| Dick Estell The Radio Reader Public Radio's Reading Program |
In the major-league draft of 1971, the first player chosen from the State of
Oklahoma was Ron Williamson. When he signed with the Oakland A’s, he said
goodbye to his hometown of Ada and left to pursue his dreams of big-league glory.
Six years later he was back, his dreams broken by a bad arm and bad habits----
drinking, drugs, and women. He began to show signs of mental illness. Unable to
keep a job, he moved in with his mother and slept twenty hours a day on her sofa.
In 1982, a twenty-one-year-old cocktail waitress in Ada named Debra Sue Carter
was raped and murdered, and for five years the police could not solve the crime.
For reasons that were never clear, they suspected Ron Williamson and his friend
Dennis Fritz. The two were finally arrested in 1987 and charged with capital
murder. Dennis Fritz was found guilty and given a life sentence. Ron Williamson
was sent to death row.
If you believe that in America you are innocent until proven guilty, this book will
shock you. If you believe the criminal justice system is fair, this book will infuriate
you.
Oklahoma was Ron Williamson. When he signed with the Oakland A’s, he said
goodbye to his hometown of Ada and left to pursue his dreams of big-league glory.
Six years later he was back, his dreams broken by a bad arm and bad habits----
drinking, drugs, and women. He began to show signs of mental illness. Unable to
keep a job, he moved in with his mother and slept twenty hours a day on her sofa.
In 1982, a twenty-one-year-old cocktail waitress in Ada named Debra Sue Carter
was raped and murdered, and for five years the police could not solve the crime.
For reasons that were never clear, they suspected Ron Williamson and his friend
Dennis Fritz. The two were finally arrested in 1987 and charged with capital
murder. Dennis Fritz was found guilty and given a life sentence. Ron Williamson
was sent to death row.
If you believe that in America you are innocent until proven guilty, this book will
shock you. If you believe the criminal justice system is fair, this book will infuriate
you.
| The Innocent Man: Murder and Injustice in a Small Town by John Grisham Random House, Inc. N.Y. 2006 Airs February 13 thru March 23, 2007 |
| (non-fiction) |
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