscene material to a child, lewd or indecent proposals to a child. These are the kind of people that should not be on our streets.

I agree with Bixby Mom that our State does need to create a tier system for the type of offenses from these offenders to delienate the child sex offenders from other offenders.

okie ridgerunner, Small Country Town State Line (10/23/2009 11:27:28 PM)

SoonerDJ,No jail is not for punishment.most are there waiting to go to court.most have not been proven guilty of anything yet.
Prison is for punishment. -- Read Skippy1, post--

Dustyoutlaw, Good post. you have a level head. and right way of thinking.

Turf_Tamer, (10/26/2009 4:19:11 PM)

What a waste of a good van....

FS, Broken Arrow (10/27/2009 9:33:24 AM)

... a child molester who burns himself to death - I'd call that practice.

AllSmiles, Sperry (10/27/2009 9:51:39 AM)

Less tax money we have to waste!!!

Good Riddens!

moon, shine (10/27/2009 10:34:03 AM)

Buh bye, now.

Serenity, Tulsa (10/27/2009 11:18:32 AM)

He punished himself for his sins, what a painful way to die, how horrible life in prison has to be to rather burn himself alive than going back to jail.

What in the World!, Tulsula (10/27/2009 12:34:56 PM)

Glad he is gone! All molesters should follow his lead.

FS, Broken Arrow (10/27/2009 1:37:38 PM)

What in the World!, Tulsula (10/27/2009 12:34:56 PM)
Glad he is gone! All molesters should follow his lead.
____________________________

Even Judas showed more backbone/remorse than most of the perverts - he hung himself.

Youngin_07, (10/27/2009 5:44:14 PM)

What in the world..

You are an idiot.

OKIE MEDIC, (10/27/2009 11:28:47 PM)

Actually Skippy1 you are mistaken in that there are prisoners in county jails who are in fact DOC prisoners who are serving their sentenced time. The prison system is overwhelmed and there simply isn't enough space, so many county jails house these DOC inmates in return for daily fee, which in turn helps defer the county's jail costs. For the most part it seems that the daily rate ranges any where from $25-$40 per day per inmate. If and when a space becomes available within the actual prison system or the inmate become a problem such as increased risk, they are moved to a penitentiary. Although there are inmates serving time for capital crimes such as murder, most county jails house inmates who are low risk (i.e. escape) and are serving lesser crimes (if one truely believes there are "lesser" crimes) such as non-violent and lesser drug offenses. With that being said, on to the actual subject matter on this board. I must say that I simply can not find much sympathy for this man as he forever impacted children and destroyed their lives, perhaps some who will end their life as well because they can't get over the trauma. Still, I can't imagine burning alive, much less setting yourself on fire and literally burning alive. Bruns are the most horrific of all injuries and it would have likely have taken several minutes before he actually expired. Though I don't have sympathy for him, I do have a great deal not only for his family, but anyone who witnessed and heard this event take place. this will be forever etched in their minds. I can also understand why there might have been some hesitation in any attempt to rescue him. Keep in ming he had already said he wasn't going back to prison and he quickly shut the door. It is quite reasonable to be suspicious that he could possibly been waiting for someone to try to help him and attempt to take someone, anyone with him, not to mention the possibliity of chemicals and even explosion. Knowing he doused himself with gasoline as well as the that in the take, there was every chance that it could erupt and kill those trying to help him. We also must keep in mind that a few fire extinguishers would have had little to no impact on this large of a problem. A fire under the hood or even just a fire in/on the van might be helped, but when one douses themselves along with everything around them with gas, it would have become a huge fireball and the possibility of a huge explosion at any moment. Though some may not understand, emergency personnel have a rule that says we have to ensure scene safety, before we can do anything as we can't do any good if we're not alive to do so. Still, most of us often take risks that could have very well ended badly, but this is one case that I would have to say this was one case that unless firefighters were standing there with the lines charged, this was the only possible outcome other than possible injury and/or deaths to would be rescuers had they tried to enter or get too close to the van.

Sanity, Broken Arrow (10/28/2009 8:10:31 AM)

Looks like his "evil" is worse than ours; but so much hate? As long as we have life, we can change - though in sex crimes, few do.

Anyway, I take no joy in his unfortunate end, which also ended the preferred alternative - which is redemption.

RickCain, (10/28/2009 8:15:12 AM)

THREE protective orders? This guy was a danger to the public if 3 separate people had to file to keep him away from their kids.

HONES, T-Town (10/28/2009 11:15:47 AM)

dustyoutlaw, I believe you are right. I'm glad he took care of the situation himself. And as Bull said, I hope he made peace before hand. May God have mercy on his soul because I know I sure couldn't/wouldn't have any for him.

Welcome to America !, Claremore (10/28/2009 12:16:29 PM)

What some claim as "mistreatment" these days amazes me. If someone urinated on the Koran that would be horrible per some but do the same to the Bible and it's no big deal. Mistreatment at Abugrab or however it's spelled prison in Iraq, there have been many claims of mistreatment but sometimes it was simply saying something to them in the wrong way, asking them to do something that did not go along with their religious beliefs, etc. That is not mistreatment. You are locked up for a reason and it wasn't for petting an animal at the zoo.

aint missbehavin, .. (10/28/2009 7:39:54 PM)

Heres my input on this stuff.We jail folks because they have broke a law.Some worse than others.It surprises me that some do not know this.Our judicial system is made for those who break a law or laws.When they go into the system,the same folks who put them there are responsible for their well being.Which is our judicial system THE LAW.They are to pay back to society for which they have been convicted for.Thats for United States citizens.Not for prisoners of war or as you all say,enemy combabtants.Thats a different matter.These folks have broken laws which are set forth for our people.You need to go back to the military for all that.Or to church.We are civilians here within the USA.If a person goes to jail,they are someones brother,sister,uncle,aunt and sometimes children and parents.They should be looked after and treated like a prisoner should.They have cams in those jails,the guards know what goes on,if a prisoner is raped,then he or she should be able to file reports and it should be the same as if they was a citizen right off the street who does the same,only they should be able to prove it because they are never left ungaurded,shall I say.Its never good to hear about someone who takes their life.In fact its down right sad no matter what they did.

OkieDad, (10/29/2009 7:32:02 AM)

What In The World...

You are correct in your thinking. There is no excuse for preying on children! It has to be the lowest of all life forms who would do such a thing.