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Megan Liebengood Gone Forever; Her Murderers Live On

By Jeff “Mario” Smith

Young newlywed Megan Liebengood had her life snuffed out by some selfish thugs in North Lexington, Kentucky on September 15, 2004. She was returning home from the grocery store to her Codell Drive apartment. As her husband awaited her arrival, some punks, who thought it was their place to take from someone that which they worked hard to earn, attacked Megan to rob her, shooting her four times in the head with a .22 caliber pistol. I get chills when I remember being young and living in a not so great part of town like this, thinking we were safe.

I will never understand people who are brought up to think they can just attack someone because they want something that person has. What kind of upbringing does it take to produce that type of mentality? The liberal defense attorney for the thugs, Kate Dunn, said something to the effect of, “the poor will always be with us, the poor will always want what we have, and the poor will always think they have a right to it." I have news for you Kate Dunn, poverty is not an excuse for criminal behavior. Secondly, all poor people do not lack virtue as these murderous thugs do. And thirdly, being poor does not mean that you cannot be a good person and raise your children to have a work ethic and respect for others.

That is the problem with the bleeding heart types. Nobody has any responsibility for their actions in their naïve little world. It is always an external mechanism that is to blame, like poverty, child abuse, pressure, racism, sexism, or some other “ism”. Kate Dunn would have us believe that these thugs are deserving of another chance because they are just acting out of the frustration of poverty. Well, Kate Dunn, just how do you propose giving Megan, her new husband Eric, her mother Vickie, and all the other friends and family another chance? Please tell me this liberal lawyer did not make these statements and this is all a dream, please!

After about two and a half hours of deliberation, jurors found thug Michael Shepard, 17, guilty of intentional murder, first-degree robbery and tampering with physical evidence. Thug Robert Miller V, 18, was found guilty of complicity to murder, complicity to first-degree robbery and tampering with physical evidence.

The Fayette County jury determined Michael Shepherd should serve life in prison with eligibility for parole after 25 years for intentional murder, 20 years for first-degree robbery, and five years for tampering with physical evidence, all to be served consecutively. They recommended a 40-year sentence for Robert Miller V, 18. This includes 20 years for complicity to murder, 15 years for complicity to first-degree robbery, and five years for tampering with physical evidence. The jury recommended the sentences be served consecutively, for a total of 40 years. Unfortunately, a judge now has final say.

Now, these sentences may sound like a long time, and indeed they are, but not when you consider that Megan Liebengood doesn’t have the option to move on with her life, her mother will live the rest of her days with a dark hole in her heart, and her husband has to be out of his mind right now. Her other family and friends will never be able to visit Megan, send Megan mail or care packages, or spend any time with her in any way. There will be no children, grandchildren or great-grandchildren. No, these are not stiff sentences taken in that context; they are a cakewalk for these thugs and death should have been their sentence, just like the death they so cold-heartedly dished out for Megan Liebengood. Let us arrange a meeting with the Creator for these cold hearted killers and let them fall on their bended knees asking the Almighty for forgiveness. I have no desire to pay for their incarceration, none!

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