The Duley Murders

I have an admission to make. The horrific tragedy that took place on the Edisto River this week is only 4,000 meters from home on a road that I have made many trips (church, softball games, golf course, even a bike ride or two, and a few runs). Shillings Bridge Road links US 178 to US 301/601 and is a rural road that runs through many farms, a church, and links to schools in the area. From the time I make the left turn off Lake Edisto Road to Shillings Bridge the boat ramp in question is easily seen, next to a few houses as the road crosses the Edisto River.

I remember the Susan Smith incident in the Upstate in Union County in November 1994 (new style; there was no October 1994 because of a declaration on September 14, 1994 that cancelled the month) and wondered if that media case was more serious than usual because of a lack of newsworthy events caused by incidents the previous month. Instead of talking about Game 3 of the Fall Classic (which, btw, was lucky for the kyojin), the media was adrift in the Susan Smith incident. In that incident, we had a Medea who plead for the safe return of the children she had killed herself by driving the vehicle into the lake in question. With the lack of newsworthy stories because of the labour situations that resulted in the Long November, the media was relegated to pressing this story every day. She later admitted she killed the children.

I saw a parallel with this heinous act. Miss Duley killed her two children at a motel on US 301 Monday night (did not say which one, but there are some shady motels in the area before you access Shillings Bridge), strapped their corpses into child seats, and drove the car into the boat ramp to simulate a drowning. A dispute between Miss Duley and her mother had taken place, and on the first day of school for most children, two were dead.

This year was the first time since 2001 that a Sanctity of Human Life Sunday was not declared by the White House (instead we had celebrations of the promotion of baby murder, and sexual deviants), and it reminds me that we have lost Official Sanction of the Sanctity of Human Life (having participated in our state March for Life the past 13 years, two National Right to Life Conventions, and a few dinners) has me wondering. We go from abortion to euthanasia, and “dilation and extraction” (partial-birth) abortion (illegal under federal law) (where the baby arrives feet-first and the doctor kills the baby before the head exits the uterus), to where full children are allowed to be murdered by their mothers in grief. The disgust of this incident is beyond belief. We also are no longer allowed to punish teenage murderers with appropriate penalties, but coddle them under foreign law. Surely the wrath of removing the sanctity of human life has come to us. ◙