Man gets 9 years for killing childhood rapist

[alp227]

Source: San Francisco Chronicle

(06-15) 15:34 PDT UKIAH, MENDOCINO COUNTY -- All the years that Aaron Vargas was sexually abused as a boy, and the fact that his hometown of Fort Bragg rallied to his defense after he killed his molester, ultimately had little bearing on the sentence a judge handed down to him Tuesday.

The arguments for leniency struck up against one harsh fact, Judge Ronald Brown said. When Vargas, 32, placed his replica of an antique cap-and-ball pistol against the chest of his childhood rapist, Darrell McNeill, in February 2009 and pulled the trigger, he intended to kill him, the judge concluded - and he wanted the 63-year-old man to die slow and hard.

And with that, Brown sentenced Vargas to nine years in state prison.

More than 60 relatives and friends of Vargas sat wordless in Mendocino County Superior Court, shock on their faces, as the words left Brown's mouth. Some cried quietly.

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/06/15/BARI1DVI41.DTL