RY23 – except for self-defense, there is no need for the victim to be “innocent.” The important thing is the action of the killer.
akuperma – Hanging in our current world makes no sense at all. The British gave up hanging after a man who was executed was later proved to be innocent. They had also previous changed the law so that a murder could not be proved without a body, because two people were hanged and the supposed “victim” later turned up alive and well, and surprised that they were supposed to be dead. The same sort of things have happened in this country with such depressing frequency the governor of one Middle Western state put a hold on all executions in his state after it was shown that innocent people had been hanged.
The bottom line is not insanity, whether they acknowledge HaShem or not, or any such theoretical concept. The question is, “What do we do with this person?” And the answer is, “Lock them up so they can’t hurt anybody else.” Definitely do not let them be out in society where they can kill again.