“Don’t Let Your Heart Be Troubled” Don’t let your heart be troubled…easier said than done. Each step buried my heart deeper and deeper into my throat. Why was everyone being so nice? Love your neighbor…even when they are about to kill your friend. “They’re just doing their jobs.” I had to keep reminding myself. The brain has trouble maintaining nuance in the midst of murder. Then again, I couldn’t tell if my brain was still working or... Read more
“Greg Hunt’s Death Sentence: A Flawed Capital Murder Case” “Never trust the government.” It seems so obvious. So, why do so many blindly trust our criminal justice system? It’s so dangerous. Now, someone is about to die because of it. In a fit of jealousy, Greg Hunt murdered Karen Lane, after seeing her out with another man. It’s a story that seems common throughout history, murder in the throes of passion. So much so, that the law distinguishes crimes... Read more
The Crime In 1994, Anthony Wainwright and Richard Hamilton escaped from a prison in Newport, North Carolina, before stealing a Cadillac and burglarizing a home, where they stole two rifles. Upon arrival in Florida, the two men decided to steal another vehicle due to problems with the Cadillac. In Lake City, they pulled into a Winn-Dixie parking lot. They spotted Carmen Gayheart loading groceries into a Ford Bronco. Hamilton forced her into the Bronco at gunpoint and drove off, with... Read more
Anthony Wainwright : The Initial Encounter Nobody wants to be prejudged. This is an eternal truth. When I encounter the condemned, I want to meet them where they are. Such was the case of Anthony Wainwright. I had no idea what he had been convicted of. Of course, when you meet somebody on death row, one can easily assume that you’re not talking about bicycle theft. So, I think it’s important to note that I got to know Anthony... Read more
The Murder In the early morning hours of August 2, 1988, Karen Lane was brutally murdered. I know nothing about her. Sadly, I may never. Judging from various online reports of the crime, not many other people know much about her either. For most, she is just a body. For me, I know that she had to be so much more. This is one of the great tragedies of the death penalty. In the rush to execute Greg Hunt... Read more
Death Row, Mississippi- Each morning, Lisa Jo Chamberlin wakes up alone in her tiny cell and waits for someone to notice her. There is no one to talk to. There is no one to interact with. The only hope that she has is that one of the guards will realize that she hasn’t been let out to go to the dayroom yet. If she tries to get any attention, she will get written up. If it comes time for... Read more
Sensational headlines don’t lead to deeper truths. Most of the time, they simply lead you far away from both the human and divine. If you want to know the truth, you’ve got to come close. This is an invitation. The Execution Intervention Project is about bringing people close. I want people to know the cost of the death penalty, so that they might understand the cost of fighting it. For decades, I’ve financed and done this work alone. Recently,... Read more
Lisa Jo Chamberlin: Hope for Life in Mississippi On March 20, 2024, Lisa Jo Chamberlin participated in a gruesome murder. Fueled by drugs and rage, Lisa Jo’s boyfriend Roger Gillett masterminded the killing of his cousin Vernon Hulett and Hulett’s girlfriend Linda Heintzelman, due to their forcing Lisa Jo and Gillett to move out of their home, where they’d been for a few weeks. First, Gillett slashed the throat of Hulett and and beat him to death. Then,... Read more
Innocence Taken From Him Tony Ford was just 18. On an evening in December of 1991, he picked up two brothers, Van and Victor Belton, and drove them to a nearby house. He waited in the truck while they went inside. The brothers broke in and got into a heated argument with an 18-year-old named Armando Murillo, his mother and two sisters were left unharmed. Tony knew they were there to settle a debt but had no idea the level... Read more
Jonathan Stephenson: On the Execution of Due Process in TN Surely, there should be a conviction in order to place a conviction on someone’s record, right? Obviously, not in Tennessee. The story of Jonathan Stephenson is one of the stranger legal tales I have encountered. Due to a wild series of twists and turns, Tennessee is trying to execute someone who literally doesn’t have a legal conviction on their record. This is not about the ins and... Read more
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