After carefully re-reading the columns of Liz Soares (“Skeptical reactions, popular opinion at issue in manhunt response,” May 3) and Bill Nemitz (“Photos raise troubling questions about arrest of suspect in corporal’s killing,” May 3), I feel that I must speak my conscience.

I have no problem with the scope of the manhunt launched to find the killer of Cpl. Eugene Cole or the publicity that ensued. I wholeheartedly agree that the murder of a dedicated public safety officer is despicable and cowardly. I believe that, if indeed John Williams did kill Cpl. Cole, he should be punished as dictated by a court of law.

However, my conscience tells me that the photo in question is an undignified stab at “justice” meted out by the arresting officers. Not only was the photo humiliating to the suspect but shames those who held Williams to the ground and lifted his head as if it were the first day of hunting season. Frankly I have trouble with that image even when it concerns dead animals — and no, I am not against fair hunting practices.

As Sister Helen Prejean has said, “People are more than the worst thing that they have ever done in their lives.” I’m pretty certain that Hell as punishment upon dying is not a valid concept. Far too many people are already living in hell here on Earth.

Patsy Tessier

Gardiner