39岁的奈特是美国得克萨斯州的一名死囚,1991年因谋杀了两名邻居,奈特被押进了监狱,一呆就是16年。今年6月26日,他就要被结束生命了。 5 e; C+ g4 C: }- Z7 z! w# U2 T! F 5 |8 d8 d1 a- h A% q6 p 据法新社报道,在被处死前,奈特在网上发起了“征集遗言”活动。他说,被注射致死物质之前,他将大声念出获选的“遗言”。 2 f% C, k0 |0 s" A& O* w
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“希望大家能把最劲爆的笑话发给我,”奈特说,“我的生命即将结束,我将好好‘享受’这最后的时光。”奈特还说,这些笑话将让包括他在内的其他死囚保持微笑。 ' Q3 @, A! w9 f" a
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“我的死是罪有应得,我接受这种惩罚,但是,请允许我微笑着离开。”奈特说。 % ~2 a4 q S6 A& v2 p$ c7 }$ Z/ ]
2 o0 h0 j* {. b, l9 r; j: C) E 为此,奈特专门建立网站,取名为“死囚在笑”(Dead Man Laughing)。 # f: u- N$ z1 j 6 X+ N7 D/ p- {9 N! G y& H1 r 至于为何取这样一个名字,奈特解释说,他是从读过的一本书中找到灵感的。这本书名为《死囚漫步》(Dead Man Walking),由罗马一位天主教修女所写,书中主张废除死刑。因为影响很大,后来,好莱坞还根据这本书,拍摄了同名电影。 $ y: S7 N# j" ^ $ ]0 g, h% i8 ]6 C- p5 R) N( Q0 D% ^& q$ f6 @# ] i
Todeskandidat will als «Dead Man Laughing» sterben 5 y* k; x# h0 {' E/ J' d5 _( B3 E3 G2 x" m& h3 | E8 l3 K
Patrick B. Knight hat aller Voraussicht nach nicht mehr lange zu leben. Der texanische Todeskandidat wird am 26. Juni mit einer Giftspritze hingerichtet. Sterben will er mit einem Witz auf den Lippen.$ ]1 r6 s5 k: q ] E( Z
6 C3 i. ]8 c2 tPatrick Bryan Knight (39) hat einen seltsamen letzten Wunsch: Der Todeskandidat, der im Gefängnis von Huntsville (US-Staat Texas) einsitzt, will während seiner Exekution einen Witz erzählen, wie der «Houston Chronicle» berichtet. Und zwar nicht irgend einen, sondern einen wirklichen Knaller. i" A# G! W5 u* Z* T1 |1 G
0 i% P, x$ Z1 uNicht als «Dead Man Walking», sondern als «Dead Man Laughing» - unter diesem Namen hat er einen Freund eine MySpace-Seite einrichten lassen - will Knight von dieser Welt gehen. 2 k/ P* X0 }7 p7 ? V% u$ h
+ F# K V! D; f+ k9 s' {Witze über Anwälte . u ~8 [/ o5 b; D7 E ( |: w* p0 t$ i$ j: o) BSeine Hinrichtung ist auf den 26. Juni 2007 angesetzt. Knight teilt mit, er geniesse seine «letzten Tage auf dieser Erde». Er suche keine Brieffreunde, sondern wolle mit der Aktion die Nachricht verbreiten, dass er einen Wettbewerb veranstalte. Den besten Witz, der von den Insassen der Death Row in Huntsville ausgesucht werden soll, will er bei der Hinrichtung als seine letzten Worte ans Publikum richten. Bisher hat Knight rund 250 Witze gesammelt. 1 _6 x7 h' e9 d/ Y# H( Q 6 i) \ b8 V$ p& D6 u+ _, q- c«Anwaltwitze sind sehr populär», sagt Knight. Einige seien zwar an der Grenze des guten Geschmacks. Er wolle aber keinen vulgären Witz erzählen. " v( d6 a9 ?( Z- Y# p7 d
y* ?' K ^0 h; X" NNichts Lustiges an der Hinrichtung 9 N" w* A3 k- D' x" U) p* h, {; Q) H i6 `
Es sei ihm klar, dass weder an seiner Hinrichtung noch an dem Verbrechen, das zu seiner Verurteilung geführt hatte, irgend etwas Lustiges sei, stellt Knight fest. «Ich will damit nicht behaupten, dass mir das ganze Geschehen egal ist. Ich werde bald sterben. Ich werde nicht hier sitzen und jammern und weinen und stöhnen oder so ähnlich, wenn die Strafe vollzogen wird, die mir auferlegt wurde.» Humor helfe ihm aber, den Vorgang zu ertragen. ' a9 L5 _! x% E* \$ u" C9 L" D1 P N, y; h% C g" k
Knight war 1991 wegen des Mordes an seinen Nachbarn Walter und Mary Ann Werner zum Tode verurteilt worden. Knight lebte in einem Wohnwagen ausserhalb von Amarillo neben dem älteren Ehepaar, mit dem er Streit hatte.作者: 日月光 时间: 2007-6-24 20:15
Gallows humour7 |2 B; Z- h. @3 \0 a* v
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Patrick B Knight is to be executed in Texas on June 26th for the 1991 murders of Walter and Mary Ann Werner. There is nothing funny about the death penalty, but Mr Knight apparently missed that memo. Instead of giving a final statement, he wants to tell a joke. Someone on the outside has set up a MySpace page for him—he goes by "Dead Man Laughing"—and he is taking suggestions. "I want people to send me their best jokes, to keep me and the others with dates, laughing!" he writes in a note posted on the page. ' @; @+ }& q5 R* U! s1 E! J. S3 F/ D4 q
Some say this is too macabre, or disrespectful to the victims. But hundreds of people have sent in jokes. According to Mr Knight, many poke fun at lawyers. He is probably not receiving many execution jokes, because few exist. I can only think of one. A condemned man, lying on the gurney, asks permission to sing a song instead of giving a final statement. The warden agrees. The inmate takes a deep breath, and begins: "A million bottles of beer on the wall, a million bottles of beer..." 0 s+ M6 _0 k9 [ Y% Z ' b! `- o2 ~3 b# x# [5 e5 q' c, l5 s! _As lame as that joke is, it is better than most of the entries posted to Mr Knight's MySpace page. But no matter what he comes up with, there will be probably not be much laughter in the Walls Unit that night.
图片附件: [Patrick B Knight] Patrick B. Knight.jpg (2007-6-24 20:15, 20.13 KB) / 下载次数 73 http://csuchen.de/bbs/attachment.php?aid=261855&k=1155c84a9fadb264cfe2f844e561edaf&t=1732472740&sid=JrJwwR
作者: 日月光 时间: 2007-6-26 12:20
June 26, 2007, 1:27AM2 k8 O+ v9 d( L; T& @
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Dead man laughing? Killer ready to die with a joke) C a. ~) w4 K% g
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/ T0 |. H8 V) ]4 WPatrick Knight said that before he is executed 2 X2 G8 s% D+ I- W
Tuesday, he would ask for forgiveness and promised to tell a joke that would ) z: [- g& Z! w* e$ ~9 Znot embarrass his victims or be vulgar or profane.2 t0 S9 W: d* L
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LIVINGSTON — Condemned inmate Patrick Knight is ready to die, and die laughing. 9 ~; q1 f9 f& W. S* H/ k8 H9 ]$ E! x6 `3 X! R
Knight, 39, convicted of the fatal shooting of his neighbors almost 16 years ago outside Amarillo, has been considering dozens of jokes he's been receiving in recent weeks since drawing attention for his desire to tell a joke as part of his final statement from the Texas death chamber gurney. + y* h+ s. b4 _% f6 s) t5 [9 f% s1 i2 M! |$ _- N" K7 C" x
He's scheduled for lethal injection tonight in Huntsville.; g! r2 k# x& g1 R1 ]
. f8 D% i! V- Q; R" [7 A! `"Death is my punishment, I've accepted that," he said last week from death row. "I'm not afraid of dying." 0 k' W- w" r% Z7 y2 \) U+ o ( Z: t( b* ]# b& n, e% n4 JBut with Texas the nation's leader in capital punishment, he said he decided to solicit jokes to help his buddies on death row deal with their stress. 7 K# b& s2 \0 R" N# b& G) v E1 a! \9 @: K \
Knight's been getting about 20 letters a day, with many including jokes. A friend also was collecting jokes for him on a Web site, but as of last week he had not received any recent online offerings because he must rely on postal mail for them, since Texas inmates don't have computer or Internet access.* t( X& F2 b+ M8 u
: `3 o* i" i2 I+ S( r( b2 c2 F; S- ~+ EKnight's appeals have been exhausted and his lawyer had no plans to raise any last-minute issues. The U.S. Supreme Court in February refused to review his case. & W, R! a; A k+ i r. H2 i 8 V2 V5 B3 `$ {$ PHis execution would be the 18th this year in Texas and the fourth this month. At least 10 more condemned Texas inmates have executions scheduled in the coming weeks, including two in July and five in August. 8 ^" Z8 w" f8 T7 s$ O+ d 9 z9 g; a* r& [7 d/ q6 ]- uKnight was condemned for the abduction and fatal shooting of Walter Werner, 58, and his wife, Mary Ann, 56. Knight lived in a trailer on property next door to them. % r$ g. r& N/ B3 Y" g$ q5 P: S . g* @+ ~$ ]! ^After the couple left for work Aug. 26, 1991, Knight and a friend, Robert Bradfield, broke into their home and waited. When they returned, the couple was held captive in their basement through the next day, then were bound, gagged and blindfolded and taken in their own van to a spot about four miles away. There they were forced to kneel on the ground and each was shot in the back of the head. Their bodies were left in a ditch.9 z* J# F# l1 y, t/ ?
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Knight went back to his trailer and went to sleep. 5 Y0 O+ x. k3 `7 G* \! M2 u & g- @ g2 m1 C4 r' ?3 G1 g& YWhen police investigating their disappearance questioned him, he initially denied any involvement, but later confessed and led authorities to their bodies. He already was on probation for a burglary.+ ^4 A$ c+ u% j) A) a
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"I was a 23-year-old kid and they were older," Knight said from death row, saying the couple had complained about his loud music and noisy cars. "We just didn't get along. % m' J. z7 e5 E2 @ " o! E9 @( Z$ n5 ["I got on their nerves. I was just young and stupid. I regret so much because they were such good people." 7 i0 f/ ]" n o: K+ ?8 ? 8 a4 p* ~6 d* s6 q7 x+ k' q! nHe said accomplice Bradfield, who was 19 at the time, looked up to him as a big brother. He made drugs and alcohol attractive and available to Bradfield, who wound up with a pair of life prison sentences.! ~" F/ m" y# D
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"If it wasn't for me, he wouldn't have been drinking and doing all the drugs," Knight said. 6 y- I1 \: o0 s, rKnight said he would ask for forgiveness and promised a joke that would not embarrass his victims or be vulgar or profane.