Van Gogh's murderer gets life without parole

Which is as it should be, the murdering piece of human filth.

Mohammed Bouyeri, the murderer of Dutch filmmaker Theo van Gogh, was sentenced to the maximum penalty of life imprisonment without parole for the crime.

Bouyeri, 27, who had confessed to the Nov. 2, 2004, killing, told his Amsterdam trial court on July 12, "I should cut everyone's head off who insults Allah or his prophet." He was forced to attend court today, after refusing to be there voluntarily, to hear Judge Udo Willem Bentinck pass sentence.

I'm deeply conflicted over this sentence, though.

Bouyeri "deliberately aimed at intimidating the Dutch population," Bentinck said, finding that the crime was aggravated by an intention to terrorize.

On the one hand I'm a staunch opponent of the very notion of "hate crimes." How on earth is ever fair to add extra punishment for the subjective perception of "hate"? If I had my way, I'd find Bouyeri guilty of two seperate crimes; murder and criminal intimidation. Forget "aggravating intentions."

On the other hand, if ever anyone deserved extra punishment, it's this man.