Did Gollum deserve death?

[Raynor]

Originally Posted by Boromir88

So before one so easily condemns Smeagol as a murderous, down-right evil, spiteful, deserving of death wretch...let's not forget the part the Ring played in turning Smeagol into a murderous, down-right evil, spiteful deserving of death wretch.

Then again, as I quoted from letter #181, he was already tainted.