On May 24, 2004, 19 year-old Brooke Wilberger vanished without a trace from Corvallis, Oregon near her sister’s home. She was missing for over 5 years before the events of her disappearance would become clear. She was kidnapped, raped repeatedly, and murdered. Her attacker hid her remains in a wooded region of the Coastal Range in Oregon, and upon his conviction in 2009, used the location of her remains as leverage to avoid the death penalty (Associated Press). Some would call this justice, including her grieving, devoutly religious parents; however, capitol punishment supporters such as myself believe that the only fair punishment for her attacker, Joel Courtney, is a death sentence!

Had this monster killed your loved one, could you be as kind as Brooke’s parents, Greg and Cammy Wilberger, to tell a district attorney that you don’t want to pursue the death penalty as long as you can lay your daughter to rest? Could you put your daughter’s murder in God’s hands, as they did? (McCall). I don’t think I could be so generous and forgiving. I would want to pursue the harshest punishment allowed by the law for my child. I view my children as my greatest accomplishment in life, my legacy, and my future. This is why I believe that we as citizens must urge for more strict guidelines to punish convicted rapists and murderers with a death sentence. In my eyes, the 72 month sentence imposed by measure 11 for an aggravated rape conviction just isn’t enough (Haight). While I am a relatively peaceful citizen, I firmly believe that if a person is convicted of aggravated murder or aggravated rape they should die for their crime (Engstrom).

It is my belief that if it were put into effect as an amendment to the law, that all people convicted of aggravated rape or aggravated murder receive the death penalty, Brooke Wilberger and others like her would be alive today. That’s not to say that murderers won’t murder and rapists won’t rape, just that repeat offenders won’t have the opportunity to harm someone else. Joel Courtney had quite a penchant for raping young women. He served time in the Washington county jail in Oregon for sex abuse in 1991. Also, “Courtney was convicted of kidnapping and rape for a similar crime in 2004 in New Mexico” (McCall). His 2004 victim was able to escape and identify her attacker. His own sister reported that he attempted to rape her when he was just 15 years old. Also during his indictment for Brooke’s disappearance and murder in 2009, he was on trial in New Mexico again for rape and murder (King).

Oregon law presently states that a capitol punishment may be pursued by a district attorney after a defendant is found guilty of aggravated murder, with or without the presence of the victim’s body. Other criteria for imposition of the death penalty include the convicted person must be at least 18 years of age, and must be found free of mental disease or defect. However imposition of capitol punishment (the death penalty) requires a hearing where the same 12 jurors who found the person guilty must unanimously agree to sentence the convicted person to death. I strongly urge Oregon law makers to amend that law. While I fully back the trial by jury process, I don’t think that the fate of the convicted should rest on the jury. I think that the death penalty should be a mandatory punishment for every person convicted of aggravated murder (Lane County Crime Victim Services).

In addition to that, I think that any person convicted of aggravated rape should receive the same fate as a person convicted of aggravated murder. According to the victims’ advocacy services center of Lane County, Oregon, the majority of rape victims state that they would prefer that their life end than have to live with the physical and emotional trauma that they have endured. Presently, in Oregon, aggravated rape is a measure 11 crime, punishable by a minimum 72 months in prison. Six years in prison hardly seems to fit as punishment for aggravated rape, especially if the criminal is a repeat offender or has victimized more than one person.

I am currently pursuing and urging Oregon lawmakers to pass a law requiring the imposition of the death penalty for the conviction of all aggravated murder cases, as well as for those convicted of aggravated rape if there is any documented history of violence in the convicted person’s past. Currently there are only 32 men awaiting execution on Oregon’s death row (Oregon DOC). It is my opinion that many more deserve to be there!


Works Cited
Oregon, Department of Corrections, Summary of Death Row Inmates. Salem, State of Oregon 2009 http://www.oregon.gov/DOC/PUBAFF The Associated Press. “Killer Joel Courtney Reveals Body of Victim Brooke Wilberger to Avoid Death Penalty” New York Daily News, 22 Sept. 2009 King, Tim. “Suspect in Brooke Wilberger Case Convicted in New Mexico on Similar Charges” Salem-News.Com http://www.salem-news.com/id=5572 McCall, William. “Wilberger’s mother grateful case over”, The News Register 23 Sept. 2009 Engstrom, Elizabeth. Joel Patrick Courtney http://www.trutv.com/library/crime/serial_killers/predators /joel_courtney/1.html Name withheld at request, Lane County Crime Victim Services, telephone interview, 25 February 2010 Haight, Mark, Deputy to the District Attorney, Lane County District Attorney’s Office, telephone interview, 22 February 2010