I feel as strongly as everyone else about this guy but everybody seems to forget one thing - the fact that all babies are born innocent and dependent.
It is apparent that we, society , fail our chidren when they are still in the cradle. We are given children to love and nurture, but how many of these children are given the opportunity to grow and become decent caring citizens is up to the parents to choose. Looking at the system I have seen my share of abused, neglected and starved for love children. Our foster homes for children are bursting at the seams - some of these foster homes are less than perfect - some people will foster for the sake of $$$$ and not the love of the child. If you think children are blind to this fact, think again. This is why they run away from their foster homes most times.
What this man did is appalling and indescribable, but searching back to his chilhood one might find that the parents are the ones who should be punished alongside him. And I am in no way excusing what he did, the death penalty does seem too good - I always like to take a closer look behing the facts presented. I think his chilhood might be filled with more than unhappiness. Violence begets violence - indifference begets indifference and a lack of nurturing brings a whole host of other mental afflictions.
When teachers start complaining that a child is acting up in class you can start looking at that child's homelife and lack of nurturing or caring, if truth be told, we only see the surface of what this child has been through until his school years begin.