We finally have a photo of Paul and Lidia Marino, provided by their family for this story:
For couple slain in cemetery, visiting son’s grave was a daily ritual
The Marino’s were born in 1934 (Paul) and 1935 (Lidia). Lidia was born the same year as my father. Paul worked as a lithograph printer and Lidia was a mom who cared for her home and her children. She loved to sew and do needlepoint and cook. Paul was a busy guy when not at work: “He was an accomplished photographer, whose other hobbies included painting, woodburning, playing guitar…”.
They were basically a lot like my parents. My mom, who is now deceased, did needlepoint and made quilts when she was younger, did the laundry and kept the house. My father, who is a retired physician, was a skilled woodworker when he was younger, played the piano and guitar, hunted and shot recreationally. I assume that the Marino’s were like my parents: they never bothered anyone and just wanted to be left alone in return.
In the case of the Marino’s, Paul and Lidia also had a son with cerebral palsy they cared for his entire life until he died in 2017. They visited his grave every day, driving the five miles just across the state line.
For whatever reason, and many of us suspect exactly what the motivation was, a 29 year old black man, Sheldon Francis, who by all accounts had no connection to the Marino’s, chose to walk up behind an elderly white couple while they walked to their son’s grave and about halfway there he shot them in cold blood. The Marino’s son Ray Marino is quoted in the story:
“He came up behind them, pulled out a handgun and did his thing. He shot our dad in the back of the head and then he shot our mom,” Ray outlined. “We don’t know if he shot our mom first in front of our dad or if he shot our dad first in front of our mom. We don’t even know if they saw him.”
If push came to shove, to protect myself or my family I could shoot someone. But to walk up behind an elderly couple and shoot them in the back of the head, unprovoked?
That is something only a sociopath and an animal would do.
Oh, and kudos to Fox News for finally, more than a week after their murder, naming Paul and Lidia Marino.
I find it impossible not to loathe entire demographics on principle for the anti-social bent of the majority within their population, and I am never sorry to hear of them offing one another in their petty squabbles. But to shoot to death two elderly folks of any background who did me no harm and never even crossed my path before? Unthinkable. If this were retaliation for some unforgivable sin, or even a robbery attempt that went horribly wrong, it might make some sense. But this cowardly, soul-less savage clearly had no use for his own life, and rather than do the honorable thing by removing himself from society before he gave in to his evil compulsions, he insisted on taking innocent lives, instead.
I pray that this beast roasts slowly on a spit in the hottest part of hell for all eternity.
TBC
As the boundaries of Western and European civil society unravel, we are going to see more of the baser urges and desires being carried out. Without fear of repercussion, why not? More on this in some upcoming posts.