Colin Ferguson Guide, Meaning , Facts, Information and Description
Colin Ferguson was convicted of the December 7, 1993 shooting of 25 people aboard the 5:33 pm Long Island Rail Road commuter train out of Penn Station, at Merillon Avenue station in Garden City, New York. He killed six passengers (Denis McCarthy, James Gorycki, Amy LoCicero, Theresa Magtoto, Richard Nettleton, Mikyung Kim) and wounded nineteen during the mass murder. Ferguson was wrestled to the floor of the train by three men, as he reloaded his Ruger P-89 9mm pistol for the third time, and held until the arrival of police. The gun had been legally purchased.
Ferguson's defense counsel had proposed an innovative defense that he had been driven to temporary insanity by black rage, and that he should not be held criminally liable, even though he had committed the killings. However, Ferguson insisted that he had not committed the shootings and chose to represent himself. Ferguson's attorney was quoted in the Associated Press (August 12, 1994) as saying,
Trial
Although more than a dozen witnesses testified that he was the shooter, Ferguson argued that he was being framed, maintaining that someone had stolen his gun while he slept and shot the passengers. "This is", he said, "a case of stereotyped victimization of a black man and the subsequent conspiracy to destroy him."
Some argue that Ferguson's attack was a hate crime, pointing to extensive personal writings by him expressing hatred for white people. However, the case was not prosecuted as such, causing many to argue that there is a double standard in the handling of hate crimes.
Before the trial, William M. Kunstler and Ronald L. Kuby attempted to argue that Ferguson was driven to mental illness through years of living in an oppressive and racist society. They argued that Ferguson's insistence on representing himself and not pleading insanity demonstrated his psychological incompetence to stand trial. This position was rejected by the presiding judge Donald E. Belfi . Ferguson was found competent to stand trial at the Nassau County Court.
Ferguson argued that the 93 counts he was charged with were related to the year 1993, and thus the charges had been fabricated by the prosecution. He also argued that a mysterious black man, with the same residential address, had committed the crimes. Later, he argued that a white man had committed the crimes. He called witnesses that identified him as the killer, and spoke to them in such a way as to provoke them to reiterate that identification time and again. Reporters described these moments of Ferguson's defense as "bizarre" and "surreal".
Ferguson was sentenced to 200 years in prison, on February 17, 1995. At the sentencing, Judge Belfi called Ferguson a "selfish, self-righteous, coward."
Carolyn McCarthy, whose husband Denis McCarthy was killed by Ferguson, and whose son, Kevin McCarthy, was severely injured, was subsequently elected to the United States Congress on a platform of gun control. Some of Ferguson's other victims and their family members have also become involved in gun control efforts.
The death penalty was established in New York following the massacre.
Colin Ferguson is also the name of a Canadian actor. This is an Article on Colin Ferguson. Page Contains Information, Facts Details or Explanation Guide About Colin Ferguson Additional Quotes