Tomorrow, the city of Philadelphia is burying a police officer killed in the line of duty.
Last Tuesday, Highway Patrol Officer Patrick McDonald was shot to death after a routine traffic stop in a bad neighborhood. The city is furious, and rightfully so—the killer, Daniel Giddings, had an extensive and violent criminal history. He was convicted of robbery and aggravated assault in 2000 for carjacking and kneecapping the victim in the process. Yet Giddings was paroled from a maximum-security prison to a halfway house on August 18, 2008, which he promptly fled.
On August 27, Philadelphia police pulled Giddings over for a traffic violation in a car that was later discovered to be stolen. He fled on foot and ducked into a house. Giddings struggled with police, injured two cops, and escaped. A warrant was issued for his arrest.
Gidddings’ mother said the criminal vowed he was never going back to prison.
So when the car Giddings was riding in was pulled over for a broken tail light on September 23, he bolted again. Officer Patrick McDonald radioed for backup and pursued him on foot. The officer caught up with the criminal, and Philadelphia Homicide Capt. James Clark described what happened next:
“Mr. Giddings pulled out a .45-caliber semiautomatic, shooting the officer, striking him several times,” Clark said. “The officer went down, and then he stood over him and executed him, shooting him several more times.”
Giddings seized a bicycle and rode up the street, where he was confronted by three motorcycle cops. Giddings threw the bike at one cop, and started shooting at another, Officer Richard Bowes. Bowes returned fire. When it was over, Bowes was wounded and Giddings was dead.
Violent behavior started young
Daniel Giddings’ first conviction was for beating and robbing a mentally disabled man in 1991. Giddings, at the time, was 10 years old.
Articles in the Philadelphia Inquirer recount Giddings’ continuing life of violence:
- Gidding spent his youth in and out of juvenile institutions. He was charged several times with assaulting staff, sending some of them to the hospital.
- He told the court in 2000 that he sold drugs on the corner, raised pit bulls for fighting, and gambled.
- While in prison for the robbery and assault charges, Giddings was charged with disciplinary problems 27 times and spent 537 days in solitary confinement. He had been moved from medium-security prisons to a maximum-security prison.
- Giddings was found guilty of 13 misconduct charges between 2001 and 2006, including stealing from cellmates, assault, passing sharpened metal objects to another inmate and other offenses.
- Before going to prison at age 17, he fathered three children.
- Psychiatric evaluations described him as highly self-centered and manipulative. He was not, however, impulsive. His violence was planned and deliberate.
Shaping up to get out
So how did this guy get out? Twice, Giddings cleaned up his act long enough for authorities to think he had changed.
The first time came in 2000, during his trial for carjacking and kneecapping the victim. Giddings faced a potential sentence of 22½ years to 45 years in prison. During the sentencing, Assistant District Attorney Joseph Coolican told Common Pleas Court Judge Lynn B. Hamilton there was no reason to believe it would ever be safe to release Giddings.
“From what I have seen in the four years of prosecuting violent crime, I have never seen an individual who presents a higher risk of re-offending,” Coolican said.
Although the judge was alarmed at Gidding’s criminal history, she was impressed by his grades in finishing his high school diploma while in custody. She gave Giddings the minimum mandatory sentence—six to 12 years.
For the first six years in prison, Giddings racked up all those disciplinary charges. But after 2006, he entered drug and alcohol counseling, participated in group counseling, took courses in anger management, citizenship, violence prevention, victim awareness and parenting.
The Philadelphia Inquirer interviewed Susan McNaughton, a spokeswoman for the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections. “You have to look at his overall situation,” she said. “The fact that he was misconduct-free for the last couple of years was good, and he had completed a lot of programs.”
War on judges
The mayor of Philadelphia is outraged that Giddings was paroled. The governor of Pennsylvania, Ed Rendell, has ordered a review of the parole board’s decision. And the city’s Fraternal Order of Police has declared war on “L” judges, as in liberal, lenient or light-sentence.
The FOP is demanding a comprehensive review of sentencing practices of Philadelphia judges. But although the cops are justifiably angry, they’re fighting the wrong battle. What is really needed is a comprehensive education program for the judges and parole board members to teach them about psychopaths.
The behaviors exhibited by Daniel Giddings are the behaviors of a psychopath.
Psychopaths do not change.
It’s that simple.
For more information on this case, see the following articles in the Philadelphia Inquirer:
Patrick McDonald shot to death; 2nd cop wounded; gunman slain
Phila. Officer’s killer “just evil,” commander says
From age 10, a life of violence
Rendell wants review of Giddings’ parole
Are you an “L” judge? The FOP wants war
I completely agree, Donna.
What we also need is for criminal defense attorneys to remember that getting “justice” for their client doesn’t really mean to “get them off scot-free.” Putting criminals back on the streets to further harm is not what our founding fathers had in mind…nor what the vast majority of regular, law-abiding citizens want either.
The Fake Rockefeller’s atty makes me want to hurl:
http://www.cnn.com/2008/CRIME/09/29/rockfeller.indicted.ap/index.html
Police officer shot here in Chicago today. Pretty much the same MO and Profile of killer.
http://www.nbc5.com/news/17579381/detail.html?dl=mainclick
Update this happen on Sunday…
A guy who was a patient at the clinic I work at was an obvious threat and was diagnosed as a psychopath already. He admitted he enjoyed inflicting pain and had attacked friends, family members and even his own mother. this happended about 10 times before his probation officer pulled some strings and got him remanded because he was a danger to the public, this was so difficult to do and went on for months
The Trojan HOrse Psychopath was PROFESSIONALLY DIAGNOSED as a ASPD. He has been in and out of prison and jail since age 17. He has been convicted of sexual assualt on kids 3 times. He was labeled “high risk for violence” in Texas.
After he got out of prison the last time, he was NOT on parole because Texas had held him to the last possible moment before releasing him, which left him completely “free.”
Within one year after his last release he had acquired a gun from my DIL and tried to kill my son, her husband, and was back to prison. He ONLY got a 3 year sentence (no trial) and within less than one year, the ARKANSAS PAROLE BAORD was going to approve his parole. They violated their OWN RULES by not allowing me to speak, and parole him.
HOWEVER, there was some BIG MOUTHED old biddy (guess who!) found out tht they had VIOLATED Arkansas Act 679 tht says “No sexual offender shall be paroled to a half way house” (which was his “parole plan” and only option for a place to stay) So this BIG MOUTHED AN GRY INDIVIDAUAL CALLED THE PAROLE BOARD and said “If he is released on parole in violation of rule 679 I will have themedia on the capitol steps and I will be SCREAMING YOUR NAMES.”
HIS PAROLE WAS REVOKED.
He will be out though in the spring/summer of 2010 and “free” though he will still be required to register as a sexual offender.
I realize that the judges and parole officers have HORRIBLE JOBS. However, I think that they need to realize that 70% of the violent crime in the US is committed by psychopaths who continue to do it and do it and do it. These people should be sentenced in a “three strikes” and you are out—life without parole.
Plus, for the first two offenses they should get MAXIMUM sentences and be busted for parole violations and not given another parole chance.
Prosecutors should not plea bargain Psychopaths out to low level crimes when the crime is violent.
Judges can “stack” multiple sentences.
Let the non violent criminals get parole, and let the violent criminals get NO PAROLE, they have proven they are viscious.
Ox Drover what is Trojan Horse Psychopath?
Dear Moraira,
I’m sorry, the man that my son sent to kill me (my P-son is in prison for murder and thus couldn’t come himself) “infiltrated” our family as a “friend.” He rented a house from me (at the time I had 2 rental houses) and then started infiltrating our family like the Trojan Horse, so I dubbed him the Trojan Horse P, sort of like another girl on here dubbed her P the “Bad Man” (the intials for that are BM, which I think is appropriate! LOL) Another friend of mine calls her X the “Jerk” and so on. It is just a good way to not even have to say their names. My sons C and D refer to my P-son as their “X-brother.” My son C met his wife on the internet and I refer to her as the Cyber-Bride, and her personality disordered daughter is th e “Devil Child”) just sort of a sick sense of humor. LOL
thats terrible that he sent someone to kill you, its like in a film, you should write a book about it. I bet their would be some good sreenplays from all the stories here
Moraira,
My story is so bizare that even my new therapist had to have me bring in court documents and a witness that I was not a “flaming paranoid nut case” (he used kinder words, but that was the gist of the story!) LOL
If I did write a book about it (have no intention of doing so) no one would believe it, it is too crazy for words! But you know what I can look back at most of it and actually laugh. In retrospect it is almost funny. At the time I was a “basket case” but I am a survivor! So are you! Hang in there!
That is really sad about that cop in chicago.. a nice guy and a dad.
sighs
I felt nobody would believe my life was in danger when my first husband was in the process of being excluded from my life. My stress showed so much though.. I felt I just had to get out of that house. I moved in with a man I had only been dating for about a month, a really nice guy…he was in the army and a hunter, he had shotguns, rifles and even a crossbow hanging up all over the place.. I felt very safe there, and slept well for the first time since I don’t know when.
I probably would never have left that new bf, except for the fact that I felt our small town was just not big enough for me and my ex.. I had gotten out of the house, but it just wasn’t far enough away for me.. so I moved to the other side of the state.