Benjamin Ritchie caught the night train to oblivion at 12:46 a.m. on May 20, taking his seat in the death chamber at Indiana State Prison. His ticket: lethal injection, final destination: death. He had been on death row since 2002 for the murder of police officer Bill Toney.
A Cop's Life Cut Short
On Sept. 29, 2000, Ritchie, then 20 and on probation, stole a van with others in Beech Grove, Indiana. During a foot pursuit, he fired at officer Bill Toney, killing him. Toney was married with two children. His widow, Dee Dee Horen, said: "It's time. We're all tired. It is time for this chapter of my story, our story, to be closed. It's time for us to remember Bill, to remember Bill's life, and not his death." For Ritchie, the consequences were fatal.
Ontario's Recent Tragedies
In Ontario over the past two weeks, two police officers have been murdered and a third seriously injured when a 12-year-old boy allegedly ran him down with a stolen car. On June 9, OPP Const. Tarun Bali, 29, was killed while attempting to stop a vehicle near Hearst. Justin Veronneau, 18, faces first-degree murder charges. Two days later, Toronto Police Emergency Task Force Const. Marc Pinizzotto, 43, was shot and killed executing a search warrant. He was a married father of two and an 18-year veteran. Nicholas Bennett, 19, is the alleged shooter, now in critical condition after police returned fire. Early Monday, a 12-year-old boy allegedly slammed a stolen vehicle into an officer, sending him to hospital. Police fired, striking the boy, who remains hospitalized. The boy is charged with attempted murder, theft, and assault.
Capital Punishment in Canada
Canada abolished the death penalty in 1976, with the last executions by hanging in 1962. Yet support for capital punishment remains high: 57% of Canadians favour its return. The Supreme Court has stripped sentence stacking and bolstered rights for offenders, while a spike in murder and lawlessness has been fueled by a lenient judiciary. Columnist Brad Hunter opposes the death penalty, not on moral grounds but because "the government screws up everything, why trust them with the death penalty?" Still, he understands public demand for executing cop and child killers. Indianapolis cop Mark Hammer said of Ritchie's execution: "I support the death penalty in certain cases and this is one of them."
