CBS’ Gayle King should be fired and vicious murderers should be put to death
By Ray Hanania
It’s very upsetting to watch CBS TV’s Gayle King plead for the life of Brandon Bernard who is to be executed today for the 1999 murder of Todd and Stacie Bagley, a married couple in their mid-20s. King never mentioned what Bernard did to deserve the death penalty along with his partner, Christopher Andre Vialva.
Vialva, Bernard and three others tortured the couple for more than seven hours before murdering them in Killeeen, Texas on June 21, 1999. The killers were members of a local street gang in Texas and they sent a 15 year old to stop Bagley’s car and beg for a ride. Once the Bagley’s stopped, four of the others jumped into the car at gunpoint.
They put Todd, a U.S. Veteran, and Stacie in the trunk of the car and drove around for seven hours as the couple pleaded to be released. Instead, the gang members emptied out their bank accounts and stripped the couple of their money and jewelry and clothing.
Vialva shot both Todd and Stacie in the face, killing Todd instantly. Stacie was shot int he mouth after watching her husband being killed by Vialva and Bernard. Bernard had helped Vialva put the Bagleys in the trunk. After Vialva shot them, leaving Stacie bleeding and seriously wounded, Bernard poured lighter fluid on the car and victims and set them on fire to destroy the “evidence.” Staci bleeding from her face was burned alive in the trunk of the car. They said she died from “smoke inhalation” as her skin burned.
From the filed court records:
“Vialva, Bernard, Lewis and Brown drove to an isolated spot in the Belton Lake Recreation Area on the Fort Hood military reservation. Vialva parked the Bagleys’ car on top of a little hill. Brown and Bernard poured lighter fluid on the interior of the car while the Bagleys sang and prayed in the trunk.
“According to Brown, Stacie’s last words were “Jesus loves you” and “Jesus, take care of us.” Vialva crudely cussed at her in reply. Vialva put on his mask, and told Lewis to open the trunk. Vialva then shot Todd in the head with the .40 caliber gun, killing him instantly. Vialva shot Stacie in the right side of her face, knocking her unconscious, but not killing her. Bernard set the car on fire. An autopsy later revealed that Stacie died from smoke inhalation.”
Vialva and Bernard were convicted and sentenced to death. Their parents had 21 years to visit and console their sons while the parents of the victims had to live with their grief and the media’s biased, one-sided claims of racism and racial injustice.
Vialva was executed in September, and Todd Bagley’s mother released a statement agonizing over how everyone was concerned about Vialva but not about the vicious and horrific murder of her son and daughter-in-law.Gayle King is a disgrace and so are those who are now pleading for a halt to Bernard’s execution. She didn’t make one mention of Todd or Stacie Bagley, who were treated like dirt, brutalized, tortured, abused and then viciously murdered in cold blood. Two people who dedicated their lives to helping others were preyed upon by teenage gang members.
Instead of focusing on the suffering and the victims, the media and celebrity focus has been and is on race. Bernard and Vialva are African American. The Bagley’s, who were Christian youth ministers from Iowa helping African American youth, were White.
The internet is filled with remembrances of Vialva and stories about Bernard, but you can barely find anything about the victims, Todd and Stacie Bagley, which should be the real focus of this story.
Gayle King should be fired from CBS for her racist bias. I find her disgusting!
These murderers should have been put to death 21 years ago for their crimes when the viciousness of their brutality could not be spun by a racist news media.
Hey Gayle, do your high salaried job. Here’s a link on the Bagleys.
Ray Hanania is an award-winning columnist, author & former Chicago City Hall reporter (1977-1992). A veteran who served during the Vietnam War and the recipient of four SPJ Peter Lisagor Awards for column writing, Hanania writes weekly opinion columns on mainstream American & Chicagoland topics for the Southwest News-Herald, Des Plaines Valley News, the Regional News, The Reporter Newspapers, and Suburban Chicagoland.
Hanania also writes about Middle East issues for the Arab News, and The Arab Daily News criticizing government policies in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Hanania was named "Best Ethnic American Columnist" by the New America Media in November 2007, and is the 2009 recipient of the SPJ National Sigma Delta Chi Award for column writing.
Email Ray Hanania at rghanania@gmail.com.
Hanania also writes about Middle East issues for the Arab News, and The Arab Daily News criticizing government policies in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Hanania was named "Best Ethnic American Columnist" by the New America Media in November 2007, and is the 2009 recipient of the SPJ National Sigma Delta Chi Award for column writing.
Email Ray Hanania at rghanania@gmail.com.
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it takes a strong mind to dive into this and make an opinion…It is someones life we are talking about..was the time spent in jail enough punishment for the crime..has he sincerely changed or is he pulling one over on us..is there a problem with the system, the community and family who raised him..what evil found him..who else has been involved in such a crime and lived in jail or met this fate..i am taking it serious thinking about this..that he went throught all that to be rehabiltaed, then maybe they should of let him live in jail until the end..maybe have him do charity work..allow him to do good..before he dies..allowing them to participate in some thing good for society just to due good, and tell them this does not get you out of here..this may help him deal with guilt of what he did…OMG..
I must say that I agree with Rachel here, but I also truthfully believe that the government should abolish the death penalty, no matter how heinous the crime. It’s a tough situation and always will be, obviously the true victims in this situation are like your article states the Bagley’s, but one thing you should ultimately ask yourself is what would the victims want for these men? They were both worshipers of the lord and would not want these men put to death, with that being said, Bernard was taking orders and under the assumption that both victims were already dead. Stacie was unconcious at the time Bernard was told to dispose of the evidence and ultimately paid the ultimate sacrifice for his poor decision as well. He was put to death for his crime. I don’t believe it was premeditated idea of his own to murder these people he was going along with what he was told to do. It doesn’t make him right for what he did, and he should be held responsible and was, but the punishment shouldn’t have been as severe as the one issuing the orders in this particular case. Just my opinion, I do understand why you would be upset over the reporter as well, but calling for her to lose her job? People do deserve 2nd chances even if not everyone may get one.
You don’t deserve the titles you have. This article is extremely biased and it’s obvious where you stand. Brandon’s real charges should’ve been one count of manslaughter, because he thought the woman was already dead, arson, robbery, and kidnapping. If you’d watch any interviews, he had changed himself. He went through extreme rehabilitation and his last words to the family of the victims was “I’m sorry, there’s truly nothing else i can say except I’m sorry and i wish i could take it all back.” He was young, and it’s not an excuse, but at that age teenagers brains aren’t fully developed. He has changed for the better, so demonizing him after his death does no good except spread harmful, biased propaganda as weaponization to push the narrative that you obviously have about young black men in gangs. Maybe help to uplift these boys instead of leaving them to rot in the poverty stricken neighborhoods they reside in. You don’t have any human decency.
So the fact that he was a part of the murder and then covered the victim with lighter fluid and set her on fire doesn’t make him a murderer … he’s a vicious criminal who had 21 years to lie and make himself look better to elicit sympathy … he was a terrible person and I blame his parents for not doing enough to save him … but they were there to appeal for him, right?