Couple Killed by Bounty Hunters

I am horrified that the bounty hunters who murdered two citizens in their home are being charged with second-degree murder. “Phoenix Deaths Reveal Fatal Flaws of Bounty Hunting” (Sept. 3) appears to call for new laws and restrictions on the practice of bounty hunting. If bounty hunters, or gang members for that matter, can break into a house and kill the occupants in their bedroom, then plead mistaken identity and be charged with less than a capital crime, God help us!

Enforce the law against wanton murder. The state should hunt down these criminals and see them executed. Today too often the government wants to pass a new law rather than enforce the existing ones.

J. WILLIAM STINDE

Torrance

* Lost in the sauce of the Princess Diana/paparazzi tragedy was a news item (Sept. 2): In Phoenix, bounty hunters wearing black ski masks and looking for a bail jumper kicked in the front door of a house, held children at gunpoint and shot a young couple to death in a case of mistaken identity. At least in Arizona, bounty hunters (like photographers) need no court order, warrant or license. And of course, all that you do can be tracked on the Internet and elsewhere by various means.

This all goes far beyond celebrities and victims of mistakes. It is about loss of privacy, yours and mine, which the Constitution guarantees along with free speech, a free press and due process of law. Wake up!

THOMAS E. BRAUN

Littlerock, Calif.