Should the "Friends" be tried too?

A beautiful little Chinese girl, nicknamed, Pumpkin, was left alone at a train station in Melbourne and soon after her father fled the country. The little girl is now in foster care, and it appears she will be reunited with her mother's family. The police waited two days or so for a search warrant before they would open the boot of the car. The mother had been missing for days. The mother's body was found in the boot of the family car at the family home. She was dead.

But - what if a wounded and/or gagged woman were in the boot of the car while the administrative work was taking place? The woman was dead, but did they know that? While the police were getting a search warrant, couldn't someone have died?

But - the part of the story that truly amazes me is this:

"The cause of death was unclear, but friends of Ms Liu's fugitive husband, Nai Xin Xue, were in little doubt about what had happened. A friend, who wished to remain anonymous, said Xue, 54, had spoken in the past about killing his wife.

"He mentioned it a little bit, but we never knew whether he would do it or not. Nobody could know for sure that he would do it. As a friend, you could only try to give him some help, to make him not think of the bad things. He said he felt no hope and that he felt he was being played by his wife, that she didn't really like him or love him."'

If someone mentioned to me they were thinking of killing someone, I would report them - to someone. I would find help. I would take action. This man has a history of domestic violence with his wife, and no one does anything? By all means... just try to get this guy not to think of bad things and it will be alright.

I hope they catch the guy soon and hang him by his cajones (sp?). And the friends? What is a suitable punishment for inaction, or for that matter, incredible stupidity.

Judi