So I was laying by the fire, warming the family jewels and thinking of everything that’s happened in the year since my last Christmas greeting to the readers of People You’ll See In Hell. I recalled with a smile the many flame wars we had this year, with some of the most pathetic trolls, friends and family members I’ve seen on PYSIH.

Who can ever forget James, the man who had the answers to how we should deal with drunk drivers who kill innocent people. His solutions, which basically added up to getting a note signed by your parents and promising that you will never, ever do that again – pinky finger to God, left a lot to be desired, but they were an endless source of amusement.

TIPPET FOUND GUILTY, JUDGE SAYS STORY “UNBELIEVABLE”
excerpts of the article by Joel Wiebe – MyKawartha.com

Hearing Justice Bruce Glass declare Stanley Tippett a guilty man is what the grandmother of the 12-year-old girl he sexually assaulted says is the best Christmas present.

Justice Glass convicted Mr. Tippett of all counts against him, which include sexual assault, sexual interference, kidnapping, dangerous driving, failing to stop, and two breaches of court orders.

Mr. Tippett was driving through Peterborough’s south end during the early morning hours of Aug. 6, 2008, when he came upon a drunk 12-year-old girl lying in the middle of the road.

JUDGE GRANTS ORLEWICZ A NEW TRIAL
excerpts from the article by Brad Kadrich – The Observer

Three days before Christmas, Wayne County Circuit Court Judge Bruce Morrow delivered the present Jean Pierre Orlewicz has been hoping for since his murder conviction last year.

Morrow on Tuesday issued an opinion granting Orlewicz’s motion for a new trial, saying psychiatric evidence ruled inadmissible by the original trial judge, Annette Berry, should have been allowed and granting the defense’s motion for the new trial.

Orlewicz’s appellate attorney, Elizabeth Jacobs, had argued that keeping such testimony out of the original trial was tantamount to denying Orlewicz proper counsel.

On Tuesday, following a hearing that stretched over several months, Morrow agreed.

THREE FRIENDS RECEIVE DECADES IN PRISON FOR MURDER PLOT
excerpts of an article by Jack Thurston – WCAX Channel 3, Vermont

NORTH HAVERHILL, N.H. — The Grafton County Courthouse had to bring in extra chairs to accommodate all the friends and relatives of Christopher Gray, the 25-year old Groton, Vermont man stabbed to death 14 months ago. They came to watch the sentencing of Timothy Smith, Anthony Howe, and Amber Talbot, all charged with plotting and carrying out the murder because Gray had flirted with Talbot.

“Multiple defendant murder cases in New Hampshire are definitely the exception as opposed to the norm,” said New Hampshire Assistant Attorney General Jeffrey Strelzin.

DURING GUILTY PLEA, ACTRESS’S KILLER CHANGES STORY TO ROBBERY
excerpts from an article by Anemona Hartocollis – The New York Times

His original confession had the ring of truth: He was an illegal immigrant working on a renovation job in a Greenwich Village building when the imperious woman upstairs confronted him over construction noise.

They argued. She scratched him. Panicked that she would call the police and that he would be deported, he punched her and pushed her to the floor. Mistakenly thinking he had killed her, he hanged her from the shower rod of her bathroom, in a staged suicide.

HARRIS SENTENCED TO LIFE IN PRISON
excerpts from an article by the KTIV Channel 4 Staff

SIOUX CITY, Iowa – The Sioux City man convicted of killing his two step-daughters will spend the rest of his life in prison without the possibility of parole.

In fact, a judge sentenced Lawrence Douglas Harris, Senior, to two consecutive life sentences for strangling and stabbing Alysha and Kendra Suing last January.

Before the sentencing only one witness was called to the stand to read their victim impact statement.

It was Alysha and Kendra Suing’s mother.

It’s the first time Marla Stroman took the stand in this case.

As Marla Stroman walks to the stand she says writing her victim impact statement was a difficult one.

FINAL DUNBAR VILLAGE RAPE DEFENDANT SENTENCED TO 30 YEARS
excerpts of an article by Susan Spencer-Wendel – The Palm Beach Post

Avion Lawson faced a minimum of 49 years under state sentencing guidelines for his guilty pleas in the savage gang rape upon a Dunbar Village woman and her son.

Prosecutors at his sentencing this morning, asked for a term of 50 years as the victim wished.

A defense attorney, emphasizing Lawson’s age — 14 — and immaturity at the time of the crime, asked for a stunning term of 10 years.

A judge, in the end, landed right in between.

Circuit Judge Krista Marx sentenced Lawson to 30 years in prison followed by 10 years probation. Lawson’s three co-defendants who, unlike him, were convicted after a trial, all received life terms from Marx.

GEORGE THOMAS SENTENCED TO LIFE WITHOUT PAROLE FOR CHRISTIAN-NEWSOM MURDERS
excerpts of a story by Jamie Satterfield – The Knoxville News-Sentinel

There were no celebrations Thursday as a Hamilton County jury announced the fate of convicted killer George Thomas.

Instead, an air of resignation and regret-tinged relief hung in Knox County Criminal Court as the jury foreman declared the panel’s decision to spare the life of Thomas, 26, but order him to stay forever behind bars.

“There are no winners in this case,” Thomas’ defense team of Tom Dillard and Steve Johnson said in a statement.

On that, the families of slain couple Channon Christian, 21, and Christopher Newsom, 23, agreed.