Woman Condemned

We would most definitely have another woman on death row heralding from Ohio if she hadn’t of plead guilty of the gruesome killing of her friend, 29-year-old Celeste Fronsman, who was found badly burned and wailing in agony on the side of a rural road.  Twenty year old Katrina Culberson plead guilty to one count each of aggravated murder, kidnapping and aggravated arson as part of a deal with prosecutors of Muskingum County Ohio. She did so to avoid the death penalty, agreeing to give testimony against the other two involved in the murder- LaFonse Dixon and Monica Washington.  The story is yet to come out but Fronsman was found raped and burnt on the side of the road with a cord wrapped around her neck. She eventually succumbed. All Culberson is saying so far is that all three defendants “played a part” in the murder. Culberson is no stranger to local law enforcement having been picked up many times for drugs, prostitution and domestic violence.  Her family said she was once

I received my review copy of Dear Dawn: Aileen Wuornos in Her Own Words from Soft Skull Press today. I am very excited. I have been stalking this book for years, since the last documentary by Nick Broomfield. If there has ever been a woman who was misunderstood by the entire world it was Aileen.  I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. The world made this killer. This “man hating serial killer” was a direct product of United States society. She had no choice. This job was laid upon her like the Queen knights her court officers. Our society very literally drove this woman mad. Rest assured I will devour this book like a banana split and post my review ASAP. I also have a pending interview with the gracious Dawn Botkins, the lifelong friend of Aileen whose letters comprise this book. I gotta book to read peeps. Stay tuned.

Kimberly McCarthy is 51. She has been on death row since her 1998 murder conviction of her 71 year old neighbor, Dorthy Booth. She is scheduled to be murdered herself on January 29, 2013. I do know Kimberly and have written to her since 2005. We have talked about her conviction and the circumstances that surround it. The state says that on July 21, 1997, McCarthy entered the residence of Dr. Dorothy Booth, 70, in Lancaster with the intent to rob her. A struggle took place and Booth was stabbed numerous times resulting in her death. McCarthy was found with Booth's credit cards and her car. A statement taken by a Dallas police detective violated her constitutional rights and her death penalty conviction was overturned by the state's highest criminal court. She was retried and resentenced to death. Her most recent appeal beginning in 2002 was denied this year. In the several years I have known her we have talked about a lot. She is close friends with Darlie Routier, she

Martha Place was executed in NY in 1899. She threw acid in the face of her step daughter and then smothered her. Afterward she attacked her husband with an ax and nearly killed him.Gov. Theodore Roosevelt refused to pardon her and she was executed. The New York Times wrote of the incident: “The straps across her face were quickly buckled on, the pad drawn over the eyes, the signal given, and the current turned on. … The body scarcely moved. The prayer book in the woman’s left hand twisted across the wrist and slipped partly out when the muscles relaxed. Her thin lips merely tightened.” Warden Sage reported to his superiors: “The execution was entirely successful. There was no revolting feature.”Martha Place was described by the press as “homely, old, ill-tempered, not loved by her husband,” before her execution. At age 23 she was struck in the head by a racing sleigh and family members said she was never the same.

I'll just tell ya folks.... California 'aint gonna kill no one. Cynthia Coffman least of all. California will not kill any of the women currently sitting on their death row. I mean, think about it. How long has Richard Ramirez been there? Oh it's still on the books but they haven't killed anyone in quite some time and wont either. No one supports it anymore No one has been executed since 2006. Natural causes executed 57 of them and suicide took another 20. November brings Californian's the Prop 34 initiative wherein they have the chance to abolish the death penalty and place life without parole in its stead. They will vote this into existence because of a few reasons. A. They should B. The death penalty is no deterrent C. So so so many DNA exoneration's years to late D. Its expensive Its just time to smarten up.

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Na Cola Darcel Franklin  We aren't being told exactly what happened yet but we do know that police were called to her home at 2 a.m. to find Billy Brewster crumpled on the front lawn, bleeding profusely from his punctured heart wounds. The couple was scheduled to be married at 10 am and family had steadily been arriving all weekend. They heard the ruckus and rushed into the living room to take the knife feom Na Cola but not before she stabbed him. She saw the judge this morning but was confused and disbelieving when the judge told her that her fiance was dead. She asked for them to "Check again." and said that it was an accident.

The past months have been really busy for The Woman Condemned. I met with the lovely Ms. Krause about a documentary she is filming about women who love men on death row. We had a lovely lunch at the Coffee Cafe and I got to talk with her about Matthew Perkins and Dane Abdool and Richard Ramirez and some of the women I know who love men like these guys and how easy, easy, easy it can be. Matthew Perkins was given three life sentences and I cried for days over that. Sometimes the world disappoints me so bad. I started talking with Matthews family and I truly enjoy that. Just like Matthew, the ones I have met are brave and strong and loving. I hope to get to see Matthew very soon. I sponsored the blog tour with some of today's heaviest hitters in true crime. Gary King , R. Barri Flowers , Dane Batty, Bonnie Kearnene of Bonies Blog of Crime all participated with some really great posts.  We had a good time and told a lot of great stories. Most recently I have guest blogged

Cathy Lee Henderson is the Texas woman wo was given the death penalty in 2004 for the death of the infant boy she was babysitting.All along she has said that it was an accident. She said she was swinging him around and dropped him onto a concrete floor. All along prosecutors have said shes a liar and all along the prosecution's star witness, Dr. Robert Bayardo, has said she was a lying bitch. Basically, anyway. Lo and behold, new evidence has been uncovered. Dr. Bayardo has taken a look and issued a statement saying had he seen this evidence he would not have made the comments he did at the trial.Bayardo testified at a 2007 hearing that he would not have ruled the same way if he had details on the new research at the time of the trial. Hmmm.... so now what? Cathy's last brush with death was in 2007 where her execution was halted two days early. Bayardo's reaction to the new evidence saved her life. She has been sitting on the row ever since, with her finger up her