There is a great deal of crime in this area where we live, much of it hideous, so the local paper is at least good for reminding you that you live in the hood and that, at least in part, you are surrounded by either idiot thieving drug addicts or idiot murdering drug fiends. There are a stunning amount of bank robberies here, virtually one a day.

Like this story of the guy who killed two women after "24-hour cocaine binge" and then dumped their bodies a few miles from my house. He thought they had stolen $600 from him. He killed a dog too.

Two parts of this story are particularly interesting. One is that after shooting the women he dumped the first body and then drove the SUV they were in into a ditch, leaving the engine running, so it would look like the other woman died in an accident. Her fatal gunshot wounds presumedly would be missed by the cops....

The other thing that is truly fascinating is the defense the lawyer chose. He does not deny his client killed the women, just denied that he should be punished for it since they were all old friends.

"During opening statements, defense attorney John Hooker Jr. did not deny that Walton killed the women. He tried to establish a familial connection between Walton and Ewing. The two had known each other since they were children, he said. Walton had taken her in at one point.

Hooker then told the jury that a lifestyle of sex, drugs, alcohol and money led to an "unintentional tragedy."

"Why do friends kill friends?" Hooker asked. "Why?"

yes, why? The jury must have been really moved.

My heart really goes out to this killer. I will try to remember his childhood friendships when the Commonwealth of Virginia puts him to death.