Shay Ward AKA Mad Max Gets 31 Years

Dionne Waugh of the News and Advance has written a very informative article today on Shay Ward.

The defence (Jamie Angel) tried to separate the persona of Mad Max from Shay Ward. More or less, saying that Shay Ward was a good person gone bad because of the influence of the drug Coricidin. Coricidin is an over the counter cough syrup that has a history of being abused. He supported this claim by testimony from friends and doctors. Trying to put forward the idea that the drugs were the real culprit and Shay Ward was really a nice guy.

The Lynchburg Commonwealth’s Attorney Mike Doucette prosecution disagreed. According to the News and Advance said:

“Why ‘Mad Max?’ Obviously, it’s a reference to a Mel Gibson movie about a world where there’s nothing but violence and terror. Why did he tell her he was Mad Max? It’s obvious. He wanted to strike terror into her and into the community.”

The most striking thought I found was from his 68 year old victim herself. She was the one was robbed raped and beaten with crowbar. After requests for Shay to look her in the eyes she said:

“His eyes were dead.” “He looked at me like he could have been looking at a statue.”

Having been a victim of a strong armed robbery in the past, I can relate to her statement completely.

My assailant's eyes were vacant but determined as he treated me as a piece of meat for his consumption. After walking around a corner I received a flying kick to the chest. Once down on the ground in the dark he proceeded to beat to me, rip off all my clothes and even tear my blue jeans down the seam from the waist to my ankle. He was looking for a money bag that he thought I had hidden on body which he never found. As a parting gesture he kicked me as hard as he could in the throat. I am sure he was aiming for my head.

The look in his eyes was entirely vacant both in the assault, and after in his later conviction. Like her, I will never forget that look. The stare is like a blank vessel devoid of any feeling or thought. The apex of of uncaring for anyone.

I have seen hate, that wanted to kill. I have stared it in the eyes, in the village of Panmujon the demilitarized zone of North and South Korea. I have stood face to face with a North Korean guard with an AK 47. And there is a difference, the hate that seethed through his eyes had at least a human quality. The vacant stare posed by Mad Max and my assailant is an emptiness. It is like looking into at a predator who plans to his way with you. And the separation from human and animal becomes indistinct. It is a look that will never leave you once experienced. It is the chill of death.