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Post by CCADP on May 13, 2005 22:45:25 GMT -5
"If you have to kill, why not kill the death penalty? It is premeditated murder. Killing offenders does not solve crime; it is a crime itself. Executing our citizens creates more victims. I don't wish that on anyone. Inflicting indignity, human suffering, and premeditated murder degrades our justice system."
Helen Pajama's elderly cousin never regained consciousness after suffering brutal head wounds in a beating. As a young woman Helen was afraid of going to bed because of this crime. She wondered what kind of monster would commit such a savage act on an 82 - year - old man, and why. Years later, a man confessed not only to her cousin's murder but to the murders of several other men. He was diagnosed as insane. Helen then realized that one cannot always rationalize crime. She has learned that many abused children become violent and end up on death row.
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Post by CCADP on May 13, 2005 22:45:58 GMT -5
Bill recently authored a book entitled Journey of Hope...From Violence to Healing, which details the May 14, 1985 murder of his grandmother Ruth Pelke, a Bible teacher, by four teenage girls. Paula Cooper who was deemed to be the ringleader was sentenced to die in the electric chair by the state of Indiana. She was fifteen-years-old at the time of the murder.
Pelke originally support the sentence of death for Cooper, but went through a spiritual transformation in 1996 after praying for love and compassion for Paula Cooper and her family. He became involved in an international crusade on Paula’s behalf and in 1999 after over 2 million people from Italy signed petitions and Pope John Paul II’s request for mercy, Paula was taken off of death row and her sentence commuted to sixty years.
Bill, a retired steelworker, has dedicated his life to working for abolition of the death penalty. He shares his story of forgiveness and healing, and how he came to realize that he did not need to see someone else die in order to heal from his grandmother’s death. He also helps organize Journey tours nationally and abroad.
Pelke has traveled to over forty states and ten countries with the Journey of Hope and has told his story over 5000 times.
Bill Pelke Quotes:
“The answer is love and compassion for all of humanity"
" Love those who hate you, love those who persecute you, and love those who do all manner of evil against you"
" I am a Christian, and Jesus said, ‘Whosoever has no sin, cast the first stone.’ Under that criteria, none of us can cast the stone of death.”<br> “The death penalty has absolutely nothing to do with healing. [It] just continues the cycle of violence and creates more murder victims family members. We become what we hate. We become killers.”<br> "Hate the sin, love the sinner"
"Revenge is never, ever the answer"
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Post by CCADP on May 13, 2005 22:46:37 GMT -5
"After my brother's death, many family members did not agree with my opposition to the death penalty and thought I could not have loved my brother very much if I didn't want revenge. This hurt me badly, because my brother and I were very close. Sometimes I think family members like me who don't want the death penalty are considered 'bad victims'. 'good victims' are the ones who want revenge. They are treated with respect because they are seeking the 'ultimate punishment'. The night Robert Alton Harris was executed in California, the prison warden treated the victims' family members to a huge banquet and made a celebration out of it. I will never be a 'good victim' because I will never understand the kind of thinking that would celebrate a killing."
Sunshine Richards lost her brother, Jimbo Richards, in 1983. He was discovered dead from a shotgun wound the day after Christmas. After his death, Sunshine knew Jimbo would not have wanted her to seek revenge. "He was a wonderful person, and to me it is much more healing to remember him in the best light and be able to pass my memories of him on to my kids. Maybe it's selfish, but I want my brother's memory to be an upbeat one. His last moments were very violent – we got the gruesome details. I refuse to hold him in my memory like that." In recent years, Sunshine has been active in Virginians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty. She served as spiritual advisor to Larry Stout, a man with a borderline IQ who was executed in Virginia in 1996.
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Post by CCADP on May 13, 2005 22:47:17 GMT -5
"I lost my young sons Devon and Damon to murder, but it has been impossible to fully grieve their loss because my wife Darlie is on Death Row for the crime. Now I must face losing my soul mate as well, and my surviving son must face losing his mother. We are the victims, yet we will be made to suffer the most.
My wife is innocent. We can't get Devon and Damon back, but we can try to right the wrong that has been done to our family. The truth will set us free."
Darin Routier's two sons were stabbed to death in their home in the Middle of the night while sleeping near their mother, Darlie Routier. Darlie was also seriously injured in the attack, suffering a seven-inch wound to her throat. according to Darin, significant Evidence of intruders was largely ignored by the police and prosecutors, and Darlie was convicted for the murder of her children and sentenced to death "based on innuendo and character assassination. "Darlie Routier has appealed her conviction and her immediate family, large extended family, and many others steadfastly support her efforts to prove her innocence. "Darlie's biggest fear is to die thinking that people believe she did this," Darin says. "Everybody who knows Darlie loves her. If they can do this to Darlie, they can do this to anyone."
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Post by CCADP on May 13, 2005 22:47:42 GMT -5
Cofounder JOURNEY OF HOPE... from violence to healing™<br>
"What does the death penalty give us? What did the threat of executing my father for the alleged murder of my mother do for my family and me when I was a young boy? It added more terror to an already horrific situation. It created stress and heartbreak that led to my grandfather’s failing health, two suicides by immediate family members, several lives wracked by alcoholism and other relatives unable to cope. For me, it led to symptoms of post-traumatic stress that I must still live with to this day --- over forty years later.
With this death penalty business we are creating dysfunctional people for the future, shattering lives in their most vulnerable hours. How can we memorialize the dignity and beauty of our loved ones through humiliation, fear and cruelty? We must be, and are, better people than that."
SAM REESE SHEPPARD OAKLAND, CALIFORNIA
PROFILE:
At the age of seven, Sam R. Sheppard lost his pregnant mother to murder. Adding terror to trauma, the State of Ohio later charged his father, Dr. Sam Sheppard, with killing her, and sought the death penalty. His father was convicted and sentenced to life in prison. After twelve years of legal battles, including five appeals, the U.S. Supreme Court granted a new trial. Dr. Sheppard was acquitted by the second jury, but was freed only to face an unbelieving public that continued to vilify him until his death at age 46. The Sheppard case inspired numerous books and the TV series and movie The Fugitive. Recently, DNA testing of old blood drops from the crime scene demonstrated that a third person was in the home on the night of the murder, just as Sam’s father always insisted. Sam is an outspoken critic of the "waste and futility of the death penalty" and the author of Mockery of Justice, a recent book about his father’s case.
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Post by CCADP on May 13, 2005 22:48:01 GMT -5
The men who killed my father terrorized many people the day they took his life. I hate all of those actions. But I never hated them. Several years after the crime, I felt I should let them know I felt no bitterness towards them. I never dreamed that I would actually go into the prison, but that is what I did. I visited Billy Lemons, the passenger in the getaway car. Over the years, we became friends through phone calls and correspondence. We helped each other work through some tough feelings. In March 1997, I was at Winifield Correctional Facility when Billy was released after twenty years in prison. It was important for me to be there for two reasons. First, because I’m Billy’s friend, and friends support each other. But also to show the world what forgiveness can lead to."
In December 1978, Kristi’s father, James Edwards, was killed after he chased two men who had been shooting at his neighbor. The pursuit was short; they all ended up at a grocery store a few blocks away. There, Kristi’s father was shot through the heart. "It is because of God’s love and my dad, that I can forgive these men," Kristi says.
In 1997, Kristi participated in a special MVFR-sponsored "Ray of Hope" tour to Oklahoma to promote healing and reconciliation in the wake of the Oklahoma City bombing trial. She and Billy Lemons now speak together, sharing what reconciliation has meant to their lives and how it has brought peace to both sides.
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Post by CCADP on May 13, 2005 22:48:35 GMT -5
"I was opposed to the death penalty all my life until my daughter Julie Marie was killed in the Oklahoma City bombing. For many months after the bombing I could have killed Timothy McVeigh myself. Temporary insanity is real, and I have lived it. You can’t think of enough adjectives to describe the rage, revenge, and hate I felt. But after time, I was able to examine my conscience, and I realized that if McVeigh is put to death, it won’t help me in the healing process. People talk about executions bringing closure. But how can there be closure when my little girl is never coming back. I finally realized that the death penalty is all about revenge and hate, and revenge and hate are why Julie Marie and 167 others are dead."
Profile:
In April 1995, Bud Welch’s 23 year old daughter was killed in the bombing of the Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City. In the months after her death, he changed from supporting the death penalty for Timothy McVeigh to taking a public stand against it. His change of heart was inspired in part by Julie Marie herself. Once, while listening to a radio report on an execution in Texas, she had turned to him and said, "Dad, that makes me sick. All those Texans are doing is teaching all the children down there to hate. The murderer did wrong, but now the government has stooped to his level."
Bud eventually arranged to meet with Timothy McVeigh’s father, Bill. "I saw a deep pain in a father’s eye, but also an incredible love for his son." Bud says, "I was able to tell him that I truly understood the pain that he was going through, and that he – as I – was a victim of what happened in Oklahoma City."
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Post by CCADP on May 13, 2005 22:48:56 GMT -5
On February 27, 1985, the White family experienced first-hand the insanity and horror of murder. George and his wife Charlene were shot repeatedly by an armed robber at his place of business in Enterprise, Alabama. George held Charlene in his arms as her life slipped away. Their children, Tom and Christie, were only 12 and 5 at the time. The nightmare had just begun. Sixteen months later, George was charged with murdering his wife. Following a capital murder trial that was later described as "a mockery and a sham", George was convicted and sentenced to life in prison. His conviction was overturned in 1989 and he was released from prison, but George remained in legal limbo until 1992, when proof of his innocence was finally brought forward. Following a brief hearing the trial court ordered the charge against him forevermore dismissed. The nightmare had lasted more than seven years...had the State of Alabama had its way, George White would be a dead man today.
Understanding fully how easy it is to become advocates for revenge, the White family, however, rejects the death penalty as a solution and as way of healing the wounds of their loss. George is a cofounder of the Journey of Hope... from violence to healing, a member of Murder Victims Families for Human Rights (MVFHR) and a member of Murder Victims Families for Reconciliation (MVFR) .
George White Quote:
"Charlene White loved life...that should be her legacy. What began with a horrible act of violence should not memorialized by an act of vengeance. Hate is a continuation, not an ending. Tom, Christie and I say "Not in our names — our hearts have bled enough."
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Post by CCADP on May 13, 2005 22:49:28 GMT -5
Eloise Williams has suffered through the loss of three loved ones to murder. Her son was killed in 1983, her sister in 1991, and her grandson in 1994. Ms. Williams says, "God has chosen me to give love, not to seek vengeance and the death penalty." She wants to help people learn to reach out to each other and treat one another as brothers and sisters. She has traveled from New Orleans, Louisiana to join in several "Journeys of Hope"
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