CCADP in the News
CCADP News Archives including appearances from Newspapers, Online News, Radio and T.V.
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Visit the CCADP's Audio/Video Archives: Media appearances, death penalty news reports and more
CCADP Real Audio Archives - Media Appearances, News Reports, and more ! ! !


      Radio / TV / Internet Broadcasts . . .

Canadian 'Reality-TV' as featured on Lofters on the Life Network.
   Reality TV - Online 24/7: Day 148 in the loft... 
U8TV.com Monday, June 11, 2001 'Fuel' with David and Tre: 7:30-8:30 Online.
Reality TV - Online 24/7: Day 148 in the loft... Tim McVeigh is executed and the CCADP's
Dave Parkinson is invited to the loft to talk a little bit with David and Tre about the death penalty.
Missed a show ? - Visit the webpage at http://www.u8tv.com/ to view the latest Fuel Online !



57 City-Tv and Pulse24, Toronto - Monday, June 11, 2001
City Online Mon.- Fri.  12:30pm - 1:00pm City-Tv (Repeated 1:30pm on Pulse 24.)
Dave Parkinson speaks with City-Tv's David Onley about the death penalty after the execution of
Tim McVeigh in this mid-day call in format show broadcast throughout the greater Toronto area.



KGO-TV 7 ABC,  San Francisco/Oakland/SanJose, California
Featured May 14, 2001 on KGO-TV Evening News in San Francisco, Oakland and San Jose California.
Reporting on inmates with a presence in cyberspace included speaking with Dave Parkinson via satellite
and featuring some of the CCADP's webpages.



WAVE-TV 3 NBC,  Louisville, Kentucky reports on the CCADP's webpages
Featured April 12, 2001 on WAVE-TV's Evening News in Louisville, Kentucky.
Janet Swanson Reports on Inmates in Cyberspace, speaking with The CCADP's Tracy Lamourie,
and featuring the CCADP's webpages. Visit Wave3.com to view the report in Real Video.



Rogers Television, Cable 20 -  Southwestern Ontario Region
Prime Time Forum  - Public Affairs/Call in show, March 7, 2001  8- 9pm
The CCADP's Dave Parkinson appeared on Prime Time Live via link-up with the Mississauga studio, along with Wally Butts Southwest ON Coordinator for the Alliance and Kitchener Center Liberal
M.P. Karen Redman to discuss the recent Supreme Court Decision on extraditions.



WROC TV 8 CBS Rochester, New York.     February 16 & 19, 2001        News at 11
Dave Parkinson and Tracy Lamourie of the CCADP were interviewed by news anchor Melissa Long,
on WROC's feature on inmates online.  The piece was the first news item featured on the show and included examples of the prisoner artwork and letters found on the site.


CHOK AM 1070 Radio Sarnia, Ontario CHOK AM 1070 Radio Sarnia, Ontario
"Talkback"  with Sue Storr from 10:05am til 12noon weekdays.
Tracy Lamourie appeared on Talkback February 19, 2001, as a guest for a live call in news program.

CKNW AM 980 Radio Vancouver, BC. CKNW AM 980 Radio Vancouver, BC.
"Spin"  - Midnight Fridays
Dave Parkinson appeared on Spin February 16, 2001, as a guest for a live call in news program.


CBC Radio, Regina, SK.
Tracy Lamourie appeared on CBC radio February 16, 2001 as a guest for for a live call in news program.


    Newspapers / Magazines / Internet
              and Print publications
MONTREAL A slight majority of Canadians favour the death penalty,

a recent opinion poll suggests.  By CONWAY DALY - Canadian Press (September 2001)

The Leger Marketing survey found 52.9 per cent of respondents backed capital punishment,
while 43 per cent opposed it and 4.1 per cent had no opinion.
"Canadians' perceptions of the death penalty have changed in
the last few years," said Jean-Marc Leger, head of the polling firm.

The survey suggested a big opinion shift since 1995, when an
Angus Reid poll found 69 per cent in favour of bringing back capital punishment,
he added.

The death penalty was banned in Canada in 1975. The last
state-run executions were in 1962. Since then, the stiffest penalty for
even the worst crimes has been life imprisonment.

The latest poll has a national margin of error of 2.6 percentage
points, 19 times out of 20. It used a sample of 1,508 people telephoned by
pollsters between Aug. 3 and 13.

That was well before the Sept. 11 events in the United States
when hijacked planes hit New York's World Trade Center, the Pentagon and a
field near Pittsburgh, causing death on an unbelievable scale.

But Mr. Leger said grisly crimes, whether committed by groups or
individuals, don't appear to have any permanent effect on
Canadians' viewpoints about the death penalty.

"I don't think [the death penalty] is an overriding issue,"
said Randy White, Canadian Alliance MP for the British Columbia riding of
Langley-Abbotsford. "It's not on the minds of many people."

Mr. White, who is opposition critic for the Solicitor-General's
department, said he is not convinced that bringing back the death penalty
in Canada would prevent murders because people committing violent crimes do
not stop to ponder the consequences.

A free parliamentary vote held in 1987, when Brian Mulroney was
prime minister, went against restoring capital punishment.

But the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police says it hasn't
changed its view that the death penalty should be an option.

It says the noose could be limited to crimes that are "so
terrible, so abominable, so outrageous to public sensitivity."

Tracy Lamourie, co-ordinator of the Canadian Coalition Against
the death penalty, sees growing doubts about capital punishment in the
wake of wrongful convictions and fabricated evidence.

"It really comes down to the lawyer you get and who can tell a
better story in court. People are just generally less sure of the death penalty
and the way that it's applied."



The Texas Catholic Herald - August 10, 2001




AP - Inmate Web Sites Draw Criticism From Victims                Tuesday, July 24, 2001

                 WICHITA, Kan. — Some crime victims say they
                 are appalled that prison inmates have access
                 to Web sites that allow them to place personal advertisements
                 promoting themselves as lonely hearts.

                 For example, convicted killer Sakone Donesay sent an ad to
                 Prisonpenpals.org that says he's looking for companionship and to, in his
                 words, "maybe collide with someone whom would not mind sharing intellect
                 and intimate conversation."

                 The site and others like it -- including Jailbabes.com, Ladiesofthepen.com
                 and Meet-an-inmate.com -- disgust the father of Donesay's victim.

                 "Does it say anywhere on there that he is a cop killer?" said Rick Easter.
                 Donesay, then 14, shot and killed Easter's son Kevin, a Sedgwick County
                 sheriff's deputy, during a foot chase in 1996. "He's a hardened criminal.
                 That's the kind of thing he could easily use to take advantage of someone."

                 Someone who sees the smiling face of the person who harmed them or a
                 family member is victimized again, said Corinne Radke, a victims advocate
                 with Parents of Murdered Children in Wichita.

                 Reading about what sensitive, caring people they claim to be is even worse.

                 "Most of them are lying," she said.

                 But operators defend the sites, saying they help prisoners maintain a
                 connection to the community.

                 "In most cases, the prisoners are just looking for a good friend," said Tracie
                 Lamourie, director of the Canadian Coalition Against the Death Penalty,
                 which operates a free Web site that allows prisoners to meet pen pals and
                 display their poetry and writings. "Strong relationships have been built, and
                 that's important."

                 Prison officials, who starting receiving complaints about the sites about three
                 years ago, say there is not much that can be done about them.

                 Kansas Corrections spokesman Bill Miskell said some people concerned
                 about the sites are under the misconception that the prisoners have access
                 to the Internet.

                 "They do not," Miskell said. "But we can't stop them from sending mail to
                 friends or family and having them contact the Internet company. We can't stop
                 them from receiving mail they get in response, either."

                 Prison officials are allowed to monitor mail only for specific reasons, such as
                 escape plans or plotting a crime.

                 Miskell advises caution. He said although there are inmates looking only for
                 a connection with the community, others are looking to manipulate someone.

                 For example, prisoners tell pen pals they're getting out of jail next month and
                 need money for a bus ticket, he said.

                 The pen pal might send $100, which the prisoner, who isn't getting out
                 anytime soon, will deposit in an account used to buy items from the prison
                 commissary, Miskell said.

                 "People need to be careful," he said. "That's the best defense."



Der Spiegel - German Newsmagazine  July 9, 2001 http://www.spiegel.de/netzwelt/netzkultur/0,1518,142475,00.html

ENGLISH TRANSLATION : FROM Der Spiegel

D E A T H   R O W   O N L I N E
The Voice of the Condemned
By Tobias Moorstedt
In the USA more than 3500 People are sitting in the death row, many of them after
questioning processes.  The internet gives them the possibility to communicate with the
outside.

John McDewberry doesn´t have much time left and he has a lot to say.  For seven years
the now 24 year-old sits in the deathrow of the little village Livingston in Texas and his
last chance drifts away to escape the death on the order of state.  For an
appeal-process however the young Texan lacks money.  Because of this he calls on the
world-publicity in the internet: "This is a cry for help!" McDewberry writes on his website.
And: "I am innocent, but can´t afford a lawyer."

Like John McDewberry some hundred inmates of the deathrows in the USA have a
website.  In the Internet the inmates show their views - here they are looking for contacts
to the outside, ask for funds or to bomb the responsible district attorney with
protest-mails.

Life in the deat-cell writes John McDewberry, is a life in silence.  The internet is a gate to
the outside world for the prisoners.  Unlikely the zero-medium tv, the internet not only
offers pictures and information; one can also be in action with the great wide world.  A
bit at least.  The internet is the voice of the condmned.  Somehow.

Because of this John McDewberry writes for his life.  Tells, how everything happened, at
that time, at christmas eve in the year 1994.  How he started the day with a real
hangover and how he than, five hours later, with swollen face was standing at the
house-wall, in his back six policemen, who first hit befor asking question.  However
evidences for his sights of view he rarely has.  He just has the many lines and both
pictures on his website.

Since the Supreme Court reinstated capital punishment in 1976, the USA executed
more than 700 people.  84 last year alone.  Executions became daily routine in
America.

But it´s just a few weeks ago that the world has been watching a building in Terre Haute,
Oklahoma, where the live of Timothy McVeigh was coming to an end.  Never before it
has been so much rumour about an execution.  Timothy McVeigh should die, who
bombed 168 persons to death four years ago.  For some days Timothy McVeigh was
standing in the middle again.  And his words on the front page of nearly every page: "I
am the lord of my faith, captain of my soul."

Not all inmates in american death-cells get so much publicity like McVeigh.  And
publicity is in a time, where trials ruled in the media as well, often the only thing that
differs between a fast execution and a new taking up of investigations.

For example the case of Anthony Graves.  The description of his case in the internet
persuaded the lawyer Robert E.  Greenwood of his innocence.  The case was resumed.
New evidences came before court.  Today Anthony Graves has a good chance to leave
prison alive says his lawyer.

But Anthony Graves is a single case.  Very seldom the protest and the engagement of
human rights organisations make a difference at all.

And than there are stories in the internet like the one of Olga Parlante, who was found
with cut throat on the bottom of her living room in 1997.  Her son hat made a virtual burial
place in the internet with stars, angels and a lot of crosses.  The virtual grave of Olga
Parlante is just one of more than 1800 on the cyber-cemetry for murder-victims, the
texan Charleene hall has made up.  "In the Internet, there are only websites against the
death penalty", Hall writes on her homepage.  "But what about the murder victims?"

Hall wants to give the dead a voice and she is sure: If the dead could talk, the would
scream for revenge.  She doesn´t understand people, who are fighting against the death
penalty.  "They should inform themselves better, before the feel so sorry about these
murderers."

"As long as prisoners are waiting for death", Tracy Lamourie would than probably reply,
"we have to give them a voice.  Even if they lie."  Lamourie is the chair of the Canadian
Coalition Against the Death Penalty (CCADP) and every week letters by people on
death row reach her; poems and photos and "new evidences".  If it´s true than what´s on
the website, the reader has to value by himself.

After the execution of an inmate, tells Lamouie, she takes the respective site out of the
net very soon.  Because time doesn´t stand still and more people are condemned to
death and the capacity of the server is limited.  "The internet is our best weapon" says
Lamourie.  But: Many inmates are in their cells for so long, they don´t know what the
internet is.

- Der Spiegel online edition (in German)



www.wired.com               June 12, 2001 Wired News
            The Condemned and Their Websites
           2:00 a.m. June 12, 2001 PDT - By Julia Scheeres

            They don't want to die. And they're begging you to save them.

            Hundreds of death row inmates have turned to the
            Internet in an effort to spare their lives.

            They say they are innocent and plead with the Web
            community to donate money to their legal defense,
            send e-petitions to governors, and read their
            versions of the facts. Through sites created by
            relatives, friends and activists -- many of them not
            in the United States -- they are able to appeal
            directly to a world-wide audience.

                        "I reach out to you in a cry for help! I am indigent and cannot get the
                         legal help I so desperately need, which may cost me my life.... You
                         are my last hope, without you I am fighting a lost cause!"

                         Those are the words of 24-year-old John Dewberry, convicted of killing a
                         man on Christmas Day 1994 and giving away the victim's possessions
                         as presents to his friends.

                         But just as death row inmates turn to the Internet to beg for mercy,
                         the families of murder victims go online to demand justice. Both sides
                         state their case, ask for money, and petition signatures. Some look for
                         clues to solve murders that are 30 years old.

                         Not surprisingly, the two sides frequently collide.

                         Here's another:

                         "I sit on Death Row today waiting to be executed for a horrible crime that
                         I did not commit, and unless I get some sort of attention drawn to my
                         case, the state of Texas is going to murder me," writes Anthony Graves,
                         convicted with another man of killing six people and burning their bodies.

                         Graves publishes his version of the events on his website, as well as a
                         statements by his co-defendant that state Graves did not
                         participate in the crime.

                         His story was enough to compel attorney Roy E. Greenwood to
                         defend him, pro bono.

                         "I think he's innocent," said Greenwood, who says he's spent
                         $30,000 of his money on the case. "He's got a good chance of getting
                         his verdict overturned."

                         Then there's the case of Gary Graham. When Graham was 17, he
                         was convicted of gunning down a man in a Houston Safeway parking
                         lot. Despite an international clamor to overturn the verdict, he was
                         executed last year after spending almost 20 years on death row.

                         Graham stridently proclaimed his innocence until the moment he
                         received a lethal injection similar to the one that killed Timothy McVeigh
                         on Monday. His last words remain as a haunting reminder on the Web:

                         "They are killing me tonight. They are murdering me tonight."

                        (McVeigh, incidentally, did not have an "official" website, and never
                         proclaimed his innocence. The domains "timothymcveigh.com" and
                         "timothymcveigh.net" are owned by a third party who is trying to sell
                         rights to the Web address.)

                         On Pro-Death Penalty.com is a point-by-point refutation of
                         Graham's claims.

                         The site is one of three run by victims advocate Charlene Hall. The
                         other two are Justice For All and MurderVictims.com, where Hall has
                         erected a virtual memorial to over 1,800 murder victims.

                         She started her Web efforts after a pair of teenage girls in her
                         hometown were raped and strangled by a gang of six boys; one of the
                         girls was the daughter of her close
                         friend. But when she searched the Internet for information on the
                         death penalty, all she found were anti-death penalty sites. So she
                         taught herself HTML and posted information in support of capital
                         punishment.

                         Hall says she has no patience for the entreaties of convicted killers.

                         "Their whole point is to delay (the execution)," Hall said. "Basically
                         they're trying to buy time. I just feel sorry for the people that get taken
                         in by that and wish they'd do a little more research before feeling so bad
                         for these people."

                         Hall gets her share of hate e-mail for her views; she stores the death
                         threats and insults in a folder marked "non-victims and nuts."

                         Murdervictims.com serves as a hub for the surviving members of
                         shattered families -- people often shunned by a society that can favor
                         pleasantries over honesty.

                         Sharon Meissner, whose 18-year-old son was hanged by an
                         acquaintance, is a frequent poster on the site's discussion board. There
                         she talks about that fateful morning she found Gregg's body, and
                         laments that his killer was only convicted of third-degree murder
                         and sentenced to 25 years in prison.

                         "Sometimes we feel like we don't fit in anyplace," said Meissner, of Holly,
                         Minnesota. "People want us to forget about our son's death, to
                         move on. At the board, we can talk without offending anybody."

                         Meissner's posts also brought her help. Her case caught the
                         attention of an Internet-based criminal profiler, who is
                         volunteering to investigate a case she believes was mishandled by
                         the local police.

                         In a tribute to her son, Meissner describes her son's mischievous
                         personality as the disquieting melody of one of his favorite
                         songs is streamed: Metallica's Fade to Black.

                         "My son was more than just a name in a newspaper article. He
                         wasn't just a story, he was a real person. I want people to know
                         that," she said.

                         Linda Purnhagen, whose nine- and 16-year-old daughters, were killed
                         by a father and son in Texas, was outraged by Internet postings
                         requesting pen pals by both men.

                         "I love kids and enjoy answering their questions and trying to help
                         them," wrote the father, Dennis Dowthitt.

                         Said Purnhagen: "This is a pedophile who committed murder.
                         They should at least put a disclaimer up there that he
                         murders children."

                         Dennis Dowthitt was executed in March. But his son, Delton, who
                         testified against his father in exchange for a 45-year prison
                         sentence, is still looking for friends: "At 16, I was convicted of
                         murder, please don't define me by this fact alone. I'm a work in
                         progress," he writes.

                         Many prisoners' websites are run by foreign activists who live in
                         countries where capital punishment is illegal. The American
                         Civil Liberties Union, which cites a national error rate of 68 percent in
                         death penalty judgments, also hosts some convicts' sites.

                         "In a matter of life and death, we are getting it wrong more than 2
                         out of every 3 times," the group's website states.

                         But the ACLU also championed the cause of Dennis Dowthitt, who
                         maintained his innocence for 11 years, before making an emotional
                         confession in the death chamber.

                       The Canadian Coalition Against the Death Penalty manages Web
                         pages and pen pal requests for over 1,000 condemned prisoners.
                         Although she gets complaints from victims' families, coalition
                         co-founder Tracy Lamourie says she is convinced she is doing the
                         right thing.

                         Marc Klaas has repeatedly asked the coalition to dismantle a page
                         for Richard Allen Davis, who kidnapped and killed his
                         12-year-old daughter, Polly.

                         "This guy killed my daughter," Klaas said. "And there he is,
                         smiling and asking for pen pals on this website. I'd hack the (website
                         of the) son of a bitch if I could."

                         Lamourie admitted that the situation was "delicate" but
                         refused to change her position.

                         "All we can say is that as soon as there's no death penalty, we'll
                         take the pages down," Lamourie said. "We feel that as long as
                         you're killing people, we need to give them a voice."

                         She said her mailbox is overflowing with requests from prisoners who
                         want a voice online. They send her hand-scrawled notes, wistful
                         poems and smiling snapshots to bolster their claim: they aren't
                         savage animals but innocent Americans accused of crimes they
                         didn't commit. Lamourie scans the data in her spare time and says
                         she doesn't make judgment calls about whether the inmates are
                         telling the truth.

                         Many of the prisoners she supports have been locked up for
                         decades and have no idea what this thing called "The Internet" is,
                         she says. (Few, if any, prisoners have Net access).

                         Other inmates seem a bit too tech-savvy. Michael Toney,
                         convicted of rigging a briefcase bomb that killed three people,
                         tried to auction off seats to his execution online.

                         But the cries of most death row inmates will be ignored, and their
                         Internet sites converted into memorials when they are
                         executed. For some, such as Carl Johnson, their last words will ring
                         out on the Internet long after they are gone:

                         "I want the world to know that I'm innocent and that I've found peace. Let's ride." 



Los condenados a muerte ejecutan sus sitios de Internet - Por Julia Scheeres
12 de junio, 2001

            El pabellón de los condenados a muerte está lleno de
            los que dicen ser inocentes y el mundo está lleno de
            gente que desprecia la pena de muerte. Todos ellos
            encontraron un común denominador online. Por Julia
            Scheeres.

     Titulares de hoy
     15  de junio, 2001

                         No quieren morir. Y ruegan que los
                         salvemos.

                         Cientos de presidiarios que
                         aguardan la muerte recurrieron a
                         Internet en un intento de salvar
                         sus vidas.

                         Dicen que son inocentes y suplican
                         que la comunidad de la Red done
                         dinero para su defensa legal,
                         envían peticiones a las autoridades
                         a través del correo electrónico y
                         leen sus versiones de los hechos.
                         A través de sitios creados por sus
                         parientes, amigos y activistas -
                         muchos de los cuales no residen en
                         Estados Unidos - tienen la
                         posibilidad de apelar a una
                         audiencia mundial en forma directa.

                         "¡Es un grito de socorro para que
                         me tiendan una mano! Soy
                         indigente y no tengo la posibilidad
                         de conseguir la ayuda legal que
                         tan desesperadamente necesito, lo
                         que me puede costar la vida...
                         Ustedes son mi última esperanza,
                        ¡sin ustedes estoy luchando por
                         una causa perdida!"

                         Esas son las palabras de John
                         Dewberry, un muchacho de 24
                         años, condenado por asesinar a un
                         hombre el día de Navidad, en 1994,
                         y repartir los bienes de la víctima
                         entre sus amigos como obsequio
                         navideño.

                         Pero así como los condenados que
                         aguardan la muerte recurren a
                         Internet para pedir clemencia, los
                         familiares de las víctimas de
                         homicidio ingresan a la Red para
                         exigir justicia. Ambas partes
                         exponen su caso, piden dinero, y
                         juntan firmas. Algunos buscan
                         claves para resolver homicidios que
                         se cometieron hace 30 años.

                         No sorprende entonces que con
                         frecuencia haya un choque entre
                         las dos partes.

                         Aquí va otro:

                         "Espero en el pabellón de los
                         condenados a muerte para que me
                         ejecuten por un crimen horrible que
                         no cometí y, a menos que logre
                         que se preste atención a mi caso,
                         el estado de Texas me va a
                         asesinar", escribe Anthony Graves,
                         hallado culpable junto a otro
                         hombre de matar a seis personas y
                         quemar sus cuerpos.

                         Graves publica su versión de los
                         hechos en su sitio de Internet,
                         como también la declaración del
                         otro implicado en el homicidio,
                         quien manifiesta que Graves no
                         participó en el crimen.

                         Su historia fue suficiente para que
                         el abogado Roy E. Greenwood se
                         sintiera comprometido a
                         defenderlo, sin cobrarle nada por
                         sus servicios.

                         "Creo que es inocente", dijo
                         Greenwood, quien dice haber
                         gastado 30.000 dólares de su
                         bolsillo en el caso. "Tiene muchas
                         posibilidades de que se invalide el
                         veredicto."

                         Después está el caso de Gary
                         Graham. Cuando Graham tenía 17
                         años, fue condenado por matar a
                         tiros a un hombre en una playa de
                         estacionamiento de Houston
                         Safeway. A pesar del difundido
                         reclamo de que se anulara el
                         veredicto, fue ejecutado el año
                         pasado después de pasar casi 20
                         años esperando la muerte.

                         Graham proclamaba a viva voz su
                         inocencia hasta el momento en que
                         recibió una inyección letal similar a
                         la que mató a Timothy McVeigh el
                         lunes. Sus últimas palabras quedan
                         como un recordatorio
                         estremecedor en la Red:

                         "Esta noche me van a matar. Esta
                         noche me van a asesinar."
                         (McVeigh, casualmente, no tenía
                         un sitio de Internet "oficial", y
                         nunca proclamó su inocencia. Los
                         dominios "timothymcveigh.com" y
                         "timothymcveigh.net" son
                         propiedad de una tercera parte
                         que está tratando de vender los
                         derechos a la dirección de
                         Internet.)

                         En Pro-Death Penalty.com (que
                         significa "a favor de la pena de
                         muerte") se refutan punto por
                         punto las afirmaciones de Graham.

                         El sitio es uno de los tres que
                         dirige la defensora de las víctimas
                         Charlene Hall. Los otros dos son
                         Justice For All (Justicia para todos)
                         y MurderVictims.com (Víctimas de
                         homicidios), donde Hall erigió un
                         monumento virtual a más de 1.800
                         víctimas de asesinatos.

                         Comenzó con su labor en la Red
                         después de que un par de
                         muchachas adolescentes fueron
                         violadas y estranguladas en su
                         ciudad natal por una pandilla de
                         cinco chicos; una de ellas era la
                         hija de un amigo cercano. Pero
                         cuando buscó información en
                         Internet sobre la pena de muerte,
                         todo lo que encontró fueron sitios
                        que estaban en contra de la pena
                         de muerte. Por lo tanto aprendió
                         HTML y publicó en la Red
                         información a favor de la pena
                         capital.

                         Hall manifiesta que no tiene
                         paciencia para escuchar los ruegos
                         de asesinos convictos.

                         "Su único propósito es dilatar (la
                         ejecución)", señala Hall. "En
                         esencia lo que quieren es comprar
                         tiempo. Sólo siento pena por las
                         personas que se dejan engañar;
                         ojalá se pusieran a averiguar un
                         poco antes de sentirse tan mal por
                         esta gente."

                         Hall se ganó una buena cuota de
                         odio por email debido a sus puntos
                         de vista; almacena las amenazas
                         de muerte e insultos en una
                         carpeta con el nombre
                         "Trastornados y no víctimas".

                         Murdervictims.com sirve como
                         centro de reunión de integrantes
                         de familias destrozadas que
                         lograron sobrevivir: gente que a
                         menudo es eludida por una
                         sociedad que prefiere la chanza a
                         la honestidad.

                         Sharon Meissner, cuyo hijo de 18
                         años fue colgado por un conocido,
                         es uno de los que envía mensajes
                         con frecuencia al panel de
                         discusión del sitio. Allí cuenta
                         sobre la fatídica mañana en que
                         encontró el cuerpo de Gregg, y
                         lamenta que su asesino sólo haya
                         sido condenado por asesinato en
                         tercer grado y sentenciado a 25
                         años en la cárcel.

                         "A veces sentimos que no
                         encajamos en ningún lado", dijo
                         Meissner, de Holly, Minnesota. "La
                         gente quiere que nos olvidemos de
                         la muerte de nuestro hijo, que
                         sigamos adelante. En el panel,
                         podemos hablar sin ofender a
                         nadie."

                         Meissner también consiguió ayuda
                         con sus mensajes. Su caso llamó la
                         atención de un experto en perfiles
                         de asesinos que trabaja en
                         Internet, quien se ofreció a
                         investigar el caso que, según ella,
                         fue mal manejado por la policía del
                         distrito.

                         En un tributo a su hijo, Meissner
                         describe la personalidad pícara de
                         su hijo y se escuchan los acordes
                         inquietantes de una de sus
                         canciones favoritas: "Fade to
                         black" de Metallica.

                         "Mi hijo fue más que un nombre en
                         una nota periodística. No fue sólo
                         una historia, fue una persona real.
                         Quiero que todos sepan eso",
                         señala.

                         Linda Purnhagen, cuyas hijas de 9
                         y 16 años fueron asesinadas por
                         un hombre y su hijo en Texas,
                         estaba indignada por los mensajes
                         que los dos hombres publicaron en
                         la Red solicitando amigos para
                         intercambiar correo.

                         "Me encantan los niños y disfruto
                         contestando sus preguntas y
                         tratando de ayudarlos", escribió el
                         padre, Dennis Dowthitt.

                         Purnhagen manifestó: "Es un
                         pedófilo que cometió un asesinato.
                         Al menos deberían poner un
                         descargo allí que diga que asesina
                         niños."

                         Dennis Dowthitt fue ejecutado en
                         marzo. Pero su hijo, Delton, quien
                         atestiguó en contra de su padre a
                         cambio de una sentencia de 45
                         años de prisión, aún está en la
                         búsqueda de amigos: "A los 16 fui
                         condenado por un asesinato, por
                         favor no me encasillen por eso
                         sólo. Soy una persona en proceso
                         de construirse", escribe.

                         Muchos sitios de Internet
                         dedicados a convictos son
                         operados por activistas extranjeros
                         que viven en países donde no
                         existe la pena de muerte. La Unión
                         por las Libertades Civiles de
                         Estados Unidos, que denuncia la
                         existencia de una tasa de error del
                         68 por ciento en los casos con
                         condenas a pena de muerte,
                         también opera algunos sitios para
                         convictos.

                         "Cuando es cuestión de vida o
                         muerte, nos equivocamos en más
                         de dos casos de cada tres", señala
                         el sitio de Internet del grupo.

                         Pero la asociación también
                         defendió la causa de Dennis
                         Dowthitt, quien durante 11 años
                         sostuvo que era inocente, hasta
                         que finalmente confesó su
                         culpabilidad en la cámara de
                         muerte.

                         La Coalición Canadiense contra la
                         Pena de Muerte maneja páginas de
                         Internet y solicitudes de amigos
                         por correspondencia de más de
                         1.000 prisioneros convictos. A
                         pesar de que recibe quejas de los
                         familiares de las víctimas, una
                         cofundadora de la coalición, Tracy
                         Lamourie, afirma que está
                         convencida de que está haciendo
                         lo correcto.

                         Marc Klaas en varias opotunidades
                         solicitó a la coalición que dejara
                         fuera de servicio la página
                         dedicada a Richard Allen Davis,
                         quien secuestró y mató a Polly, la
                         hija de Klaas de 12 años de edad.

                         "Este tipo mató a mi hija", expresó
                         Klaas. "Y allí está, sonriendo y
                        queriendo intercambiar cartas en
                         su sitio. "Yo haría trizas el (sitio
                         del) hijo de perra si pudiera."

                         Lamourie admitió que la situación
                         era "delicada" pero se niega a
                         cambiar de posición.

                         "Todo lo que podemos decir es que
                         apenas se derogue la pena de
                         muerte sacaremos todas las
                         páginas", señaló Lamourie.
                         "Sentimos que mientras se esté
                         matando gente, necesitamos
                         facilitarles una voz."

                         Lamourie comentó que su casilla de
                         correo está abarrotada de
                         solicitudes de presos que quieren
                         tener voz online. Ella publicó las
                         notas manuscritas, los poemas
                         melancólicos y las instantáneas
                         sonrientes para dar fuerza a sus
                         reclamos: no son animales salvajes
                         sino norteamericanos inocentes
                         que están acusados de crímenes
                         que no cometieron. Lamourie
                         escanea los datos en su tiempo
                         libre y dice que no invita a hacer
                         juicios de valor acerca de si los
                         condenados están diciendo la
                         verdad.

                         Muchos de los prisioneros a los que
                         apoya estuvieron encerrados por
                         décadas y no tienen idea de lo que
                         significa eso que se llama
                         "Internet", explica. (Muy pocos
                         tienen acceso a la Red, si es que
                         alguno lo tiene).

                         Otros reclusos parecen un tanto
                         demasiado expertos en tecnología.
                         Michael Toney, condenado por
                         armar una bomba en un maletín
                         que mató a tres personas, intentó
                         subastar asientos para presenciar
                         su ejecución online.

                         Pero el clamor de la mayoría de los
                         reos que aguardan la pena de
                         muerte será pasado por alto, y sus
                         sitios de Internet se convertirán en
                         monumentos conmemorativos
                         después de su ejecución. Para
                         algunos, como Carl Johnson, sus
                         últimas palabras seguir&aac