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Irish presidential candidate Mitchell appealed for clemency for US rapist and murderer

CATHAL DERVAN,

IrishCentral.com Staff Writer

Published Sunday, August 7, 2011, 8:49 AM

Updated Sunday, August 7, 2011, 8:49 AM

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Gay Mitchell

Presidential candidate Gay Mitchell wrote to the US government seeking clemency for a condemned man who kidnapped, raped and murdered an 18-year-old girl. Mitchell is the candidate of Fine Gael, the main party in power.

A letter from Mitchell, personally delivered to the US Embassy in Dublin, pleaded for the life of Louis Joe Truesdale to be saved.

Truesdale was eventually executed after he was convicted in 1980 of the horrendous crime when he forced Rebecca Ann Eudy into his car at gunpoint, shot her four times and raped her as she bled to death.

A spokesman for the Mitchell campaign in Dublin has confirmed to Irish media that the Fine Gael candidate wrote in support of Truesdale due to his opposition to the death penalty "in any circumstances."

Mitchell’s spokesperson told the Sunday Independent that: “The letter was sent in his capacity as the chairman of the Oireachtas Sub-Committee on Human Rights.

“In the letter, he pointed out that of the 3,300 people on death row in the United States in 2003, 46 were women and 58 were juveniles.”

Last week, Irish papers printed a letter from Mitchell pleading for clemency for pro-life campaigner Paul Jennings Hill who was convicted of the murder of two people outside an abortion clinic in 1994.

Hill never expressed remorse for his actions and before his execution he said that he expected "a great reward in heaven" for murdering the two men.

Links between Mitchell and the far right Tea Party in America have also been exposed in recent days.

Mitchell’s office has claimed that Hill’s case drew letters appealing for clemency from "every corner of the globe."

His spokesman added: “Like most people seeking clemency, Mr Mitchell made it abundantly clear that he abhorred Paul Hill’s crime.”

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seanomelbourne | Aug 10, 2011, 07:27 PM EDT

Are you calling him a class deserter? analyse that

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analyser | Aug 09, 2011, 06:56 AM EDT

You obviously know nothing about the Tea Party. Since when is it far right to seek to have a country live within its means? Is it far right to have a balanced budget? Is it far right to seek to do something about the national debt of 16 trillion? Wake up man. America is on the verge of bankruptcy. Your piece on Mitchel is a joke. Mitchel has done nothing wrong. What we have had in recent days is a left wing smear campaign against Mitchel who is pro-life. Its a "give him something to deny" campaign. The left wing smear merchants want to get Mitchel because he is a Christian Democrat. You are attempting to paint Mitchel as a far right politician. You failed to mention that he came from humble working class origins and got himself through university.

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eiriamach | Aug 08, 2011, 06:36 PM EDT

Seanomelbourne put it succinctly: "Choosing who you plead for appears hypocritical."

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eiriamach | Aug 08, 2011, 06:35 PM EDT

LOL, Seanomelbourne: I've never been accused of being succinct! That's a skill I hope to have some day.... when I have less to say?

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seanomelbourne | Aug 07, 2011, 06:31 PM EDT

Succinctly said eiraamach.Chosing who you plead for appears hypocritical.

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eiriamach | Aug 07, 2011, 02:50 PM EDT

“In the letter, he pointed out that of the 3,300 people on death row in the United States in 2003, 46 were women and 58 were juveniles.” Yet he did not send 3,300 letters, or even one other letter asking that the death sentence of a woman or minor be reduced to life in prison. He sent an ideologically motivated letter asking that the death penalty of a cold-blooded and unrepentant anti-abortion murderer be reduced to life in prison. That was not an act of compassion but of far-right politicking. He also sent a letter asking that the life of a rapist and murderer of a young woman be spared. I strongly oppose the death penalty-- for EVERYONE convicted of such offenses-- but I do not recognize Mitchell as an anti-death-penalty advocate or a human rights advocate. Someone who opposes "the death penalty 'in any circumstances'" doesn't limit his intervention to those cases in which a murderer has acted brutally against women or supporters of women's rights. Mitchell's actions define him as a political extremist who will piously draw the mantle of 'human rights' over his keep-women-subservient-and-vulnerable ideology. And his intervention sends a signal to those willing to kill to oppose reproductive rights for women that they have advocates in high places. If you put this man in a position where he can do more of the same, you might as well elect Archbishop Leanza to the Presidency!

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themurphia | Aug 07, 2011, 02:38 PM EDT

In other words Norris was acting in self interest... Mitchell was acting in his official capacity in someone else's interest..Nawi received 6 months and served 3 however it is reported elsewhere that he served 1 month...not quite the same ball park...!

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themurphia | Aug 07, 2011, 02:36 PM EDT

Carroll09:GRMA but It was a sarcastic/rhetorical question...!

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Carroll09 | Aug 07, 2011, 02:27 PM EDT

I presume the point of this article is to show that David Norris (although not mentioned in said article) was not the only politician to ask for clemency for a criminal. Of course that is true. However, I don't recall ever hearing what punishment Mr Norris's then partner would have received for his crime - I presume if death was the penalty it would have been reported in the media which had never ceased to plead his cause. For me, therein lies a crucial difference - what Mr Mitchell did was to request a man to be spared death. Neither were asking for no punishment to be served - that is true - but Mr Mitchell was acting, as the article says, in his capacity as chair of a sub-committee on human rights; Norris was acting as a lover, which, as has been admitted, may have clouded his judgement. There is also the issue that Mr Norris had deceived the Seanad (Senate) as he had not made members aware of his then-partner's crimes - it does not appear that Mr Mitchell operated under this same cloak of deceit.

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themurphia | Aug 07, 2011, 10:13 AM EDT

So the Chairman of the Oireachtas Sub-Committee on Human Rights letter in his capacity as Chairman of that Sub-Committee asking the US Govt o commute the Death Penalty to life imprisonment...Your point is?

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colkelley | Aug 07, 2011, 09:51 AM EDT

Cathal, this is simply a manufactured "scandal" by the left and it makes you look biased and idiotic. You "conveniently" fail to mention at all that the "clemency" for which Mitchell asked was the commutation of the death penalties to life without parole. Since Europe does not have the death penalty and European countries will not allow extradition of suspected murderers facing the death penalty in America (extradited only when American authorities guarantee no possible death penalty) Mitchell was simply doing exactly what any major European political figure would do in asking that the death penalty be commuted to life without parole, not that they be released. Imagine the reaction from the left if Mitchell had written a letter endorsing the death penalty in these cases. This garbage from the left is sort of like the old question, "Have you stopped beating your wife yet?" No matter which way Mitchell went this would be a "scandal" because the left has only scandal and innuendo to use as weapons. What a pity that you are a left-wing mouthpiece with no journalistic standard of truth.

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