This is so hard

Covering an execution is the hardest thing I've ever done and I haven't even witnessed the lethal injection yet.

Yesterday I spoke with the victims' family members. John Fenton Langley's son Michael, a Christian, believes his father's soul is in hell because his father did not adhere to the same beliefs and lifestyle as he. Michael has forgiven Christopher Scott Emmett for killing his father and is willing to say that. That's huge.

Gene Langley, John's brother, does not feel the same. He remembers his brother as loving, good, kind and a good man. "He had some bumps in the road," Gene said, "We all do. He was human." Gene detailed the afternoon of the night John was murdered. John bought hot dogs and hamburger to feed the men in the work crew who, Gene said, "Had drank up their paychecks and couldn't afford to eat."

No one is desecrating John's memory. To those who knew and loved him, he was a good man, a good father, a good worker. A spiritual discussion about souls and where, according to the Bible, a soul goes - is an issue of faith. Ultimately, whatever we believe, when we die we find out "who was right."

Right now there are new victims - the family members of both murderer and victim who are being emotional traumatized by this process. As the Rev. Pickett said, "There is no closure. Even after the prisoner is put to death it doesn't bring the victim back to life. Nothing changes."

There is no live murderer to hate any more. Vengeance is hollow. Hate only eats at those who hate.