Seven years ago today my brother was the victim of a gruesome murder. Daniel Patrick Sheehan was temporarily employed as a taxi cab driver in the small town of Casa Grande, Arizona while attending school. He worked the night shift for the taxi company. On the evening of June 8th, 2000, he received a call from dispatch to pick up a fare and drive them to Harrah's Casino, which is located on the Ak-Chin Indian reservation. Unfortunately, Danny never made it to the destination. Danny was abducted by the two men, Michael Edward Anita and Dale Lester Kisto, whom he had picked up as his fare. They somehow distracted or disabled him, and took control of the taxi, driving it into the desert close to a cotton field. Their plan was to use the taxi cab to smuggle illegals into the United States from Mexico. During testimony at the murder trial, Dale Lester Kisto, one of the murderers, confessed to having helped subdue Danny, and actively participated in bludgeoning him until his head was severed from his body. Dale Lester Kisto, along with his accomplice Michael Edward Anita, apparently removed Danny's body from the scene using the trunk of the taxi cab. They left Danny's head there, with only the upper part of his skull being found months later on October 11th, 2000. The skeletal remains of Danny's body have never been found. The perpetrators of this hideous crime were tried before a jury in a federal court ( the crime was committed on federal land ) convicted of murder, and both were sentenced, Michael Edward Anita to life and Dale Lester Kisto to eighteen years, both in federal penitentiaries. Dale Lester Kisto, presently age thirty, is housed at the United States Prison in Tucson Arizona, where he has a projected release date of June 8th, 2018. Michael Edward Anita was housed at the United States Prison in Atwater, California until July 31st, 2003. On that morning, at 05:22 a.m., this murderer of my brother was found dead in the Special Housing Unit at the Federal facility in Atwater. The official cause of death was by stabbing. Through another source we learned that Michael Edward Anita had his eyes cut from his head, and was slit open from his throat to just above his pelvis, gutted like the animal he was, which brought about a slow and very painful death. I have no sadness nor do I feel remorse for Michael Edward Anita's murder. He deserved everything that happened to him. I am indignant that the courts would have placed so very little value on my brother's life to sentence Michael Edward Anita to a life sentence, and Dale Lester Kisto to only eighteen years in prison. They both should have been given the death sentence, and the executions carried out immediately. Seven years ago today, my brother Daniel Patrick Sheehan was murdered. This is in memory of my brother. Image created by Queen Type O Negative. Copyright 2007 Flicker Light Studio.