Rest in Spaghetti, Never Forgetti

[John1982]

Well considering that you also killed a pet(the tarantula) in retaliation for his putting it on your bed(no matter that you were scared of spiders), then it's just as possible that he could press charges against you too. Just food for thought, you know?

Personally, the deliberate and cruel act of running boiling water over a living animal is far far worse than killing an animal in the heat of the moment while in a highly fearful state. One is a uncontrolled reaction(hitting a spider), while the other is a thought-out act deliberately done.

Takes controlled thought to pick up an object and use it as a tool to smash something. I agree the snake boiling is the worse offense - due to the situation and means of dispatching, I'm not putting less value on the life of an invert per se - but smashing something with a book isn't an uncontrolled, fearful, reaction. If he had smashed the tarantula with his hand then I could probably buy into the fearful, uncontrolled, reaction. I think he acted rashly in the heat of the moment but could just have easily walked away. Heck, walking(or rather, running) away would have been the easier choice if he was truly afraid.