Friends, teachers say teen murder suspect was polite, nonviolent:
This past Thursday, character witnesses testified on behalf of Scott Dyleski…
On Thursday, teachers and friends of Scott Dyleski took the stand for the defense to say the teenager they knew was polite, sociable and nonviolent.
Dyleski – who is being tried as an adult in the bludgeoning death of Vitale, wife of prominent defense attorney Daniel Horowitz – was a dedicated Ultimate Frisbee player who encouraged incoming teammates, handled conflict wisely and kept cool under pressure, according to Jo Tams, who coached his Acalanes High School team.
Tams said she was so impressed with the “mature thinker” that she named him one of three team captains during the 2004-05 season.“He filled that role admirably,” she told jurors.
Susan Lane, Dyleski’s graphic-design teacher, testified that he excelled in her class and produced “exceptional art.” She said she was not concerned at all that he focused on dark themes like Satan, noting that 20 percent of her students embraced the Goth culture and created similar images.
That’s all well and good, but how many of history’s most notorious killers were polite, intelligent, and sociable. Ted Bundy? Jeffrey Dahmer? John Wayne Gacy? Eric Harris? And wasn’t Gacy an “exceptional artist”?
Just because a killer was polite and sociable doesn’t make them any less of a killer.
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