Death Penalty "Incentive" Leads to Cellmate Murder

For those of you who think that life without parole isn't sufficient punishment, make sure you're paying attention to this one. Zachariah Melcher, who was serving life without parole for the murder of his pregnant wife and son, strangled his cellmate Nicholas Roman on March 7th. Allegedly, Melcher has cited a desire to be put to death as the reason for his murder. Additionally, he has suggested that he would commit another murder if not given the death penalty for Roman's murder. Sullivan County prosecutor Robert Springer has obliged, filing a death penalty request.

This presents us with an incredible paradox: the death penalty explicitly caused the murder of Nicholas Roman. While we have yet to come up with a consensus on whether or not the death penalty deters, we have a concrete case of a life being taken due to the death penalty. Additionally, as the prosecutor in this case has filed for the death penalty, we should be concerned about a dangerous precedent being set for lifers who want to "escape" their sentence, essentially resulting in an increase of "suicide by murder" akin to "suicide by cop".

This is the third such case having been preceded by Robert Smith and Scott Nicholson. If the state keeps obliging these defendants by filing for the death penalty, we may very well see an increase of these cases and definitive proof of the death penalty, at least within the walls of Indiana prisons, leading to more murders.