“Jared Lee Loughner is set to plead guilty Tuesday in the shooting attack that severely wounded Rep.Gabrielle Giffords,” latimes.com reports. “Mental health officials believe [that after force-feeding Loughner anti-psychotics] he is now competent to understand the charges against him in the assault, which killed six people and injured 13 at a gathering with the congresswoman’s constituents in Tucson.” Which freed the killer to cut a deal for life in prison, as opposed to the death penalty. One can imagine that the arrangement will not please many of Loughner’s victims, their loved ones or survivors of the attack. Nor, it would seem, Loughner himself . . .
Once, advised he might face the death penalty, Loughner sobbed for nearly an hour. “I want to die,” he said. “Give me the injection now. Kill me now.”
Newly released documents reveal that the murderer was sane at the time of the killing.
“The indictment said a search of Loughner’s home turned up a letter hidden in a safe in which Giffords thanked him for attending an earlier Congress On Your Corner event. Also in the safe was an envelope with handwriting that said, ‘I planned ahead’ and ‘My assassination’ and Giffords’ name.”