Talk:Murder of Ruth Pelke

A fact from Murder of Ruth Pelke appeared on Wikipedia's Main Page in the Did you know column on 1 June 2007. The text of the entry was as follows:

Did you know... that Paula Cooper, sentenced to death at age 15, had her sentence commuted in 1989 after an international uproar ensued and Pope John Paul II appealed to the Governor of Indiana for leniency?

A record of the entry may be seen at Wikipedia:Recent additions/2007/June.

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Untitled[edit]

The James McNew linked to does not appear to be any kind of prosecutor, past or present, but a bass player for a rock group. Suggest some form of disambiguation. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 66.213.255.190 (talk • contribs) 23:32, 31 May 2007

Done, thanks for the suggestion. (we don't have an article on this James McNew, so it's just a redlink for now) --W.marsh 23:37, 31 May 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Article should be "The murder of Ruth Pelke"[edit]

I thought Wikipedia puts the focus on the victims now? Most of the other murder articles do. I know this girl was only 15, but a teenage killer is not a rare story, just the death penalty:

"Cooper, age 15, devised a scheme with her friends to obtain money. They went to the home of a 78 year old Bible teacher and, armed with a knife, asked her to write down information about her Bible classes. Cooper then knocked her to the floor from behind, struck her with a vase, cut her arms and legs, then stabbed her in the chest and stomach 33 times. Cooper and the other girls searched the house for money. Cooper took $10 and Pelke's car.

Released from prison:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2342772/Paula-Cooper-Murderer-sentenced-death-row-16-killing-Ruth-Pelke-78-released-prison.html

— Preceding unsigned comment added by 108.184.252.247 (talk) 10:44, 17 June 2013 (UTC)[reply]

"Paula Cooper got on top of her and kept saying to her, and this is her own admission, 'Where's the money, b----?'" Crawford said. When Pelke responded that she didn't have any money, Crawford said Cooper "started torturing her, slicing her with the butcher knife across her chest." As Pelke lay on the floor, Crawford said the investigation revealed, "she was saying the Lord's Prayer as she died." Cooper and the three other teen girls — Denise Thomas, 14, Karen Corder, 16, and April Beverly, 15 — fled with about $10 and Pelke's car. The were arrested days later, Crawford said, after bragging about the killing.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2013/06/16/indiana-woman-sentenced-to-death-at-age-16-will-leave-prison-after-24-years/2427531/ — Preceding unsigned comment added by 108.184.252.247 (talk) 11:37, 17 June 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Other participants[edit]

How many were there? What were they each convicted of? Juvenile or adult sentencing? How long did they each serve? Rmhermen (talk) 06:21, 28 May 2015 (UTC)[reply]