So, I've been following this case....and I can only decry the lack of death penalty for this sadistic terrorist.
A federal jury found ISIS fighter El Shafee Elsheikh guilty on all counts of being part of a core group of British terrorists known as the "Beatles," who held hostage 26 westerners in a conspiracy that led to the murders of four Americans and at least two Britons.
The jury deliberated for less than a full day. Closing arguments came Wednesday and they were handed the case in the afternoon. By the time they finished lunch Thursday, they had reached a verdict.
"Elsheikh really incriminated himself," despite wearing a mask as he and the other Britons brutalized her son, said Diane Foley, mother of New Hampshire-raised journalist James W. Foley.
Humanitarian aid worker Kayla Mueller's dad Carl said justice was served, and added that he felt his daughter's presence throughout the trial.
"This is what the families asked for. And this is what we got. It's the American justice system at work at its best," he told ABC News.
As the jury settled in for its short deliberations, Mueller approached Elsheikh's defense team, thanking them for their service as court-appointed lawyers and assuring them of his respect. Some of the defense team wiped away tears. "I hold no malice toward them for what they do," he said.
Many of the former hostages testified in graphic detail about the beatings and other cruelties inflicted on them, seated a mere 12 feet from the man now convicted of breaking ribs and slapping faces of captives the Beatles starved and tortured.
Because of an agreement with the UK, neither Elsheikh or co-defendant Alexanda Kotey, who pleaded guilty, faced the death penalty.
A federal jury found ISIS fighter El Shafee Elsheikh guilty on all counts of being part of a core group of British terrorists known as the "Beatles," who held hostage 26 westerners in a conspiracy that led to the murders of four Americans and at least two Britons.
The jury deliberated for less than a full day. Closing arguments came Wednesday and they were handed the case in the afternoon. By the time they finished lunch Thursday, they had reached a verdict.
"Elsheikh really incriminated himself," despite wearing a mask as he and the other Britons brutalized her son, said Diane Foley, mother of New Hampshire-raised journalist James W. Foley.
Humanitarian aid worker Kayla Mueller's dad Carl said justice was served, and added that he felt his daughter's presence throughout the trial.
"This is what the families asked for. And this is what we got. It's the American justice system at work at its best," he told ABC News.
As the jury settled in for its short deliberations, Mueller approached Elsheikh's defense team, thanking them for their service as court-appointed lawyers and assuring them of his respect. Some of the defense team wiped away tears. "I hold no malice toward them for what they do," he said.
Many of the former hostages testified in graphic detail about the beatings and other cruelties inflicted on them, seated a mere 12 feet from the man now convicted of breaking ribs and slapping faces of captives the Beatles starved and tortured.
Because of an agreement with the UK, neither Elsheikh or co-defendant Alexanda Kotey, who pleaded guilty, faced the death penalty.
