Monday must-read: The story of the killer and his deacon

Check out the video above and read the full account from Cincinnati.com:

We’re upstairs in his office, where three pictures of a young man in gray prison clothes are taped to his computer. They sit closer to him than the pictures of his grandchildren.

At 63 years old, Larry Day doesn’t have many friends. He makes a lot of them, but then they die. He’s often there as the machine is turned off for the last time.

As a church deacon, his job could best be explained as religious hospice.

I was here because of a sermon Larry had given. It was about a relationship.

More than that, it was about finding hope in the darkest of places.

We talk for an hour before a call interrupts us, and Larry puts it on speaker phone. It’s the man from the photos.

This call is originating from an Ohio correctional facility and may be recorded or monitored.

The automated greeting is robotic and female, but not pleasant like Siri. Larry has gotten to know this voice well.

When he starts, it sounds like he is speaking to a child.

Larry’s voice is never intimidating, even though he used to be a high school principal, and it’s always high-pitched. Even then, it seems to go up an octave higher when speaking to Josh.

Joshua Estes is a 27-year-old from Eaton, Ohio. A man who was baptized in jail.

He’s the product of a broken home, a father who never sees his son and is Larry’s best friend.

Josh is also a convicted killer.

Read it all.