Why Does This Bother Me?

Two scenarios present themselves:

Let's assume that Ms Lowde is mad. Stark staring bonkers. This would mean that she was not responsible for her actions. That we are essentially punishing someone for being ill. OTOH let's assume she is bad. `The most evil and cunning woman to have ever walked the earth. That would mean that she was allowed to persecute her victims for nearly a decade until she finally targeted someone who was deemed worthy enough to be granted the protection of the state. The bedrock of democracy is equality before the law yet in this case one victim among many is granted more protection because of factors which should never have influenced the decision to prosecute: her recent misfortunes and, quite possibly, her gender. Ms Lowde's other alleged victims were, by all accounts, men. The establishment, it would seem, cannot extricate itself from the simplistic, polarised view of woman as victim and man as perpetrator but it can just about cope with 'woman on woman' crime.