GUILTY LA - John, 42, & Jerri Wood, 40, Matt Whittington, 16, murdered, 14 March 2007

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Annie

Annie

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At first he said the young man he killed was an intruder who killed his parents and he killed him. He later said his friend was helping him kill his parents. It looks to me like he may have killed the friend so he could blame the death of the parents on him. Sad story any way. I wonder if all the video games with killing that kids play today contribute to these murders we are hearing of so much lately.

http://www.thenewsstar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070315/NEWS01/703150323
 
Annie said:
I wonder if all the video games with killing that kids play today contribute to these murders we are hearing of so much lately.
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I don't think so.
 
Paladin said:
I don't think so.
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I agree; I don't think so. They may in some small way be related... but not in the fact that they are a catalyst for the murder act itself. Now 'scuse me while I go back to playing Gears of War and blowin' me up some aliens. ;)
 
This is a very sad story.

Personally I can't say that the killing games really creates kids to act in such a way. It's a hard call IMO. To me it's like saying race car games or even NASCAR will make you go out and smash everyone on the road - to a kid.
I don't know.

Feel sorry for the family that remains. I'm courious on maybe finding the reasons behind such a crime. I'll keep my eye on this one.

Rosco
 
Annie said:
I wonder if all the video games with killing that kids play today contribute to these murders we are hearing of so much lately.
Click to expand...

After reading your comment I went to the link expecting to find quotes about the kids playing all kinds of violent video games. It isn't even mentioned. Why assume something like that?

Conner was home schooled by his mother. If anything, I would make the assumption that he watched less TV and played fewer video games than your average kid. At least, that's the case with the kids I know who are home schooled.

I feel so sad for his older brother who has to deal with the grief and the judicial process for his brother all at the same time. He has lost his whole family all at once, and will likely have all kinds of rumor and innuendo surrounding them to cope with.

What a nightmare. :(
 
I don't know that this boy ever watched a video game in his life. It just seems that this is happening more and more and I know some of the games have warnings about the violence. I guess maybe I am concerned because I have some grandsons who play these games all the time, and I have been concerned about it. Oh, well, to look at it another way though, I follow true crime a lot and haven't murdered anyone or even thought about it. Maybe it is the same. It just concerns me. I don't know what these kids hope to gain by murdering their parents. They should know they will most likely be caught.
 
Annie said:
At first he said the young man he killed was an intruder who killed his parents and he killed him. He later said his friend was helping him kill his parents. It looks to me like he may have killed the friend so he could blame the death of the parents on him. Sad story any way. I wonder if all the video games with killing that kids play today contribute to these murders we are hearing of so much lately.

http://www.thenewsstar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070315/NEWS01/703150323
Click to expand...
If this was true then my reading true crime would make me more likely to commit a crime. And heck, its a lot more graphic than any video game I've seen. I don't think that video games / TV contribute to these murders at all... I think that mental illness / dysfunctional families / sick and disturbed people are the reasons that we have all these murders. The farther I go back in true crimes during history, it seems that murder / abuse has been going on for soooo long that we are just now hearing about it in real time. We've got to make a change or history is just destined to repeat itself over and over and over and over and over again.
 
Annie said:
I don't know that this boy ever watched a video game in his life. It just seems that this is happening more and more and I know some of the games have warnings about the violence. I guess maybe I am concerned because I have some grandsons who play these games all the time, and I have been concerned about it. Oh, well, to look at it another way though, I follow true crime a lot and haven't murdered anyone or even thought about it. Maybe it is the same. It just concerns me. I don't know what these kids hope to gain by murdering their parents. They should know they will most likely be caught.
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I'm not for sure but aren't those warnings courtesy of Tipper Gore?

I think it's an age related maturity system. I know I wouldn't want my five year old playing / watching some of those games. Just like I don't want her watching rated R movies. Same thing.
 
Annie said:
I don't know that this boy ever watched a video game in his life. It just seems that this is happening more and more and I know some of the games have warnings about the violence. I guess maybe I am concerned because I have some grandsons who play these games all the time, and I have been concerned about it. Oh, well, to look at it another way though, I follow true crime a lot and haven't murdered anyone or even thought about it. Maybe it is the same. It just concerns me. I don't know what these kids hope to gain by murdering their parents. They should know they will most likely be caught.
Click to expand...
Ha! You said the same thing that I said about true crime.
I think it is a problem though that some people let their kids play some of these games just because I think it is inappropriate. People give their kids toys / let them watch movies / and play games that are not appropriate for their maturity level.
 
The real problem at hand was this kid had access to a gun. A gun that was probably owned by his parents and not locked up properly.
 
Paladin said:
The real problem at hand was this kid had access to a gun. A gun that was probably owned by his parents and not locked up properly.
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Dad was a hunting guide so I bet that you're correct in the assumption that his parents owned the murder weapon.
 
The warnings are intended to help parents regulate what their children watch. The warnings themselves aren't proof of a connection between video games and crime.

The problem with the "true crime" comparison is that true crime accounts nearly all deal at some length with the consequences of violence, to the victim and to the perpetrator.

That isn't true of the few video games I've encountered. When my nephew plays Grand Theft Auto, the first thing he does is run over several dozen pedestrians (in the game) because that gives him enough points to do something better. That's very different than reading about the devastation and heartache wrought by somebody like Scott Peterson.

This isn't to say there is proof of a link between video games and violence (though my nephew DID run over some real-life mailboxes awhile back :)), and some of the films and TV shows that used to concern our parents now seem rather tame. I'm just pointing out the "true crime" comparison isn't valid.
 
angelmom said:
After reading your comment I went to the link expecting to find quotes about the kids playing all kinds of violent video games. It isn't even mentioned. Why assume something like that?

Conner was home schooled by his mother. If anything, I would make the assumption that he watched less TV and played fewer video games than your average kid. At least, that's the case with the kids I know who are home schooled.

I feel so sad for his older brother who has to deal with the grief and the judicial process for his brother all at the same time. He has lost his whole family all at once, and will likely have all kinds of rumor and innuendo surrounding them to cope with.

What a nightmare. :(
Click to expand...
Two of our good friends homeschool their two children. Recently I asked one of them what her 11-year-old was doing (school wise) and she said - "mainly he just plays video games - that's what he's into right now!"

These friends are un-schoolers (both professional and well-educated, I might add) and let their kids direct themselves.

I was just bringing this up to point out that we can't necessarily assume that homeschoolers watch less tv/play less video games. As for the boy in this case....I have no idea, of course.
 
One of my best friends was homeschooled. He played tons of video games. He's extremely bright though, although he is somewhat lacking on the social skills.
 
Rosco said:
To me it's like saying ........... or even NASCAR will make you go out and smash everyone on the road - to a kid.
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When was the last time you saw a pedestrian walk a NASCAR track? What an odd thing to say.
 
JanetElaine said:
When was the last time you saw a pedestrian walk a NASCAR track? What an odd thing to say.
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The comparison is driving fast or reckless - not nessesarily with people or objects around to hit or runover. Fast for NASCAR (not reckless) and reckless for video games..

Sorry if you found it odd.

Rosco
 
JanetElaine said:
When was the last time you saw a pedestrian walk a NASCAR track? What an odd thing to say.
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I thought the point was kids imitating what they see or hear. In fact, I believe kids have taken to public streets to imitate professional racers -- with disastrous results. But I doubt any of us would ban professional racing.
 
Paladin said:
One of my best friends was homeschooled. He played tons of video games. He's extremely bright though, although he is somewhat lacking on the social skills.
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Yeah, for all we know the skills developed through playing video games will be the skills to have in the future. My boys are 4 and 6 and have no interest whatsoever in them which is fine by me. They seem so young - still many of their friends that age are into them...
 
Rosco said:
The comparison is driving fast or reckless - not nessesarily with people or objects around to hit or runover. Fast for NASCAR (not reckless) and reckless for video games..

Sorry if you found it odd.

Rosco
Click to expand...
You don't have to apologize for me finding something odd. ;) I gotcha now btw.
 
How horrible. I wonder what possessed this boy to want his parents out of the way and then try to blame his best friend for the murders. I don't understand how a kid could kill his best friend much less his parents. The neighbors might not have seen anything wrong with this boy but there is something horribly wrong with him...he committed three cold blooded murders probably without blinking.

I sure feel sorry for the older boy. Now he has to come home and try and cope with this whole nightmare. I hope there are aunts and uncles that will be a support system for the older boy. He is going to need all of the support that he can get. How sad for him. I wonder if he ever thought there was something wrong with his brother or if his brother had had any previous type of problems.
 
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