AN UNMENTIONABLE KILLER

By Dan Miller
April 17, 2007

By the time this essay is posted, we'll probably know the name of the Virginia Tech killer.

But on Monday, with details of the unthinkable horror on that university campus still unfolding, I personally found it ever so slightly comforting NOT knowing the name -- or seeing a photo -- of the crazed killer.

How sad, I thought, that this man will -- posthumously -- attain a measure of fame.
His name will forever join the shameful list that includes Eric Harris & Dylan Klebold.... Timothy McVeigh.... Jeffrey Dahmer.... Ted Bundy.... Richard Speck.... David Berkowitz.... Paul Dennis Reid.... Lizzie Borden.... Juan Corona.... John Wayne Gacy, and so many others.

Their names are well known.... and will show up in history books far into the future.

Yes, chances are, by the time you read this, we'll have already seen photos of the Virginia Tech killer on television, in newspapers, and soon on the front pages of news magazines.
He'll be well known.
We'll all remember his name.

I can't help but think, perhaps the better choice would be no notoriety whatsoever for this man.
Who knows, by not giving his name, the misguided impulse of another twisted person to "go down in history" with an act of terror and death might just be eliminated.
When referring to the crime, maybe we should say nothing more than, "some evil nut did it."
That's all he should get.

I assure you, I'll never mention his name here in these essays.

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