OT: Story of Rochester Football Player Kidnapped and Tortured
Wow, I had heard absolutely nothing about this story before reading the article this morning. I won't ruin the story too much, but it is an incredible read, and sure looks like a case where a higher-end football player is prioritized over the team and his teammates, and this leads to a ridiculous crime, a case of mistaken identity, and a kidnap and torture scenario straight out of a Hollywood Movie in its level of gruesomeness.
http://www.espn.com/espn/feature/story/_/id/19760676/university-rochest…
Considering how hard the school tried to bury it.
Terrifying scenario with terrifying people. I can't even imagine going through something like that. There are some messed up, evil people out there.
time I had heard anything about this story and read the ESPN article on it. Wow simply horrible what these two guys went through all because of mistaken identity. Glad the police were able to figure it out before they were killed.
The evil on display is stunning. The psychopath with 155 years should be a case study somewhere. Hope for the victims recovery, the physical injuriess and posttraumatic stress sound terrible.
Like most of you, this was my first time hearing about this. It is truly sickening. Thoughts and prayers for the victims as they deal with this the rest of their lives.
That's why a good rule of thumb is to just stay the fuck away from drugs. Or if you're going to be stupid enough to do drugs, don't fuck with your dealer or their supply. That line of work never tends to draw honorable, good-natured people who are quick to forgive. That's also why a lot of stories you hear on the 6:00 news about drug dealers end with people killing each other.
You fuck with your dealer or with someone's supply, you'd better make yourself disappear and fast. When they find you, they are going to take more than their share out of you.
The photo of the blood covered iron was especially disturbing. The depravity of a mind that can turn an everyday household item into an instrument of torture is unsettling.
They say the bathroom is the most deadly room in the house. Wet surfaces + tile/stone + electrical tools + often in there early/late in the day = almost certain death.
Read this story early this morning. Wow. Just wow. This Isaiah Smith kid will have to live with this for the rest of his life, and I'm guessing he'll be thinking about it a lot in prison over the next 14 years. The judge was right. He may not have been the one to commit the act of torture, but he is directly responsible for it happening. He ruined his life, and what's worse, he ruined two others to go along with it.
As for the ringleader, I know some out there will pull the "judge not less ye be judged" shtick, but there is very little you can say to convince me that this guy should not be executed. I know NY does have the death penalty, but he's a completely amoral, violent psychopath. Someone I would never trust being out on the streets again. The guy laughed off being sentenced to 155 years in prison, so I don't think he really cares about what he did or has any kind of remorse for his actions.
He's one more mouth to feed, and costs that much more in taxpayer dollars to keep alive.
My feeble mind immediately started racing for reasons why this couldn't have happened to me or couldn't happen to someone close to me. Natural human reaction I guess.
But in the end, it has nothing to do with football, Rochester (at first I thought they were referring to Rochester, MI) or anything else specific to this crime. These guys just happened to be at the wrong place at the wrong time - just tragically bad luck.
I don't know if it was a random act of violence and "wrong place, wrong time" so much as it was that the captors thought Kollias had to do with the botched drug deal, so he and his teammate were kidnapped as revenge. Unfortunately these guys just lived in the apartment where it happened, so in that manner I guess it was wrong place wrong time.
Doesn't make it all any less tragic, but my guess is that the kidnappers were not the sharpest tools in the box, and that once they found out Kollias and the unnamed player were completely uninvolved, they weren't going to let them go. They were already in too deep, and they knew if they let them go, they would go straight to the police. So they might as well rob the kids blind while they're at it and then, once they've got all their money, "dispose of the evidence." I'm just guessing that this is what they were thinking.
I remember sitting there thinking after the bank denied this Kollias' request to transfer his money, that bank unknowingly saved his life. Had they gotten all of his money that night, I think he'd be dead right now.
in terms of the whole situation. These guys are just going about their lives as students and athletes and suddenly they are thrust into a life and death situation through no fault of their own.
The father of a friend of ours in Texas had a very similar situation. His daughter (our friend's sister) was in the middle of a divorce and the soon to be ex-husband was harassing / staulking her. The father goes to the ex's house to tell him to leave his daughter alone.
The guy puts a gun to his head and basically does the same thing that these guys did. Kidnapping, extreme violence, sexual torture, etc... It was horrific. The father is ok now in terms of his physcial injuries but has been mentally scarred for life.
Wow. I'm really sorry to hear that. I'm guessing that's why in situations like these, it's best to just leave it to the police to handle. At the end of the day, you never know who you're really dealing with. Especially with someone who has clear signs of mental issues. Their minds don't work like ours, and the thought of consequences for your actions, or even the difference between right and wrong, may not even register with them.
The human mind is a powerful tool, but it can also be downright deadly if everything isn't working the way it's supposed to.
Well this story sure makes me proud to be from the area........definitely heard alot about this as it was happening, but never with the details this story describes....absolutely insane
and psychopaths scattered liberally throughout society, in all walks of life, across all geography. Rochester just happened to have one or two of them.
The thing is, back when i played in college ('99-'03), we played the U of R every year, and they never, NEVER would admit a kid like that in the first place. It's a great school, almost on par with the NESCAC schools (Williams, Amherst, etc) with a top notch medical school AND the eastman school. Somewhere along the line in the mid to late 2000s, a lot of the D3 schools in the area started pouring resources into football, and the U of R responded accordingly. It's not just D1 schools who admit questionable characters for the sake of winning games anymore
This type of stuff and Sandusky keeps my faith in the death penalty.
I googled Smith and his bio is still on the Rochester athletic webpage. At least it was this morning. Nice going, Rochester.
It couldn't be mistaken identity. The unidentified player in question is black and one of the kidnapped guys is white.
some folks need to go to jail - including University employees - and others, let's just say I'm ok w/ capital punishment. I don't believe the worst of these folks can be rehabilitated and will always be a threat to others.
I subscribe to the Chicago Tribune, and remember reading the story back in February. Didn't think to link it here. The link is above. For those of you who want more, it has a slightly different perspective . . . iirc, it focused on Kollias' will to live, and not to die.
There is in the culture this certain thing about being robbed or disrespected or something. It seems especially prevalent in the underclass and drug culture. The point is, there is "revenge" that spirals way out of control. People feel they have been wronged, or held down, or something else, which in their minds, makes their response justifiable. Living in the Chicago 'burbs, I shake my head at some of the lawlessness and violence in our fair city. Gangbangers against other gangs, drug dealers, robbery, etc. It bothers me that some gangs who have been "wronged" or lost one of their own now target young children of those in other gangs. This was one of the worst cases in Chicago about a year ago.
I also have seen how messing around with drugs bears lots of bad, bad fruit. I know many readers here enjoy marijuana, and that's their prerogative. I'm sure it brings pain relief in some cases. But personally, I'm not a fan of giving passes to those who abuse alcohol or marijuana or drugs. There are tons of excuses and reasons (hey, it isn't hurting anybody . . . just to relax, just to have fun, just to party, just to be one of the gang.) And then you have a drunk driver killing or maiming others, and you have an aggrieved drug dealer punishing those who "cheated" them, and it all turns sour. In some ways, I feel worst for the one girl who got involved (friend of the girl who was dating one of the main perps.) She got in way over her head, and now has a felony conviction and a sentence of 12 plus years. And for what? Smh. I also think that Smith was a punk who got it way over his head.