Every time I read about a robbery or the killing of convenience store or motel clerks I cringe. Night time store clerks are so vulnerable and exposed to the lesser elements of what society has to offer. Lately I’ve come into contact with a motel night-clerk employee because of a workers’ compensation case where he was shot in the leg during a robbery. And it’s not just convenience store employees. There are hotel and motel clerks that have the same issues except some of those employees are better protected. The problem with protecting the employee is how it looks to the customer. They put the employee behind bullet-proof glass or re-barred window and when the customer's walk in they have to wonder: If you’re afraid of the criminal element then what am I doing in your store? Yeah it’s one of those “Wow!” or an "Oh sh_t! moments".

Here in Iowa we recently experienced a double murder in rural Iowa. This case is different and has hints of heading in the direction of the Coach Thomas case. Based on statement made by the parents of the alleged perp I'm guessing we will see an insanity defense. As disturbing as this case is it’s even more disturbing because of the accused’s disposition as he was taken to the court house for his plea. First know that he’s accused of driving to the first store in Algona (Kossuth County) robbing and killing the 47-year-old female clerk by shooting her in the head. He then allegedly drives 30 miles to another convenience store in Humboldt (Humboldt County) it's reported he repeats what he’d just done by robbing and killing a 61-year-old female clerk. The alleged shooter is a 17-years-old teen from St. Louis Park, Minnesota.

His parents have issued a statement agonizing over what he’s accused of doing and saying, as any decent parent would, that they tried to get him help, but all to no avail.

As disturbing as this is, there is a bigger issue needing to be vetted. And so the bigger issue debated may actually become one of funding for mental health and what services are provided to parents of troubled teens.

Passer-by's call to police led to Minnesota teen's arrest in northern Iowa slayings, Pioneer Press, November 19, 2010.

These parents aren’t alone. Just this last week there is a story about a middle school student who paid “$100 to have someone kill his school bus driver”. What was the punishment? Just six days suspension.

• And in Colorado we have 29-year-old twin sisters entering into a suicide pact but being unable to explain why they would want to kill themselves.
• And of course we have the Mark Beckett - Coach Thomas killing recently.

Beyond these three stories I’m not going to create a menu of the stories out there. There is no point in doing that, but we have to realize this economy and our national debt will make things worse, not better and the number of mental health workers needs to be increased, not decreased. There is a price to pay for getting away from the basics and living on debt; this is a cost that can't be ignored.

What are we doing to ourselves; or to each other for that matter? We keep digging the hole deeper and deeper without a plan on how to dig ourselves out. We have people running this country and in corporate America who care only about themselves or their next bonus check. There is anger simmering beneath the surface and no one seems to care about a solution. Once again it will be business as ususual. I'm not sure how any lawyer associated with this case can add value other than to do the work the Constitution requires us to do. What a mess this one is going to be.

Link and link to related news articles in the Des Moines Register.

Bowman-Hall, 47, and Sheila Myers, 61, were both shot in the face Monday night while they worked as clerks at convenience stores in north-central Iowa. Law enforcement officials have charged Michael Richard Swanson, 17, of St. Louis Park, Minn., in both slayings.

• Two workers don’t make stores safer, researcher says, Register, November 18, 2010
• Funerals set for slain Iowa clerks; alleged killer’s family speaks out
• Convenience-store slayings: Families tell wrenching stories of clerks’ final days
• Complete coverage of the Iowa convenience store shootings: News updates, photos, videos, a map and more.