A Samurai Beheading
He had a full head of curly, medium-brown hair and he stood very straight. His body was
slender, with broad shoulders. This young man looked like an athletic college freshman, with a
neatly pressed blue oxford shirt and an Ivy League-looking tie. The khaki pants he wore were
freshly creased. To look at him, you might have thought that he was rushing off to his school’s
lacrosse or basketball season opener, but this, undeniably, was not the case. The accused, just
twenty years old, was about to receive his verdict. The alleged crime was murder in the second
degree. He stood in New York's Suffolk County's Criminal Court, which attached to the main jail
located in Riverhead, Long Island. This young man had, with two well-aimed chops, nearly cut
off the head of his stepfather with a Samurai sword, killing the man instantly while he napped on
the couch in the family's living room. Had he actually been a student dressed for game day, his
slender, with broad shoulders. This young man looked like an athletic college freshman, with a
neatly pressed blue oxford shirt and an Ivy League-looking tie. The khaki pants he wore were
freshly creased. To look at him, you might have thought that he was rushing off to his school’s
lacrosse or basketball season opener, but this, undeniably, was not the case. The accused, just
twenty years old, was about to receive his verdict. The alleged crime was murder in the second
degree. He stood in New York's Suffolk County's Criminal Court, which attached to the main jail
located in Riverhead, Long Island. This young man had, with two well-aimed chops, nearly cut
off the head of his stepfather with a Samurai sword, killing the man instantly while he napped on
the couch in the family's living room. Had he actually been a student dressed for game day, his
By Michael Domino
© 2007 by Michael Domino
© 2007 by Michael Domino
smooth-faced complexion would not have
been the pasty white of someone who had
just stepped out - nerves shattered and gut
wrenched - from a windowless jail cell to
learn his fate. . Had things been otherwise
and his life ordinary, his skin would have
more likely possessed the healthful, slightly
pink hue of youthful vigor and it would have
blended agreeably with his light blue shirt,
rather than creating a startlingly abnormal
contrast.
During the six-week trial, much was
revealed about the boy's stepfather, a
retired, rough-and-tumble New York City
street cop. He drank heavily and left his
porn lying around the house in plain sight.
He was aggressive in his behavior towards
his family and tried to get his unruly stepson
to toe the line and to behave like a new
police academy recruit should behave
towards a veteran cop with almost twenty
been the pasty white of someone who had
just stepped out - nerves shattered and gut
wrenched - from a windowless jail cell to
learn his fate. . Had things been otherwise
and his life ordinary, his skin would have
more likely possessed the healthful, slightly
pink hue of youthful vigor and it would have
blended agreeably with his light blue shirt,
rather than creating a startlingly abnormal
contrast.
During the six-week trial, much was
revealed about the boy's stepfather, a
retired, rough-and-tumble New York City
street cop. He drank heavily and left his
porn lying around the house in plain sight.
He was aggressive in his behavior towards
his family and tried to get his unruly stepson
to toe the line and to behave like a new
police academy recruit should behave
towards a veteran cop with almost twenty
years on "The Job." His stepson, however, had no intention of joining his fill-in father's
personal little NYPD. His father-wannabe should have been trying harder, instead, to fill the
shoes of a real Dad, not those of “Sarge” patrolling the mean streets of the City of
Yesteryear. His overwhelming presence in the house was reinforced by over two thousand
war relics and weapons on display, lying around like so many toys about the spacious home on
Long Island's North Shore. He did his best to pass off his bizarre obsession with guns, knives,
and swords as the collection of an academic war historian. To the casual observer, he got away
with this, but to those much closer, he was no historian at all. Of course, the prosecution had
paraded witness upon witness in front of the jury, all willing to testify that Sergeant Step-dad
personal little NYPD. His father-wannabe should have been trying harder, instead, to fill the
shoes of a real Dad, not those of “Sarge” patrolling the mean streets of the City of
Yesteryear. His overwhelming presence in the house was reinforced by over two thousand
war relics and weapons on display, lying around like so many toys about the spacious home on
Long Island's North Shore. He did his best to pass off his bizarre obsession with guns, knives,
and swords as the collection of an academic war historian. To the casual observer, he got away
with this, but to those much closer, he was no historian at all. Of course, the prosecution had
paraded witness upon witness in front of the jury, all willing to testify that Sergeant Step-dad
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