Even before he became a widower, “a life for a life” was Victor White’s idea of justice.
His wife Vyleen was stabbed to death in front of her granddaughter at a Redbank Plains shopping centre in February 2024.
Vyleen’s murder – at the hands of a 16-year-old boy – shook the state and was a catalyst for “adult crime, adult time” laws.
Know the news with the 7NEWS app: Download today Arrow
“She only went to the shop for five minutes, and in those five minutes, her life was taken away,” White told 7NEWS.
“He didn’t think twice about sinking a 17 centimetre blade into her heart.”
The teenager, who killed Vyleen then stole her car, was jailed for 16 years.
A teenager was jailed for 16 years over Vyleen White’s murder. (Darren England/AAP PHOTOS) Credit: AAP
“If not the death penalty, he should have served at least 30 or 40 years of his life to deny him any lifestyle in the future,” White said.
“People say, you’ve got to show the guy compassion, but he showed none at all in front of my granddaughter, did he?”
“I’ll never ever forgive him for what he’s done.”
Be the first to know: Add 7NEWS as your preferred news source on Google
While he doesn’t harbour hate, White is voicing his support for the death penalty, where the crime is “very heinous” and a person’s guilt is not in doubt.
Victor White (left), husband of murder victim Vyleen White and Victims of Youth Crime Ambassador, George Atkinson (right). (AAP Image/Darren England) Credit: DARREN ENGLAND/AAPIMAGE
He believes it could spare other families from the same pain.
“If the death penalty was reintroduced in this country, maybe people would have second thoughts about killing other innocent people. Maybe,” he said.
“But that’ll never happen in this country. There’s too many woke people out there.”
Executions around the world
The botched execution of Christa Pike in the United States has stirred a centuries-old debate about whether the state – in trying to punish and deter lethal violence – is justified in using it.
The murderer spent more than 30 years on death row, but on the day she was meant to die, Pike shocked the world by surviving two doses of lethal injection.
She now faces the extraordinary prospect of being executed for a second time.
Last year, there were 2707 known executions – a 44-year high – according to Amnesty International.
Christa Pike was critically ill and had severe arm injuries after injections failed to kill her. (AP PHOTO) Credit: AAP
The organisation said at least 25,508 people were under a death sentence globally at the end of 2025.
The Department of Foreign Affairs would not say how many Australians, if any, are currently facing the death penalty overseas.
When this does occur, the federal government may express their opposition to foreign authorities.
Death penalty and politics
Far from being dead and buried, calls for capital punishment in Australia have taken on a life of their own, at least on the political fringe.
One Nation Leader Pauline Hanson has previously supported the death penalty, despite the party having no policy to reinstate capital punishment.
“If you want to go out and take the life of someone, well then be prepared to lose your own,” she said in September last year.
Even within the ranks of the Queensland government, Dr Christian Rowan – an assistant minister to the premier and a former president of the Australian Medical Association – has called for terrorists to face the death penalty.
Pauline Hanson has previously supported the death penalty. Credit: AAP
The same state was the first in the British Empire to outlaw the death penalty in 1922 by a narrow 33-30 vote of Parliament.
By then, 94 people had already been executed in Queensland, most for murder. Other “capital offences” included treason, piracy, attempted piracy, assault or danger to life.
The last execution in Australia, to date, didn’t happen until decades later. On 3 February 1967, Ronald Ryan was hanged in Victoria for murdering a guard during a prison break.
A federal law was introduced in 2010 to prevent any state or territory from reinstating the death penalty, but it hasn’t put the debate to bed.
The risk of innocent executions
Central Queensland University criminologist Dr Xanthe Weston said the fallibility of the justice system provides a compelling argument against capital punishment, warning it risks putting innocent people in the death chamber.
“(For) life imprisonment, there are avenues for redress if a miscarriage of justice has occurred. The death penalty is absolute,” she said.
In one of Australia’s most infamous wrongful conviction cases, Kathleen Folbigg was sentenced to 40 years in prison for killing her four children.
Dr Xanthe Weston warned it puts innocent people at risk. Credit: 7NEWS
After serving half her sentence, new scientific evidence led to her pardon and release from prison in 2023.
“When she was originally found guilty, had the death penalty been in place, she may well have faced that,” Dr Weston said.
“However, fast forward twenty years, and we know that she was not guilty of any crime.”
The fallacy of ‘deterrence’
“Deterrence” was used to justify plans to livestream the firing squad execution of US mass-murderer Nidal Hasan, but the idea now has been abandoned following international backlash.
Criminologists warn capital punishment demands a high price for justice, but it is no more effective at achieving general deterrence.
“The death penalty doesn’t actually really diminish homicides,” Weston said.
“Most murders are situational. They’re of the moment. They’re not planned. They’re not premeditated.”
George and Lyndy Atkinson support 300 victims of crime through their advocacy group Victims 1st.
They say not one victim has mentioned a desire for the death penalty, despite many feeling let down by lenient sentences.
“The death penalty is effectively an admission of failure for a society to be able to deal with its own problems,” George Atkinson said.
Lyndy Atkinson said not one victim has mentioned a desire for the death penalty. (Russell Freeman/AAP PHOTOS) Credit: AAP
“In a modern progressive society, we should be able to deal with the underlying issues and behaviour and correct them, long before we have to get to the point of having to consider a death penalty.”
Reinstating capital punishment would require overriding both federal and international law, placing it outside the practical realm of possibility, according to Weston.
“We are absolutely not going to be seeing it, absolutely not in Australia,” she said.
“There’s lots of social reasons why we wouldn’t do it. There’s no good data to suggest why we should do it.”
Former treasurer Joe Hockey’s warning for everyday Aussies: ‘Massive household problem’
1 min read
Young adult fighting for life as serious bacterial infections surge
1 min read
