With that in mind, how about Sunday's story on Swanson's past by Staci Hupp? What is the purpose of this story? To tell you he was a troubled youth? To tell you he was a middle class kid? To tell you he was a potential nutjob? Oh, we're getting warmer now.
No, I believe this story was to gain support amongst Iowans that, darn tootin', the kid was insane!
Yes, indeed. The Des Moines Register is helping lay the groundwork to create public acceptance of the inevitable insanity defense!
Look at these examples:
A friend once watched in horror as Swanson dismembered a squirrel with pliers and a razor blade while the caged animal was alive.See what I mean? The kid was crazy! The Des Moines Register said so!
Second chances came and went with court-ordered counseling, mental health treatment and, most recently, a stint at a facility for delinquent boys...
...The day before the shootings, Swanson walked home after a shift at Cub Foods and allegedly stole his mother's Jeep Cherokee and debit card, according to police.
Authorities say the teen then drove more than 200 miles north to the family cabin, broke in and stole a rifle and possibly other weapons...
...Authorities say they don't know why the teen was in Iowa, what route he took or whether his alleged crimes were drug-fueled. Swanson was known to get high on psychedelic mushrooms and marijuana...
...Perhaps most troubling for the families of Swanson and the victims are questions about what triggered such a seemingly random crime - and Swanson's unsettling reaction to the attention it drew.
Video footage of the skinny, sandy-haired teenager, smiling as he was led in handcuffs to the Kossuth County Courthouse in Algona, appeared on televisions last week across Iowa, Minnesota and the rest of the nation.
"He laughs at everything tragic," said Devin Wynn, 18, who grew up in Swanson's neighborhood. "No matter what trouble he was in, he never shows remorse."
...Police were called to the Swanson home 10 times in the past five years to investigate reports of assault, theft and weapons violations, officials say. Swanson's parents, Robert and Kathleen, have no criminal history. His two older brothers live on their own...
...A neighbor boy who said he tried to steer Swanson down the right path recently requested a no-contact order against him after Swanson allegedly blamed the boy for pawning electronics that Swanson had stolen from his own home.
The same boy, a juvenile who declined to be identified by name in this article, said he watched Swanson pull off the arms, leg and head of a squirrel about two years ago.
"I was really disgusted," the boy said. "I didn't think it was a sign that he could be crazy."
...He said Swanson by then was getting high on psychedelic mushrooms, cocaine and marijuana and doing "weird, creepy things."
Swanson stood up in their sixth-grade class and pulled down his pants to expose his genitals...
...Swanson's mental health history has not been made public, and it's unclear what role it will play at his two trials in Iowa...
...Bill Parkhill, a neighbor who says he was a friend of Robert Swanson, said the couple did "everything possible" for their son, including treatment for emotional problems.
He believes the Swansons have been blamed unfairly for their son's alleged actions.
This is all so predictable.
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