Editorial

Death Penalty For
‘Good Samaritan’ Killers

There will always be Good Samaritans such as Rupinder Singh. Sadly, there will always be some people who are offered a helping hand and repay the kindness with a violent, despicable act. The cold-blooded killers who took Singh’s life early last Friday morning are such ingrates.

However, the final sad chapter in the kind young man’s life should not dissuade us from following his example. All religions teach acts of charity and compassion, whatever their outcome.

Even the shattered, grieving mother of the 27-year-old victim said, "Never tell the kids, never tell the people they cannot help others."

But Amarjit Kaur Singh also said she wants her son’s merciless killers to get the death penalty, as does her husband, Sulakhan Singh. "A death for a death," Mrs. Singh declared. "This is for the future of other people, not my son, I lost my son."

Brooklyn District Attorney Charles Hynes, who has not been among the most eager seeker of the death penalty, has said that if, as reported, the victim asked the alleged murderer, James Johnson, to spare his life, "Then we will definitely go for the death penalty."

Johnson, 26 following his arrest, allegedly told police that Singh kept pleading, "Please don’t hurt me. Just take the car." His killers callously disregarded his entreaty.

If the confession stands up in a future trial, and Johnson is convicted on first degree murder charges, Hynes is on record as saying he will then go for the death penalty.

We commend Hynes for his pledge to go for the death penalty in this case, even if he made the promise conditionally. But we would remind the veteran prosecutor that there is much firmer ground for pursuing the death penalty in this case. According to state law, a murder committed in the course of a robbery is a capital offense.

According to police, Johnson and a woman suspect were arrested the night following the alleged murder in a Brooklyn park as they were allegedly trying to sell the 2000 Lincoln Navigator which Singh was driving when he offered them a ride. It would appear to us that Johnson’s actions regarding the luxury vehicle constitute robbery and the alleged murder was a part of the robbery. This appears to be a capital case.

For these reasons, we urge Hynes to pursue the death penalty with all the power at his command both to grant the victim’s mother’s wishes for the future of others and for the simple reason that justice demands it.

Singh graduated from St. John’s University last May and was contemplating a career in computers. He had extended a helping hand to Johnson, his codefendant, Jack Gowan, 27, and two women and a four-year-old. The car in which they were riding apparently had broken down and they appeared to have no way to get home.

Johnson and Cowan repaid Singh’s kindness by callously taking his life despite his desperate pleas. To our way of thinking, this is an open-and-shut case for the the death penalty.