Forgiving the Dead Man Walking

Forgiving the Dead Man Walking
Author: Debbie Morris
Publisher: Zondervan
Total Pages: 254
Release: 2000-08
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 0310231876

Robert Willie, the death-row prisoner in Dead Man Walking, was convicted of raping a woman who tells her story here.

Dead Man Walking

Dead Man Walking
Author: Helen Prejean
Publisher: Vintage
Total Pages: 290
Release: 2011-02-02
Genre: Law
ISBN: 0307787699

#1 NATIONAL BESTSELLER • A profoundly moving spiritual journey through our system of capital punishment and an unprecedented look at the human consequences of the death penalty • "Stunning moral clarity.” —The Washington Post Book World • Basis for the award-winning major motion picture starring Susan Sarandon and Sean Penn "Sister Prejean is an excellent writer, direct and honest and unsentimental. . . . She almost palpably extends a hand to her readers.” —The New York Times Book Review In 1982, Sister Helen Prejean became the spiritual advisor to Patrick Sonnier, the convicted killer of two teenagers who was sentenced to die in the electric chair of Louisiana’s Angola State Prison. In the months before Sonnier’s death, the Roman Catholic nun came to know a man who was as terrified as he had once been terrifying. She also came to know the families of the victims and the men whose job it was to execute—men who often harbored doubts about the rightness of what they were doing. Out of that dreadful intimacy comes a profoundly moving spiritual journey through our system of capital punishment. Here Sister Helen confronts both the plight of the condemned and the rage of the bereaved, the fears of a society shattered by violence and the Christian imperative of love. On its original publication in 1993, Dead Man Walking emerged as an unprecedented look at the human consequences of the death penalty. Now, some two decades later, this story—which has inspired a film, a stage play, an opera and a musical album—is more gut-wrenching than ever, stirring deep and life-changing reflection in all who encounter it.

Loss of Faith

Loss of Faith
Author: Michael L. Varnado
Publisher: Writers Advantage Press
Total Pages: 230
Release: 2002
Genre: Social Science
ISBN:

The chief investigator who discovered the body gives his eyewitness account of the criminal investigation and trial resulting from the 1980 abduction, rape, and murder of Faith Colleen Hathaway in Louisiana. Robert Lee Willie, Helen Prejean's "Dead Man Walking," was convicted of this crime and executed at Louisiana State Penitentiary.

Victims of Dead Man Walking

Victims of Dead Man Walking
Author: Michael L. Varnado
Publisher: Pelican Publishing
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2003
Genre: Capital punishment
ISBN: 9781589801561

A vivid eyewitness account of the investigation into the murder of Faith Hathaway by Robert Lee Willie and Joe Vaccaro.

The Death of Innocents

The Death of Innocents
Author: Helen Prejean
Publisher: Hymns Ancient and Modern Ltd
Total Pages: 340
Release: 2006
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 9781853116827

Sr Helen Prejean has accompanied five men to execution since she began her work in 1982. She believes the last two, Dobie Williams in Louisiana and Joseph O'Dell in Virginia, were innocent, but their juries were blocked from seeing all the evidence and their defence teams were incompetent. 'The readers of this book will be the first "jury" with access to all the evidence the trail juries never saw', she says. The Death of Innocents shows how race, prosecutorial ambition, poverty and publicity determine who dies and who lives. Prejean raises profound constitutional questions about the legality of the death penalty.

Dead Mann Walking

Dead Mann Walking
Author: Stefan Petrucha
Publisher: Penguin
Total Pages: 254
Release: 2011-10-04
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 1101544694

After Hessius Mann was convicted of his wife's murder, suppressed evidence came to light and the verdict was overturned-too bad he was already executed. But thanks to the miracles of modern science Hessius was brought back to life. Sort of. Now that he's joined the ranks of Fort Hammer's pulse-challenged population, Hessius attempts to make a "living" as a private investigator. But when a missing persons case leads to a few zombies cut to pieces, Hessius starts thinking that someone's giving him the run-around-and it's not like he's in any condition to make a quick getaway...

Victims of Dead Man Walking

Victims of Dead Man Walking
Author:
Publisher: Pelican Publishing
Total Pages: 232
Release: 2003-05-31
Genre: True Crime
ISBN: 9781455613618

This account returns the focus to the victim, her life, and her family.--Midwest Book ReviewMike Varnado�s ability to tell a great story is topped only by his work as a first-class detective.--Chris Buchanan, documentary film producer for PBS and associate producer of Angel on Death Row Victims of Dead Man Walking is the true story of the rape and murder of Faith Hathaway by Robert Lee Willie and Joe Vaccaro. Detective Mike Varnado provides a vivid eyewitness account of the investigation into her murder.Varnado was only twenty-five when he discovered Faith Hathaway�s body. Finding her killers and bringing them to justice has been one of the most important endeavors of his life.But for Varnado, Faith�s family, and the citizens of their quiet Louisiana community, the nightmare did not end with the capture and conviction of the murderers. While on Angola�s death row, Robert Lee Willie was counseled by Sr.Helen Prejean, who wrote about him in her best-selling book, Dead Man Walking .He also served as the primary model for the character played by Sean Penn in the Academy Award-winning film version of Dead Man Walking . As Willie and his story achieved worldwide notoriety, Faith Hathaway, her short life, and herbrutal death were almost forgotten by everyone but those closest to her. Victims of Dead Man Walking reminds readers of an aspect of the death-penalty debate that is too often forgotten--the innocent victim of crime, the victim'sfamily, and the police officers, lawyers, judges, and ordinary citizens called upon to perform difficult but necessary roles in the pursuit of justice. About the Authors Mike Varnado has been a detective in Washington Parish, Louisiana, for more than twenty years. At the time of Faith Hathaway�s murder, he was chief investigator for the district attorney�s office. He has twice been honoredwith Louisiana�s Victims and Citizens Against Crime Outstanding Law Enforcement Award. He lives in Franklinton, Louisiana.D. P. Smith is a lawyer and freelance writer based in Nashville, Tennessee.

Last Words of the Executed

Last Words of the Executed
Author: Robert K. Elder
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
Total Pages: 315
Release: 2010-05-15
Genre: True Crime
ISBN: 0226202690

Some beg for forgiveness. Others claim innocence. At least three cheer for their favorite football teams. Death waits for us all, but only those sentenced to death know the day and the hour—and only they can be sure that their last words will be recorded for posterity. Last Words of the Executed presents an oral history of American capital punishment, as heard from the gallows, the chair, and the gurney. The product of seven years of extensive research by journalist Robert K. Elder, the book explores the cultural value of these final statements and asks what we can learn from them. We hear from both the famous—such as Nathan Hale, Joe Hill, Ted Bundy, and John Brown—and the forgotten, and their words give us unprecedented glimpses into their lives, their crimes, and the world they inhabited. Organized by era and method of execution, these final statements range from heartfelt to horrific. Some are calls for peace or cries against injustice; others are accepting, confessional, or consoling; still others are venomous, rage-fueled diatribes. Even the chills evoked by some of these last words are brought on in part by the shared humanity we can’t ignore, their reminder that we all come to the same end, regardless of how we arrive there. Last Words of the Executed is not a political book. Rather, Elder simply asks readers to listen closely to these voices that echo history. The result is a riveting, moving testament from the darkest corners of society.

Dead Men Walking

Dead Men Walking
Author: Christopher Berry-Dee
Publisher: John Blake
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2011-04
Genre: True Crime
ISBN: 9781843582779

Originally published in hardcover in 2008.