John Grisham's The Innocent Man
John Grisham’s The Innocent Man is a tragic non-fictional story that shows flaws in the justice system through wrongful convictions, tampering with evidence, and cheating the system. Even though this story takes place in Ada, Oklahoma around 1982, this story could still make anyone terrified at the thought that the same mistake could happen to them. Grisham goes in depth, making sure the reader does not miss a single detail about the events that led up to the murder of Debbie Carter and the false accusations that put Ronald Williamson on death row and Dennis Fritz in prison for life. The stories two main characters are Ronald Keith Williamson and Dennis Fritz. Ron lived and grew up in Ada, Oklahoma with his two older sisters, Annette
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It was the night of December 7, 1982 when Debbie was last seen at the Coachlight with Glen Gore, an old friend from high school. Multiple witnesses, discussed later in the story, describe Gore harassing Debbie throughout the night. Debbie feared going home alone and asked that one of her friends stay with her, but that was not the case and she ended up going home alone anyway. Later that night Gina Vietta, one of Debbie’s friends, got a call from Debbie who said someone was in her house, she felt uncomfortable, and asked her to come pick her up. The call ended shortly and the phone rang again, this time Debbie changed her mind and did not want Gina to pick her up. Gina began to drive over, but had second thoughts and turned around. It wasn’t until the next morning that Debbie was found raped and dead in her apartment with writing on her back as well as other places around her home. The cause of death was determined as asphyxiation. Over the next few days multiple people who were present at the Coachlight that night were interviewed. They submitted hair and saliva samples as well as reporting Glen Gore being the person to be seen with Debbie that night. Gore was eventually interviewed and stated that he saw Debbie that night but had never been to her apartment. It took the police three years before finally taking samples from Gore, and even then the samples that were eventually given to the police fell through the cracks and were
It was the night of December 7, 1982 when Debbie was last seen at the Coachlight with Glen Gore, an old friend from high school. Multiple witnesses, discussed later in the story, describe Gore harassing Debbie throughout the night. Debbie feared going home alone and asked that one of her friends stay with her, but that was not the case and she ended up going home alone anyway. Later that night Gina Vietta, one of Debbie’s friends, got a call from Debbie who said someone was in her house, she felt uncomfortable, and asked her to come pick her up. The call ended shortly and the phone rang again, this time Debbie changed her mind and did not want Gina to pick her up. Gina began to drive over, but had second thoughts and turned around. It wasn’t until the next morning that Debbie was found raped and dead in her apartment with writing on her back as well as other places around her home. The cause of death was determined as asphyxiation. Over the next few days multiple people who were present at the Coachlight that night were interviewed. They submitted hair and saliva samples as well as reporting Glen Gore being the person to be seen with Debbie that night. Gore was eventually interviewed and stated that he saw Debbie that night but had never been to her apartment. It took the police three years before finally taking samples from Gore, and even then the samples that were eventually given to the police fell through the cracks and were