A Revenge Killing "Gone Wrong"
06/18/2012
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Cornell SmithLawrence Auster has discussed, repeatedly, what he describes as the

"insidious nihilism of police chiefs and journalists who describe a murder as “a burglary gone wrong,” or “an armed robbery gone wrong,” or even, in the case of the kidnapping, sexual torture, and murder of Channon Christian and Christopher Newsom in Knoxville in January 2007, a “carjacking gone wrong.”"

I thought of that when I read about the case of Cornell Smith, (above left)who is charged with murdering Northeastern University student Rebecca Payne. (right)Rebecca Payne, Deceased

Prosecutor Ian Polumbaum said Rebecca Payne was a victim of mistaken identity, that Smith had had a fistfight with someone a few days earlier who resembled Payne from a distance.

He said that on the day she died, Payne worked at Legal Seafoods, walked home to her apartment, and was there around 2:30 a.m. when Smith climbed up a balcony, found his way into her apartment, shot her multiple times, and left.

[No bail for alleged killer in 2008 slaying of Northeastern student, By John R. Ellement,The Boston Globe, June 18, 2012]

The mistaken-identity aspect means that this would be a revenge killing "gone wrong".

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