Cruel and unusual punishment? In whose eyes?

Life without the possibility of parole.

To some this may seem like an unjust, harsh punishment. A tough love consequence, some may even consider Nicole Marie Beecroft a martyr. An ill-prepared teenager who finds herself pregnant and tells no one. A 17 year old girl who- while stunned in fear and shock delivers her baby alone on the floor of her mothers laundry room at 3 a.m. the morning of April 10, 2007, and then conveniently grabs a knife and proceeds to stab the infant 135 times (after she see’s it’s finger move) before wrapping it in a plastic garbage bag to toss it out amongst the useless trash to be collected on the next pick up day.

Hmmm, baby in garbage, no one heard or saw a thing, life will just go on as normal! And so it began…..

How a teenager hides a pregnancy for a complete 9 months from her parents, who I assume she see’s and speaks to every day since she lived at home, is beyond me. The excuses are tiring. “Oh, it was hard to tell because she was so chubby to begin with”. I am sorry, that’s not acceptable. Where was Kari Beecroft, Nicole’s mother those 9 months her daughter was pregnant and what was she doing? Certainly not paying attention, even in a large person, the signs and symptoms of pregnancy go well beyond weight gain.

Following the tip reported by one of Nicole’s co-workers (Yes, she is a kid who showed enough responsibility in getting and working a job), when police went to the home and spoke to Kari Beecroft, she explained the adult diapers her daughter were using –away. Stating simply that Nicole had a heavy period. Are you serious? Are you kidding me? And in the same sequence, I wonder just what Nicole thought about buying grown up diapers instead of pampers? It certainly had to be an odd moment.

Initially, Nicole considered dropping the baby off at a hospital, an option  that she had  but chose to shun. What harm would have been done? Minnesota’s safe haven law, allows a parent to bring their child to a hospital within 72 hours after its birth- no questions asked, no future responsibility. She opted out of this possibility and instead took a different road. One encompassed with deep disturbances. She had the option to terminate this unwanted pregnancy, and I would laugh to hear that it was against her religion to have an abortion; given that the baby’s physical condition was in equitable condition in the end.

Defense attorney’s do, just what they are paid to do. Act in the best interest of their client, all along they conceded she was just as much of a victim- though of a different nature, and should be spared the totality of what kind of punishment suits this particular crime.  This isn’t a case in which we can empathize or sympathize but one rather, that swells with political posterity. Although her defense team continued to argue that the baby was born already deceased throughout the trial, medical evidence and investigative reports proved that to be wrong. Because a life sentence without possibility of parole in Minnesota maintains an automatic appeal, I am sure they will continue to beat that horse despite. There is no support to argue that Nicole’s decision lacked malice. Lacked forethought. Lacked planning. It was intentional, 100%.

Understanding trauma, I can’t fathom why Nicole didn’t take the stand in her own defense, to support the plausibility that she was in some form of mental duress and murder seemed the only viable option at the moment. You would think you would want to explain the psychological condition you were in at the time, after all who’d know it better? Then it struck me, she would have then had to explain the lies she’d been trying to sell throughout the course of this investigation, or lie under oath. Had she testified the outcome would have been the same, the only prospect of anything good having come from that would have been giving answers to the other victims in this case – the baby’s father’s side.

They chose not to read their impact statements in the courtroom, rather the judge read them. Once the guilty verdict came in, and the courtroom cleared Nicole’s family and the child’s father and his family had a confrontation in the hallway, a situation requiring separation. Nicole’s mother was reported to be screaming “Where were you?” to the young man.  I ask again, Kari Beecroft, Where were you?  It was your house, Your child, and a murder at 3 a.m. in your laundry room? Really, where were you? Childbirth is hardly a silent experience.  Negating and minimizing the impact this tragedy had on the child’s father and his family simply clarifies how ignorant and irresponsible Nicole’s mother is.

The punishment Nicole received is not the true tragedy here. Not in anyway. Her life, and she will have one, will now be spent in the Minnesota State Correctional Facility in Shakopee, which is a pretty nice set up if we were to compare other women’s prisons- it’s not even gated. The woman lay out and tan. But finally, she’ll receive the medical and mental health attention she obviously so desperately needs. She’ll get opportunities, she’ll survive, and fortunately never have the chance again, to be a mother.