By Yael T. Abouhalkah, Kansas City Star Editorial Page columnist
Edwin Hall's surprise plea Wednesday that he murdered Kelsey Smith means he'll die in prison. It's a just punishment.
True, the "kill him now" crowd was out in force just minutes after the pleading, calling on The Star's Web site for Smith to be gang-raped, shot, knifed and otherwise abused.
Ignorant rants, but somewhat understandable, given the horrendous crimes committed by Hall against Smith, who was just 18.
Given the time-consuming nature of death-penalty cases, the plea by Hall saves a lot of time and hassle for judicial authorities.
It also -- and this shouldn't be lost in the emotion of the moment -- means that the Hall family and all of Kelsey's friends won't have to spend months if not years going through gut-wrenching legal proceedings involving Hall.
He did the crime. Now he must do the time, forever rotting in prison. His life as he knew it for 28 years on the outside is over.
