Star, newspapers should give information about Skillicorn's crimes, as well as his impending execution

The Kansas City Star and other newspapers which continue to harp on convicted killer Dennis Skillicorn's upcoming execution (one week from today) are writing as if this event is taking place in a vacuum.

While the death sentence is written about in paragraph after paragraph, the crime Skillicorn committed that led him to death row is just being lightly touched on...if it is mentioned at all. And no background is being given on his previous crimes, which have also resulted in murder.

This example comes from today's KC Star article on a court ruling that did not go Skillicorn's way:

Facing execution scheduled for a week from tomorrow, a Kansas City man lost another legal effort today to postpone it.

U.S. District Judge Scott Wright dismissed a suit filed last month on behalf of Dennis Skillicorn challenging the ability of Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon to fairly consider clemency.

Attorneys for Skillicorn contended in the suit that Nixon would be biased in considering clemency because of his former role as Missouri attorney general. They were seeking to have clemency determined by an independent board.

While that obviously should be the main thrust of the story, Skillicorn's brutal crimes are relegated to three one-sentence paragraphs and more time is spent talking about Skillicorn's partner's role in the crime than Skillicorn's.

While I have never been a fan of capital punishment, there is a reason it exists, and Dennis Skillicorn was no innocent bystander, as I have noted in previous posts.