It's my website, here are my thoughts. By JT Szabo One week ago today, the peace and tranquillity of Troy and Miami County was shattered with the news of an apparent murder and kidnapping on Troy's west side. what? I thought as the news came into MCP at about 3pm. Where? as I remembered that not only do I have a lot of friends and collegues who live at the Towne Park Apartments, not to mention it is the former residence of my own sister just a month or so ago. Like a lot of people around here, the full scope of the tragedy has only begun to sink in. Yesterday, a lot of the victims friends were finally able to say goodbye at his home church, while the killer sits right down the street from our MCP offices at the Miami County Jail downtown Troy. I passed the jail on my way to a meeting this morning. I could only think about the man accused of walking into an apartment and blowing away an innocent kid surfing on his laptop. I suppose it's a good thing that I will never be able to understand this action, or how anyone could kill so coldly and cowardly. Maybe I'm not supposed to. And what if he hadn't crashed his Honda in Dayton, which flew his Glock 9mm out of the window just before police swarmed the vehicle? Would more innocent people have been shot? Would he have taken his own life? Too many "what if's" for me. A heavy post this time, I know, but something like this shakes one's inner sense of safety in a city like Troy. If he did that to his own family, I can't imagine what he is capable of to a complete stranger in the wrong place at the wrong time. I guess we will all have to see what happens when the judicial system takes over. He was arraigned last week, and despite being very polite to the Judge, she issued a whopping $1.6million bond for his three felony counts (murder, kidnapping & abduction). Will he plead guilty? How could he not? It wasn't like an episode of "The First 48" where police haven't a clue who the perp is...that secret was dispelled the moment he sped away to Indiana, reportedly to kill other members of his family from his "hit list". Sick. The city of Troy, in it's history, has actually been the site of one public execution..a hanging back in the 19th century. What will happen to Jeff Bedinger is in the hands of the law now. Taking a boy across state lines in the pursuit to commit murder while already being wanted by the FBI is the very definition of a "federal offense", and I don't think anyone would be surprised for the prosecution to pursue the death penalty. This leaves me torn. On one hand...I think having to rot in a small cell for the rest of your life with the knowledge that you will never have freedom again is a wonderful punishment. Yet, on the other hand...for what he did to his family and his community...the "needle" can't come soon enough. Anger is a dangerous weapon. Fact of life. Thoughts? CommentsLeave a Reply |  Got Something To Say?
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