KARMA

I agree--KARMA-- I believe in Capital punishment for these kind of offenders and if the law does'nt do it--then let another inmate do it !!

Awful..regardless of what he did!

1. It is impossible to protect everyone all the time especially in prison. He was killed by his cell mate at night. I suppose we should give everyone in jail a private room then?
2. In my opinion (and its just that, an opinion) anyone who perpetuates sexual violence against a child should be put to death. Cal it lowbrow if you want, but I couldn't care less that my tax dollars don't have to pay for another sex offender to get three hots and a cot.

I can't believe some of you are pro child molester. I also can't believe the patch censored my last comment, after seeing what else is posted on this page. SMH

Take Responsibility, meant to reject another not yours. Sorry about that!

I quote the article: "He was serving a six-year sentence after entering an Alford Plea on an attempted second-degree sex offense charge on March 12. An Alford Plea means the defendent acknowledges the state has enough evidence to convict, but maintains his innocence. It qualifies as a finding of guilt. The underlying charges involved inappropriate contact with a boy, age 14, when Tunnell was 19 years old, according to court documents."
He maintained his innocence, and it was only an "attempted" crime. There was only a 5 year difference in age. Most all states statutory is less than 4 years different, so do not mistake me here, I am not condoning his actions, but I can see this as a "by months out of range" statutory crime. There are more than enough he-said, she-said, (in this case both "he's,") cases. Not knowing the full context by what we see here, which is really not a lot, we can't have an opinion that is based in fact. Only thing we all can have here is conjecture. On the other hand, I can never see condoning someone's murder. No matter who the victim is. That blatantly defeats our Constitution's purpose, and heralds in the need for a "1984" style of government. Be careful what you wish for. In other words, I do not advocate for ANY type of crime.

I was Joe (Robert Joseph)'s closest friend. His big brother, if you'd asked him. Joe didn't deserve to die. Joe was only a kid himself. He was still in high school when the offense occurred and was, then and up until the time of his brutal murder, no more than an adolescent mentally, emotionally, and developmentally. Take it from the one who knew him best. He was no child molester. There was a five year age difference. Joe was a good guy at heart, He had given his life to God and was simply going to serve his time, register as a sex offender, and try to carve out some semblance of a peaceful life within the stigma that society has given to an umbrella term for a wide range of sexually based offenses. He did not deserve to be classified with rapists and pedophiles. And He didn't deserve to die. And his poor mother doesn't deserve any of this. A sweet, innocent woman, who has already had to deal with what her son did, and him being locked up (knowing he cannot fend for himself socially with adults, due to his mental problems). Now he's gone forever. This kind soul, my little brother. So if any of you have something to say about Karma, go tell the lady who spent the day yesterday picking out a casket and making funeral arrangement for her 21 year old boy. See what she has to say about Karma.

Karma's a mutha

Being killed by his cell mate is a way less harsh death then he would've faced had it been my son that he molested. I would've included a few weeks of torture first. Maybe if our penal system would kill more sex offenders or didn't offer them protective custody during their stay then these sickos would think twice before raping someone else's child.

I am a victim of incense and later rape. I cannot judge this man I wasn't there and don't know the details. If he did it don't defend them they do not change just kill them. If he didn't I'm sorry he suffered.

This is a terrible sentence: "Police believe his cellmate allegedly killed him." It could be "The police say his cellmate allegedly killed him" or "The police believe his cellmate killed him."

Anyone who has said that Joe Tunnell deserved to die needs to get a grip. He maintained his inncocence for an attempted crime. Not only was he sweet, a man of
God, and scared as hell to be in jail in the first place, a man took his life in the middle of the night after beating him. The fact that you all said "he deserved to die" is disgusting. Would you have taken his life if you were given the chance? A 21 year old mentally ill boy, who was always nice and happy before this all happened, and then makes a mistake deserves death? He did NOT deserve death, and those of you people who think he did are horrible people. I may not have known Joe well, but I know enough to tell you that he didn't deserve this. Nobody deserves how he died or these ridiculous comments. Let him rest in peace.

Thank you, angry. I wish more of these people knew Joe, because that's really the only way they'd understand. He was so joyous and full of life and needed help and guidance, no more and no less.

They really should remove this comment section from the patch. Everytime something happens people of the same "ilk" as the Westboro Baptist Church start their chants of "Hang'em", "String'em up" when those affected are dealing with the loss of a loved one. Hence I moved back to Vermont after living in Maryland for 17 years. Closed mindeness and ignorance run amok in the state of MD.