The thing is, most people can be polite or at least civil most of the time but humans are complex, imperfect creatures. What you see is most often not the whole picture. Do you think people act the same way around their grandmother or children as they do around their friends?  I'd think for most people you can find friends who will say glowing things about the person, since they're most likely to focus on the good and not the bad regarding this person's personality traits.  It doesn't surprise me that both had criminal records. I can't say whether one deserved to die because all the facts haven't come out but I feel pretty safe in saying that both shared some fault for this incident.